Warning signs - 1

To survive, we have to be financially successful. And that means that everyone in the business needs to be financially aware. If our people don’t understand – or don’t care about – our financial progress, we’re in trouble!

So I’m doing a series of blogs outlining six of the financial warning signs you may see amongst your colleagues. You might even recognise some of them in yourself…

When you’re in a meeting, and finance is on the agenda, look around the room. How many people have “zoned out”?

Maybe they’re thinking “I’m not in the Finance department, so this is irrelevant.” But the financial results measure our progress, so that’s like a footballer thinking “I’m not a scorekeeper, so the score is irrelevant.” We need to see whether what we’re doing is getting us to where we want to be.

Perhaps they’re thinking “I don’t understand the report or the jargon”. That’s a common feeling: most finance reports are way too long, and the jargon is confusing. But the answer is to achieve understanding, not to zone out.

Many people just aren’t comfortable with numbers. But the numbers simply point to where things are better or worse than expected: our job is to understand why.

So, how many of your colleagues have zoned out? (Are you one of them?)

But we can’t leave financial success to chance, so what does your business need to do to engage people with its financial progress? After all, our jobs depend upon the business’s financial success!

Find more on my website: www.attainmenttraining.co.uk. Sign up to my regular newsletter.