From Profit to Purpose

Shireen Jahan, CFO, Bairnsdale Regional Health Service

Transitioning from private enterprises to companies with purpose was the career jump Shireen Jahan had worked towards for years. After completing an Executive MBA, she made the shift and has been working in the not-for-profit sector for almost eight years.

In this exclusive interview for CFO Magazine A/NZ, Shireen shares her career journey including what it’s like to not be “a typical CFO”.

Breaking the mould

Even before Jahan’s career in finance began, she was doing things differently. Growing up in Sri Lanka, she was home-schooled by her father to sit the advanced London exams.

Within just 18 months she had completed a four year high school program and looking back on it, she said fast-tracking her studies was a blessing in disguise.

“Dad actually fell ill during that time, so I had the opportunity to spend almost 12 months caring for him at that age and yeah, he did pass away when I was 16,” she said.

From that point on, Jahan found she was usually the youngest in the room. But it didn’t stop her career trajectory.

She started out with business analyst roles to Brand controller at Estee Lauder and then senior finance roles at Wesfarmers, Luxottica Group, owner of Oakley and Rayban sunglasses, and Italian luxury goods designer Furla.

After completing her MBA, she made the leap to non-profit organisations and begun working at the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust in Melbourne as Head of Transformation, after five months, she was appointed as CFO. After five years in this role, Jahan moved to the Bairnsdale Regional Health Service as CFO.

Throughout her career, Jahan has said she hasn’t fitted the stereotypical description of a CFO.

“I bring a different perspective to the CFO role, and that has been a key part of my impact as a leader,” she said. “Early on I realised that influence didn’t come from age or title. It actually came from being preparing, being consistent and having the ability to add value in the moment.”

Adapting to the not-for-profit sector

Jahan describes her move out of the private sector and into the not-for-profit space as a natural progression. However, it took a great deal of hard work to adapt.

“In private, everyone’s for their own kind of thing, but coming into this environment, it’s like you suddenly have to work with your ELT,” she said.

“It’s not like the CFO has a carte blanche here. So, it took a lot of observation to understanding the dynamics, the expectations and really picking up on cues.”

Adjusting to the finances around the health industry was yet another learning curve.

“Financial decisions in healthcare really aren’t just financial, their clinical, the ethical and often political as well,” Jahan explained.

“The ripple effect is significant. There is a big tension between mission and margin as well.”

Bairnsdale Regional Health Service, about 270 kilometres east of Melbourne, takes in three campuses including a hospital, a community health centre, an imaging centre and a women’s health and maternity clinic.

Parts of the service are in desperate need of upgrading and with patient numbers increasing – emergency presentations rose by 7 per cent last year – the staff and its infrastructure are under growing stress.

Change making

Rather than run from change, Jahan has run toward it. Seeking out challenges has motivated her and kept her sharp in finance’s fast-paced world.

“I was really passionate about getting into the hospitals and health, but it’s very hard without prior experience and it’s a very niche as well,” she said.

“So, to break through was the challenge. Also having that broader corporate services remit – that is my attraction. “I think if I just did finance, I would get bored”.

“In corporate services there’s risk, procurement and capital projects all within my portfolio operations. I love the diversity and with that, the everyday challenges that come with it and in turn the ability to build teams that are able to deliver that as well.”

One of Jahan’s big goals as CFO at Bairnsdale Regional Health Service was to find savings.

Like many regional organisations, there’s always workforce challenges. This, combined with increasing patient admissions and limitations on infrastructure has certainly delivered its fair share of issues to overcome.

The answer lay in trusting her team, asking the hard questions and challenging mindsets.

“In the last 15 months I’ve found we there was a ‘we are doing it because this is how we did it’ mindset and when you unpack that, you can unlock savings, you can see with fresh eyes,” she said.

“Now we can react faster, and we can make faster changes that then lead us to be more sustainable.

“You’ve got to go change hard things. You’ve got to change your processes now and again. I get it. I feel the pain. I understand.

“But I wouldn’t do right by the hospital (by not making changes). If you can get even an extra dollar in for our funding, it means more staff, more infrastructure, more care.”