It's long been felt that the knowledge of a firm's core business should be the sole responsibility of executives and sales people. The fact is that those who want to develop their careers must strive to acquire this understanding within their industry. In this article, you'll discover three reasons why knowing this could save your career.
What is core business?
Core business is the output of an organization that is bought by a person or another corporate entity. This activity is not limited to the private sector. The public sector is made up principally of agencies whose reason for being is to provide specific services.
Why should you bother?
An essential responsibility that you have wherever you work is to understand the business of the firm where you work. There are three good reasons for this:
1. Your contract depends on it. The more you know about the core business where you work, the more you'll be perceived by those above you as being an essential part of its business; in other words, you will be seen as an asset. Conversely, the less you know about it, the more you'll be perceived as an non-reimbursable expense.
Everyone in a firm, company or agency either directly contributes to the wealth of the business or takes away from it. There are no grey areas, and so you want to make sure that there are no doubts about which category you are in.
2. The more you understand the firm that contracts you, the more efficient you can become and, therefore, the greater potential you have for contributing directly to the bottom line. So, the renewal of your contract also depends on this.
Sometimes, peer pressure prevents those who want to initiate improvements by those who don't. Often, these people don't know very much or don't care, preferring to mark time. Unfortunately, they don't know why they're there and simply are content to conform to the social pressure of others. They give only the bare minimum of what is required; sometimes less. Firms notice these things.
3. The more you know about how what you do contributes to the bottom line, the happier you'll be in your work. Given the choice, everyone wants to do something that matters. And firms want those they contract to feel that what their contractors to find meaning in what they do because, if for no other reason, those who do perform better.
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