Need to know: most profitable products

What is the most profitable product and how much revenue did it generate in the last financial year?
Why you need to know
It is incredibly important for HR to know and understand the company's most profitable product(s), as you will need to be mindful of any impact that suggestions you make will have on the product or the way in which it is managed or run. Knowing not only what the product is, but also how much revenue it generates will help you understand what relative importance you should place in terms of your strategies and suggestions on the team that are responsible for delivering it.

How can you make your development stick?

HR needs to refocus its efforts on getting the most from their training investment, says Jan Hills, who discusses the measures that HR professionals can take to ensure they capitalise on the initial development of staff after training.

Need to know: understanding your competition

Can you name the chief executive of the company's three top competitors?
Most HR business partners' knowledge about their business decreases by concentric circles: this means that they tend to know a lot about the business area that they support, less about the wider group and very little about the competition.

After having worked with a small group of associates to create HR With Guts. I have now decided to join some colleagues in their business as a Partner.

Need to know: members of the board

Name the members of the board and the management committee. Give a brief career history of two of the people.
Why you need to know
It would be crazy, difficult or impossible to try to work strategically with your clients if you don't know who runs the company and what they are interested in.

Whole brain thinking

This article was originally published in businesszone.co.uk

Much is made of the importance of the traditional 'left brain' skills of analysis and logic for running a profitable business. But, entrepreneurs should also adopt 'right-brain' abilities like inventiveness and empathy if they want to achieve success.