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I often get to the end of a week and find my to do list piled high with tasks that weren’t important enough to action earlier in the week.
More often than not however, I find that actually the items on that list – whilst generally being the more laborious, thinky tasks – are the ones that add the most overall value.
I put my phone out of reach, my headphones in, and get to work – knowing that if I reach the end, the weekend will feel that much more deserved, and Monday will be an easier, more productive, and mentally lighter day.
Getting through that to-do list is much how 2024 has felt. For our clients, for our competitors, and for ourselves.
After the good times of 2022 when investment in treasury was at an all-time high, followed by a year of high market stress, and the subsequent survival instincts that caused the market to slow – 2024 has feltlike the first year since the pandemic that we’ve had a chance to properly take stock. With interest rates falling and the labour markets stabilising, leaders have had the space to ask the tough questions that no-one had time to consider previously.
From what I can see these include:
Do we have the right talent in the team?
Are we investing enough in technology, automation and AI?
Do we have the right people to succession plan for our senior roles?
How do we take 80% productivity to 90% and above?
The response to this shift back towards strategic thinking has played out in lots of exciting ways.
My views on each below:
Data shows us that this year, treasury leaders have put a far higher focus on both skill and culture fit comparative to the three years leading up to it. Interview processes have generally been longer and slower and stilted decision making has also demonstrated increased uncertainty from hiring managers. This could be putdown to a generally more cautious market, however there is a definite sense that, after the recruitment frenzy of 21-22, when it felt like businesses were hiring as much to avoid FOMO as having a genuine need… leaders are trying to be smarter with the choices they make around their people.
The answer on this depends on who you talk to – from treasury leaders it’s almost unanimously NO! whilst the CFO population seem to agree in principle but often not in budget. Even so, if you look at the sheer volume of TMS installations, change overs and upgrades, it’s clear that general sentiment is that having the right tech in place is paramount to future departmental performance. This has created huge amounts of work – in a positive way! –for everyone from Big 4, right the way down to individual contractors and has been an area of notable buoyance in the 2024 treasury labour market. No one however will be coming out of this year quite as smug as Melissa Di Donato – CEO of Kyriba. I don’t think I need to explain to anyone why.
Where the labour market has been slow at Analyst & Manager level, we have seen consider able movement in the #2 space. With what seems to be an increasing focus on succession planning for Group Treasurers – both because it’s sensible, but also often to derisk teams without obvious homegrown talent to draw from – lots of the mandates this year have been for Assistant & Deputy level roles across just about every sector. This has been good for the market not only in the obvious sense of giving ambitious #2’s a clearer shot at landing a GT role before the turn of the decade, but also, given those below them a chance to climb the ladder too.
It’s natural that when we feel like we have the basics in place, we start to look at how we can improve and optimise – Maslow had a lot to say about it in 1954 and in 2024 treasurers listened. This kind of ties together all of the above points, but as this year has progressed, the conversations I’ve been having with GT’s have been increasingly less focused on fixing problems and firefighting, and more of a more inquisitive nature – what are our competitors doing? What are the most common projects I’m seeing? What sort of hires can we make to take us from good to great?
To have this being the general sentiment of the market in my opinion shows a true departure from the reactive approach so many had to adopt in 21-23 to a far more introspective, reflective and inquisitive mentality that is where innovation and progress flourish.
And much like the treasury market, we’ve seen it’s good friend and occasional sparing partner – the treasury recruitment community – go through similar self-reflections and redefining of who they want, and need to be in relation to the market they serve.
After two years of seemingly endless job flow, 2023 gave many of us a nasty shock when we finally had to start picking up the phone again. Almost overnight we had to shift from a delivery mindset – putting candidates in front of clients – to a sales focused one, and it wasn’t an easy switch. For the first time in a long time we were having to think about who we were?
What were our USP’s?
What did our clients need from us that wasn’t just CV’s?
And in a recruitment landscape that is increasingly squeezed by direct hiring – how did we remain relevant?
The answers to these questions have looked slightly different from each player, but a general theme has been in improved market knowledge, insightful consultation and being thought leaders in our space –recognised in 2023 and crystalised in 2024. Much like the treasurers we support, we are having to do more with less, which whilst often punishing work, pushes us to step away from the “CV service” methodology that us recruiters so often get our bad name from, and focus on an approach that positions us true value add partners.
At GM Treasury, I believe we have risen to meet this trend, growing our offering out from just myself covering all treasury markets at the beginning of the year, to a team of three with clear separation between our corporate treasury and FS & banking offerings as well as a clearly defined interim, contract and projects desk to supplement them.
Alongside this we have also devised a clear dual-approach methodology for delivering on #1 mandates that we will put into practice early next year that will maximise both coverage and expertise on how we add value to the senior market. In conjunction with this we also have a new, slick way of coding and managing our candidates at all levels to ensure we really can access the most relevant treasury talent on the market, in the shortest period of time.
To summarise, after the post covid party years of 21-22 followed by the nasty hangover that was 23, this year has very much been a year of reflection, learning and growth. I think I speak for both my team and clients when I say it’s been testing, mentally challenging and at times just outright gruelling, but overall spending some time on the to-do list that has been 2024, has put us all in good shape for a successful 2025.
Chris Parker | Head of Treasury Recruitment
E: chris.parker@goodmanmasson.com
T: +44 (0) 2073240570
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