Epicor creates industry-specific software solutions and services that enable a world of better business. Steve O’Keeffe, RVP UK & Ireland, Epicor, joined the company in January and tells us more about his job role and his style of management.
Describe your current job role.
As Regional Vice President for the UK & Ireland at Epicor, my responsibilities include regional sales management, overseeing business operations and leading teams to bring in vital growth as part of our journey to becoming a true cloud SaaS vendor in the region. My team supports SMEs in the distribution, manufacturing and building supplies industries in implementing the most scalable cloud solutions and modules that are tailored to their business’ needs and go beyond ERP capabilities.
Most importantly, a key part of my role is to actively engage with our customers, driving customer loyalty and continuing to listen to their requirements as to how we can achieve and fulfil their business ambitions by Digital Transformation.
What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?
For me, it has to be raising my son. As a single working parent, it has meant that I have become very focused, organised and more structured in my approach to the way I carry out both my business and personal life. Many lessons learned have shaped me to be more rigid, concise and knowing that the concept of time should be seen as an entity that you can’t get back.
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?
Leading on from my previous answer, I wouldn’t say I employ any single management philosophy, but my structured approach has certainly helped me in my working life to become more focused and driven on the priorities. Having a diverse role, I am very lucky to work with an experienced and enthusiastic team. Since joining in January, my team would probably say my management style is straight cut and to the point – going back to my focussed and rigid style. I think my way of working has positively impacted the team by getting them to think about maximising and truly valuing their own time and concentrating on what is important and what will create the most impact.
I am also a strong advocate for bringing in and recruiting young talent and graduates to the workforce. The passion, energy and willingness to learn is extremely rewarding – I always end up learning something new at the same time! There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing people that I have mentored or brought into a business leading teams, become great managers and even becoming RVPs themselves.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?
Hands down, AI – if you look at any news article, tech trends or buzzwords for 2024 in the software industry, you will immediately see the words Artificial Intelligence. For any tech business it’s not just how do we use those words, it’s about how we look at this technology for competitive advantage and to give businesses the insight advantage, which will let you aggregate data from internal and external systems, so you can quickly understand and predict key indicators within finance, sourcing, production, logistics, sales and fulfilment. Ultimately, you’re able to give your customer a better experience based on anticipating their needs.
If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?
If I look back at my early career, I undertook many years in non-business applications, which gave me a solid understanding of the layers and complexities of IT and where applications sit within a stack. However, in hindsight I could have leveraged this knowledge sooner and applied it into later roles in my career a lot earlier.
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in your industry?
“Know your own value and what you can bring” – people invest in you FOR you it’s that simple. Have self-belief, be confident in what you’re good at, know your own assets and what you bring to the table. That being said, I am a firm believer in addressing challenges and the importance of balance. To ensure focus in work life, everyone should have an outlet, a place, a hobby or a passion that can ground them, for me this is cooking!
What behaviour or personality trait do you most attribute your success to and why?
Resiliency is a key attribute. I would like to think that within the nature of my career and at the heart of sales, you need to be able to dust yourself off and pick up and go again after any rejection. Having time to reflect and re-focus has always helped me to reach to the next level, whether that be in my work or personal life.
What’s your go-to productivity trick?
Focus on core KPIs, having key metrics or drivers to your business ensures accountability. I am a great believer in this and even get my team to regularly look at data or performance stats at the same time to be consistent to obtain the best outcomes. This methodical approach is a great productivity trick when looking at measurements or taking part in any data analysis.