If you can sit in a room full of executives and be able to articulate how your department as a manager affects broader finances of the company that you work for, you will make your way into the succession planning of the company. If you can clearly point out how your department slots into revenue generation, even better. If you can show how your department can reduce overheads by being more efficient, you are a winner. When the company is thinking about the next executives in the business, your name will be on top of the list.
That is because companies are in business and their business is not employment. That is for recruitment agencies. Their business is to service their customers and secure their market share. In order for that to happen, they need to be sustainable. In order for them to be sustainable, they need managers that are sharp.
Luckily, I found a course at Milpark Business School that spoke to me and I though I should share it. Now, these are 3 important parts of the programme structure that are a total hack:
1 .Financial Planning and Control – Budgeting
One of the things that frustrates executives are managers that do not understand how to budget. Somehow, such managers think of activities and forget about the cost. They fall into the habit of coming up with colourful stuff that could be costly. Here is the thing…those things might impress your subordinates but not the people that you report to. They will ask you cost related stuff and your lack of financial insight could immediately put you out of the running for the next executive. This part of the course will help you with that.
2. Business and Accounting Cycles
If you want propose something that will enhance your department and potentially improve efficiencies but you do it at the wrong time, it will not get approved. How many times did this happen to you and you wondered why such a good idea was not approved? Chances are you asked for something that requires budget outside Business and Accounting cycles. Maybe you got frustrated afterwards and never asked again which means you missed your moment to shine. That is Management Amateur Hour 101. Goodluck moving into an executive position.
3. Analysis and Interpretation of Financial Statements
This one, for people who work for listed companies, is the ultimate hack. Your company’s financial statements are published publicly. The data is right in front of you. This is your ultimate moment to shine. By understanding those numbers, you can suggest things that will cut costs or even increase revenue in your department. You will be solving a problem that you know for sure exists. You will be speaking to executives like an executive. Trust me, you will end up with someone upstairs having a great interest in you.
So, go check out the course from Milpark and see if it is for you. You can go compare with other ones as well. Whatever you do, just make sure that one day you add this skill to your arsenal as a manager.
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