Corporate training can deliver business smart, financially savvy early talent, Carla Hoppe from Wealthbrite shares top tips for employers.
High-performers in work understand how their company and customers operate. They know what market changes mean for business and they see how their role directly contributes to growth.
They connect the dots between the big picture and their everyday activities; they work efficiently, spot opportunities and deliver top-line results.
Commercial acumen isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a critical skill for the future of work. Yet, the ISE Student Development Survey 2024 showed that for both apprentices and graduates young talent is falling far short of employer expectations on understanding the bigger picture.
Having won the Money Awareness & Inclusion Award 2024 for Best For-Profit Adult Education, here are my top tips for how you can upskill your talent with commercial awareness and boost performance.
1. Expose talent to different business functions
Let your talent experience what other people in the business are doing through storytelling or rotation opportunities.
This allows talent to build in-house relationships, experience how different teams work and understand why commerciality isn’t just for commercial roles.
2. Encourage talent to keep up to date with the industry landscape
Your talent likely has an interest in the industry they’re working for. Signpost them to relevant hashtags, people of interest, and companies they could follow on social media.
This will keep them at the forefront of what’s happening in the industry. Seeing what competitors and customers in the same space are up to will help bring fresh perspectives to their own roles.
3. Give talent the responsibility to share feedback
Talent usually has an idea of how things can be improved. Give them the mic, and listen. Encourage them to provide market updates and feedback on business ideas.
This will create talent that connects the dots between the economic landscape and your commercial activities. Owning that activity helps them to have a greater connection to business goals beyond pay checks and promotions.
4. Tie role objectives to wider business goals
People typically approach their goals with personal interests. They want a bigger title and more money. In development meetings, encourage them to think about how they create the business case for their ambitions by linking into the commercial goals of the business.
This will enable a deeper understanding of how their role contributes to business success.
5. Bring in a third party
Sometimes it takes someone outside of the business to bridge the gap between what the finance team and your talent do and to make the penny drop.
At Wealthbrite we bring the world of business and finance to life with engaging, AI-enhanced learning pathways. We show people how to tell stories with financial data and understand how business finances drive operational decisions.
The lack of commercial awareness in young talent is not news but with only 23% of young people saying they have the skills needed to progress in their careers, now is the time to act.
Equip new starters with the tools to become high-performers from day one. By understanding the financial and commercial big picture, your team will deliver real, measurable results.
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