The Case for Learning Business Acumen 

As I write this article, Australian football codes are making their mark on the finals series. Imagine the array of talented players; athletic, tough and skilled at their respective positions. One might predict a teams success based upon that scenario.

But further imagine that while they are skilled in the basics of playing their respective games; running, kicking, passing, tackling etc., but they don't have a solid understanding of the rules of the game. Would this change your outlook for how successful this team will be?

We find the same scenario occurring in business today with highly skilled and talented "players" in each area, but without the critical understanding of the fundamental rules of business. Those fundamentals include a basic knowledge of the "cash to cash" cycle, the basics of operational decisions on financial success of the business and how important it is to understand how each fundamental area or department "fits" together for organizational growth.

And in today's difficult economy, it becomes more important than ever that each and every person in your organisation understands exactly how your business makes money, how what they do on a daily basis, contributes to the bottom line and how the decisions they make impacts the profitability of the company, keeping the company strong enough to weather difficult times.

Take a moment and ask yourself "What if..."

• All our employees thought and acted like they owned the company?
• All our employees could see and understand our value drivers?
• We could experiment with different strategies for our stiff competition?
• We could increase competence without spending weeks in training?
• Our employees could get a hands-on experience to see how a more efficient operation will improve sales and performance?

Many clients have realised that they have been putting those critical frontline team members at a disadvantage by neglecting to provide them with the skills and knowledge to make good business decisions.

Board-based simulation training with Melt FM addresses that missing component. By working in teams, running a board based simulation similar to their own company, people make decisions and very quickly experience the impact of those decisions both operationally and financially. They must manage their cash, make tough choices about how to invest their limited resources and quickly learn that there is only "so much money"!

Through discussion and debrief, they are able to make the connections to how the decisions they make on a daily basis impacts the financial success of your company.

Often, we are asking how a company can justify the investment in this type of learning exercise. In response I would ask you to consider "What is the cost of sub standard or just plain poor decision making on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis?" What would it mean to your company if your frontline workforce had a better understanding of how your company's operations and their decisions improved the cash cycle, why it is important to control overtime, how much waste affects bottom line performance etc. The answer to those questions in dollar terms far outweighs the investment in your people.

The simulation experience will drive behavior change and enhance the quality of the hundreds of decisions that are made everyday. Ultimately the cumulative effect of all those decisions is improved financial performance.

Sustained profit and cash - isn't that the goal?

Laurie Reeves is the Managing Director of Melt FM, a company that aligns people strategies with board based business simulation.

For further information, contact Melt FM on (03) 9588 0996 or email mailto:celemi_training@meltfm.com.au  .

www.meltfm.com.au