Sir Richard Branson once said: "No company can train its front-end people to handle every situation, but you can strive to create an environment in which they feel at ease ‘doing as they would be done by’.” Accountability, seamless flow of information and communication of objectives and results are the finance department’s contribution to creating this environment. Operationally speaking, everyone contributes and expects these attributes of their environment, especially in middle-market companies.

I will reveal a few ways for middle-market companies to implement a participatory “operational” finance function to harness employees’ natural expectations of accountability, being informed, having clear objectives and knowing the results. Getting this right helps maintain everybody's pride and sense of ownership, thus strengthening the environment and culture of your firm.