Meg Waters, editor in chief, Treasury & Risk: Treasury teams are historically seen as bean counters who spend their time in the weeds of financial management and analysis. It seems like treasury professionals at Bristol Myers Squibb must have a more strategic attitude.

Sandra Ramos-Alves, SVP & treasurer: I do not consider our treasury organization to be bean counters. I am a CPA, but I have only done one journal entry in my entire career. Our treasury organization is expected to be strategic and continuously deliver value to the P&L. Yes, there are day-to-day responsibilities in treasury—the daily cash management and banking activities that need to be done to support operations. But treasury managers need to think outside the box in terms of how we can deliver value.

BMS does a lot of business development, and treasury’s role is to figure out how to support the organization for growth. That’s particularly true right now, as we’re in a challenging period due to ongoing loss of exclusivity on multiple products. Treasury needs to be looking for ways to support the company’s top-line growth.

Keith Gaub, VP & assistant treasurer: I think it’s important that we don’t put strict parameters on our way of thinking from a process and execution standpoint. We are very open-minded to new ideas and solutions that are different from the way the company has historically operated.

Sandra Ramos-Alves: One of the things I heard a lot when I first joined BMS post-acquisition was ‘This is how we do things here.’ That was quite frustrating for me. I expressed to my team that I did not want to hear those words again, as that mindset is a killer of innovation.

Keith Gaub: As managers, we pride ourselves on asking our teams to continuously challenge and assess the way we operate. I believe we’re successful in this approach because we have a balance of experienced treasury professionals with strong technical skillsets and colleagues who are new to treasury but eager to learn—and not uncomfortable with challenging what we’ve done in the past. The result is a team that’s driven by innovation and by adding value to the enterprise beyond the traditional scope of their role.

T&R: Is there something that you guys do as the treasury management team to make it less risky to think outside the box? Because going along with what’s already been done is the safe path, right?

Ravi Patel, director, financial risk management: A lot of it starts with our leadership. Sandra makes clear that there are no bad ideas. We look at and explore all ideas as a team, thinking them through and assessing their pros and cons. Some will work well and some won’t, but we actively encourage idea generation.

Wayne Cheng, director, corporate insurance: Sandra did an amazing job of sourcing excellent talent both internally and externally. So folks here operate with a high degree of confidence and creativity. That’s why, when we look at things that are complex, we come in with confidence that we can de-ice those complexities and communicate with stakeholders to move the project forward.

Keith Gaub: If you think about it, there is risk in every single decision that is made throughout the enterprise. There is risk in investing in business development, risk in enhancing or working on lifecycle innovation within our R&D portfolio, investing in new molecules, etc.

Treasury is no different. We don’t take proprietary risks with the company’s capital, but we assess the landscape, determine the opportunity, and understand what the risk might be and whether we have the tolerance for it. Before you can get comfortable taking risks, you have to understand what the level of risk is and whether it is appropriate to take. That is the same way the business operates; we just make those assessments in the treasury landscape.

Ashish Saraogi, senior director, benefit investments: One thing to note for context: We have a culture where we are free to discuss new ideas. This approach comes from the top, as Sandra makes sure that we build a culture of trust and safety within our teams. From the leadership team down to the treasury analysts, people aren’t afraid to speak up, and they aren’t afraid to take a risk within the team to come up with ideas.

T&R: Are there specific actions Sandra and others have taken to build that culture of trust?

Ashish Saraogi: Yes. For the past few years, we have had a Trust and Psychological Safety group where individuals from different teams meet regularly to discuss how to ensure treasury staff stay engaged, enjoy their work, and feel comfortable bringing up concerns and issues. We aim to have one representative from every team in the group, and we rotate the participants. As a leadership team, we then discuss the insights and feedback from those meetings to determine how we can make things easier and better for everyone and for the team as a whole.

Sandra Ramos-Alves: We also do wellness check-ins where I ask the team for feedback. Some people are more willing to give feedback than others, but I find that generally the team lets me know what they think. Things are never perfect, but when there is an issue, we try to address it as a team and effect change.

My perspective is: We spend more time at work than we do with our family. We should try to have fun and enjoy our time together—while we’re also delivering value. If you don’t have trust, you’re not going to be able to have conversations and a good exchange of ideas.

T&R: Would anyone like to comment on how this focus on trust compares with other treasury organizations where you’ve worked in the past?

Ashish Saraogi: In some companies, the environment is such that team members are afraid to speak up. They aren’t sure how their ideas or questions might be perceived, and sometimes people are even afraid to ask questions for fear of sounding foolish. These concerns are constantly on everyone’s mind, so teams tend to look up for direction and then execute on that direction, rather than speaking their minds and coming up with ideas. You need a strong leadership team to build trust, which then fosters innovation across the board.

T&R: And that has clearly made BMS treasury a more innovative organization.

David Haberle, director, international treasury: I’ve been with BMS for about three years, and what I think is notable is the autonomy that all the treasury teams are given. Everybody’s expected to go out and do their own blocking and tackling, but nobody ever checks our homework, so to speak. We are treated with a lot of respect, with confidence that we will get our jobs done correctly. And that fosters a lot of trust between senior leadership and more junior staff.

Because we’re expected to be adding value, but nobody’s looking over our shoulder, we have more time to think strategically. We’re not worrying about a micromanager being angry with us. The trust comes from having full autonomy on a day-to-day basis, to manage our teams or our workloads as we see fit.

Keith Gaub: To me, what’s glaringly different about BMS is the significant encouragement to be innovative and challenge the way we do things. The message from Sandra is that we should constantly generate new ideas and think critically about how we’ve done things in the past. And when you assemble a team that subscribes to this way of thinking, they will come together and produce a phenomenal output.

Relative to my experience in other treasury organizations, BMS treasury has an exceptional openness to doing things differently and bringing unique perspectives. This creates a safe place where opinions are respected and valued.

T&R: Are there any clearly defined incentives or metrics that you use to reward people for good ideas?

Sandra Ramos-Alves: We used to have an internal awards program, but as I mentioned, the company is going through a challenging time, and we had to suspend the internal awards because of budgets. But we have been taking the opportunity to apply for external awards, such as the Alexander Hamilton Awards, and that lets the rest of the world see all the great things that we’re doing. I also think each individual on the team has a real sense of pride in delivering value.

I love my job because it offers something new and different every day. I never know what ideas will come my way. Some of them are pretty unconventional, but that’s part of the fun. Some ideas turn out to be great successes—and who wouldn’t want to be part of delivering value? I definitely wouldn’t want to be seen as just a number cruncher!

Keith Gaub: This group really focuses on what needs to get done and how we can do things better. And at the enterprise level, BMS takes culture very seriously. Every quarter, we take a pulse survey, and the treasury group always scores extremely well—which is a true testament that people are feeling valued and motivated.

Wayne Cheng: Innovation has become the norm within the treasury group. It’s not something extra that we need to do; coming up with ideas is just part of our daily function. We’re expected to continuously bring improvements.

Vivek Agarwal, senior director, treasury transformation & technology: When I joined treasury several years ago, the safety aspect was not there, and people had a lot of concerns about being overworked. In the past couple of years, the level of automation we have achieved has translated into a very good work/life balance, which the pulse survey reflects.

Now, in the quarterly surveys, treasury is usually one of the highest-ranked departments within finance. People are seeing tangible benefits: Leadership is focused on simplifying and automating our processes, which in turn helps me focus on value-added work, which provides job satisfaction.

Sandra Ramos-Alves: Another initiative that helps foster trust within our team is our “treasury action team,” which is essentially our fun committee. They organize activities that bring the team together, such as volunteer events like picking vegetables at a farm for needy families or helping at the local children’s hospital. Sometimes, these activities involve food; for example, they recently organized a potluck and someone brought in board games. These kinds of activities foster trust because we spend time together and have fun.

It’s not rocket science—you just need to put in a little bit of effort.

T&R: Have others within Bristol Myers Squibb recognized the level of innovation, and the culture of trust, that treasury has developed?

Sandra Ramos-Alves: When other leaders visit the treasury department, they can immediately sense the unique culture just by stepping into our area. People are engaged in conversations, and the space is decorated with care. It’s evident that management pays attention to the pulse survey results. Additionally, whenever we have a job opening, there’s a noticeable interest from people wanting to join the treasury team.

David Haberle: We frequently have people reach out to us, and not just about job openings. They want to learn more about what we’re doing. We’re having a lot of conversations with people throughout the company who are excited to learn more about treasury.

T&R: I have one last question, and it’s about hiring: Are there specific character traits you look for in new treasury management hires, to get people in those positions that you can trust to get their work done while also pursuing innovative improvement?

Sandra Ramos-Alves: For me, it ultimately comes down to personality and how well an individual will fit with the rest of the team. Intelligence and experience are great, but most treasury skills can be learned, and we have many talented people who can teach them. I look for team players who are eager to work collaboratively and leaders who are committed to bringing their teams along with them.