Functional skills are the core competencies that can be transferred to different work areas like understanding of finance is independent and a finance expert can comfortably adapt to a manufacturing or service industry. Functional skills are obtained by understanding the various processes and the principles applicable to a business function. Functional experts are in great demand as they are specialists and required to manage the business processes like human resources, operations, or finance.
Ah, mastery... what a profoundly satisfying feeling when one finally gets on top of a new set of skills... and then sees the light under the new door those skills can open, even as another door is closing.
Functional Expertise is knowledge of business processes and related concepts that explains the nature, causes, and effects of individual and integrated business activities. Functional Knowledge is the practical, tangible, and usable knowledge of a particular business function enabling the possessor capable of performing that activity. Functional skills can be adapted from one business area to another and these skills are generally transferable across multiple business domains.
By functional knowledge, we refer to the knowledge of business processes. The functional leader shows broad knowledge of and interest in business products, systems, and duties and/or shows competence in a specialized functional area.
In IT Implementations two types of knowledge experts are needed, one of the business experts who provide the knowledge about the current business process and their expectations of the future automated system. These expectations are converted into software code by technical experts who specialize in various technologies and understand computer terminology and language.
Functional Consultants are the experts having knowledge of concepts and business processes with an understanding of business flows with the added capability to analyze underlying software functionalities in comparison to business expectations.
Functional Consultants are generally process-specific like Finance, HR, Manufacturing, and Procure to Pay, etc. They have educational background and experience in the relevant business process area, for example, you will find a Chartered Accountant working as a General Ledger Functional Expert. They acquire ERP or “Other Software Product” knowledge by undergoing a short training on ERP Module they are working in. Functional knowledge of business processes and software makes a good Functional Consultant.
Some examples of functional knowledge and skill areas are:
A good Functional Consultant will have an in-depth understanding of the business processes, product features, and the ability to propose a solution for the business requirements.
Gaining functional knowledge for a technical expert can be challenging, but very rewarding as demand for professionals who have both technical expertise and a strong foundation of business process expertise is ever increasing in today’s globalized economies. In the present era of globalization and liberalization, to deliver consistently, technical experts are required to reorient their historical approach of concentration on the technology and code development, and convert their expertise to a professional; who is not only technically sound; but who can understand the language business speaks. Similarly, it is becoming important for a functional expert; to gain technical excellence by understanding technical capabilities, development standards; and controls; to recommend a good functional design for the business.
Functional knowledge is the knowledge that can be included in different domains. The knowledge that may be efficient in every domain is called domain-independent knowledge or functional knowledge, for example – financial processes (order to cash processes, procure to pay processes). All of these processes share some common logic and fundamentals that remain true and valid for all domains and different businesses. The best functional best practices can be easily leveraged across different business units, geographies, or products.
By its very nature, functional excellence comes from functional expertise, and the applicant is able to demonstrate confidence in a function to deliver on the company's goals and objectives. Functional excellence is the ability to demonstrate a depth of knowledge and skill in a functional area. It further means being aware of the following attributes:
Functional knowledge helps professionals understand how a company operates and what are the standard business processes. It talks about the best practices in particular areas. This understanding of the knowledge of business fundamentals helps executives to think strategically and then take appropriate business decisions. It adds to their ability to think and take timely and appropriate business decisions.
Many companies today want to assess their candidates on functional expertise. Most of the modern job-profiles demand more specialized skill sets and employees want to assess their potential candidates on functional skills and domain capabilities.
TechnoFunc has created function/process-based assessments to help organizations measure a wide variety of process expertise and help students take functional knowledge tests and gain certifications. This helps candidates to do a self-assessment for evaluating themselves for a particular domain or a functional process area. Recruiters can evaluate the expertise of job seekers with the expert-curated questions provided in these business process-based assessments. The questions are presented in the form of multiple-choice and multiple answers. These TechnoFunc Functional assessments can also be used in employee development to facilitate the up-skilling of employees. The test results provide clarity on the areas that need improvement, which helps to create personalized training programs for workforce development as per industry standards.
Our functional knowledge resources help you gain a fundamental understanding of different business processes which helps in the development of strategic skills. Clubbed with good leadership and managerial skills it helps business executives to drive efficiency and effectiveness meeting business objectives.
Explore our section on Functional Knowledge to learn fundamentals and standard business processes. Browse process-specific tutorials by clicking on the image for the business process area of your interest.
The function is, essentially purpose. When we use the word function we are saying that something has a purpose. So when we apply that term to training for the workplace we are talking about purposeful training.
A good leadership style is something that every effective leader must have in order to succeed, but identifying what that entails or does not entails might be difficult to understand. Most of the research on leadership focuses on the exemplary, best practices, and positive attributes of effective and successful leaders. This article talks about a new approach to learn leadership using lessons from bad leadership. That is the lessons to be learned by examining leaders who have not effectively exercised their power, authority, or influence.
Stress is an essential part of our life. No one can live without stress. Stress can be beneficial as well as harmful. Stress as a positive influence adds excitement and hope while as a negative influence it can result in destructive feelings, anger, and depression. Although the general orientation to stress is to consider unfavorable outcomes, yet one must have observed that stress experiences may also facilitate the development of effective and varied coping behavior, increased personal resources, and lead to a sense of competence in development. Stress at a moderate level is not only inevitable but may be useful for physical and mental well-being.
Emergent leadership occurs when a group member is not appointed or elected as leader, but rather that person steps up as the leader over time within-group interactions. Have you ever faced challenges in getting accepted into your new role of position as a leader? Groups don't automatically accept a new "boss" as a leader. Emergent leadership is what you must do when taking over a new group. Learn more about emergent leadership.
“Level 5 Leadership”, this term was coined by Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” and it is all about achieving "Greatness" as a leader. This article will explain what we mean by Level 5 Leadership and what the characteristics of a Level 5 leader are. What it takes to achieve greatness as a leader, and what are the steps and strategies that one can use to move up to this top level of leadership.
How often do you have a plan for how you are going to spend your day but you aren't able to complete the tasks on your plan because of unimportant tasks, interruptions, or your own procrastination? Wouldn't it be great to be able to manage your schedule and your time while avoiding, or at least controlling, these time stealers? Learn the strategies to manage your schedule while still handling interruptions and demands on your time.
Importance of Technical Skills
Today’s business environment is complex and changing at a fast pace. Tough business problems require technical expertise to create cost-effective & sustainable solutions. All industries need some kind of technical skills to accomplish complex actions, tasks, and processes relating to computational and physical technology as well as a diverse group of other enterprises. The acquisition of advanced technical skills requires specific education certification or training, often with practical hands-on learning.
Building Your Domain Knowledge
Domain knowledge from a career management perspective encompasses the understanding of industry dynamics and business processes of the target operational area. Domain expert exhibits clear knowledge in the respective industry and understands the industry concepts in general. It is always recommended to best highlight your exposure of domain in your resume or cover letter. TechnoFunc provides you with the best tutorials to gain domain knowledge in a large number of industries and business areas.
In the early years, most jobs were skill-oriented, and with the development in lifestyles and technology, the current jobs are knowledge-oriented jobs such as management, accountants, design, or computing. Career paths encompass varied forms of career progression and this article discusses how we can build a fulfilling career? Learn here about career paths, industries, and opportunities for gaining experience in the field of your choosing.
The best career choices are ones that match your values. Each person has several values that are important to him. These values are highly personal and knowing them provides a clearer sense of what's most important to you in your life and career. Career values are the beliefs you consider important from a work standpoint. Values help you understand what you want from a job? Explore a few examples of work values that can influence career path and job satisfaction.
A manager or an employee in an organization who is experiencing a high level of stress may develop high blood pressure, ulcers, irritability, difficulty in making routine decisions, loss of appetite, accident proneness, and the like. These can be subsumed under three general categories, physiological, psychological, and behavioral symptoms. Stress can give rise to a number of changes.
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