Making training come alive
We create training which is both enjoyable, and highly effective. We are experts in using interaction, while our subject-matter expertise brings you understanding and insights. We concentrate on three areas:
1. Business partnering
Organisations now expect key people in support functions (Finance, IT, HR etc) to be true Business Partners – to give professional, business-relevant advice to management. We have deep experience in helping people to deliver this. We believe that the best business partners employ a balance of technical skills, behavioural capabilities (‘soft’ skills) and business acumen. Our programmes balance the three areas, as we find this gives the best learning outcomes.
Case study: HR Business Partnering
We have run training for Finance Business Partners (BPs) for many companies over the years – including for the UK’s largest software company. When they asked us to develop a course for their HR BPs we were initially unsure – HR has very different needs from Finance, both in hard skills and in soft skills (our BP courses always combine the two). We took on the challenge, developed some new frameworks while adapting others, and created a series of role plays / exercises. The end result was a powerful experience that brought the global team of HR BPs together, enhanced their business acumen, focused their functional skills and developed their influencing skills.
“I changed my mindset from not understanding, to being responsible for the change.”
CASE STUDY: Finance Business Partnering
We deliver a programme for high calibre finance managers, to help them improve their relationships with other functions. We explore how a good finance function brings value to the business, by broadening the business understanding of participants. The programme includes tailored exercises, a business simulation and scenario role-plays which require technical finance, business acumen and interpersonal skills. The course drives more informed and effective finance business partners. It has been running for over 10 years now and receives the best feedback for any international programme in the client.
“Great content. Great combination of theory, case studies, group work. Great facilitators. Great course.”
2. Finance for Decision Making
We help business managers use finance to make better decisions. We build financial acumen so that they can:
- Understand financial reports and KPIs, and see how these show the financial health of the business
- Anticipate the impact of their decisions on the financial performance of the business
- Use the right financial analysis to support their investment decisions
We teach this with a wide variety of games, simulations and case studies – all highly practical, and always tailored to the client by using their own financial terminology and business situations.
Case study: Finance for Decision Making
A global FMCG business needed to rapidly upskill new country business teams so they could make faster and better decisions, underpinned by simple (yet concrete) financial rigour. Our tailored programme led each cross-functional team through a series of steps:
- Online diagnostic - to identify base level finance knowledge of each participant
- Instructor led virtual class - to cover finance fundamentals and business targets
- Second online diagnostic - to measure learning development
- Face-to-face programme - focused on key business decisions they are responsible for
The programme is being rolled out worldwide and to date over 500 leaders have benefited from the training.
“The course was way more useful than I would have originally thought and added immediate value to my business challenges. Facilitators were willing and, most importantly, able to bring material to life in a way that made it easy to understand and tangible.”
3. Business Acumen
Business acumen, for us, means the ability to take good decisions. It is relevant to managers across all functions. It requires you to integrate an understanding of your market, your competitors and your own company’s strategy to win – and to know what you can do in your own role to help deliver this. It is what MBAs try to teach – but we believe our practical experience makes our programmes more relevant and applicable.
Case study: Business Acumen
We designed a face-to-face programme for BAT senior managers from different functions and now deliver this to various locations around the world.
It is called “Adding Shareholder Value”, and allows participants to:
- understand the language of finance and the drivers of value within their business
- write better business cases
- create more value by using BAT tools and techniques, especially on pricing and trade investment decisions.
The course is highly tailored to BAT terminology and business issues, with emphasis on what each operating company can do to contribute to shareholder value.
It is highly interactive and engaging; challenging participants by using tailored case studies to teach how to make the best decisions.
“One of the most useful courses I have attended. Amazing instructors who made it real fun. Great to have a different, outside perspective of the work we do and understand how we can add value to shareholders.”
Using simulations
We are particularly keen in using simulations in our courses. They allow people to compete and make decisions in realistic scenarios, without the real-world consequences of getting it wrong. We use a variety of simulations, both online and in the classroom.