Our Top 5 Business Acumen Predictions for 2022

... and What Skills will be Needed for Success - (Part One) 

It’s here. Welcome to 2022 and Happy New year! Hopefully, you have been using your business acumen skills for the past six months to prepare and plan for what is certainly going to be a challenging year ahead. Every year is different and presents business leaders with incredible opportunities for success, and at the same time opportunities to fail. If there is one thing we know, the best way to mitigate risks is to have a well-trained organization that understands how your business works.

To help get your year off to a great start, here is a two-part post where we review our top 5 Business Acumen predictions and discuss the skills needed to overcome business challenges and take advantage of business opportunities.

Supply chain volatility will continue to be a major issue through at least March as more COVID outbreaks, holidays (lunar new year), labor shortages, and uncertainty due to rising inflation all converge at the feet of business leaders. However, by the June – July timeframe we should see the supply chain system start to even out as new skills and other mitigations take hold that will reduce the negative impacts felt during 2021.

The most important key to success during a predicted tough first half of the year will be flexibility. Organizations will need to adapt, make quicker decisions, and understand the impacts of decisions for both the short-term and the long-term. To do that, your organization, team, and you will need to work on and lift up the following skills:

• Forecasting
• Budgeting
• Variance analysis
• Multi-sourcing
• Working capital management at the inventory levels

2) The Global Demand Engine Will Further Heat Up

Despite the volatility in the supply chain, global demand for goods and services will surge as a result of continued digital transformations, the new normal of “work,” post-COVID pent-up demand, and rising disposable income in emerging middle-class segments of growing regions of the world.

Again, the key to success during the first half of the year will be flexibility across your business enterprise. As we all know, nothing in business is ever easy and even though demand will surge, you will still need to fight every day for your piece of the pie. Or to have difficult conversations about price increases and limits on production. To do that, you and your company will need to work on and lift up important skills in the following critical areas:

• Digital Marketing
• Strategic Business Selling
• Supply Chain Management (see prediction #1)
• Business leadership (coaching, change, and diversity, equity, and inclusion)

Last year I shared some ideas and insights about how we are living in a VUCAD world. A VUCAD world is volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and digital. That is not going to change and in fact, it’s going to be even more volatile in 2022 given more COVID, the supply chain issues, the labor issues, pent-up demand, and so on. But that’s just a small list of the other things that will drive the VUCAD world in 2022. Changes in technology, political issues (more on that later), social issues, environmental issues, new and old health issues, and of course there will be something totally unexpected that will further disrupt the disruption.

For business leaders, there is one surefire way of making sure your people are prepared for the VUCAD world and that is to have strong Business Acumen skills. Strong Business Acumen skills give you the knowledge and tools needed to adapt and face all the challenges head-on.

These skills will be especially critical when trying to:

• Accelerate Revenues
• Manage Costs of Goods Sold (COGS)
• Increase Gross Margins
• Control Operating Expenses
• Optimizing Net Income

Part two of Our Top 5 Business Acumen Predictions for 2022 will be released later this week. The second part will focus on "Politics and the Political Agenda"  and "Work and the Workplace”