Skills Needed For Corporate Finance – For example, it is important for business owners to ensure that all members of their company are equipped with skills such as critical thinking, time management and effective communication to ensure that day-to-day operations run smoothly and business goals are met.
Here’s an overview of why it’s important to improve your business skills and ten things you should prioritize to advance your career.
Skills Needed For Corporate Finance
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A foundation in business can not only lead to increased confidence in the workplace, but also open the door to a myriad of career opportunities. For those who have expanded their knowledge by taking Harvard Business School courses, the experience has led to outcomes such as:
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If you want to achieve similar goals in your career, here are ten business skills you should develop.
A basic understanding of economics can be valuable in any industry. In addition to an in-depth understanding of pricing strategies and market demand, studying economics can provide a toolbox for making important decisions in your business.
For Nicholas Grecco, a former CORe participant who works as an educator and healthcare administrator, the management economics lessons were critical to helping his company invest in solar energy.
“I knew investing in solar energy was a good opportunity, but the concept of Willingness to Sell (WTS) helped me understand and explain why,” says Grecco. “Due to the extra incentives from the city plan and the purchasing power of the group, the electrical contractors were willing to sell solar energy systems for a much lower price than usual, which increased the consumer surplus.” By explaining the WTS I was able to convince the owner to continue with this project.
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Research shows that a growing number of companies, including Microsoft, Uber and Blue Apron, are using analytics to drive growth and improve their services and operations.
According to LinkedIn, analytical thinking is one of the most sought-after hard skills in today’s job market. Knowing how to summarize data sets, spot trends, and test hypotheses can provide an analytical framework for approaching complex business problems and help you make informed decisions that benefit your business.
“Using data analytics is a very effective way to make an impact in an organization,” says HBS professor Jan Hammond, who teaches the Business Analytics course. “If you can go to a meeting and other people have opinions, but you have data to back up your arguments and recommendations, you’re making an impact.”
Accounting knowledge can be beneficial to your career even if you are not in a numbers-based role. While it may seem like a daunting topic, it’s much more accessible than you might think.
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Concepts like cash flow and profitability are useful for understanding your company’s performance and potential, but knowing how to read and interpret a balance sheet is critical to communicating financial results.
Pankaj Prashant, an engineer who attended CORe, says the principles he learned in financial accounting helped him build on his engineering background and advance his career.
“I’ve been following my company’s annual reports, and the accounting I’ve learned helps me understand where the company could go in the future,” says Prashant. “I also follow a few other companies for investment purposes and I’ve realized that I can make more informed decisions with my greater knowledge of corporate finance.”
Whether you’re at the beginning of your career or working at the senior level, it pays to be an effective negotiator. A World Economic Council report identified negotiation as one of the top 10 human skills needed to thrive in the future workforce.
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Sharpening your negotiation skills can help ensure not only value for your company at the negotiating table, but also for yourself when negotiating a higher starting salary or raise.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating an effective negotiation strategy. The key, according to HBS professor Mike Wheeler, who teaches negotiation skills, is to be open to improvisation and be prepared to think quickly.
“However you see yourself as a negotiator, most of the people you interact with probably have a different style, at least to some extent,” says Wheeler. “To be successful, you have to be agile. It means bending to use different skills depending on the situation and who you’re dealing with.”
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Strong management skills are inextricably linked to organizational performance. A Gallup study found that managers are responsible for 70 percent of the variation in employee engagement, highlighting the need for companies to develop leaders who drive productivity and team morale.
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For both seasoned and aspiring managers, knowing how to conduct meetings and communicate organizational change is important. Equally important is being aware of common mistakes team managers make.
In the case of PR account manager Monica Higgins, taking the Essential Management course was a way to increase her management knowledge and develop a new attitude in her role.
“I’m more aware of looking at things through a bigger lens, from different angles,” says Higgins. “I’ve always been a fan of asking thoughtful, educational questions — rather than making statements — and I’m now a big fan of playing devil’s advocate.
Whether you hold a management position or not, leadership skills are critical to success in the workplace. Though some think that leadership and management are one and the same, there is a difference between the two. Where management focuses on implementing processes, leadership is more focused on the people and vision driving change.
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In addition to improving your management skills, building your leadership skills can be useful in any profession. From learning to stay calm under pressure to developing your own leadership style, these skills can help you understand how to deliver on your vision and how to position your team for success.
In any business environment, professionals rely on communication to coordinate efforts and achieve organizational goals. Ineffective communication – or no communication at all – can be disastrous.
In addition to developing your skills, understanding and adapting to other people’s communication styles is a big part of success. Other important communication skills are active listening, empathy and reading body language.
Emotional intelligence is another essential business skill, and research shows it is a leading indicator of workplace performance. According to a study by TalentSmart, 90 percent of top performers have high emotional intelligence.
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Emotional intelligence is generally divided into four concepts: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Basically, this skill refers to your ability to understand your own emotions and recognize and influence the emotions of others.
Regardless of your industry or position, being aware of yourself and the people around you can help you gain more control over your relationships and achieve your goals effectively.
All professionals need strong decision-making skills to face complex workplace challenges. For those who work specifically in business or management, the need for such skills is even greater.
Determining how to allocate resources, which employees form a team, and how to implement a new organizational initiative are all decisions that require careful consideration. With a growing number of tools and resources that can be used to capture data, managers can feed their processes with valuable insights to make data-driven decisions and drive better results.
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Whether you’re looking for ideas or advice on a specific challenge or preparing for a career change, the people in your professional network can be a valuable resource.
To get the most out of your network, be open to opportunities to step outside your comfort zone and build new relationships. Once you’ve got your network in order, it’s important to maintain the relationships you’ve formed and find new ways to expand your network.
If you want to advance your career, the value of business acumen cannot be overemphasized. In addition to hard skills (such as financial accounting and understanding economics), you will need soft skills (such as emotional intelligence and leadership) as your business grows.
Regardless of your industry, knowledge of essential business concepts can help you better understand your company’s performance and gain the tools necessary to lead initiatives and drive strategic decision-making.
Finance Careers Infographic
Do you want to take your career to the next level? Then view our basic business courses. Download our free flowchart to choose the right course for you.
Matt Gavin is a member of the marketing team at Harvard Business School. Before returning to his home state of Massachusetts and joining HBS, he lived in North Carolina where he held news and content marketing roles. He has a background in video production and previously worked on several documentaries for Boston’s PBS station WGBH. In his spare time, he enjoys running, exploring New England, and spending time with his family. There is a shortage of talent in the current job market. While some believe this is due to factors such as the pandemic or the “Great Resignation,” the financial industry is experiencing a talent shortage, largely due to changing trends in the industry.
According to Robert Half Talent Solutions, 65 percent of senior finance and accounting executives will be looking for permanent positions in the first half of 2022. Yet only 33 percent search for job openings, which means many new positions are emerging, mainly due to changing skills.
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