"Good leadership allows your team to work with energy, commitment and excitement”
Anna Savage, CFO of Fexco, says: "I look at sports people like Jim Gavin or Henry Shefflin and the way they manage sports teams toward clear goals, and how they co-ordinate and encourage teams of young boys and girls to have huge commitment toward a unified objective.”
DELOITTE LEADERSHIP SERIES: ANNA SAVAGE, FEXCO CFO
When Anna Savage talks about her style of leadership, the names of iconic GAA managers and players are central to the kind of mindset she applies to the role.
“To me, leadership is about communicating inspiration to a team. I look at sports people like Jim Gavin or Henry Shefflin and the way they manage sports teams toward clear goals, and how they co-ordinate and encourage teams of young boys and girls to have huge commitment toward a unified objective.”
Having been appointed to the role of Fexco CFO in October 2021, she brings almost twenty years experience in banking and finance, most recently as the CFO for AIB Group (UK) plc, in addition to senior positions within the Group, including Head of Finance for Retail Banking Ireland and Head of Group Management Reporting.
“In an organisation like Fexco it falls to the leadership to ensure that we can put that kind of emphasis into a team working around us so they will come to work with that kind of energy, commitment and excitement.”
Throughout her AIB tenure Anna’s roles have encompassed strategic and financial planning, mergers and acquisitions and the IPO process.
She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accounts and the Irish Tax Institute. Prior to accepting the Fexco CFO position, she spoke with a number of the company’s employees, asking their thoughts and feelings about the company.
“One of the answers back was from someone who had worked here for twenty years — and who had enjoyed coming to work every single day. That to me said a great deal — and certainly underlined Fexco as the kind of company I wanted to work for.”
Since inception in 1981, Fexco has invested in technology to develop and deliver innovative solutions to meet customer needs. Processing upwards of €17 billion in transactions per annum across FX, treasury, digital tax and government-backed financing sectors, Fexco has developed deep expertise in governance and risk management, as well as lasting relationships with international financial institutions and banks.
For Anna Savage, Fexco presents as a very different entity to the banking colossus she devoted two decades of hercareer to. A different county, a different operational culture and a very different challenge to inspire a diverse workforce.
“I begin by trying to get to know the people, the culture and the business as much as I could. I believe that to inspire people and gain their trust you need to know what their true values are. The more you understand the values of people — which will vary with different groups depending on where they are in their career and what they’re involved in — the better you can bring them to a common purpose or goal.”
With more than 2300 employees worldwide and operations in 29 countries, Fexco has developed an unmatched capability in building, operating and supporting the delivery of complex mission critical technology platforms for both its own products and those of its partners.
The same rigorous methodology and management focus is brought to bear across all departments, leveraging in-house architecture, design, software development and IT infrastructure. While technology has played an important and commercially key role in maintaining vital lines of communication during the pandemic, the current return to the office allows once again for those personal and human moments of physical interaction that have been curtailed for almost two years.
“Those everyday moments where you have conversations with people about how they’re getting on and how their families are allows you to see in their eyes how things really are and how they’re coping. As people slowly return to their offices, you can already see the difference in terms of physical interaction and communication that was not possible for so long.”
The change in work practices and routines enforced out of necessity by Covid-19 have succeeded in making offices and workplaces more efficient and user-friendly into the future.
“It comes down to the environment you will be most effective in, along with the industry you are in. I believe the hybrid model, which Fexco is adapting, can give people the best of both worlds — we need to create the right balance of home and office work. But if we are now slowly bringing people back into the office, it is important that we show them the value of that physical presence.”
When the Government announced the end of lockdown last month, it was obvious that the return to offices needed careful and measured handling: “We couldn’t just have everybody just jump right back at once. We have been bringing in teams individually in at specific times for workshops or for lunch to get reacquainted. The optimum situation is that when people are back in the office we use this time for collaboration, team building and training.”
One of the many changes resulting from the pandemic is the so-called era of ‘the great resignation’, where people have re-examined their chosen career paths and, in many cases, decided to opt for different occupations.
As Anna has herself opted to leave AIB for the different challenges offered by Fexco, her advice is born of personal experience: “Just because someone has worked within an organisation for an extended period does not necessarily mean they have to move. Everyone needs to weigh up how happy and challenged they are in their current role or organisation. If you feel you are learning new things every day, that is what is important. You should really challenge yourself to ensure that you are always learning — and if you are getting that where you are, then I would say you’ve found the place you need to be.”
That said, for anyone who has been within an organisation for a lengthy period of time and wants a new experience, she agrees there is never an ideal time to leave: “It will always be a difficult move and I could only say — just rip off the plaster and do it. There is no right time, there will always be another reason or excuse you can give yourself to stay. I think it is important that you push yourself when opportunities come up, and not wait for the perfect time because there is no perfect time.”
The Fexco success story has long passed into Kerry commercial lore — how founder Brian McCarthy, then working in the local Killorglin AIB branch, spotted a gap in the market for tourists needing to change dollars and sterling on tours of ‘the Kingdom’. The company has since gone on to embrace a much broader variety of operations in addition to its original foreign exchange.
Seeing Fexco as an organisation keen to empower people to fully realise their potential was a key element in Anna’s decision to become its CFO.
“That was one of the central reasons I came here, I honestly believe Fexco is a place that would give opportunity to any idea. Obviously not all ideas will make it — but there is clearly a mindset here to be curious to analyse all ideas.”
As to how Fexco have fostered the kind of culture where everybody knows their idea will be listened to, Anna points to the company’s recently opened RDI Hub, described as ‘a vibrant community of startups and corporates focused on scale’ created in partnership with Munster Technical University and Kerry County Council.
Though Fexco’s global reach now numbers 29 countries and €17 billion in annual transactions, the company remains an integral part of the commercial and social structure of its surrounding area.
“Going into any of the cafes and restaurants in Killorglin and seeing how many patrons are Fexco employees underlines the impact and the importance that the company has on its local community. Right from the start of my time here that connection was clear to see, and is clearly part of the Fexco ethos in the town where it all began.”
Fexco are part of Ireland’s Best Managed Companies. The programme, led by Deloitte in association with Bank of Ireland, shines a spotlight on private businesses from across the island of Ireland and the exceptional performance that drives them. Applications for Ireland’s Best Managed Companies 2022 are now open.
Visit deloitte.ie/bestmanaged to learn more.
