Polly Waith

Background

About Polly Waith

I love to work with people and have managed teams both large and small. Staff development and motivation are key to performance. Teams that are challenged constantly look for ways to improve process and actively seek best practice. To manage effectively you need to recognise different skill sets and ability and know how to utilise these attributes and bring out the best in people. I have 35 years of experience and have worked in all areas of accounts during my career which helps me to always see the bigger picture. The knowledge gained serves me well from a managerial perspective and helps me to identify gaps in process and areas for improvement. I have managed both AP and AR teams over the last 25 years and worked for a variety of fantastic companies. At Seagram I ran a multi-lingual AP team in a large, shared service center; this experience teaching me that good management does not always need to speak the same verbal language, it just needs to speak the same "team" language. Following this, I worked for one of the top 3 Management Consultants in the world where I learnt to really understand the value of good people and what can be achieved with support and talent recognition. As well as the above, I have worked in many different sectors gaining a vast amount of accounting knowledge. Medical, retail, law and banking all brought different aspects of accounting experience and a great deal of understanding on how to, and not to manage teams in different environments. I currently oversee 27 regional AP Teams processing approximately invoices per month. We have seen many challenges over the last year and finding the right balance for the business is ongoing. My role is to provide guidance and advice to the Regional FD's and find best practice for AP across the company. I am also looking at various projects to establish improvements in reporting and all aspects of AP process. I am passionate about what I do and dedicated to raising the profile of the support teams that form the backbone of all companies, and yet often go unrecognised and unnoticed. It is these hard-working people that we rely on in a crisis and turn to when we need performance above and beyond, that make what I do a privilege.