Like most chief financial officers, Ken Bowles has faced several challenges in his career; economically, the recession in 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Another major challenge was transitioning from the military to a corporate role.
He overcame those challenges by focusing on the long term, never making rash decisions, always having as much data as possible, and realizing that sometimes your gut instinct is right, said his staff.
With more than 23 years of experience in corporate leadership and finance, including positions in commercial finance, supply chain, financial planning, and analysis, as well as service as an officer in the U.S. Army, Bowles now serves as the chief financial officer at WilsonHCG.
WilsonHCG is an award-winning, global leader in total talent solutions. Operating as a strategic partner, it helps some of the worlds most admired brands build comprehensive talent functions. With a global presence spanning more than 65 countries and six continents, WilsonHCG provides a full suite of configurable talent services including recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), executive search, contingent talent solutions and talent consulting.
As a CFO, the focus might be on the numbers, but for Bowles, its important to look at the longer-term implications. That means considering the impacts on not only the business but the people that work in it.
When Bowles joined WilsonHCG, his remit was to help the company achieve its growth ambitions. Hes helped navigate four strategic acquisitions in North America, APAC, and EMEA including integrating the companies into the WilsonHCG brand. He also assisted WilsonHCG in raising private equity capital and has played a key role in negotiating countless multi-million-dollar contracts with some of the worlds most admired global brands and Fortune 500 companies.
Under Bowles guidance, the firm was ranked as the worlds No. 1 global RPO provider in HRO Todays 2023 bakers dozen list, named a leader and star performer in Everest Groups 2023 Global RPO Services PEAK Matrix® assessment, and certified as a great place to work for three consecutive years.
Throughout his career, Bowles has believed that it is essential to not be afraid to fail forward. Taking calculated risks is essential for progression, he said.
As a leader, he said you must possess a wide range of attributes, including strategic vision, adaptability, emotional intelligence and ethical grounding. Leaders must be able to inspire and engage their teams, said Bowles. I constantly encourage my team to always seek better ways to do things, and we take an approach that there are no bad ideas.
