At a personal level almost everyone understands they need money to buy the goods and services they want. This is the essence of commercial skill. The same skill is required in an organisational context where an organisation needs to generate enough profit, by selling its products and services at sufficient quantity and with enough profit margin, to enable it to pay for the capital, materials and labour it uses.

In the public or third sector the language is different but the need to use the grant or sponsorship income received to provide as many services as possible requires the same balancing act and an awareness of the value that is being provided.

To encourage people to develop and use their commercial skill organisations need to help their staff understand how their organisation works and the decisions they can take that will impact on the organisations performance. The objective is to help people develop an interest in the organisation and an understanding of the wider environment in which it operates: its customers, competitors and suppliers.

As well as looking outside the organisation people need greater awareness of the cost and contribution made by each department. Achieving increased commercial skill will then offer an alternative route to costs saving. Rather than stripping out costs, and potentially losing valuable resources and capabilities, people can make better choices and improve efficiency.

Find out more about how one of our clients integrated a business game into their development programme: O2 Talent and Store Leader Development.