Being or Not Being Commercially Aware!

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the blog written by and for members of Human Resources UK.

I am sure it won’t have escaped anyone’s attention the discussion that has been taking place within the group “Public Sector vs Private Sector”.  This active thread has been discussing why there are barriers in place stopping public sector employees moving over to the private sector.  As such, I felt this was the perfect time to invite back our guest writer Wendy Mason.  Wendy specialises in advising people to make this move and today she looks at what really makes someone commercially aware. (Ed Scrivener)

Being or Not Being Commercially Aware!

I’ve been meditating on “commercial awareness” and what the phrase really means for a while. 

Now, I’ve had an interesting and diverse career.  For my sins, in my time, I’ve been

·         A warehouse clerk in a leather factory - don’t ask?

·         A cost clerk in a firm making eyelet machinery - now don’t you dare!

·         A school matron in a public school – now stop it!

·         A nurse in the NHS

·         A civil servant - various departments and working  with the wider public sector,

·         An independent consultant for the BBC and various large commercial companies

·         A director of three SMEs

·         A trustee for a large voluntary organization

Across the spectrum

No, I’m not looking for a role right now!  But I do believe that experience equips me to comment on the “public” and “private” sectors, the current debate about moving between them and the need for “commercial awareness”. 

When I was working with the NHS, the phrase that caused me most problems was ‘clinical decision”.  The definition and boundaries seemed rather flexible depending on the perspective of the user. Now in thinking about the private sector, the words that trouble me are commercial awareness. They seem to be a recurring theme in current recruitment debates.

Vivienne Aiyela asked on HR UK how a person who has public sector experience (and some private sector) can get a job in the private sector.  It has provoked a really lively debate!

Quite recently, Margaret Adams, who is an expert in business communications, tackled the same subject on my blog, “Leaving the Public Sector”.  Margaret started her professional career in the public sector and then went on to success in the private sector. 

In all innocence, I trailed Margaret’s guest post on LinkedIn and Ecademy.  The response surprised me.

·         “I won’t employ ex-public sector people I have found them to be un-cooperative, in-flexible and generally a lot slower than people who haven’t spent a decade in the public sector” 

·         “The public sector doesn't teach you how to sell things, it always tells you what the job is and you never have to ask for money.” This is from someone with public sector experience.

But then there were more measured responses but not necessarily ones I’d agree with, for example.

·         “People can make the trip. In either direction, but only if they recognise the 180 degree change in approach needed. The ethos, accounting, motivation, measurement, governance and raison d’être have almost zero in common.”

I can see where this comes from, and that it is intended to be helpful, but I wondered!

I know lots of people in the public sector right now who handle huge budgets.  Their continued employment depends on their ability to handle that money well, and to account for it; talk to senior finance managers in the wider public sector. 

Many in the public sector have to be commercially astute! Try handling a large and complex tender exercise successfully without it.

I’ve worked with a number of people in the private sector who know little about handling money; neither do their roles need them to be commercially aware.

But being “commercially aware” is clearly a requirement in the current market place.

I found this quote recently on a university website “Every graduate recruiter we have spoken to in the last year has told us that commercial awareness is a key component of every successful candidate”. 

I looked up what other people say commercial awareness really means.  I think it can be summed up as;

·         An interest in the particular business sector, an understanding of the wider environment in which an organisation operates: its customers, competitors and suppliers.

·         Some understanding of the economics of the business and an understanding of the commercial realities from both the organisation's and the customer's perspectives.

·         An understanding the need for efficiency, cost-effectiveness, customer care and knowledge of the market place in which the company operates.

So, I wondered, does it not come down to the advice HR professionals give candidates as routine?  If you want to work in particular sector, do your home work and demonstrate your transferable skills.  Go out of your way to research particular issues for the organisation you are applying to join.  Research the environment in which they operate.  Then make sure you demonstrate just what you can bring that is going to help. What your unique contribution is going to be!

Of course, that won’t deal with the client who says “Do not send me anyone from the public sector!” But think about it.  Would you want to recommend candidates to work for them anyway?  Well, perhaps I’m showing a lack of commercial awareness in asking that question right now.  What do you think?

About the author

Wendy Mason is a performance, programme, and contract management and change specialist. She works as a consultant, business coach and blogger.

Blog (leadership & change) | Blog (leaving the public sector)| Email | LinkedIn| Twitter

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be published on Thursday 10^th November and will be written by Annabel Kaye.

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