Alumni Reflections: Paul Hoppenjans: CFO/Controller at Ventus Solutions

Interview by Lisa Zoch, BGS Consulting proud sponsor of the Andersen Alumni Newsletter

1. How did your career at Andersen begin? What office(s) did you work in and for how long?

I started with AA&Co. in the Washington DC office in 1986. I was there for three years, leaving as an Audit Senior.

2. Can you share with us how your experience at Arthur Andersen influenced your leadership style and decision-making process?

One of the best things about starting my career at AA&Co. was the early opportunity to run engagements and supervise staff members. The skills I learned doing that – supervising by working alongside younger staff (in a way I have since called “supervising from the same side of the desk”), providing consistent verbal feedback in the moment and written feedback after it’s all done, providing a space of mutual respect – have been a big part of what I’ve relied upon my entire career.

3. Can you discuss any specific lessons or principles from your time at Arthur Andersen that you still apply in your current role?

An important principle I developed at Andersen was the value of how a manager should handle the good and the bad – credit when things go well goes to your staff, and when things don’t go that well, you take responsibility. Taking that approach always works and has served me well over the years.

4. How do you believe the culture at Arthur Andersen has influenced your perspectives on organizational culture and employee engagement within your current organization?

I believe that culture at an organization is rooted in shared experiences. At AA&Co., we had a lot of that. From the first week in the office to two weeks in St. Charles, to long hours in busy season – even in blizzard conditions – we were steeped in shared experiences that developed the culture and probably influenced most of us throughout our careers.

5. What strategies or techniques did you learn at Andersen that you continue to use in identifying and developing talent within your organization?

At Andersen, one technique I learned that has proven valuable is quickly establishing rapport with fellow staff members, supervisors, and co-workers. It forms the basis of functioning relationships. This was necessary in an environment where one was changing teams every few weeks. In a short period of time, one had to establish effective working relationships almost immediately. Learning how to listen and asking more questions of other team members than talking about myself was a good way to do this. This has helped over the years to achieve a level of effectiveness in my working relationships without wasting a lot of time. Additionally, it has enabled me to determine the strengths, challenges, and proclivities of my co-workers providing a basis for defining roles and allocating responsibilities.

6. What is your fondest memory from your time at Andersen?

I recall how much camaraderie we had, whether it was on specific engagement teams, with your “starting group,” with classmates at training, or in the staff room where we gathered to share our “unassigned time,” waiting to have somebody ask you to reference a “brown cover,” foot and cross-foot schedules on ubiquitous AA&Co. yellow columnar paper, or the dreaded call to make photocopies of workpapers. It was all good fun. Oh, and of course…the happy hours on Fridays.

About Ventus Solutions (Ventus Solutions (VES) ) is a 100% employee-owned company that helps clients to manage complex engineering and program development problems.

Alumni can reach out to Paul Hoppenjans onLinkedIn .

BGSConsultingis a professional services firm that specializes in providing flexible, tailor-made solutions to our clients. BGS Consulting provides highly experienced finance and accounting resources to fill the project-based and strategic needs of its clients. Our team has a blend of public accounting and operational experience across numerous industries which allows us to collaborate, design and deliver unique solutions to our clients.