Jane (not her real name), an experienced corporate treasurer, widely recognized for innovative approaches to fund raising and running effective and efficient corporate treasury departments throughout her career, retired. The moment she left her employer for the last 10 years lost 30 years experience. She just left, she’d had enough, needed a break. But where was the plan to make use of this experience when she became bored and needed something to do? There wasn’t any. We should learn from the Japanese.

Japan exploits experience

An article in The Financial Times today, Japan puts its seniors to work, describes how:

• cosmetics maker Pola’s sales force includes a woman who recently turned 100
• a 83 year old has a customer database in her head knowing the preferences, ages, health stats and shopping habits of her clients
• manufacturers now allow skilled workers to stay on past the retirement age of 65 , e.g. 71 year old Seto is still working and is also an instructor, “advising colleagues in their 20s and 30s who eagerly seek his help.”

Exploiting corporate treasury experience 

Many people have tried to duplicate experence and understanding, e.g. Steve Jobs tried to encapsulate and teach the Apple way, there is a whole branch of Artificial Intelligence devoted to pattern recognition, but the key decisions in corporate treasury are way beyond these approaches. It is far better to have the experienced corporate treasurer guide and train direct. 

But how?:

• traditional approaches:
  • using interim corporate treasurers? Can be expensive and when they leave the experience has still walked out the door
  • using consultants? Same problems as an interim, but even more costly
• using part-time advisors for a few hours per week - could clearly be useful, but there will be problems:
  • how overcome old rivalries?
  • how stop old corporate treasurers trying to take over again?

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CTMfile take: There is no easy solution, nevertheless, corporate treasury departments and corporate treasurers need to make use of this experience that “is lost forever”.