One treasurer uses a quiz to educate, promote communication and build interest in treasury among finance teams.
Treasury teams often struggle to attract talent when competing with more glamourous finance functions. Part of the problem is a lack of understanding of what treasury does.
- To build awareness and interest in treasury and enhance communication with other finance teams at his company, one treasurer created a contest to test the knowledge of senior leaders.
- He described the quiz at a recent meeting of NeuGroup’s Treasurers’ Group of Thirty, sponsored by Standard Chartered.
Treasury 101. As many as 40 contestants compete for a small prize by answering a multiple-choice questionnaire called Treasury 101 that consists of 20 to 25 questions on subjects including:
- Treasury organization
- Cash management
- Strategic objectives
- Corporate finance
- Risk management
- Insurance
Time’s up. After the contestants have selected an answer, the subject matter expert tells them which one is correct and spends a few minutes providing more color, the treasurer explained.
- “For instance, ‘How many people work in treasury?’ We might say 20, and then show the staff’s geographical dispersion or an organization chart showing who they are and what everybody does.”
- As for results, he said, “We tend to find that most attendees have very little knowledge of the treasury function in general.”
The serious objective of having fun. The treasurer said the contest has three objectives:
- “To educate others about who is treasury and what we do.
- “Establish interest in treasury and create a bench of potential talent who might be interested in a career in treasury.
- “Have some fun and interaction with other finance departments.”
Positive results. In addition to the game being well attended and well received by participants, the member said the contestants are always a little more knowledgeable and appreciative of treasury’s role in the company after the event.
- “It’s generated a lot of interest,” he said. And though participants in the game tend not to get too many questions correct, many participants reflect on how much they learned about treasury and how much fun they had.
- While the game is better organized in an office location where lunch or snacks can be offered, in the current climate, it also works well virtually.
- Anyone who thinks they can win by turning to the internet should know “they will not find the answers on Google—that’s for sure,” the treasurer said.