A Fresh Perspective on Treasury with Chris Wikoff

So welcome to this week's Treasury Career Corner podcast where I interview treasury professionals about their treasury careers. Each and every week I talk to treasurers about how they built their careers, where they are now and where they see both themselves and the treasury profession. Going to next this week's show, I'm joined by Chris Wyckoff, the executive vice president and treasurer and at Entrado, previously known as West Corporation, now the group itself. Hope I've said that right. Entrado. They are headquartered in omaha in Nebraska, Fortune 1000 company and they global provider of communications and network infrastructure services with over 2 billion in annual revenues. Now I'll get Chris to explain a bit more about them later on in the show, but he's been within treasury for a number of years now, first discovering in finance and then making the move also with Commscope into Treasury itself. But I'm going to dial it right back to the beginning and how you first really maybe discovered finance and treasury, maybe back to university days and then up to now we'll rock it through that. But then talk a bit more about some of your views, Chris, about Treasury and the lot. But take us back to the very beginning business degree and then you discovered finance, natural step and then treasury, would that be right?

Yes, that's right. And great to speak with you, Mike. I've been looking forward to this. Yeah, I went to school, University of South Carolina, studying international business and really thankful for where that has led me. Didn't necessarily plan on a career in 20 years in corporate treasury and corporate finance, but really getting that foundation in international business couldn't ask for a better foundation and where my career has led me today. So I did have some jobs in finance prior to joining Lucent Technologies that then later became a Via Inc. But I would say that's really the point at which my career really started to take off. And since then, which was around early 2000 time frame has really been concentrated in large global technology companies and specifically within the telecommunications equipment and communications space.

And then with that you said, you know, Avaya and things like that perhaps talk us through because that then led you to Commscope the roles of I they were preparing you within finance. But then what happened next sort of thing, you know, how did you then come across Commscope and that transition?

Yeah, really. When I joined Lucent Technologies In January of 2000, Avaya Inc. Wasn't even known, at least in the general public at that point. I joined Lucent Technologies and within a couple of months literally they announced the spinoff of about 8 million of their revenue and certain divisions to become Viya Communications, a global spinoff of the public company Lucent Technologies. And it was a massive undertaking. And the division that I was a part of, Network Products group division, I quickly had the opportunity and found myself in all of the project planning to spin off that business for the division that I was a part of around the world. And it was just a phenomenal experience, not only traveling around the world, but working very cross functionally with distribution and supply chain manufacturing. Manufacturing certainly, you know, all of the finance, accounting, tax, and really working with a large number of people to be able to support and facilitate that spin off of a very large and complicated business. That experience then enabled me to move into a division controller role within Avaya and specifically a connectivity solutions business here in Omaha, Nebraska. And that then later became the target of an acquisition by Commscope Inc. That was headquartered in Hickory, N.C. and really found myself in a very similar situation with Commscope, the acquiring entity of integrating now this connectivity solutions business from Avaya into the Commscope business. This particular business and division of Avaya called Connectivity Solutions, was about a $500 million business in annual revenue. Commscope prior to that was also about $500 million in annual revenue. And so really that business and Commscope grew overnight and doubled their business. But I would say in terms of the international footprint, they just grew exponentially. They had some business prior to that in Brazil and Belgium, but really overnight with this acquisition of the connectivity solutions business from Avaya, they were in well over 30 countries, manufacturing and distribution and a lot of assets and employees all over the world. So they just quickly found them in a very new environment and a whole lot of international complexity. So my first year at Commscope was really doing a lot of what I had done three or four years prior with the spin off of Avaya from Lucent Technologies and doing that for essentially the same business, it was an asset carve out. So we had to establish new back office structure and infrastructure, bank accounts, processes, control systems and ways of supporting that business around the world and getting off transition service agreements as quickly as we could from Avaya. And so very interesting when I look back on it, very interesting. You know, four or five years there between Lucent and Avaya and Commscope. And really after we settled into with Commscope and integrating that business, there were some opportunities at Commscope and I had an opportunity, given how quickly they were growing, of evaluating where did I want to be, where do I want to be geographically. And what was the next step for my career within the broader corporate finance, accounting, internal audit, you know, lots of different opportunities. And at that time, what I thought was interesting was Treasury. It was a very, very small, lean team. In fact, there was two individuals, the treasurer and then a cash administrator at that time for Commscope within corporate Treasury. And so when I decided to join Treasury, I grew the team by 30%. And so we were a team of three. And from there, the business just continued to grow and evolve over another more than a decade while I was with them. And it was a great opportunity to be with a great company, growing company in a great industry. And Commscope continued to grow organically and through a number of acquisitions. And that's really where I started focusing specifically on corporate Treasury.

And then with that, Chris, because a number of. You're one of the few candidates or one of the few people that I've spoken to rather on the podcast. A lot of people have broken into treasury as a Treasury assistant analyst, manager, you know, those earlier moves as such. And yeah, you were joining a smaller treasury, but you were discovering treasury as a more senior finance professional. Did that give you a different outlook, do you think? And, you know, because sometimes people get into treasury and then they try and discover the rest of the business, but they've already found that sort of in a more specialized area and they're having a force out there. But you would. You were doing the other way around. You'd been out there in the business, you knew a lot of this. Oh, actually, I've discovered Treasury. How did that work?

Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, I had to take a step back and really get familiar with some of the basic elements of treasury and experience that day in the life of a Treasury analyst or treasury manager and understand what was important, what was priority. And again, we were a very small team. That team went from two to three when I joined them. And while those two individuals, including the treasurer, had been at the company at that point for a long time, everything was changing. They had just doubled their business. They had just grown from being in Canada and Brazil and Belgium, aside from the US to suddenly being in 30 countries. So, frankly, we were all learning together, we were evolving together. And so it wasn't just me that was experiencing this new environment of treasury and international treasury and also some tax ASP of that as that evolved. But we were really doing it together, and that was an exciting time.

And with that, you then grew your treasury expertise, and again, going back to that question, the reason I said it is I think you bring so much freshness to it. Sometimes getting a criticism of treasury professionals have been it from day one sort of thing, but you were bringing in lots of other things. Do people notice your different viewpoint, would you say? And as you grew within your roles, did they notice that a bit more, would you say?

Yeah, I think so. I think that's part of what I would say has certainly driven my career is always having a broader perspective, a vision and constantly learning appreciating value and trying to learn quickly and put that learning to work where I can, not just me, but a team of people can add value and we can step into where. Where's their complexity that maybe needs some attention to bring some order or to make the complex simple. I really never viewed it or approached it as our sole job or only job. Certainly maybe the most important priority, but not necessarily our only job was managing a list of bank accounts or being able to report out on cash and do cash position every day, which again were certainly priority and most important. But I always looked at where are there connections points, where are the areas where we can step in, where we can fill a need, where we can deal with complexity, where we can we're in a certain area and bring some value and order and expertise to it. I think that's what drew me to treasury in the first place was knowing that this was a niche space. Early on I recognized that and I think that's actually something that attracted me to it. I had some other opportunities at Commscope that I could have pursued and had been in some other areas of accounting and finance at the operating and business unit level while with Lucent and buy in and even jobs before that. But I recognize that this treasury area was small. Some might see that as maybe a hurdle or an obstacle, maybe something that they're not interested in. I saw it as this is a niche, this is something where you can really dive into. You can become the internal expert in this area and you can really make it your own. And that always excited me and I would say over the last 20 years that's consistently what I've seen as I've talked with other companies, large and small companies and deal with banks and talk with them about what they're talking about with their clients and going to conferences and talking with different people. A Treasury is a niche and it can be exciting if you approach it in a way where you want to own that and you want to really develop that center of excellence within your.

Company and you had an amazing growth throughout there. You made some lovely moves within treasury through to becoming the treasurer before you moved into your most recent company, Entrado and things like that. But, you know, what was key to your progression through that? Was it you were there learning the group, you know, learning the ropes. Wrong way. But you know, sort of as your career grew, your roles and responsibilities grew, or how did that go? Hand in hand. And you know, what then led to you making the move, you know, to this latest, you know, this latest company?

I think, well, I would say that again, always had focused, having striking this balance of focusing on the day to day and what is important for today, but also these other areas where we can bring value. I think over my career I maybe didn't recognize it right away, but certainly over my career I think I grew greater appreciation for bringing some things maybe that came natural with some other important areas like developing partnerships, developing teams, developing relationships. We may have been able to step into some complexity and may have been able to add value in one place or the other. But I think that really started propel. When you build relationships internally, externally, when you build those, those partnerships and you know, create kind of this collaborative energy. And I think all of that contributed to, over a period of time of continually expanding responsibilities, taking on new things and not being afraid to do that, never being afraid to, to learn to step into a space that maybe is not so familiar, but it's a need and having that eagerness again, not just myself, but those around me to step in to something and explore it, learn it, and how can we make it better. And I think just over time that evolves into expanding responsibilities. And if you're able to do that well, then it can be a great experience to grow the team as we.

Spoke about before the show. And we'll go on to your current role as treasurer. But just digging into that for a moment, if it's appropriate, you say about not being fearful and you've got a team that work around with you and everything else, maybe even in your current role, but how do you elicit or coach those guys around you? Again, we've got people listening today that will say, oh, I've got this lady working for me, I've got this guy working for me. And they seem fearful of taking on responsibility or taking that next step. Is it your responsibility to the treasurer to provide that environment? Or what are you giving them as a team? What's your plan of action to help them sort of thing.

Yeah, so I think one is being able to cast vision it doesn't stop there, but I think it can start there. Is casting a vision where it can provide others with a broader perspective, maybe a fresh perspective, a vision of something that is exciting is maybe not as narrow focused as maybe what they just naturally came to a role or position or opportunity with maybe a more narrow focused perspective. But as soon as I can, being able to broaden that for them and give them vision that we can all embrace, we can own, and that we're excited to get behind. But again, it doesn't stop there because that vision, when it's broader, can also become intimidating and uncertain of. Okay, well, initially I got excited about this vision, but I'm not really sure how to get there. I'm not sure that I know how to get there or it can just be overwhelming to me. So I think you have to go from casting that vision and creating kind of this collective ownership of that vision to empowering a team, equipping them to be successful, you know, kind of wrapping that all around, belief in people, encouragement, partnership to get them to where they need to be. I think it also has to be wrapped up with really a focus on process, on information and how you will use information. You know, leveraging technology and to put those components together to make that vision and attainment of that vision possible and attainable and something that's also sustainable and repeatable by using, you know, focusing on people and process and technology and control data. So, and that's a continual effort. That's not a one and done thing, that's just a continual, over and over and over of casting vision, empowering people, equipping them to be successful, encouraging them and giving them the right tools in process, technology, data, giving them the tools to be successful. People are going to make mistakes. Particularly when you're constantly, you know, over time expanding your territory, stepping into new areas, while also trying to support the day to day and to do that well in that environment. You're always learning, you're always looking to get better. And so that means you're going to make mistakes and to know that it is a partnership and as long as there's, you know, the right ability to learn and to be part of the team and come to the job every day with the right positive attitude, then okay, that's the essentials for success. Not to do it perfectly all the time. Certainly you want to mitigate mistakes as much as possible, but when you're trying to build a team that is growing and taking on new responsibilities and getting better, there just has to be this Understanding that, hey, we're going to make some mistakes along the way and we're going to make those mistakes together and learn from it and move on.

And you recently won an award. Congratulations. The program a change and this is what originally I reached out to Chris, although we've got connections in common, actually read this and was really impressed by massive program of change in house bank managing a transition from a public company to private, which is the thing that a lot of people do the opposite way around. But you've done that and with a clear focus. 18 months transition. So rapid change and everything else where it's relevant. Maybe dig in and explain to people if you would, the move to the role or talk us through all of that massive changes that have been happening. Back to you.

Yeah. So while with Entrado, formerly known as West Corporation, like you said, large global business, 2 billion in annual revenues. Really a company that has a portfolio of tech enabled communication solutions to its customers, essentially having a variety of ways using technology to put our clients in communication with their clients or their constituents and through lots of different channels, whether that's through text or streaming or video or interactive voice recognition, type of communication, whatever. But putting solutions in place. That's what Entrado and formerly West Corporation does. And when I joined the company transitioning from Commscope to West Corporation, West Corporation was public company. And we within 18 months of joining the company, we were on a path to go private. Acquired by Apollo Group, large private equity and had experienced that also at Commscope where we went from public to private and then did an IPO and went back to public before, before I left Commscope and with that acquisition by Apollo Group there was a vision for a lot of transformation and really top down a culture to change and to harvest opportunity out of just transforming the business. Taking a lot of great assets and people and solutions and portfolio of clients around the world, but making it better. And in the history of West Corporation there was a lot of growth through acquisitions. There were some gaps in terms of integration. So there was some history to deal with and to further integrate past acquisitions while also continuing to grow through acquisitions. To date we've had I believe eight acquisitions since we've gone private with Apollo. And so there was just all this culture to further integrate the past, to continue to integrate the present and the future while looking for all opportunities to make the company better, faster, cheaper. And there is in fact a complete framework around transformational opportunities and building business cases around that and tracking progress and putting a whole governance structure around transformation for the company and that applied to finance, it even applied to Treasury. Coming into the role, there was a lot of what I'll say maturing to do in the treasury function. It was a small team. Casting that vision and kind of broadening the perspective that I mentioned earlier was something that I had to do. Coming into this role is revenue painting the picture for the team of what corporate treasury could look like and frankly should look like to support a global complex technology company with 2 billion in sales. And so out of a lot of that, what we collectively decided to pursue was a bank transformation effort of consolidating banking partners, reducing our bank account footprint around the world to be more efficient, more cost effective, but also to add some complexity where it made sense, like in developing some cross country and multi currency fiscal sweeping and pooling structures in Europe and also plugging in technology, pursuing a Treasury management system. Over my career I've gone from developing in house treasury platforms and systems that would support what we needed to do on a day to day basis to also implementing third party treasury workstations. I've implemented Reval and more recently with Entrado, we decided to implement Kariba. So that was a part of our transformational effort and all of that in the midst of supporting that change, going from public to private in terms of the capital structure and changing our debt portfolio, our hedge portfolio and all the while building a sustainable team. So there was a lot there. But yeah, we were busy.

Yeah, I was gonna say because it didn't sound like you're busy enough already. It was like, yeah, let's do all this stuff as well. But we spoke before the show actually, because that was some one of the things that I was impressed off from when I read through Chris's background that, you know, there was all these different things. I'm saying, look, you've got day to day activity and Chris brought there. So you know, the balance between day to day, the sort of team aspects, the, you know, massive immersive projects you get involved in. How do you, you know, maybe balance the demands? Again, this is for the listeners. They're thinking, hang on, how does he, you know, manage all these things? I won't say the answers you've given me because that'd just be me pretending to be my answers. I'd love to steal some though. But then also, and how, you know, with the planning cycle for all of this stuff, you know, is it sort of day to day, week to week, quarter year, right the way through or is it sort of what's the structure of that. So I know, sorry, it's two questions in one apologies, but how do you balance the demands and then how do you plan out from that?

Yeah, so I would say some keys in all of that was patience and communication. Certainly you have to do a lot of planning to even be able to tackle these multi pronged, very transformational projects while also being able to support the day to day priorities of the business and managing cash, controls, debt and all the things we know are key and priority day to day for a corporate treasury organization. So certainly there's planning that has to be done and prioritization, but just knowing that you have to build in some flexibility, some patience along the way to be able to change, you have to communicate well along the way. I think you also have to develop partnerships. What we've gone through as a company and within all the treasury transformation that we did, it wasn't just about Treasury. We were highly connected to finance, accounting, accounts receivable, billing, working with legal, working with tax. So we were very cross functional in our effort. Early on we brought on support for the project and the transformational goals that we had as a Treasury organization to get advocates behind what we thought would bring value to the business. And so it wasn't just us championing the project, it was others that were coming along the ride with us and being advocates for the project, you know, communicating well outside of treasury and at the value so that we could kind of get that support that we needed and was frankly essential because we wouldn't be able to do it, you know, on our own. These projects take time. So there is this reality of project fatigue I think along the way. And so just knowing that at times we have to take a step back, we have to reflect on kind of where we're at in the project, celebrate some wins along the way, maybe reassess. Do we have the right resources, do we have the right project management elements, you know, project managers and tracking and communication? Do we just need to take a little bit of time to settle in with the milestones we've accomplished before, we then ramp back up and take on the next milestones, even though maybe we're not done with the project. So I think just being constantly pragmatic about how you go about the project, being realistic and having that element of patience and agility and good communication along the way, along with some cross functional partners, I think is really important.

And in terms of team management and things like that, where do you stand on that? What's your, you're talking about the projects Themselves, but with the people, how do you coach them? What's your, you know, manager or your coach or what's the sort of balance, if you like, how do you lead your guys? Because I noticed you'd also, you've done some studying yourself. You got CTP and everything else in there. You know, do you think that's a key thing about it or is it getting guys that have got really strong tech background, technology, treasury, technology, I mean, or what are you looking for and how do you coach those guys?

Yeah, great question. So in terms of my approach to the team, first of all, certainly being a coach, absolutely. You know, you think of, you know, a coach of using a sports analogy coach of any team, you have to have belief in your players. Right. You have to have belief in your people and that they're in the right roles. You know, you can't just put anybody into any position. You have to try and align, you know, natural skills and abilities and passions with the right position. But once you've made some of those decisions, you really have to get behind those individuals and they have to know that you believe in them. There is coaching and monitoring and calling the plays along the way to stick with the sports analogy. So it is very much a coaching approach from my perspective. But in terms of. You kind of also ask the question about, I think maybe what do I look for in an individual to get on the field with us. Right. And to work towards the goals that we want to achieve. Yeah. Having a CTP or a background in treasury, specifically corporate Treasury, I think is valuable. You know, sometimes I hesitate on saying, is that the most valuable? Certainly to have some background and experience is great. I think besides the formal training of a CTP or, you know, certification in international cash management from, you know, some of the more treasury associations outside of the the U.S. i think those are great for the training. But what I think is also important along with that is it shows that somebody is committed to learning treasury, that they're committed to that maybe longer term as a profession than maybe somebody that wants to come in and check it out, for lack of a better term, and then move on to something else. Right. For a while I found myself early on in my career and trying to build a team. I found myself being somewhat of a launching pad for other people to then come into the business through treasury and develop and see a lot of different parts of the business, which is something that is unique and interesting about Treasury. But then they would go off into other parts of the business and, you know, that was a Two edged sword. It was, it was great that we were doing something well in terms of bringing people in and training them and giving them exposure to the business. But it also was a bit challenging to continually have that be an environment where it's great, they're staying with the company, but we have to come in and retrain people. So what I then transitioned to was really looking for individuals that are demonstrating some type of evidence that they see the value. They maybe see treasury the same way I did early on in my career. Look, this is a niche opportunity and I want to learn this. I want to invest my own time and my own energy into learning this. And so like I say, to have the CTP or other training in corporate treasury is fantastic for that training. But to me what it also shows is somebody's committing to this as a profession and that is, you know, you can really get behind that and invest a lot more time and energy into a person that wants to learn it and wants to stay in corporate Treasury.

So before we come to the wrap up of today's show where I ask you about the future and we'll give you a LinkedIn profile and everything else. But just a pre question that. So just my last couple of questions. So Chris, you've gone through this process over the past 18 months. You reduced the banks 10 down to two major banks in the US and number of accounts and you've rationalized, got this all, you know, this machine, you know, spinning nicely. This is really, you know, there's a few times with people done this in a rapid time frame, you're done, you know, surely what's the next iteration? Is it further technology or you bringing this in this well oiled machine? Where does the next challenge lie for you as a treasurer? What do you see for the treasury team? What's next on the agenda, as it were?

Yeah, great question. So I guess a couple of things come to mind. So we have invested largely into technology and new process and everything that comes along with doing that. Right. Having data at your fingertips, having the benefit of straight through processes. So I think one of our focus is now leveraging that investment and really maximizing that investment. So what more can we do with data? What more can we do with that technology? So that is one working capital focus is also an area for us again having this kind of going back to where we started this conversation of always having this broader perspective. Yes, that the most important thing day to day is having solid control of our bank accounts and doing cash position and managing cash well and managing our debt portfolio, but always in parallel to that, having this attention to what else is out there where maybe we can step in and add value. I think on broad working capital management that certainly is an area. Now for me personally I have responsibility for billing and global credit and collections and shared services. So I'm naturally tuned into those things. But what I'm referring to here is getting specifically the corporate treasury part of my group to also step into working capital and what information can they provide to that? How can they be part of a broader working capital performance improvement team to bring value to the company? So that is one area that we're really be investing in. You know, across the industry I think, you know, there's so much around robotic process automation, artificial intelligence and there are very practical ways I think that that can be applied to corporate treasury. So you know, for us we're actually looking at that as a company, we're looking at that, a broader finance and accounting perspective. But even within treasury that's something that we'll be looking at. And you know, we still have acquisitions in our review mirror to continue to integrate and, and add value there as well.

And with yourself and you know, as I said alluded to there, this is the wrap up question for today's show, which we always want to, and this is a whole host, you know, we could keep going but we want to keep it to the sort of half hour, 40 minute mark with a lot of people listening to this on the commute every day. Looking back at your, looking at yourself on LinkedIn maybe and someone looks through your profile says, do you know what that sounds like? Fabulous. That's what I want to know. I'm going to follow in the footsteps of Chris. What would you say to those guys as a piece of advice and maybe also I think you very much alluded to because there's so much going on with yourself with activity, team projects, everything else and the balancing of those. What sort of advice would you give to people? What are the sort of two or three pieces of advice you think people sitting there on the train. Right. Okay, this is what I need to be thinking about today. What would you sort of pass on to them? If you know your pearls of wisdom, Chris, it's over to you.

Yeah, great question. And a lot of different things come to mind and we don't have a ton of time here. We're trying to close out so I'll try and maybe only mention a few but you know, one is really to have this approach of becoming the expert in what you do. You Know what's in front of you day to day, really understand it and put in the time to be the expert in that area to where others looking on would look at that and say what he or she does in this area of responsibility, he or she does that very well. They know it and they really are our internal expert in that area. Whatever it is, however big or small somebody might think it is, tackle it and embrace it, own it and really become the expert in it. In addition to that, and I've kind of talked about that this throughout the podcast today of while doing that, also be on the lookout for other opportunities. Not to switch gears and pursue opportunities and maybe leave behind what you're doing, but what are some other ways that you can in parallel to that, to step into and learn it, to maybe add some value, to take on maybe, you know, a fract role in a project or a certain initiative, while also, you know, being that expert day to day. So to give yourself exposure to continue towards some new areas and to have some opportunities to grow based on those opportunities, I would also say build relationships. You know, that honestly, early on in my career was not something that I valued as much as I do today of, you know, grow relations, relationships, partnerships, you know, cross functionally inside and outside the business. That can only help you. It certainly doesn't hurt you. So, you know, growing relationships and knowing that you're, you're going to make mistakes, admit mistakes, learn from them, learn quickly, fail quickly and learn quickly and, and put that learning to, to your benefit. Now those are a few things that come to mind.

Amazing. So summary, keep stretching, but don't get complacent. Build relationships, both internal and external. They're always going to help and know it's going to be a bumpy ride to prepare for it, but that's what you can do. Look at that. Great nuggets of advice there from Chris. Chris, it's been an absolute pleasure, sir, to talk to you today. Thank you for your time. Sure. We'll do it again on another podcast or on a stage somewhere. Well, thank you very much. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been, you know, great to chat to you today. We'll put Chris's details in the show notes. If he wants to be part of the network of his, part of his external network, as it were, which is always great to have, then I'm sure Chris will reach out. But thank you very much for your time today, sir.

Yeah, thank you, Mike. Been a lot of fun. Let's do it again.

Great stuff. Thanks very much.