Natalie Burkhart
Adding a coin to your piggy bank every day in hopes of filling it full of money was the childhood dream of many. According to Nancy Wurtzel, “The average person can save more than $600 a year simply by saving their spare change” (2007). With business communication at hand, you can now overflow your piggy banks. Director of Supply Chain Finance for Scott’s Miracle-Gro, Brian Finney, took the time to convey his thoughts on the importance of communication in the workplace. During the interview process, Mr. Finney emphasizes the matters of conciseness and knowing and understanding the audience. Readers should take with them the concept that communication should be clear and to the point in a way their audience will comprehend. After Mr. Finney’s nineteen years of experience and understanding, readers should take his word from this interview so they too can add a coin to their piggy bank.
What is your professional history (include your timeline and roles)?
Finney: “ 2000 – 2010 worked for Siemens in a number of accounting & finance roles (started as a basic accountant, progressed to Sr Financial Analyst, Cost Accounting Manager, Plant Controller). 2011 – present work for Scott’s Miracle Gro started as a Controller over a number of plants, then Controller of North America Growing Media operations, now Director of Supply Chain Finance.”
What writing advice do you have for professional communicators?
Finney: “Have a good knowledge base of what you are talking about, be concise and to the point, tailor your message to the group your are talking to (ie don’t talk technical accounting to a Plant Supervisor).”
What is your one pet peeve when it comes to professional writing?
Finney: “ It can be overly wordy and overly technical.”
What kind of business reports do you read and/or compose regularly?
Finney: “I read a lot of reports on commodities and trends in supply chains; I don’t compose a lot of business reports (unless Powerpoint is a business report).”
What are your writing suggestions to make those types of reports successful?
Finney: “Again be concise and to the point.”
What speaking advice do you have for professional communicators?
Finney: “Know the audience you are addressing. Make the conversation matter, hit the main points and don’t feel you need to fill time with words.”
Name one thing you wish you had known about business communication prior to your professional career?
Finney: “just how much time is spent building powerpoint decks!”
After assessing the Burning Glass list of Baseline Skills (2016), which skills not in the top 5 would you move into the top 5…and why?
Finney: “Building Effective Relationships – this is a must for any finance professional that is working for a non finance company. If you want to have influence you have to have good working relationships with your counter parts. Leadership – finance is often looked at to lead or assist in leading organizations.”
What team skills do you feel young professionals need the most?
Finney: “Ability to work cross functionally; desire to learn about the business they are supporting.”
Interview Takeaways
Brian Finney understands what it takes to master business communication throughout his work, which makes him an experienced businessman. He states multiple important takeaways during his interview. Mr. Finney works and communicates with individuals who do not share the same word usage because they work in different departments than him. In that case, Mr. Finney would determine his audience by considering the knowledge they already possess over the topic and portray his thoughts in a way that everyone could comprehend. He realizes how extensive of a process it is to outline information for others to translate as well. Being able to comprehend information is a vital part of accomplishing goals within a business.
Mr. Finney states the importance of conciseness when conveying a message. It is key to communicate in an effective way containing content that matters to your audience. Mr. Finney points out how hard it is for others to interpret information in a technical form, which explains why being concise is of importance when communicating. Team skills are another important factor in business communication. When working in teams, you should build a functioning source of communication between all members of the group. Then, as a team, everyone should brainstorm, study, and learn about the topic, organization, or entire business they promote. Through the process of working as a functional team, they should be capable of success.
Mr. Finney points out the importance of building relationships in the workforce. He utilizes leadership within organizations as well. To understand your work environment, you must retain productive relationships with coworkers, other companies, and those higher up in the business than you. Mr. Finney recognizes it is possible for a professional to work in an organization that is not in his or her profession. It is crucial to have effective relationships built in those situations to be capable of working toward an efficient and successful outcome. Mr. Finney also recognizes the role of leadership within a business. To communicate in an effective manner, you must know how to lead within an organization. Leadership provides the following opportunities:
- Acquire a raise
- Work with others outside your company
- Share ideas that were not heard before the leadership position
Business communication is a vital skill to have in the business industry. Knowing and understanding how to communicate in a proper and effective manner with fellow employees, supervisors, and other companies is an important task to master. Pursuing the task of communication takes practice as well, because it is not as easy for some as it is for others. It is important to note not everyone around you will communicate, comprehend, or interpret everything in the same way as you. When discussing a topic in a meeting, you might take a different approach when interpreting the same information than the person sitting right next to you. As long as you keep it simple, yet effective, you will be able to get your point across faster and easier. As Mr. Finney experienced throughout his working career, communication is the key to success in not only the business world, but in all fields of life. While Mr. Finney stressed the importance of both building effective relationships and leadership skills, they are on the low end of the Skills Gap for Baseline Skills, yet both contribute to the development of business communication skills, as seen in the below figure. Business communication skills allow for better job opportunities further leading to better pay, which is always a bonus. You cannot go wrong with getting paid an extra cent to add to your piggy bank.
Brian Finney Biography
Brian Finney went to high school at St. Johns Jesuit in Toledo, Ohio. He attended college at Indiana University and received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance. Finney’s career history after college began by accepting a job for Siemens, further holding a wide variety of accounting and finance positions. Through that experience, he was able to advance his career. Finney obtained a job at Scott’s Miracle-Gro, where he began as a controller over a group and is now a director over a finance group. He has experience with accounting, finance, management, and has had leadership roles over operations and finance. Finney also worked with balance sheet reporting, analysis, budgeting, and auditing. Fun fact of his is that he was a 5K champion for his age group.
Brian Finney’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-finney-96858921?trk=people-guest_profile-result-card_result-card_full-click
Scott’s Miracle-Gro Website: https://www.miraclegro.com/en-us?cmp=kid/Gardens/Bing_SEM/Brand/B_Gardens_Brand_Do_CoreTermsGeneral/B_Gardens_Brand_Do_CoreTermsGeneral&s_kwcid=AL!4676!10!15869777851!25451342183&ef_id=XGHyqAAAAEFnoJhY:20190906184957:s
Natalie Burkhart is a sophomore at the Romain College of Business within the University of Southern Indiana (USI). She strives for an accounting degree with a minor in finance. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in the spring of 2022, she plans to become a certified public accountant. She also considers operating her own side business consisting of doing the public’s taxes.
