For your company to run like a well-oiled machine, all managers, even those not linked to the finance department, need to understand financial basics along with the core business goal. Only then will you have teams working together to generate a profit. Fortunately, you can get your management staff up to speed quickly and affordably by taking advantage of quality online courses combined with in-person training.
It is a known fact that unless you have managers who collectively understand both the strategies and processes required to manage finances, you will have a difficult time achieving the level of business success you want. That does not mean that your non-finance managers need to know how to calculate challenging contracts or negotiate deals, but there are specific key factors that training should cover.
For instance, all your managers should have a good understanding of how your specific business generates profit. In other words, they need to know what drives the revenue your company makes. They should also know the way your business invests capital. Through in-person education, you can explain to your non-finance managers the different ways that your business increases the generation of cash flow.
Some of the other specific topics to cover include the way your company measures and manages performance, how it uses KPIs as a driving factor, what products it considers critical for ensuring a positive financial outcome, and so on. All your managers, including those who work outside of finance, play a critical role in the daily operations of your company. For that reason, providing them with a basic understanding of the business financial landscape is essential.
In-Person and Online Training
You need to create an effective workplace training program to teach your employees these skills. Not only will that benefit current employees, new hires, and even contractors, but also the instructor. Together, this gives everyone the opportunity to develop strong work and communication skills.
Through first-hand training sessions, you can create an environment for non-finance managers to learn from the pros. As part of the program, you can simulate different scenarios that people in finance deal with, giving non-finance managers a much broader view of how the financial department and the company as a whole works. Through training, these managers will learn to understand and appreciate the various strategies used and decisions made when it comes to the company’s financial position.
As an example, you could offer your sales and marketing managers basic financial training. Based on the information provided, each of them can refine the way they approach both prospects and existing customers. Instead of assuming things that they may not be able to deliver, their new insight into finances will help them follow through on the promises they make.
Included in the training, non-finance managers can see how different processes work from beginning to end. That insight will go a long way in how they perform their duties. These skills are not just for sales and marketing professionals but for other managers as well. As an example, by taking your customer service managers through the same in-person training, they too can handle situations in a more productive and efficient manner.
Although every team in your organization plays a vital role in the success of your business, finance is the heart. For that reason, it is important to offer non-finance managers a peek into the daily activities of those responsible for keeping the company afloat and helping it grow. Overall, the employees who attend the training program gain tremendous knowledge that they can use to make better-informed decisions within their respective departments.
Building Confidence
There is nothing worse than having a non-finance manager caught off guard by a prospect who asks a seemingly innocent question. Although this manager may not be able to go into details, with proper training, that individual could at least provide an accurate response or guide the potential customers to the appropriate party.
Just a small amount of information goes a long way in building the confidence of your entire management team, even with those outside of finance. The more confident they become, the better they interact with customers. In response, your potential and existing customers feel confident in your company’s ability to meet their demands. In other words, proper training goes full circle.
The other thing to consider is that with training, which again, builds confidence, you will find a lot of your non-finance managers interested in learning and achieving more. Whether within their current department or in a different capacity within the company, they begin to feel motivated to perform every job optimally. Increasing engagement through in-person training tends to stimulate a response in the way of accelerated performance.
Just as your non-finance managers learn how the company handles various financial aspects of the business, these people can provide input that might make the finance department stronger. With open communication and collaboration that comes from training, managers that typically have little interaction now have the opportunity to brainstorm and resolve issues.
Online Training
As you can see, the in-person training of your non-finance managers is critical. However, online training courses are just as vital. With an abundance of topics, all affordably priced, you can select several different courses on finance for your non-finance managers. To further stimulate business engagement within your organization, you could have your finance managers complete courses that relate to what your other departments do.
Before long, every manager within your company has new knowledge, understanding, and insight that makes them more proficient in their roles but also better at interacting with each other. Instead of watching your business become stagnant, you should offer in-person and online training to kick things into high gear.
