The Job of Happiness

Marco Venturelli3 May 2017

The job of Happiness? The CFO. Marco Venturelli’s promise

by Filippo Poletti – on Bi MAG 21 June 2017

Be a CFO, and you can help make the world Happy. Marco Venturelli, Regional Europe Oncology CFO in Novartis is sure he can. So sure, he set up a dedicated blog, the happy cfo: «Companies – the manager says during the CFO summit in Milan – contribute to Country economy growth. If all of them define long term sustainability objectives, we would have a lot of “happy CFOs”».

CHRISTMAS 2016, “THE HAPPY CFO” IS BORN

CFO’s scope is the optimization of resources to favor economic growth

Venturelli changed the current game: contrary to the CFO with cold analyzer glasses – often unsatisfied for the many requests and the few available resources – the Happy CFO is able to optimize use of financial resources and drive the economic growth. One of the measures of happiness: «At the end of 2016 – he says – my division reached exceptional results in terms of growth, profitability, return on investment and market share. All the objectives were reached and overcame. Then I thought to thank the team with a card signed: “The happy CFO”».

GDP IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE A COUNTRY HAPPY

According to Thomas Jefferson, third American president, happiness is the objective of a good government

Venturelli knows that well: according to the proverb, “money does not buy happiness”. However they contribute to create it: «While it is true that economic growth alone does not generate happiness, according to UN Happiness report, we notice how the GDP per capita and life expectancy explain 30% of a Country happiness».Also included in the last ‘Documento di Programmazione Finanziaria’ of the Italian Government – Venturelli suggests–, «environmental sustainability, quality of work, health and level of education concur to the societies well being». That Happiness, as suggested by Thomas Jefferson, third American President, should be the objective of a good government.

CFO STRATEGIST OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Is it possible during years of economic and financial crisis, to mend the trust between the civil society, companies and more in general Finance? According to Venturelli – expert of Francesco Morace’ s theories included in the book Crescita felice – says the answer is yes: «If we want our companies keep their success, we should listen to consumers and investors more and more carefully about the results reached in terms of sustainability and reputation».

The Happy CFO’s recipe is simple and, at the same time, very challenging: «Our companies will continue to be profitable and generate work for our great-grandchildren, if the CFOs convince their CEOs that short term orientation, not balanced with objectives of environmental and social sustainability, will not last long.». Like in the Movies, “a happy ending”; a Happy CFO.