Promoting Global Standardization – and Grabbing a Few Tools Along the Way

Interview by Barbara Hodge Craig Simpkins, Director - Global Process and Finance Service & Delivery at Johnson Controls, is a change agent to the nth degree, with 20 plus years experience in shared services. In his current role at Johnson Controls he leads the governance, design, development, and implementation of global processes and management of global process team. Craig recently completed, and graduated from, SSON’s SSO Pro course, and took a call from Barbara Hodge to offer feedback on why he decided to go "back to school" at this stage of his career. [eventPDF] Barbara Hodge: Craig, what is your main role at Johnson Control? Craig Simpkins: I am a Global Process leader for both the order-to-cash and the procure-to-pay work streams, so my main role is to drive standardization across our global operations, through Shared Services. My second role is that of a kind of mediator between the business unit and the Shared Services. I am not actually part of the Shared Services Organization, but I sit between the business and the 5 global centers, to ensure we are focusing on the right thing. In my case, that means – apart from standardizing the Finance processes – also accounting for cultural differences to get the most out of our global teams, managing the talent pipeline, motivating staff, etc. Barbara Hodge: You recently graduated from our online training course [SSO Pro]. How long did it take you to finish? Craig Simpkins: Longer than I wanted [laughs]! I would say about a year. I fit the course work in around my working week, and time just sort of got away from me. To do this the right way – meaning you review the attachments as well as complete the course work – does take a while. Barbara Hodge: What was your favorite module? Craig Simpkins: The last one – Advanced Shared Services and Outsourcing – pulled everything together, so I thought that was really good, considering some of the modules were 10 months back. Governance and Compliance is really important to me, and frankly it should be important to a lot of people in this day and age, so those modules were good, too. I also really rated the Financial Acumen modules because I'm a finance guy, so it was good to go through that. Really all the topics that were covered are important. Barbara Hodge: Are there any topics that were not covered, which you’d like to see included? Craig Simpkins: Managing metrics and KPIs is really important. It was covered in the course, but I think you could probably expand on this, especially as these days a lot of that data is driving continuous improvement, which I spend a lot of time thinking about. Barbara Hodge: How have you incorporated learnings from the course work into your day-to-day operations? Craig Simpkins: I used a lot of the material from the Benchmarking module to enhance what I was already doing on a daily basis. Part of that module was a process benchmarking workbook, which I downloaded and often referenced. Barbara Hodge: How do you leverage the knowledge you have gained from the course for the benefit of the broader business? In other words, how do you preserve knowledge for the company? Craig Simpkins: I’ve been working in this industry for 20 years, and a lot has changed over that time. It’s really useful to do a course like this to get new ideas, see some new material, and keep things fresh. It also helps to reinforce some of the things I already knew (or thought I knew), and broaden my scope in other areas. There are several templates or documents that I have often incorporated into presentations or workshops. In terms of preserving the knowledge, I have created two folders on my computer, one for any articles or attachments that I’ve read and filed; and another for items that I’ve read but will always reuse. I use that second folder a lot – it’s a real gold mine for me, and I guess you could say that by reusing that information in internal documents and presentations, there is a certain multiplier effect going on. Barbara Hodge: What are some of the main challenges for you in the year ahead? Craig Simpkins: There are three things that are really important to me. First, I need to continue to understand the rules and regulations that exist in different regions and different countries. The way you do business in China differs from the way you do business in Brazil, etc. So it’s important to be aware. The second thing is knowing how to deal with individuals and cultural differences. Given our global operations this is really important, especially from a services delivery perspective. A lot of wastage happens as a result of cultural disconnect. And finally, I want to ensure that we stay on track for driving standardization on a global basis. There’s always a lot of resistance to change, so I’ve got to keep my eye firmly on the end goal, which is standardization. Barbara Hodge: Are there any people that you would like to see as moderators for these modules, or who you think should be involved with our network in a collaborative function? Craig Simpkins: Yes: Me! Kidding aside, I enjoyed doing the course, and I think I have a strong background in certain areas, which I’d like to share, whether by moderating a module or through a webinar, or some other channel. The areas that I think are particularly important and in which I have a lot of experience include talent management, understanding and leveraging cultural differences globally, and of course general F&A processes around order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, contract management, etc. Barbara Hodge: Thank you, Craig, for taking the time to speak with me. Find out more about SSON's online training program: SSO Pro. [Editor’s note: Craig will indeed be moderating a webinar for SSO Pro in the near future. He’ll also be starting a regular column on the SSON website [www.ssonetwork.com], in which he’ll highlight challenges he has faced over the course of his career in F&A, and share some solutions. Please look out for this.] Connect with Craig via LinkedIn

Promoting Global Standardization – and Grabbing a Few Tools Along the Way

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