Diversity and Teamwork

Building Treasury Relationships

The merger in 2016 that formed leading global advisory, broking, and solutions company WTW cultivated an environment of constant change for the firm’s treasury. In a recent TMI podcast, Frances Cavanagh, Director, Treasury Operations, and Rivka Attal, Senior Treasury Operations Manager, explored how strong relationships have been the key to success. Sophie Cartwright, Director, International Treasury Specialist, BNP Paribas, was also on hand to explain how close collaboration between bank and client has helped to ease the journey.

Describing post-merger changes over the past few years as a “treasury transformation”, Cavanagh today paints a picture of a successful, regionally centralised operation at WTW. In practical terms, the merger created a geographically dispersed treasury team of around 30, composed of five regional hubs – Manilla, Nashville, London, Ipswich, Reigate and the global in-house banking entity located in Amsterdam.

That geographic spread has naturally led to a culturally diverse team, notes Cavanagh. With around two-thirds of its treasury employees being female, and an age differential spanning some 30 years, she believes WTW is ensuring the advantages of diversity and inclusion (D&I) are maximised within the team.

D&I is very much part of the WTW culture, to the extent that it has taken on an organic, unforced quality. “From a treasury perspective, it’s developed naturally,” comments Cavanagh.

Incidences of prejudice are still evident in this male-dominated industry though. She recalls an all-female delegation from the company being rebutted by members of an all-male banking team who effectively requested to see “the man in charge”.

Such unenlightened views are slowly disappearing. Working in a diverse team not only helps keep such prejudices at bay, but also facilitates different skill sets and viewpoints, says Attal. Treasury is a specialised role and has its own set of technical demands, making the front office experience different to that of the back office, for example. But when a team has access to a range of personal qualities and backgrounds, suddenly different opinions and perspectives emerge, encouraging new ways of thinking. “It’s refreshing and open,” she remarks.

Finding the right talent to build a diverse team starts with the right skill set; this is particularly true for specialised roles such as treasury. However, only so much can be gleaned from a CV. For Cavanagh, “the cultural fit is as important as the skill set the individual brings, and D&I is a big part of that,” she notes.

The values of D&I are ingrained into the culture of BNP Paribas too, notes Cartwright. From a client perspective, she says it is becoming increasingly common to emphasise D&I elements within some requests for proposal (RFPs), with responses used to “grade” banks as treasurers begin positively influencing the D&I journey through their financial relationships.

As part of its cash management service, BNP Paribas prides itself on the mix of skills and cultures within its workforce, Cartwright reports. “By creating diverse client-facing teams we can put forward the best solutions, facilitating an openness to different thought processes and views that would not always be possible with homogenous teams.”

Teamwork pays dividends

This sensitivity to team dynamics makes a positive difference for Cavanagh. Since the merger that created WTW, she says treasury has been through some major changes. “Our previously UK/US-centric treasury team suddenly had far greater reach,” she notes. With the existing bank pool replaced by the new partnership in 2016 with BNP Paribas, a “snowballing” of such changes has been evident. She believes that the bank’s commitment to fit culturally as well as professionally has facilitated a smooth transition throughout this phase.

From the outset, the creation of the in-house banking business in Amsterdam, in partnership with BNP Paribas, was seen as a key part of the new treasury structure. Attal reports that where cash had previously been retained at an entity level in a number of countries.”, the new structure enabled sweeping and concentration, with notable improvements in overall cash visibility aided by daily SWIFT reports directly into the firm’s newly updated treasury management system.

Placing so much responsibility in the hands of one bank is a demonstration of confidence in that partner. BNP Paribas’ winning combination of coverage, service “and the willingness of the team to work with us to develop that solution,” has been borne out, says Cavanagh.

Indeed, with many other joint initiatives having since been undertaken, she says the bank has proven itself to be “ready, willing and able to help wherever they can and whenever we need them”. This is true even when plans have changed at the last minute, BNP Paribas’ patience, she admits, having established itself as a key virtue.

The collaborative nature of their work to date has undoubtedly formed a strong relationship between WTW and BNP Paribas. With local treasury teams having previously only worked with domestic or regional partners, BNP Paribas has impressed these teams with its professionalism and efficacy, says Cavanagh. It’s a simple formula: “If challenges crop up, they get resolved.” With her own team having been close to BNP Paribas from the start, she says it’s good to see different teams across different countries also now benefitting. “It’s like we’re growing together.”

There is abundant pride in the outcome of this shared journey, and for Cartwright, “a lot has been achieved together”. She acknowledges the effort by both sets of teams to adapt and build a tailored response for the different countries in which WTW is present. “It’s allowed us to showcase the flexibility we needed to win the mandate and develop the strong relationship we now have,” she comments.

The flexibility and adaptability exhibited by BNP Paribas’ team stands out as a defining feature of the relationship for Attal. As a case in point, the bank’s online portal, Connexis, is served out of the UK and based on the English language. With a global presence, WTW users at times felt language was a barrier to full technical understanding. But by adapting its offering to give local support, Cartwright’s team was able to meet their needs.

“I’m very reassured that I can speak freely to the bank and that they will follow up,” comments Attal. “I feel that BNP Paribas are doing what they can to accommodate us. We’re in good hands!”

Cavanagh offers another example of this client-centric model. With WTW’s local finance director in Italy needing a mobile payments approval tool, she says the bank managed to deliver. “It was impressive,” she states. “In general, the way we’ve challenged them on various fronts has shown they are willing to take it on board and see what they can do to help us.”

A rather larger project that upheld this view came in the form of WTW’s Brexit planning. It had been decided that a UK branch would be established in its Belgian office. Although an existing entity, it had “some new and quite specific and time-bound requirements”, notes Cavanagh. With the pressure on, she confirms that BNP Paribas “stepped up to the plate to help us in every way”.

From managing documentation and enabling day-to-day foreign exchange trading facilities to facilitating relationships with other banking partners, WTW has been able to continue developing its own business model in the post-Brexit trading environment.

That said, Brexit brought with it many continuing uncertainties affecting the planning of many a bank and client partnership. “It’s meant working through all of those together, with flexibility and adaptability necessary on both sides,” notes Cartwright. “The team within WTW were able to give us a clear view on their timeframes and how they wanted us to set up each aspect; it’s enabled us to get the right solutions in place well in advance so we were all very well prepared for Brexit.”

Keys to success

The way in which the partnership between WTW and BNP Paribas has attended to trade and political concerns such as Brexit, technical issues such as the creation of an in-house banking business, and the social concerns of D&I, reveals a number of strengths at play.

For Cavanagh, planning has been key to success in every case. She believes it is essential “to put as much as you can on the table from the outset”. If it’s not possible to solve all issues immediately, it’s at least a means of exposing the true aims of any project.

The capacity to stay focused is also a vital component. But she says while project teams on both sides refer often to planning documentation to ensure it remains on track, flexibility is vital too. “As we learn more about a project, we sometimes have to alter our approach to fit the changing reality of what the company or even treasury wants and needs,” she explains.

Attal summons up the expression ‘Rome was not built in a day’ to encapsulate the steady approach of WTW following the merger. “The scale of the company is so wide, and the projects we have undertaken in the past few years so different, that we knew we had to take it one step at a time, keeping our goals in sight at all times,” she says. The driving force here has been a blend of team spirit and strong communication.

“We’ve kept all channels open, keeping the business up to speed with what treasury is aiming to achieve, and working with our banks, especially BNP Paribas, to bring them along with us so they can stay creative and keep their knowledge and expertise flowing in our direction.”

Of course, the many methods and aims of cash management reflect the diversity of business itself. “As a bank, we have to appreciate that one size does not fit all, and that we must adapt to make sure that we build successful relationships, as we have with WTW,” states Cartwright.

To the combination of team spirit and strong communication she adds transparency, citing WTW’s treasury team as an exemplar. “They’ve allowed us to adapt and propose the best solutions for the company, and that’s helped us build strong ongoing dialogue and ensure the partnership remains flexible yet robust.”