A Passion for Questioning Assumptions
So, what’s it like to work with Rowe?
“I’m very inquisitive, and that’s just the nature of the business and the nature of the role,” he said, admitting that he’s likely known for asking plenty of questions around a variety of topics, especially: “What are the key drivers to ultimately effect change?”
Naturally, the broader macroeconomic climate also occupies his mind as well as how his organization thinks about its mission. “One thing I’ll say, at Workday we’re so focused on customer satisfaction,” Rowe said. “Ultimately, that’s such a big driver of our success.” He added that it helps to understand what products customers are using, what they’re happy with, and where they’d like to see some changes.
For someone steeped in numbers, Rowe appreciates non-financial information to help understand what will drive future growth.
“It’s about establishing a wide variety of metrics that we can lean in on at any time to better understand some of the trends we otherwise wouldn’t observe just looking at a financial forecast,” Rowe said. “Because ultimately, a financial forecast is just a matter of whatever goes in gets digested and then, ultimately, produces a forecast. But for me, it's some of the engagement around people to really understand what's behind that number, and why did we get that, or why did we change that? And just asking lots of questions to potentially drive a different decision or different behavior and not just assuming the number is the number.”
Sometimes, finance teams can get fixated on what the forecast shows, Rowe said, adding that there’s usually a wealth of other factors at play. “As a management team, how do we bring this all in and really think about what those variables are that we can either affect or otherwise dynamically change our business model around?” he said.
The Value of a Dynamic Finance Team
Yet for all his accomplishments, Rowe remains grounded in the idea that working with a top-notch finance team makes all the difference in long-term success.
“It’s a management team that you’re around and the people you work with that can help you with things like this,” he said. “I never think there’s just that one time where an individual comes up with something. It’s really the people you're with.”
Rowe also emphasized understanding the business and talking to a wide variety of stakeholders to understand different perspectives.
“A lot of what has enriched my life in this role are the positions I’ve had that have been outside of finance,” he said. “When I think about a decision we’re making, I think, ‘How is that salesperson going to interpret what we just said? Can we say it in a different way, or can we ask for their input and advice before saying it?’ All of that dynamic—when you’re in any kind of business role, understanding your stakeholder base and your impact on others—is very important.”
Lastly, Rowe shared what he wished he had known earlier in his career. “Who are those people you would ask for advice or help?” he said. “Who are those people that would be around that table for no matter where you are, what chapter you’re on in your life or your career? And I was fortunate early on to just have tremendous people.”
Listen to the entire podcast with Workday CFO Zane Rowe at CFO Thought Leader.