Making sense of your Business Data calls for sharpened analysis skills

Taking stock of the company’s performance through a business review, whether annually or every few years, has always been a rather dreaded activity among corporate professionals across any industry.

That’s no surprise considering the time and effort required to gather and properly analyze data in order to unearth the critical learnings that will be used to set the direction of the company.

A business review could indeed prove to be tedious, but it is unarguably an essential exercise if a company were to remain dynamic and competitive.

The importance of a regular business evaluation has recently become more pressing, especially in the rapidly evolving financial services industry, which has been seeing exponential growth along with the rise of changing customer preferences for digital solutions that offer convenience and accessibility.

Financial institutions, for their part, have also been using digital solutions to widen financial inclusion in the Philippines.

Hence, for banking and non-bank financial institutions to stay competitive, it is important that they know which direction to take and where to invest their limited resources in. And that can be uncovered by doing a regular comprehensive and sound review of the business.

The task of evaluating the business, either for the short- or medium-term, could be made more seamless and productive with leaders and managers who have advanced business analysis skills.

Case in point, one of the CEOs of a financial company recognized the importance of setting their direction for the next five years given the volatile market environment. And he knew that a good five-year strategic plan must start with a sound and comprehensive review of the business.

Before embarking on their strategic planning session, he tapped Acumen’s Capability Building service to elevate the business analysis skills of his leadership team and their direct reports.

LIVE CASES

To make the training more relevant and value-adding, the participants used live business cases so they can demonstrate and apply what they have learned. That means the participants had to actually work on the annual review of their respective operations during the course of the training guided by Acumen’s seasoned faculty.

The Business Insights Academy™, one of the core service lines of Acumen, enables program participants through well-established modules and structured methods that are designed to enhance the ability to accurately assess business performance.

In teaching business analysis, Acumen uses proprietary tools and frameworks to help the participants analyze their businesses effectively and efficiently.

One of the frameworks used by Acumen is the BA Framework, which is developed and customized by Acumen’s faculty per client through stakeholder interviews. The use of the BA Framework, together with other proprietary analysis tools and frameworks, allows for evaluation results and insights that are operative.

To make sure that participants understand what is being taught, live business cases are used and participants present their analysis through each critical stage to the Acumen faculty, who then provide guidance on what they did well and what they can improve on. The training program itself could easily take a month or two.

Business analysis, including the development of capabilities for this data-driven task, requires team leaders who are fully invested in the activity.

Without a sound and comprehensive business review, companies run the risk of failing to define the right strategy and direction for growth.

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