Why You Need Business Acumen For HR

Business Acumen Skills Boost HR Careers

Why is Business acumen an important skill for any career? Most people want to be effective in their jobs and while there are many ways in which someone can improve themselves generally speaking, there are also plenty of ways in which people can go about becoming a better employee. Though the type of industry and job position will ultimately determine the kinds and expression of the skills needed to become a successful employee, there are a few basic categories that are universally transferable no matter what industry or job position someone may be currently holding or are looking to pivot into. One of those general categories is that of business acumen.

What Is Business Acumen

Business acumen can be understood as the ability to comprehend and interpret how a business operates, why certain decisions are made, how teams might accomplish their goals, and what ultimately drives profitability. There are plenty of different leadership skills that fall under the category of business acumen so, while anyone can learn how to become a better employee from certain skill sets, there are roles which tend to require their own specific, ideal skill collections. HR professionals are just one such department. HR professionals have many responsibilities to attend to, all while balancing a typically more challenging role that gravitates around the complexity of interpersonal relationships as it relates to the success of a business’s operation.

As such HR professionals who have a strong business acumen means being able to identify and align HR strategies with the overall goals and objectives of the organization and its mission. It involves understanding key business drivers, financial principles, market dynamics, and how different functions within the company work together to achieve success.

Human Resources And Business Acumen

In the ever-evolving world of Human Resources, the role of the HR professional has changed significantly and steadily over the proceeding decades with a variety of technological advancements like remote learning. Moving far beyond traditional administrative tasks to now involve a handful of daily responsibilities that enable HR professionals to become strategic business partners that do their best to support a business with foundational needs.
In order to succeed in this niche of the business landscape, HR professionals would do well to possess as many strong business acumen skills as possible. The following are some suggestions for ways in which HR professionals can increase their business acumen in order to boost their careers.

Business Acumen Skills For The HR Professional

Business acumen is the ability to understand and interpret how a company operates, makes money, and achieves its goals. It involves having a deep understanding of the industry, market trends, financial metrics, and the overall business strategy. Those employees who have a strong sense of business acumen can quickly become set apart from the competition and those persons who are not continuing to expand their skill sets.

Emotional Intelligence

Businesses are built on relationships. Whether a company is promoting a product or service does not matter, the end result is that people’s lives will be changed because of what’s being offered. HR professionals have to manage many layers of an organization, but of all the many things that are required to run a successful business, emotional intelligence may perhaps be one of the most important, although ironically one of the most under-appreciated and overlooked. This might be due to the fact that emotional intelligence is a challenging skill set to learn, and one that can take years to become proficient in.

For those who spend the time focusing on the many ways in which they might become more emotionally intelligent however, they will be able to effectively communicate with almost anyone in any situation. The value of this is nearly incalculable, being that the ripples from a single positive conversation can extend for years throughout a company and all of the business relationships nurtured.

Strong Alignment with Company Values

Every company has a mission, and that mission is a combination of goals, services, and the values that make up the way in which business is conducted. HR professionals’ roles by nature interweave themselves between every level and type of department within a business. This is done with many goals in mind but with the overarching objective of supporting the business by supporting its team members.

One of the ways to do this is to become familiar and align oneself with the values of an organization by asking questions that elaborate on things like, what are some of the top goals of the company leaders, how a product or service is intended to affect its customers, or what clients and customer response is to the business.

Asking these questions elaborates and exposes the foundational values of the business so that they can be communicated clearly back to any employee. The ability to clarify, define, and align with business goals and values makes HR professionals and their observational skills important to the long-term success of any business.

Consistent and Effective Measurement Abilities

One of the best ways to scale a business is to become aware of the reasons that a product or service is being received by clients and customers. The ability to track and quantify the response of a company takes time and a collection of business skills. Valuable HR professionals will have taken the time to hone their abilities ranging from financial acumen, problem solving, and management principles that hold everything together.