International controlling - Slovenia

Even though there are more and more news reporting the crisis has come to an end, the aftermaths are obvious and noticeable. Also in Slovenia. In June 2009 many people lost their jobs as companies still have to cut their expenses. If they do not fire parts of their staff they cut working hours down to 32 hours a week. But Dragica Erčulj, Head of the ICV Work Group Slovenia, knows: "The situation is not hopeless". Read more about her experiences and recommendations here.

Slovenian controllers traditionally meet every year on the last weekend in September. The meeting is meant to show new trends and development directions in controlling. "I hope we will get fresh and innovative answers at the 9th controllers' meeting in Ptuj, 24./25. September 2009", says Dragica Erčulj, head of the ICV work group Slovenia. Meet the challenges of controlling is the topic of this year. Read here about the challenges Dragica Erčulj is facing organizing this event.

Meet the challenges of controlling is the topic of this year's controllers' meeting in Slovenia. What is the background of this topic?
Erčulj: I am sure we could have not avoided the crisis, but we should think about it and find opportunities and challenges in it. The main guidance at the meeting is praxis for praxis. There is a great stress on education, exchange of experiences and discussions about the ideas and difficulties in the controller's everyday work.

Can you give us a quick overview on your working group in Slovenia?
Erčulj: It was founded in March 2008 and has 29 members at present. Everyone is willing to come to the meetings, to meet other controllers, to be educated, to exchange experiences and to learn how others are doing "controlling". In every meeting approximately 15-20 members take part, more women (66%) than men. The members of our working group come from all over Slovenia, which is not a big problem, as Slovenia is a small country with 2 million inhabitants on an area of 20.000 km2.

How does the annual Congress, which already takes place for the 9th time, develop?
Erčulj: The development is pretty good. Every year there are more and more participants. Controllers like to hear what »kinds of controlling« are used in other firms, they are interested in best practice, experience from colleagues, how to communicate with managers and most of all, how to persuade the manager about the advantage of having controlling. Our participants are aged from 28 to 63.

If the share of women in your working group is bigger than that of men - is it the same at the Congress?
Erčulj: There (as well) are usually more women than men as well. Particularly in the beginning, in 1999, there were even 90% women. Throughout the years the percentage has been decreasing from 61% in 2008 to expected 60% in 2009.

How many visitors have come to the Congress throughout the years?
Erčulj: From 1999 to 2005 we had a pretty constant number of 70 visitors. Then all of a sudden the number increased to 80 visitors in 2006, 120 in 2007 up to the peak of 145 in 2008. This year the trend is declining back to 90 people expected.

Are you content with the number of registrations for the Congress?
Erčulj: Yes, especially if you compare it with the total population of 2 million people. This year there are less guests than expected, but of course it is a special situation because of the crisis.

Where do the visitors come from?
Erčulj: 99% come from Slovenia, others from Croatia, Serbia and even from Germany, where we have guest lecturers from.

If you have a look at the evolution of your meetings - what has changed the most throughout the years and what has remained the same?
Erčulj: People nowadays are more aware of the function of controlling. In addition participants are younger, they are much more flexible and have theoretical knowledge, but they need more practice and want to hear about practical experiences. They would like to get recipes for practicing (the) controlling.

Compared to Germany, Austria and Switzerland there are a lot of women working for the ICV in Eastern Europe. Why do you think it is like that?
Erčulj: I guess it is because controllers used to come from the accounting or planning department. In the past there used to be mostly women working in this area. But things are changing nowadays.

How about the location for the Slovenian Congress - is it the same place you meet every year?
Erčulj: No, we change the location every two years in order to be in different parts of Slovenia so that we can learn more about the regional particularities.

What are the biggest problems when organizing the congress?
Erčulj: To get lecturers! This problem is not solved yet, but it becomes easier for two reasons. First of all at the beginning, controlling was just a nice word in Slovenia and only few people were aware of the meaning. After we started the School of Controlling, workshops and the congress, controlling has become better known and now it is easier to get the lecturers. The second reason is that nowadays it becomes easier to get people appear on the stage.

Where do you get your lecturers from?
Erčulj: I ask people I meet on seminars, workshops, at our School of Controlling, on conferences, I ask our members of the working group Slovenia and so on.

Why is it important to visit your congress?
Erčulj: The meeting is meant to show new trends and development directions in controlling; to see best practice, to exchange experience with colleagues, to find solutions how to communicate with managers and most of all, how to persuade the managers about the advantages of having controlling. And of course to exchange experience with other countries. That is why I also invite foreign lecturers every year. This year for example the guest of honor will be Dr. Herwig R. Friedag, initiator of the ICV development in the new EU countries and internationally renowned specialist in Balanced Scorecard methodology. Another prominent speaker will be mag. Marta Kos Marko, well-known Slovenian trainer for management and sales training; she is among the three best trainers in GKTI (Gustav Kaser Training International), last year she was the best in the world.

What is the main theme for controllers in Slovenia in 2009?
Erčulj: Unfortunately, it is the crisis. But also reports, how to get data on time, reduction of costs, Key Performance Indicators and how to get better IT for controlling.

One of the special guests attending the 8^th Controllers' Meeting in Slovenia (25 - 26 September 2008) was Dr. Walter Schmidt (Berlin), member of the board of the International Controller Association.

He held a speech on the topic "The Modern Role of Controllers - seeing the people behind figures". His presentation can be downloaded here.

Controllers' Meeting in Slovenia, an event to enter in the yearly calendar

"The 8th Controllers' Meeting (25 - 26 September 2008) in Slovenia was entitled "Controlling creates future". And how could controlling create our future? A formal organiser, CRMT d.o.o. Ljubljana, Slovenia, the leader in Business Intelligence, prepared a rich 2-days programme. A lot of knowledge and practical experience were shared by experts from different business branches. Over half of the topics were prepared and presented by Slovenian controllers, members of the ICA-work group Slovenia. There were also two special guests joining the meeting: Mr. Tadej Vidic, a member of the board of Iskra Avtoelektrika (automotive industry), Slovenia; he presented the manager's point of view on the role and the challenges of modern controlling, and Dr. Walter Schmidt from Berlin, the member of the board of the International Controller Association; his topic was "The Modern Role of Controllers - seeing the people behind figures". Both of them made a profund impression on the participants.

We found a very good response during the meeting, as well as after the conference. Having more and more participants every year is an evident proof of how badly such professional meetings are needed in Slovenia. This year's survey results: the participants found the topics of the meeting up-to-date and very applicable, their expectations were fulfilled at a high percentage.

As in its previous editions, the Controllers' Meeting offered the participants many opportunities to exchange experience with about 150 Slovenian colleagues, controllers, managers, accountants, financials, lecturers, consultants and IT experts. This year it was the first time that we had the opportunity to meet also Croatian and Serbian controllers.

For many participants the Controllers' Meeting represents the yearly opportunity to meet friends and people with similar professional backgrounds and interests. In the end a lot of them said: "I will certainly come next year again!"  What more could we expect?"

Dragica Erculj,
Head of the ICA-work group Slovenia

...I invite you to take a look at some photos from the 8th Controllers' Meeting in Slovenia ....

Business management has moved on. Decisions have to be made faster; they have to be more accurate and they have to be based on more data from more disparate sources. So, controlling in Slovenia is not just a modern word as it used to be years ago. Controlling is a need, is a must! And controllers try to get more knowledge about what they need to know. They try to learn in school and seminars, from best practice and from each other as well; that is why the ICV work group Slovenia was established.

A Slovenian School for Controlling opened its door for the first time in 1996. Since then over 400 people attended seminars, from all the biggest firms in Slovenia. The whole concept of School for Controlling is developed on the model of the "Controller Akademie", Gauting/Munich. It offers the complete educational program for controlling: basics and advanced as well as special seminars and trainings. In all seminars and workshops they em-phasize topic-oriented presentations and ensure that know-how is transferred. The seminars include case studies, role plays, and group work. In the last two years, there were also the students who do not actually work in controlling departments. Some came to school to gather knowledge for their day- to-day work, and others, managers mostly, came to school to learn what they can get from controllers or controlling.

The ICV work group Slovenia founding session was held on the 27^th/28t^h of March 2008 in Bled. The work group has 14 members. Two meetings took place till now. The main focus of the meetings is a joint discussion on best practices and exchange of experiences between the participants. The next meeting is planned for September.

The Slovenian controllers have their annual meeting in September. The Controller‘s Meeting Slovenia is meant to show new trends and development directions in controlling. Every year there are more and more participants (80 in 2006, 120 in 2007). Controllers like to hear what kinds of controlling are used in other firms, they are interested in best practice, experience from colleagues, how to communicate with managers, and most of all, how to persuade the manager about an advantage of having controlling. Everyone is invited to the congress, especially controllers and head managers who are interested in getting an overview of the developments regarding the controller‘s job.

Controllers in Slovenia have an enewspaper: the "Controller‘s Harald" is published 4 to 5 times a year; at this moment there are about 200 subscribers. The editors try to get and to publish articles that are interesting for controllers; best practice, effective solutions, modern methods and tools etc.


Dragica Erculj,
crmT d.o.o., Ljubljana
Head of the School for Controlling
Head of the ICA-working group "Slovenia"
dragica.erculj@crmt.com

Here you can download this article.