Who Benefits from Strong Business Acumen?
Do you feel like your executives and CEOs are the only people that benefit from financial strategy and business acumen? Don’t get me wrong, your executives having business acumen is extremely important, but more than just executive team members can benefit from business acumen. While all can benefit, we think it is absolutely crucial for three stakeholders to have strong business acumen:
Employees
Customers
Shareholders
Business acumen in employees:
Employees with strong business acumen make better business decisions in their roles and tend to have their priorities more in line with those of the organization. That's because they are able to use their business acumen to link priorities in their position to the priorities of their organization. Using this information, employees are able to gain credibility because their work and decisions link to the financial success of the company. Executives love to see it! And owners will notice!
Business acumen gives meaning to your work as an employee:
But that’s not all. Having the knowledge of business acumen can give your work meaning. It helps you to understand the broader organization and how you are impacting it. You impact the growth of the company, of course, but it helps to know (and see!) where. Seeing the influence you have on your organization day in and day out will help bring meaning and excitement to your day-to-day responsibilities.
Business acumen gives meaning to your customers:
If employees can benefit from business acumen, then customers can too, right? Your decisions matter — maybe in more ways than you realize! Making good decisions with your products, including the small details, pricing, and paying close attention to costs, should all translate to benefits for your customer. Helping your customers win in their markets, benefit from pricing/costs, and feel like you're in their corner helping them win new business.
So as you innovate, grow, and operate efficiently and effectively, you can pass along these benefits to your customers.
Business acumen gives meaning to the shareholders:
Now, we can’t forget about our shareholders! All of these positive changes drive value to them, and they are expecting you to make strong business decisions to generate a return. In order to fund the business and keep it moving forward, there are a few key things you need to understand and be able to handle wisely — and business acumen gives you the know-how to be successful.
Employees that make good business decisions are partners with their customers, drive growth and profitability, and create the cash flow that the shareholders are expecting. It's a virtuous cycle! Good business acumen adds value everywhere.
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