Business Acumen is for everyone!

Business Acumen - a Critical Competency for Success

As stated by The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Business Acumen ranks as the third most crucial behavioral competency for employee success, following Leadership and Ethics. This significance is further reinforced by its popularity, evident from the substantial monthly search volume of nearly 10,000 on Google alone. Additionally, within a single month on Twitter, the topic garnered considerable attention with the following statistics:

• Over 2000 Tweets containing the term “Business Acumen”
• 80+ Tweets with #businessacumen
• 400 Tweets with Business Skills Training
• 365 Tweets on Business Simulation

At a high level, most HR and Talent Development professionals think Business Acumen is just about understanding business, but of course, it is much more than that.  Advantexe wrote a blog called “Defining Business Acumen” which defines it as; The deep and applicable understanding of the system of how a business achieves its goals and objectives. It includes a thorough understanding of the levers that create and position a value proposition to customers and it drives profitability, cash flow, and shareholder value.

The bottom line? Business skills development is a critical competency that everyone in the organization must have. At a more specific level, Business acumen training means different things to different functions and audiences within the business organization, and here are a few suggestions.