If you own a company, or you’re simply in a high position in one, it’s understandable that you want business there to bloom constantly. In order to do so, it’s not enough for you to excel at what you do, but you’ll want your employees or coworkers to be great at their job as well. In addition, you’ll want them to be devoted to their work, to be ready to cooperate with others and to go the extra mile when needed. That’s why you’ll want to boost your coworkers’ skills and understanding of what the business goals are and how best to achieve them. Here is some great advice on ways to improve business acumen in your office.
Enable Cross-Training
Knowing precisely what your job is can get your company only so far, no matter how much effort you put into it. When all the lines are drawn, it all comes down to the final goal or the final product, and to get to that goal or product, it would be wise for everybody to be aware of the bigger picture.
This is why it’s essential that your employees are familiar with what other departments in your company do, how the work of one department affects the other departments within the company and how, with some slight changes, one department can make another department’s job much easier. Sending employees to other departments to sit, observe and learn how those departments function will give them precious insight on how their own work influences those colleagues that they aren’t in contact with on a daily level.
That way those employees will be able to adjust their work and improve it, so that the overall operation you’re trying to run is well-rounded and all of the goals accomplished with a much wider recognition of the company’s employees’ but also the customers’ requirements and expectations. Plus, this way you can reduce the feeling of isolation that some of your coworkers might feel, which can give them more will to work.
Be Creative and Open-Minded
When it comes to enhancing your employees’ skills, knowledge and ability to work, you’ll want to rely on employee training. While this is a good idea, bear in mind that the new generation of people, who seek jobs in companies like yours, won’t be impressed by the old-school seminars, where they have to spend hours at a time listening to a lecturer explaining how they should do their job. Instead, look for some more contemporary and interesting ways to pass any new information over to them and upgrade their expertise.
For instance, you can now find some phenomenal online game-based employee-training programs that can take your company’s business acumen to the next level. The most esteemed ones are actually business-simulation games, which cater to any employee’s needs, no matter how experienced or inexperienced they are.
Such game-based training can contribute to better communication and, consequently, collaboration between coworkers within your company. This is the type of training they will appreciate, as they’ll gain a lot from it, and they’ll be more prepared to build your business further by doing their job with less effort and higher productivity.
Praise Employees for Their Ideas
The people who work for or with you may be able to offer much more input than you expect, which is why you should always encourage them to come up with new ideas and to present them to you and their other colleagues.
One way to approach this issue is to hold weekly or monthly meetings, which can even be semi-formal, and have your employees share any ideas or suggestions they have on how to advance your business. Hear them out, give them your own thoughts about what they’ve demonstrated and allow their colleagues to do the same.
Make sure you show them how much you welcome their initiative and try to implement their ideas into your business plan, if you believe they are good enough. Praise them for their effort and innovativeness and, if possible, reward them for those ideas that prove to be beneficial to your business. This reward doesn’t have to be anything big, nor does it have to be individual.
It might add to a healthy company ethos if the reward includes the entire team of people working with or for you, such as a delicious brunch, a party for everybody, a fun team-building activity, or even a short trip from time to time, funded by the company. You may be positively surprised by the difference your employees’ ideas can make to the company’s success when given the incentive, while the employees will clearly see how much you truly value and trust them.
Investing company money and time into employee business acumen is a direct investment in the future of the company. When your employees are experts in what they do, when you always do your best to upgrade their skills and when they feel that their worth is acknowledged, it will be easier to reach any and all of your company goals.
