Professional Competencies

How has involvement in the work place contributed to the development of your professional competencies? How will the development of these professional competencies be important to your remaining uni program and IT2?

My professional competencies have been consistently improving throughout my time at Janssen. Throughout my placement I have also been able to identify and categories compentencies for either being strong or weak. I have learnt that you want to always go into every task with the correct attitude. If you have an open mind, even if its just a simple task there is a chance that you might enjoy it compared to if you go into completing a certain task with the wrong attitude.

Communication skills are incredibly important, not just for completing tasks, but also for networking and forming those work relationships with others in the office. How you communicate, the tone you use, how you carry yourself can completely impact what you are saying and how you come across. It is from this that I have realised that I have good self-awareness and general communication skills but still need to improve on specific skills which will be helpful in the future, such as, negotiation. I have not yet had to use this but from observing others I know that it will become an important skill. I have always been a good listener, but my listening skills have improved over my time at Janssen. I think listening skills are as important as verbal communication. It is listening to others where you will be able to hear others ideas and views on tackling a task and if you listen to others they are going to be much more willing to help you when you ask/need help.

Effect conflict resolution is exceptionally essential for manager/employee in the work place to be good at. I have yet to use this competency so am unsure how much I would need to improve, but there is always room for improvement. Through observing situations at work, I have come to notice that if you want to tackle a task or manage a team effectively you will need to be able to deal with a range of different conflicts. This means that the manager needs to be able to analysis and perceive the problem at hand, they have to be able to negotiate and effectively communicate with others to resolve the conflict. Without these professional competencies it will be hard to effectively work and move up in a business.

Technical skills are always essential and always needing to be improved, as there are so many complex formulas and macros you can learn to help you complete your tasks in the workplace more effectively and efficiently. You also need to be able to manage your time effectively, which I have realised being at Janssen if you don’t then you will not be on top of you work and thus others in the workplace will be waiting for you. You need to be able to meet you deadlines for projects, whilst constantly being on top of any other work assignments or tasks that you need to complete. I also think it is important to set goals, so you know what you are aiming for, what you want to achieve. These goals can be set out in a way that you list the competencies that you might need and need to improve on to effectively complete a task. I think that goals help motivate you as a person with your work.

Throughout my placement, I have observed and used many professional competencies at Janssen. I think I can take the experience I have had at Janssen and the competencies I have learnt to interact with others in tutorials and group assignments. I know also am starting to learn and have a better idea of which competencies will help/be beneficial in different situations and which competencies I need to improve on. Since every business is different and unique, for my second ITE placement I know that I will learn many more skills but will be able to take all the ones I have mentioned above and more with me. For the rest of my life I will be developing these competencies, as there is always room for improvement. 

Information Technology

How is information technology an essential part of your work environment and work tasks? How has the use of information technology affected your IT placement?

Every part of Janssen, uses information technology for day to day tasks, projects and to communicate that link the different branches in the various locations all around the world. Every month at Janssen, we have a Town Hall Conference which we connect through WebEX as it is held overseas. There is also a monthly, conference which connects the different region offices around Australia. These allow us to participate and listen to different employees questions and opinions from around the world. Information technology is extremely important for a global company, as it allows us to be a global company and one of the largest in the world. It is not just used to do work tasks, but also for

Janssen at the moment is setting up a global software which will connect the offices throughout the whole world. At the moment different Region’s such as Asia-Pacific is using different software's to the States. This means as people transfer and move to other roles in different countries they have to learn a whole new set of skills and all about the different systems to be able to do their job, making it not as smooth as it could be if the regions were connected with the same software.

I usually have at least one excel document up on my computer, and use excel numerous of times throughout my day. I rapidly developed excel skills when I started at Janssen and now its second-nature to use a variety of formulas. I have even started to slow learn how to write and use macros. Learning these skills has made everything easier and many of my tasks a lot more efficient then they were when I first started. If I had to update the Claims Visibility Spread sheet manually it would not be a 5-10 minute job that I could do on short notice but a day job. It takes a while to first set up the formulas and formats that you want to use, but after setting them up the first time, every time you go to repeat the tasks it can be done quick and efficiently.

I use information technology daily to do the credit releases for the sales orders, I use SAP (one of our main softwares) to look at the outstanding claims, invoices and credit notes. It is part of most of my tasks, it allows me to look up the position of credit notes, claims and invoices to see if they have been matched up or if I need to chase them up. Information technology has made my IT placement much more efficient and has enhanced my learning phenomenally, all the skills that I have learnt I will be able to take away and improve on these skills not just on the rest of my placements but also when I enter the workforce.

ITE as a Procedural Activity

Discuss your industrial training placement as a procedural activity, i.e., the importance of policies, processes, procedures and checklists in your workplace.

Policies are extremely important at Janssen; they set out guidelines, which need to be followed by every employee. These policies make sure that all employees’ functions do not cause compliance problems, such as having access to too many accounts on our system. At Janssen you are not able to post journals, if you have access to taxation, release sales and to transfer money from accounts. If these policies are followed without any compliance issues it means that the company successfully pass both its internal and external audits. Which are extremely important in Janssen.

At Janssen, with every task that was completed by an intern before I started my internship there is a set procedure written out on how to accomplish the task. I have referred to these procedures a numerous of times to ensure that I am completing my tasks correctly. However, not all my tasks have been done before such as the Claim Visibility Project. Thus when I was working out how to go about completing this and compiling all the necessary information into various spreadsheets, I had to write out the steps I was taking to find the information. I had to do this, as when I leave someone else either another intern or the accounts receivable lady will have to take over the responsibility of the Claims and need to know what information I have used and how I have complied it all to get the correct results. I have also written a checklist to make sure that they and I cover all basis when monthly updating all the spreadsheet making visible all the outstanding claims. At Janssen for every task there is a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) which need to be followed to ensure that tasks are completed correctly and by the right time. For example with Bank Clearing, if the procedures are not followed and the money is transferred into the incorrect or if the incorrect dates are imputed it causes many problems. These procedures are set out to ensure that these problems/incidents do not occur.

Every task I complete is a process, whether a small or larger process, there are always set steps that have to be followed. Everyday when I release the sales, you have to print out the sales that need to be release, however, as there are often problems with printing from SAP (the software where the sales are released from) and the printers the sheet has to be picked up before you release the sales. This is because you need a hard copy of all the released sales and if it does not print and you have already released the sales, it causes many complications (or so I have heard). Thus it is these small steps which make up the process in which the sales are released – however no matter how small the steps are they are all important to ensure it is done correctly.

Checklists are used extremely often. On my computer I have a checklist of all my day to day tasks, weekly and monthly tasks which I often check to make sure that I complete everything by their due dates. I also add projects any other tasks/projects to the checklist with their due date to ensure that I always stay on top of my work. The other intern and I also have a checklist with every reconciliation that is to be completed depending on whether its a month, quarter or year end. On this checklist it also has the person who is suppose to complete it and the manager/controller/director who is suppose to approve it. This allows us to make sure that the rec has been appropriately approved, because if a lower-level manager who does not have the authority approves it, the mistake will get found my the internal auditor when she does her audit of the Finance Team.

Time Management

How are you managing time, workload and academic pressures? How can you improve your time management skills?

I feel like I am managing my time and workload and academic pressure at the moment reasonably well.

I have seen the stress that can be caused if your time at work is not managed efficiently. It was one of the graduates first month but it was also Quarter end at Janssen since transferring across from Medical. She had not managed her time efficiently throughout the month and had left quite a few tasks to the last minute. On Friday afternoon, when everyone else had completed all their own tasks for Quarter End, this graduate still had not even started on her Rec’s. She was rushing with the deadline that she had to catch a flight at 8pm that night. From 3-8pm everyone was working to help this one graduate finish and she was stressed as others were having to stay behind to help her finish and wait for her to be finished so that she could get all her tasks approved. This caused great stress for not only the graduate who had not completed everything but also everyone in the office as we want to pass this internal audit that is being done on the quarter. From observing and being a part of this chaotic quarter end, I have seen firsthand how important it is to manage your time and tasks throughout the month at work and to ensure that you do not forget about doing anything. It is much better to update spread sheets a few times a week instead of waiting to do it all at the end of the month. I have learnt from this, that with my own tasks to keep on top of everything. I have a list written out of everything I have to do and when it is due. I make sure that I update my Claims Visibility worksheet constantly whenever we get a new claim through, so that my manager is able to have an up to date version within a few minutes’ notice. I also come into work early/leave late if I have to complete tasks as it is better to work a bit longer on certain days then leave it all to the last minute. Prioritising tasks is also important. To know which tasks are the most important and urgent to do is important, these tasks are completed more often and I spend more time on them than others. I will spend most of my time throughout the day on these projects/tasks and then update my other tasks/projects that are ongoing either in the morning or at the end of the day.

I am finding I have to manage time extremely well, as I leave college at 7:30 in the morning at won’t get back till 6:30 at night most days and later at least once a week. I find that I use the time in the morning if I catch public transport to read over my lecture notes. When I sit down to study, however, I find that I do use my time more efficiently with my studies.

However, I do need to improve my time management skills at night. I find that after working from 8:30-5:00 it is hard to find the concentration to do my studies. I usually allow the time getting back to college and dinner time as my downtime and then study after dinner. This however, doesn’t always work very well as I have other commitments which also use up quite a bit of my time. I have found that I have had to set most of my Saturdays aside now for Studying as I am not getting as much done throughout the week as I would like to. I need to be more efficient in doing my work as well. I have set out a study plan for the rest of the semester to help me stay on top of my university studies. Without this time specifically set aside, I have had trouble finding time to always do my studies. I also need to make sure I keep onto of this blog and that I have started making dot points of the different tasks I am completing so that at the end of my placement when it comes to do my presentation, I will be on top of it.

I am finding that my time management skills are constantly improving as I am having more to manage and getting the hang of managing my time. I am also finding that it is helpful to my uni studies to be working and making it easier to learn certain aspects of topics in Management Accounting as there are parts that do relate to mine or others tasks at work.

Links between My University Studies and Work

Discuss a work experience that will bring relevance to what you are studying at uni? Has a work experience motivated you to explore new areas of knowledge? Why? How are your work experiences helping you develop your professional skills? I am finding that there are many topics that I have learnt across the past year and a half that are relating to different tasks that I am completing in the workplace. What we learnt on reconciliations in Semester 1 last year gave me a basic understanding on what they are. I have however, been able to develop this understanding through in quarter end completing a variety of different reconciliations for different accounts – mainly employee related cost accounts. In quarter end I also helped the costing graduate with her journal entries, setting up the journal template. I was able to put into practice and debit/credit different accounts due to their expenses. This activity also allowed me to further consolidate my understanding on the movement of money across accounts and the reasons for these movements. However, I am also finding that a lot of the work I have learnt so far is not relating to many of the tasks that I am undertaking at Janssen. One of the projects I had to undertake was looking over our current customers and deciding whether we should increase their monthly credit limits. I needed to decided and provide enough evidence if it is feasible to increase their credit limit and whether they will be able to reliably make the payment of this increased amount. To do this I had to order both the Payment Predictor and the Commerical Beauro Enquiry Reports from Dun and Bradstreet. These reports highlights the customers ability to make their payment and if it is a correct decision to increase their limit. I had to have enough evidence that the Financial Control would approve the increase. At the moment I am helping with the FBT banking. I have been consolidating the FBT 2013-14 years costs from SAP, using a variety of excel skills that I have been learning as my placement has progressed to ensure that I am giving the correct amounts for each account. They are then checked against the amounts in gsrx and if different have to be investigated into to check and find reasons for the differing values. Working with the graduate on this task has allowed me to explore a lot more of the costing side of Janssen, which I am finding quite interesting. My professional skills have been developing constantly as my placement has been progressing. Over the past few weeks I have been given more complicated tasks and tasks which relate to different areas of the business instead of just mainly to the accounts receivbale. This has allowed me to gain a greater understanding of different roles and develop different skills, especially advanced excel skills that related to this more complicated tasks. I have also had to communicate a lot more with people in different departments and with our customers and wholesalers. Most of my tasks also need me to communicate with others in the Business Intelligence Group, this means I am constanly improve my professional interpersonal skills and my understanding of different areas. I have also had to write instructions out for many of my tasks in a coherent and fluent way that when the next intern comes in to continue that they will be able to read through the instructions quickly and complete the task.

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At Janssen I am mainly performing tasks, which helps the Accounts Receivable lady. I have to match up the credit notes with invoices on the systems, follow up customers to pay their invoices. This means I have a lot of direct contact with our Customers and Wholesalers Financial Accounting teams. When contacting these teams I have put into practice a lot of the communication skills we learnt in Management in the first semester last year. I have had to communicate with them politely but whilst also being assertive and making sure that they pay and understanding that they have to pay on time.

I have also just finished a project that I was working on which was to collect all the claims that are withstanding against Janssen (rebate, stock and pricing) and somehow combine them all onto a spreadsheet. However, I was told to do it using formulas so that it would take 5 minutes to update the spreadsheet in following months instead of hours doing it manually.

The main area where I can think of work that I have learnt at uni relating to the tasks I am performing at Janssen was when I had to reformat the reconciliations for the Finance Department. On this new format of the recs they wanted a section called processes, where I had to use journal entries that I learnt throughout both semesters last year. I had to write for the recs, which accounts were being debited and credited. Through having previously learnt about journal entries at uni, I was able to understand and know why certain accounts were being Cr and others Dr.

Recently I have also noticed a lot of the content that we are learning at the moment in Management Accounting relating to quite a few of my every day tasks. At work I have noticed, the flow charts for processes in our SOP’s, SOX reports and even managers printing out flow charts when figuring out ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of tasks. As Janssen have been seeing a huge change in the structure of the organization, I have been able to experience how they are using different processes to improve the connection of the worldwide branches of Janssen. In our monthly finance meeting on last Thursday, our Director talked about a new software being developed which will be able to link the financial sectors of Janssen throughout the world. They are creating and efficient system to improve the communication throughout the world. At the moment Janssen need to improve this in order for them as a global company to keep on growing.

When first thinking of the type of tasks I would be performing at Janssen, I assumed I would have a few projects, tasks that would help me improve my excel skills and other just day to day jobs. I have been performing these types of tasks, but I did not expect to be given jobs where if I did something wrong I could have an exemption against my name from an auditor. Such as when releasing sales without appropriate reasoning and signatures for every release we could fail an audit. I am the person responsible for obtaining these signatures and giving my manager/financial control evidence to why they should approve the release.

One part I found particularly surprising was the amount of contact that we actually have with the patients who use the pharmaceuticals that Janssen supplies. My desk is right next to Customer Service, where they speak directly to patients very occasionally, and hearing about how they have to limit supplies and listen to see who is generally in need and there is a shortage of a certain supply, is extremely interesting and intriguing. I am the person who then releases the sales of these products so that the patients/customers are able to use them.

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·      When coming into the workplace I was surprised at how much everyone interacted. Many of the roles and tasks employees are given do not involve just one person but many. It is extremely rare to have a day when you are not interacting with more than one person to complete the tasks you are given, whether you are an Intern or the Financial Controller/Director.

·      I find that these interactions with others in the workplace, have strengthened and improved my professional interpersonal skills. These interactions have also allowed me to form professional relationships with others who I work with, not just on my team but also throughout the whole Business Strategic Group. These relationships have impacted my work environment, making me feel more confident and comfortable with approaching and asking for help when I do not understand a task/need help with certain steps. It has also given me the opportunity to ask for further work, in different areas of Finance.

·      Teamwork and collaboration exists in many of the daily tasks, as quite a few of the employee’s tasks/jobs interlink with each other. For example, I interact with the Customer Service employees often with the release of sales. They electronically release the sales. Before they allow this I have to consult the Accounts Receviable lady to discuss and make a judgement call to release the sales if they are over their credit limit. To do this we have to look at the Customers account, their outstanding invoices and credit notes and determine whether they are reliable and whether its suitable to allow them to go over their credit limit.

·      In Janssen I have had a huge experience with working in teams and collaborating with different areas (business intelligence, management accounting and payroll teams). With BI I have collaborated with them on numerous occasions in regards to outstanding claims, specifically in respect to pricing and rebate claims. We have had meetings to discuss and determine the correct way to approach and set out the claims. We needed to determine an efficient way of finding and sorting through all the claims, putting them on a spreadsheet with certain information. 

o   Pricing Claims: Were set through on emails, and could be seen on SAP (the software used for invoices and payments) to see where we had been short paid. From this I needed to gather all the information with the correct documentation to process the claims. I would then put all of this in a spreadsheet and pass it onto BI, who look through the data and decide whether the claim should be accepted or rejected. The claims would then be handed back to me, where I would then need to go get BI’s decision approved by the Financial Controller and present to him the reason behind BI’s final decision.

o   We were not working as a team throughout the whole process only for certain areas. One of the main instances was when we were collaborating an effective and efficient way to pursue this task.

·      These interactions and opportunities to collaborate and work with others is definitely enhancing my learning. It gives me the opportunity to not just work with others but also understand their role in the Finance team. I have also been able to improve my interpersonal skills and understand how they are and how extremely important they are to have. Through talking with the graduates, I have learnt that your marks will only get you to a certain stage but it is your interpersonal skills that will get you to the final stages of the interviews and the job.