The Profession Map / Core knowledge / Business acument

As people professionals, it’s critical that we understand organisations – their purpose, future direction, priorities and performance – as well as the external influences and trends impacting them.

We also need to understand the wider world of work – and how organisations contribute not only to the lives of their employees and customers, but society as a whole. Understanding these aspects of work enables us to anticipate external events and internal issues, and identify how people practices can add the most value – and, therefore, contribute to the sustained success and development of organisations.

Within this area you’ll also find the practical business knowledge that you need, such as understanding business models, financial literacy, strategic planning, and supplier management. Knowledge of how to use these business skills is critical to operating successfully as a people professional within different types of organisations and environments. And this applies whether you’re employed by one organisation, or working for several client organisations.

This is why Business acumen is one of the largest knowledge areas in the Profession Map; we need a deep understanding of the world of work if we are to be effective in creating value for organisations, their employees and workers, and wider society.

Business acumen standards

Each standard progresses through four levels of impact. Which level do you most embody in your day-to-day work?


	Foundation level	Associate level	Chartered Member level	Chartered Fellow level
	At this level you'll understand:	At this level you'll understand:	At this level you'll understand:	At this level you'll understand:
Organisation strategy and issues	The products and/or services your organisation delivers, and who its main customers are	Your organisation’s strategy, priorities and issues, and how these connect to people strategy and people priorities	How the organisation’s strategy translates to your work, and how different issues in the organisation are connected	Your organisation’s long- term vision and strategy, and what it means for the people strategy
External landscape	The key external influences that impact your organisation	The different external trends which impact your organisation (eg social, economic and technological)	How the organisation is responding to different trends in the sector and wider environment which impacts its performance	How external influences impact organisation performance, and emerging trends in the sector and beyond
Business model	How your organisation creates value for its customers	How your organisation generates revenue, and how different departments contribute to that	Your organisation’s business model and areas of competitive advantage, and where value is created and lost	Future opportunities and risks in your organisation’s business model and how to enhance competitive advantage
Value creation	What value is, why it’s important, and how your work benefits other people in the organisation	How people practices benefit different stakeholders (eg workers, customers)	How people practices create value for different stakeholders, and the associated risks	How people strategies create sustainable value for others, and the interdependencies and risks of those value creations
Organisation performance	How your organisation measures its performance	Your organisation's financial and non-financial measures of performance	How to interpret your organisation's performance data, identify people risks and mitigating actions	Internal factors that shape short and long term business performance
Financial literacy	How to make common calculations (eg percentages, averages)	How to interpret financial statements, track costs, and forecast spend in your work	How to contribute to business performance by reviewing and forecasting spend and calculating return on investment	How to represent the value of people in different ways (eg skills, profit, capability, cost)
Strategic planning	What your organisation's goals are, and why it’ s important for organisations to plan	How your work connects with and supports wider people and organisation strategies	How to develop a people plan (review, develop insight, align with organisation strategy, create proposals)	Different forms of strategy development, how to create an organisation- wide people strategy, and shape the business strategy
Governance	The role and purpose of governance in your organisation	The role and purpose of governance, its structure in your area of work, and the broader regulatory environment you work in	The role and purpose of governance, its structure in your area of work, and the broader regulatory environment you work in	How to influence and shape governance, its structure in your area of work, and the broader regulatory environment you work in
Supplier management	The suppliers and partner organisations that support your area of work	How to manage relationships with suppliers and partner organisations, and how to choose them	How to select and manage suppliers and partner organisations, how to ensure value for money, and different supply models	How to determine the right supply and partner models that fit the people approach, and ensure value for money
Environmental sustainability	What your organisation’s priorities are on environmental sustainability	What your organisation’s priorities are on environmental sustainability and how your work contributes to this	How people and work practices can enable environmental sustainability	Emerging developments in the area of environmental sustainability, and how people strategy and the people profession can contribute
Brand	What employer brand is and why it’s important	How employer brand and reputation is shaped and formed	How your organisation contributes towards society and how this impacts employer brand and reputation	How people strategy shapes employer brand and reputation

Next: Evidence-based practice

Understanding people's behaviour and creating the right organisation culture

Continue to Evidence-based practice

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