Corinthia Hotels International recently held its third International Financial Controllers Conference at the Corinthia Jerma Palace Hotel in Marsascala.
Financial controllers and senior executives from the company’s head office in Malta and 20 hotels in Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Libya, Malta, Portugal, Russia, The Gambia, Togo, Turkey and Tunisia, attended the three-day event that had The Financial Controller – A Balancing Act as its main theme.
The conference was addressed by Corinthia Group chairman Alfred Pisani, Corinthia Hotels International chairman Karmenu Vella and Corinthia Group managing director Joseph Fenech. A number of topics of general interest and others of specific interest to finance personnel were presented by various speakers, led by CHI’s finance and administration director Paul Bugeja.
Prompted by the title, the conference discussed the delicate role played by the financial controller in managing to balance not only his books, but in also finding the right measure to tackle customer and staff related demands, work-related challenges, and striking the correct balance between work and family life. Indeed, an all-round balancing act.
Other topics on the conference agenda included corporate governance, job motivation, internal audits, cash flows, reporting processes, operation results for 2005 as well as business plans and targets for 2006. CHI director Joe FX Zahra delivered a paper on “the essentials of negotiations”.
CHI chairman Karmenu Vella commented that “Very often, we tend to look at financial controllers as grey people who only think about figures, charts and reports, forgetting that they very often work long hours in very stressful circumstances, continuously chasing deadlines, and that once out of their office they face the same lifestyle challenges as the rest of us.
“This is why we wanted this conference to take a fresh look at the financial controller’s role and to explore ways at helping them cope with the various aspects of their job and achieving the right balance between work and their private life,” he continued.
Guest speakers at the conference were counselling psychologist and training consultant Patrick Psaila on emotional intelligence, occupational psychologist Christine Copperstone on recruiting the right people and Edward Debono Foundation trustee Norman Darmanin Demajo, who introduced a fun element to the event with his lateral thinking methods.
The conference also served as an opportunity for overseas participants and their Maltese counterparts to meet on a social level and experience the many attractions that Malta has to offer.
The highlights of the social events were a very enjoyable traditional Maltese evening and fun cruise to Comino.
The event organisers thanked sponsors Velmor Office Supplier, Computime, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Visual Trends, Jimmy Vella and Sign It.