For leading innovations that helped the company face an unprecedented pandemic, Globe Vice President for Finance and Advisory Walter Ricarte was named Controller of the Year at the FutureCFO Awards 2022 held in February.
In giving him recognition at the regional awards, the publication cited the Globe executive’s role in instituting the shift from physical to digital processes and electronic documentation to address mobility challenges during the health crisis. This ensured seamless continuity of operations at Globe despite rapidly-changing shifts in work arrangements.
On top of his proven experience in financial management and regulatory compliance, Ricarte was feted for being trustworthy, detail-oriented, a problem solver, and an effective business partner. He was also admired for his unquestionable skills in accounting and capability to provide meaningful financial analysis and reporting.
In an earlier interview with FutureCFO.net, Ricarte emphasized the importance of innovating processes and embracing digitization to ensure business continuity in times of headwinds. He said finance leaders play a crucial role in ensuring that companies can overcome the impact of the crisis on finances.
“The effects of the pandemic had taught us new ways of working–from working with and processing a lot of physical documents to now electronic or digital documents. Manual processes should be automated and digitized for better efficiency. Finance leaders must initiate digitization of the processes and documents to ensure continuity of the finance operations even if the workforce is remotely working from home,” he said.
Research and advisory firm Gartner predicts that 2022 is a make-or-break year for Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) to unlock the value of artificial intelligence, hyper-automation, digital skills, continuous processes, and data management.
Amid the daunting task for professionals in the finance function, Ricarte said the most critical lesson in finance leadership is learning how to love what one is doing.
“They say work is easy if you enjoy doing it. Your success is not only measured by the number of dollars or pesos that you have in your bank, but it is important that you love your career and that you are happy with it. Globe has provided me with an amazing opportunity to drive positive change in the organization that aims to be the leading digital solutions platform across the Philippines,” Ricarte concluded.
This year’s FutureCFO Awards, themed “Achieving resilience through transformative innovation,” shortlisted close to 40 nominations from companies across the Asia-Pacific in 18 awards categories, with Ricarte besting two other finalists. Winners were named on February 24 in ceremonies in Singapore.
Public Company Information:
PSE: GLO
