It’s been a while since we’ve had a quote, isn’t it!  So I thought I’d share a quote that is completely relevant to Finance Business Partnering from none other than Theodore Roosevelt.  It’s a bit of a tongue twister. And he says this: 

“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”   

Now, I love that for Finance Business Partnering.  Because that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?   

Research, and my own experiences, show that a regular complaint from operational managers and budget holders, rightly or wrongly, is “Finance just tell us what they know. We don’t care about that.  We want to know how that’s relevant to us and what we do with that information.  Finance don’t show that they care about what we do.” 

As an example, we work a lot with the National Health Service, the NHS, in the UK.  Therefore, NHS Finance Business Partners are working with people like doctors and nurses.  Doctors & nurses want to know that Finance really care about what they do, and really care about their patients before they’re going to start discussing numbers with them.  And that’s important because discussing the numbers with them can help ensure they actually help MORE patients or can buy a new piece of equipment that they might need, such as a scanner.   

Therefore, you do need to show how much you care about the business in which you work, and how much you do care about the issues and challenges that your stakeholders are facing on a day to day basis.  And it’s not enough just to care. It’s showing that you care, it’s showing that you understand and can really empathise with what they’re going through and how you can help them do their job better.  

Theodore Roosevelt’s quote really couldn’t be more relevant to Finance Business Partnering! 

I hope that’s helped this week.  

And wishing you every success on your own FBP growth journey this week 😊