WC CFO TheStrategicCFO#44 Online NZ Final - Flipbook - Page 1
Jay Orsborn
Journalist
Jay has spent 25 years working in commercial and finance leadership roles for
companies operating throughout Europe, the UK, the US and Australia including
PwC, Time Warner, Culture Amp, Envato and Open Universities Australia.
Working in high-growth, entrepreneurial companies at the forefront of disruption and
transformation has given Jay unique insight into the challenges facing the modern-day
finance leader who seeks to deliver a robust finance function that genuinely supports
and drives business performance.
Jay now works with CEOs, CFOs and finance teams to help them have greater impact
on the business and organisation.
Anthony Elliott is the Chief Operating Office of the online digital
platform, Open Universities Australia (“OUA”) and his wide-ranging remit
includes Finance, Data & Analytics, Legal, HR, IT, Coaching & Continuous
Improvement and Partnerships.
The business does not have a formal
CFO but with genuine humility, Anthony
notes that this is simply one of the many
roles he plays and he believes that his
detailed knowledge of operations gives
him more credibility when presenting
numbers in the boardroom.
“I don’t think of myself as a role or
a title. I have a set of experiences
that can be applied to organisations
that need them and see myself as an
enterprise leader with the goal of
aligning effort to impact.”
When referring to his wide remit,
Anthony says he empowers his leaders
to make decisions in their areas and he
focuses on getting them to think about
how they add value to the other areas
of the business.
He is constantly asking them, “What do
you see and think because of information
you have access to that others do not.”
In a world where the CFO is expected
to contribute to strategy and play
a lead role in driving performance,
Anthony has a lot of valuable insight
for the strategic CFO.
Resetting OUA’s strategic
direction
OUA has a successful, 27-year
history and like many not for profit
organisations, it has a very clear purpose
but it has also been through significant
changes over the last 5-10 years.
“Our purpose is to enable access to
Higher Education by providing different
pathways, it is written into legislation
and the way we achieve this has evolved
over time.”
Anthony recalls when he first arrived
at OUA and there were conversations
with shareholders about whether the
business should continue to exist.
Some might be daunted by this
conversation but he saw it as a great
opportunity, “organisations should
constantly be asking why they exist
and what value they add”.
Following on from the conversations
with shareholders, OUA pivoted from
a strategy of expansion into new areas
(launching an online vocational training
business, providing white label services
and shaping the online experience) to
becoming a marketplace that helped
students navigate the (sometimes
confusing) world of higher education.
Clear and compelling
narrative is critical
As they worked through the new strategy,
Anthony’s instinctive focus on narrative
kicked in and he kept asking ”how does
this new approach fit with students,
shareholders, employees and partners –
does all of that hang together? If I was
telling this story, what questions would
people ask? Are there inconsistencies?
Are all disparate areas working towards
something that is common?”
Once the strategy and story were set
and understood, it was all about making
it happen and Anthony employed an
unconventional but effective technique
to get his message across.
“I wanted everyone to focus on and
understand our student acquisition
funnel, so I put a picture of the funnel
on a t-shirt and wore that to meetings
until everyone understood.”
The message really
hit home
Anthony wore the t-shirt for a year
and he enthusiastically notes the
power of repetition.
His unconventional approach also
inspired others in the business and
the t-shirt he wore hangs in the OUA
kitchen along with others that were
created by his peers.
A brutal lens on focus
Key to delivering the new strategy was
what Anthony refers to as a “brutal lens
on focus - decide what you are going to
do and more importantly, decide what
you are not going to do.”
CFOMagazine.com.au
