Moir Recruitment News

Moir Group " Emerging Leaders" Series with Vincent Lloyd, CFO of  Hoyts Group by Trisha Roberts, Business Manager, Moir Group  

This month Moir Group were delighted to introduce Vincent Lloyd in a Q&A style presentation as part of our "Emerging Leaders" series.  Vincent has kindly spoken at several of our previous events over the years, however this was an opportunity for the audience to be more involved in the discussion.

Vincent is the current CFO of Hoyts Group, and candidly shared his career from his KPMG days through to today.  He offered insights into a potential path for emerging CFOs, and shared his own experiences in an open manner.  After spending 3 years with KPMG in their assurance and consulting practices, he joined Hoyts as an Accountant and worked with 3 different CFOs in 4 years.  By utilising some very interesting approaches to career development, he was recognised for his contribution and offered the CFO role at just 29 years of age. 

Some of the highlights of the discussion outline Vincent’s approach to creating opportunities for leadership:

• Partner decision makers – give them the information they need to “make them look good”. They will want you to attend meetings with key stakeholders.
• Manage up – take each opportunity to provide information to senior management as a chance to demonstrate your knowledge of, and value to, the organisation.
• Work ethic – work hard, and be prepared to give up personal time to get the job done properly.
• Be proactive – stand out by challenging the status quo – reporting is a great way to do this.
• Be helpful – the key here is to have no ulterior motive.  It makes people want to work with you.
• Passion – always exude passion for the business, people will notice how much you care.
• Luck – there are sometimes “sliding doors” moments where opportunities are presented to you at the right time.

With Hoyts originally being owned by listed company , through to ownership by private equity business, and more recently having been sold to a Chinese group, Vincent shared his views on the differences working in these 3 environments from a CFO’s perspective.  He feels that private equity roles are great opportunities for CFOs to have greater involvement in the business from a strategic perspective, even more so than a listed environment. Vincent shared not only his personal career path, but his continued passion for Hoyts Group.

We thank him for his energy and time, as well as those who attended. For details on our upcoming Moir Group events, please visit our Event Page, and please like us on Facebook and Twitter or follow our company page on LinkedIn.

Last month, Moir Group had the pleasure of hosting Su-Lin Ong, Managing Director of RBC Capital Markets and Head of Economics & Fixed Income Strategy (Australia/NZ).  The topic was “The Financial Year Ahead, The Challenges And Opportunities For The Australian And The Global Economy.”

Su-Lin started by saying that she is typically “glass half empty”. Given this and what she went on to say my conclusion was that the global and Australian economies are doing okay. 

Global Economy

The global developed economies are much better than they have been for a number of years and Australia is muddling along.

The US economy is strong, with almost full employment. The Greek situation is not really that relevant to Europe and it will have a very minimal impact on Europe if they default. Europe in the main is doing a lot better, and China is a worry as the Chinese economy is slowing more than expected.

Australian Economy

In many ways the Australian economy is muddling along and hasn’t changed much for a number of years.

2 Factors are driving the Australian economy:

1) Decline in mining investment

2) Decline in commodity prices

Very weak non mining capex investment. Businesses are not investing or spending that much and there is a lack of business confidence, mainly due to the lack of leadership at a federal level. Federally nothing is really happening. Lower terms of trade equals lower national income.

Housing is the consistent bright spot in the Australian economy. Housing prices in NSW will continue to rise, just not at the same level as the last 12 months.  Su Lin was reasonably positive around property and cautious around consumer confidence.

Households are starting to dip into savings, this is because wages growth is only a little above 2%.

There is scope for the RBA to cut rates by the end of this year and into 2016 and there could be one more rate cut. They want to keep the currency low. Tourism and education are responding very well to lower rates.

RBC do not put a lot of weight on official labour rate data. Construction & professional services are strong in employment and Mining continues to shed jobs.

NSW:

NSW is a much more diversified state, in terms of industries. NSW is far outperforming the rest of Australia and VIC is doing okay as it is reasonably diverse. WA and QLD are struggling as they are very reliant on mining.

Looking forward - The Fiscal Headwinds

1) Government expenditure is running at 26%. This is high. At some stage it needs to be reigned in. It can’t persist. “Little urgency breeds complacency”

2) Adjustment in wages. Uncompetitive on the labour cost front.

3) Household debt still heading in the wrong direction

4) Can productivity be maintained, it has seen a definite improvement.

So given Su-Lin’s glass “half empty” comment, I think most of us ended the presentation feeling reasonably optimistic about the short term outlook at least.

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event. If you would like a copy of presentation from the day, please click on this link, and for details on our upcoming Moir Group events, please visit our Event Page.

Moir Group " Emerging Leaders" Series with Anna Lee, CFO of THE ICONIC by Janette Tam, Senior Consultant, Moir Group  

Earlier this month, Moir Group ran its inaugural event in our new “Emerging Leaders” series. This series provides a great opportunity for future leaders of Australian business to gain an insight not only on the successes, but also the challenges faced by current successful leaders.

Our first key note speaker in this series was Anna Lee, CFO of THE ICONIC. Anna has over 20 years corporate experience in the Australian, New Zealand and APAC corporate environments. 

I had the opportunity to meet with Anna prior to the event. She immediately impressed me with her dedication, passion and drive. These key traits were evident to all as Anna presented and shared with us many insights on the day, including her vision for The Iconic, key challenges facing online retailers and also shared her views of how to create and maintain a harmonious work-life balance.

Anna pointed out the continuous challenge of an online retailer, like The Iconic, where you are always competing against the traditional retailer in that "there will always be a physical shop!”.

In relation to her team, Anna points out that "attitude is everything", and then went onto explain that "I like to motivate my finance team by sharing my passion and vision on the company. I think the key to success is to ensure they are with me on the same journey and want to achieve the same goals"

In relation to work-life balance, my key takeaway was the importance she placed on nutrition and staying healthy in maintaining concentration and keeping those energy levels up - “I want to be alert whether its 8am or 8pm!”

Anna’ then left us with a parting message to all the budding future leaders - "One key message for any aspiring CFO is that Finance is an important function, its ok to take risks and try something out. If it doesn’t work just move on and don’t dwell on it. “

We thank all the future leaders that attended and especially thank Anna for taking the time to inspire and motivate this select group.

For details on our upcoming Moir Group events, please visit our Event Page, and please like us on Facebook and Twitter or follow our company page on LinkedIn.

"Where To Next In The Australian Retail Market And How Should You Respond?" A Post Event Summary on Trent Duvall's Presentation by Emma Walsh, Business Manager, Moir Group 

Moir Group recently had the pleasure of hosting Trent Duvall, National Leader of Consumer Products at KPMG on “Where To Next In The Australian Retail Market And How Should You Respond?”. Trent’s portfolio in Australia encompasses Food & Beverage, Consumer Products and Agribusiness.  Trent is also a member of the global Consumer Markets practice and provided us with robust commentary and insights into the rapidly changing retail marketplace. 

 Some key points from the day include;

• Growth within the retail market has been in the categories of electronics and hardware. Other categories performing well are furniture, takeaway foods, footwear and personal accessories.
• Compared with other western countries Australia has performed well due to growing levels of wealth and strong GDP growth. Australia is viewed internationally as a good place to do business and with an increased number of businesses starting in Australia.
• The consumer has fundamentally been changed through technology. The new consumer is a creator, critic, producer, spectator, and community manager, and is always on!
• The way we shop for good and services has rapidly changed as we embrace online shopping. Bricks and mortar is here to stay but will evolve and savvy retailers are embracing innovations to create an interactive and seamless shopping experience. Some very futuristic and innovative shopping experiences are being piloted each day.
• Retailers are focusing heavily on inventory and fulfilment management as well as data analytics and security. There is consumer demand for increased speed, service and delivery flexibility to enhance the whole retail experience.  We are seeing a lot more “click and collect” delivery options and with the emergence of in-home enablers such as Amazon Dash and Mobile Wallet, the future is coming! 

Thank you to everyone who came along to this event. If you would like a copy of presentation from the day, please click on this link, and for details on our upcoming Moir Group events, please visit our Event Page.

At our recent lunchtime event we were delighted to have guest speaker Sean Spence speak to our candidate community. Sean’s topic was “how do you stay positive when you are going through a career transition?” What things do you need to do every day that will keep you positive?

Asking yourself “How am I going?” is an important first step. Sean then uses a framework he calls FEROCITY, which is shorthand for considering 8 possible strategies that really can work for you.

Focused – You must have a target or targets, think about how you choose them and what works for you. For example, Sean will retreat to a coffee shop, where everything is taken care of for him and there is no interruptions from family or friends. This enables him to be in the moment and stay focused on his target for the day

Energised – What do you do about your energy? Think about your physical, mental, emotional and also spiritual energy. Reflect on what is your meaning and purpose in life, what is it about your whole being that keeps you on “song”

Respected – Respect yourself! What are you good at? Find the most influential person you know and catch up with them and ask their opinion and feedback of you. Be vulnerable, trust them and really listen to their feedback

Organised – It not about time management but more about rhythms and pacing yourself. Think about your circadian rhythms, what parts of the day do you work best? Are you a morning person or an evening person? Understand your own rhythm and make your day work according to this

Caring – Without caring about people and issues, you’ll have no followers and your leadership and impact will be diminished. On the flip side, you also need to be cared about and include your family, friends and colleagues in this. Empathy is a very powerful force to create engagement with others.

Innovate – To innovate you need a target, a process and a reason. You can only actually innovate on “something”. Know what you need in terms of the rate of change you can tolerate

Timeframe – When your timeframe is out of whack, when you are buried in fighting fires and seem to have no connection to your future and cannot look ahead. Are you trying to just exist and get through day to day?

Youthful Passion – When you are in touch with your youthful passion there is something very charismatic about this. People will follow you, your impact is enhanced and this makes your career more sustainable. When you are attached to your passions you are also a lot happier in yourself. During career transition you can tend to lose your passion and feel lost and adrift. As you are changing and going through this transition, allow the idea that your passion will return

You can also use the FEROCITY strategies to lead your team, monitor and sustain their focus and also re-energise them.

So when you are feeling fragile, flat and stale and wondering how to LIFT yourself. Then stop and RESET and use even just one of these buttons……..FEROCITY   

To find out more about Sean visit www.seanspence.com.au and head to our events page to see details about all our upcoming events. 

At our recent Moir Group event held in North Ryde, JP Morgan’s Chief Economist Stephen Walters gave his perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing the Australian and the global economy in 2015. Despite how he was quoted in the media during the previous week, Stephen was positive about the outlook for the Australian economy for the coming year. 

In particular Stephen Walters highlighted

• Australia’s low level of government gross debt as a % of GDP, relative to OECD average (significantly higher)
• Australia’s benign inflation forecasts and cooling wages growth
• Ongoing low interest rates
• Domestic tourism sector’s likely growth, benefiting from the lower AUD
• Continued rising house prices, leading to higher construction rates

Stephen did note the following areas of caution for the year ahead

• The lack of consumer and business confidence
• The lack of productivity growth
• Rising unemployment rates (Australia is now slightly higher than the US in this measure)

From a global perspective, Stephen noted some ongoing uncertainties, especially in Greece, and noted that in 2015 the Australian economy may be impacted by changes in US interest rates.  

Concluding on a positive note, Stephen felt that if Australia is able to address the challenges of  productivity growth, consumer and business confidence, the economy will be well positioned for growth in the coming 12 months.

If you are interested in hearing another view on the nation’s economic outlook for 2015, see our short interview with David McDonald, Chief Investment Strategist, Australia  - Credit Suisse

To find out more about our other upcoming events, visit our events page

Newton Soares, Moir Group's Business Manager, Banking and Financial Services

Read Newton's reflections on David McDonald's speech .  David is the Chief Investment Strategist, Australia at Credit Suisse AG and spoke at our Moir Group event last week on "Challenges facing the Australian and global economy in 2015".

"Listening to David McDonald's views on the challenges our economy is facing certainly highlighted many positives for the year ahead. What I took away was that the key driver behind the economy is having a “happy nation” i.e. If you are happy, you spend more, businesses increase revenue, expand, hire more people and this drives the economy.

What unfortunately is preventing us from “being happy” is a “lack of consumer & business confidence”. It is confusing, when Australia is in a much healthier position than most of the world.

David compared us to Continental Europe with double digit unemployment, interest rates below 1%, lack of growth and serious regional issues in Russia & Ukraine.

David highlighted that in Australia we have relatively low unemployment rates, our houses have all increased in value and our economy is still growing at a faster rate than most developed countries. 

He also noted the significant drop in petrol prices, effectively equivalent to a tax cut, and a further reduction in interest rates by the RBA mean we should have more disposable income. I am sure most people in Continental Europe would love to swap places with us without a second thought.

So the question is, what is creating the lack of consumer & business confidence?

At the Commonwealth Bank's recent HY Profit announcement, CEO Ian Narev made reference to the Federal government needing to have a clearer plan that is clearly communicated.  He commented:

"Businesses need the certainty to invest to create jobs, and households need a greater feeling of security. That requires implementation of a coherent long-term plan that clearly addresses target government debt levels and time-frames, infrastructure priorities, foreign investment, business competitiveness policies and, above all, job creation."

I’ve always used recruitment as an indicator of how the economy is travelling.  When the economy is poor, recruitment volumes drop and head count freezes are common.  We haven’t seen any of this at Moir Group.  As accounting recruitment specialists we had a record 2014 revenue year and January 2015 has been exceptionally busy.

In summary, I walked away from David’s presentation with optimism and renewed belief that we are in a strong position for growth.  I remain positive about the year ahead."

If you are interested in this topic, Stephen Walters, Chief Economist at JP Morgan will speak on the same theme at our North Ryde event this Thursday.  Limited tickets still available. Register on our events page

By Stephen Moir

2014 was a strong year at Moir Group and, looking forward, we think 2015 will also be a good year. We noted this strength across all the temporary/contracting and permanent accountancy/finance recruitment markets in which we operate, and from the more junior roles to the very senior level. 

Having said this, building through 2014 there was also an underlying sense that 'all is not quite right' with the Australian economy.  We believe this feeling will definitely flow into 2015. 

 It is hard to balance this "sense" with what we are seeing in terms of tangible results. It may be that this sense of unease and lack of confidence is just the new normal in which businesses and individuals operate, or it may be a sign of more fundamental issues in the Australian economy. We tend to think it is the former and that individuals in their job search and businesses generally are and will continue to adjust to these types of conditions. 

The single most important factor when looking at joining a new business is ensuring that you are aligned with the culture and values of the organisation. It should also be the case with the company you currently work for. If this is right everything else tends to follow. 

Given the "new normal" mentioned above, excellent leadership should also rank highly when looking at a new employer. The organisations that will continue to grow into the future and maximise the opportunities that these rapidly changing times afford, will be those with outstanding leaders. These leaders have a meaningful sense of purpose, strong values and a clear strategy all of which are linked. For ambitious individuals it is very important to be aligned with these types of leaders.

Strong leadership is one of the key components of a satisfying job.  It is also a vital element of a good cultural fit.  For this reason, at Moir Group we ensure this is a focus with all our candidates.

A winning resume should follow a very simple but effective outline.  It should be clear and highlight you, your strengths, current work place and work place achievements. 

Make sure you include:

• 3-4 key strengths
• Tangible career achievements
• Details of your current or most recent role
• Simple, clear and up to date information
• And keep it to no more than 4 pages

Make sure you are honest and be positive in your writing.  Ensure you include both tangible achievements as well as responsibilities.  Your resume may be the document that helps you to progress your career within your current organisation or introduces you to a new organisation and career path.  Ultimately it becomes the document that sells you, so it is very important that your resume is a winning resume.