With more and more purpose-driven companies opening their books to employees and practicing financial transparency, there is a growing need for financial literacy in all levels and disciplines within a business.
The first step to growing a financially literate workforce is making sure you're all speaking the same language. When you reported on last month's revenue, did your employees really understand? How about when you mentioned that bonuses are based on your EBITA? Beyond just vocabulary, do your employees have a clear understanding of how their day-to-day work impacts the numbers?
Understanding the stories behind your business' numbers arm your team with the information they need to make smart business decisions.
Want a quick way to give your employees a crash course in business finance? Check out this video made in partnership with wikiHow and share it with your team:
A purpose-driven leader's role is to help all employees understand the numbers and feel empowered to impact them.
We talk to a lot of amazing Small Giant companies, many of which practice open book management. For those that don't, the number one hesitation we hear is that if employees have access to in-depth financial information, they won't understand what they're looking at. We strongly believe that a purpose-driven leader's role is to help all employees understand the numbers and feel empowered to impact them.
But don't worry, we're here to help with that! Check out this month's resources all about teaching your team the numbers:
Share this worksheet with your team for a crash course in common financial terms. Through the story of a lemonade stand, your employees will learn about revenue, COGS, gross profit, net profit, gross margin, and the difference between a balance sheet and income statement. Complete the form below to download.
P.S. We believe anyone can learn to understand the numbers. To put our money where our mouths are, these resources weren't developed by accountants or leaders with finance degrees. The humans behind these resources have degrees in creative writing and French literature — their financial knowledge comes from working within financially transparent organizations.