Whether you’re new to finance or just need a refresher, this finance for non-financial managers course will give you the confidence you need to master the fundamentals.
Consultant Andrea McDowell had never been interested in finance and certainly didn’t see herself as a “numbers person.” She would avoid tasks that involved finance and had very little confidence in her ability to understand them. However, Andrea began to feel that she needed to become a better team player in this area. She knew it was time to face her fears and seek out training to improve her financial skills.
“Finance actually goes across all organisations,” she says. “It’s not just the finance team.”
Andrea enrolled in the IMNZ Finance for Non-Financial Managers course.
“It appealed to me because finance is just a scary word for me and it’s something I’ve never been super comfortable with, so I thought it would be really great for me to confront that.”
As someone with strong career goals, Andrea didn’t want her lack of confidence with numbers holding her back. She could see that the finance course would help her learn new skills and give her exposure to different concepts.
“Professional development is important to me because I’m at the start of my career and I have big ambitions,” she says. Andrea doesn’t know exactly where her career will lead her but she does know that, whatever role she ends up in, she wants to do it well. “For me, professional development is just about reaching your full potential and being the best you can be for your team and your organisation.”
During the two-day Finance for Non-Financial Managers course, Andrea began to realise that she had more skill with numbers than she had previously thought. With the patient support of the course facilitator and clear step-by-step instruction, her confidence increased and, having avoided it for years, she could now see that finance wasn’t anywhere near as scary as she had always believed it to be.
Andrea returned to work with a new self-assurance to give finance-related tasks a go and contribute to her team further. The skills gained on the course allowed Andrea to look at reports or write up contracts and proposals with budgets in them and understand, interpret and explain them with confidence.
Andrea now believes that being knowledgeable about finance is a crucial skill for every team member. “Even if you’re not dealing with it every day in your exact role, it is so important to actually understand the terms as they’re being thrown around in meeting rooms. And when you’re looking at reports and papers it’s just so important to understand not just what they’re saying but how it contributes to the wider picture and the bigger organisation as well.”
With a new awareness of how finance affects her whole organisation, Andrea has engaged with it and become more of a team player. “It’s been a massive win. I have an increased confidence in my ability,” she says. “I would absolutely recommend this course to my colleagues.”
