Dear Colleagues,
A NEW FINANCIAL YEAR
I’m writing to you at the start of the new financial year - I must say it’s nice not to have to look at a spreadsheet for a few minutes!
We won't get a full picture of how we have done, in both financial and non- financial ways, for a couple of weeks. I will send you a full update then. But what I can say is that it has been a very successful year for the region and I’d like to share some of those successes with you
OUR ACTIVITIES ARE GROWING
In our teaching centres we are teaching more students than ever and there is good growth in the number of exams we are delivering. We won't have all the impact numbers from our projects and programmes for a while but early signs are positive on engagement. All of these numbers reflect the reality that I see when I go around the region to see first-hand the difference our work makes.
A BIG THANKS TO THE FINANCE TEAM
Rather than look at the results, which are still coming in, I want to focus on the staff in the finance team who help us get the numbers right.
In total we have 25 staff who support us throughout the year in making sure that things run smoothly so we can do the work with our customers. This year has been the first full year of the new finance structure as part of the Financial Transparency Programme.
The key areas to finance are more than just making sure we pay people or we get paid. Although this is a vital area! Other key areas include controlling (i.e. financial accounting), financial planning and analysis (management accounting) and risk & compliance.
As a result of the great work of the team, we have been able to increase accuracy of inputs onto SAP (through controlling); the standard of inputs (through risk and compliance) and quality of outputs (through financial planning and analysis).
VENEZUELA ACHIEVES HIGH PROFILE
I want to make a special mention for Venezuela, currently struggling with hyperinflation, devaluation and currency changes. Our office also closed the year with sporadic electricity and connectivity. Nevertheless, I wanted to mention that they were the country with the best profiling throughout the year.
WHERE ARE WE GOING THIS YEAR?
I also want to briefly mention a call I had with about eighty of you as part of the L&D learning lounge, when I talked about a destination statement that we have put together for the region.
It is a short document which shows where we want to get to in the next couple of years. It covers targets we want to achieve but also the ways that we want to work, who we want to be working with, how we plan and deliver what we do and very importantly what kind of culture we want to encourage. I would like to use the document as a starting point for discussion in your country and teams. The destination statement is attached to this newsletter.
As we have seen, the finance team are helping us get to where we want to and I look forward to hearing from all of you on where you think we should get to as a region. How can you and your team help us reach our destination? If you have anything you would like to share with me, please don’t hesitate to email me, I would love to hear from you.
Wishing everyone a happy new financial year!