Functional skills are the basic skills that can be transferred to different areas of work, as the understanding of finance is independent and a finance expert can easily adapt to a manufacturing or service industry. Functional skills are acquired by understanding the different processes and principles applicable to a business function. Functional experts are in high demand because they are specialists and have to manage business processes such as human resources, operations or finance.
Ah, mastery… what a deeply satisfying feeling when you finally master a new set of skills… and then see the light beneath the new door those skills can open, even as another door closes. .
What are functional skills
Functional expertise is the knowledge of business processes and related concepts that explain 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 to be able to carry out this activity. Functional skills can be adapted from one business area to another and these skills are usually transferable across multiple business areas.
What are the functional skills in business
Functional knowledge means knowledge of business processes. The Functional Leader demonstrates a broad knowledge of and interest in enterprise products, systems and tasks and/or demonstrates competence in a specialized functional area.
- Simply speaking, it is knowledge of the business and its processes
- Concepts that tell you the “why” of things, i.e. why someone is doing a particular task or activity
- Knowledge of principles – the rules of the functional area and the procedures for performing different tasks.
- Features or capabilities of the application or product or software solution that is intended to be used for a particular process
- Best practices.
Importance of functional knowledge and skills
In IT implementations, two types of knowledge experts are needed, one of the business experts who provides the knowledge about the current business process and its expectations from the future automated system. These expectations are converted into software code by technical experts who specialize in various technologies and understand terminology and computer language.
Functional skills in the computer and software industry
Functional Consultants are the experts with knowledge of business concepts and processes with an understanding of business flows with the added ability to analyze underlying software functionality against business expectations.
Functional consultants are usually specific to processes such as finance, human resources, manufacturing and procure-to-pay, etc. They have training 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 following a short training course on the ERP module in which they work. A functional knowledge of business processes and software makes a good functional consultant.
Examples of functional skills
Here are some examples of areas of functional knowledge and skills:
A good functional consultant will have a deep understanding of business processes, product features, and the ability to come up with a solution for business needs.
How to improve functional knowledge and skills
Acquiring functional knowledge for a technical expert can be challenging, but very rewarding, as the demand for expertise for professionals who possess both technical expertise and a strong foundation of business process expertise continues to grow in the industry. globalized employment today. In today’s era of globalization and liberalization, to ensure consistent delivery, technical experts are required to reorient their historical approach of focusing on technology and code development, and convert their expertise into a professional; which is not only technically sound; but who can understand the language the company speaks. Likewise, it becomes important for a functional expert; Acquire technical excellence by understanding technical capabilities, development standards; and controls; recommend a good functional design for the company.
Functional knowledge V/s Domain knowledge
Functional knowledge is knowledge that can be included in different areas. The knowledge that can be effective in each domain is called domain-independent knowledge or functional knowledge, for example – financial processes (order-to-cash process, procure-to-pay process). All of these processes share a common logic and fundamentals that remain true and valid across all fields and different businesses. Functional best practices can be easily leveraged across different business units, geographies, or products.
What does functional excellence mean?
By its very nature, functional excellence stems from functional expertise, and the candidate is able to demonstrate confidence in a function to achieve business goals and objectives. Functional excellence is the ability to demonstrate a depth of knowledge and skill in a functional area. This further means being aware of the following attributes:
1. Customer orientation
- Offers not only standard solutions and/or products
- Develops individual solutions based on customer needs
2. Results orientation
- Achieves planned individual results and acts as a facilitator in achieving team goals
- Understands the impact of own action on team/function results
- Supports the functional team in achieving results/goals
3. Service orientation
- Follows a clear and self-directed service approach: is sensitive to customer needs and requirements
- Acts proactively
4. Business knowledge
- Demonstrates broad knowledge and interest in company products, systems and tasks and/or demonstrates competence in a particular area
- Has a thorough understanding of his/her function within the business, is aware of dependencies with other functions
- Knows how to use knowledge for his function
What to write in functional skills in a CV?
Functional knowledge helps professionals understand how a business operates and what standard business processes are. It talks about best practices in particular areas. This understanding of knowledge of business fundamentals helps leaders think strategically and then make the right business decisions. This adds to their ability to think things through and make timely and appropriate business decisions.
Functional Skills Questions and Assessment
Many companies today want to assess their candidates on functional expertise. Most modern job profiles require more specialized skills, and employees want to assess their potential candidates on functional skills and domain abilities.
has created function/process based assessments to help organizations measure a wide variety of process expertise and help students pass functional knowledge tests and earn certifications. This helps candidates do a self-assessment to assess themselves for a particular domain or functional process area. Recruiters can assess the expertise of job seekers with the expert-curated questions provided in these business process-based assessments. The questions are presented as multiple choice and multiple answer. These functional assessments can also be used in employee development to facilitate employee upskilling. Test results clarify areas for improvement, allowing for the creation of customized training programs for workforce development in line with industry standards.
How helps?
Our functional knowledge resources help you gain a fundamental understanding of different business processes, which contributes to the development of strategic skills. Coupled with good leadership and management skills, it helps business leaders increase efficiency and effectiveness to achieve business goals.
Explore our functional knowledge section to learn the fundamentals and standard business processes. Browse the process-specific tutorials by clicking on the image of the business process area that interests you.
The function is essentially the purpose. When we use the word function, we are saying that something has a purpose. So when we apply this term to training for the workplace, we are talking about targeted training.
Related links
You may also like Building Your Domain Knowledge | Developing Functional Skills | Improving Skills and Competencies | Develop your leadership skills | Career Advancement Tips | the importance of technical skills | What is a Career Path | Guide to Technical Leadership Skills | Change is the only constant | Discover your career direction | Early career advice you need | Evaluate your professional interests | Katz’s Three Skills Approach | Assess your career values | Better Management Skills | Transforming the IT Role | Know yourself and your values
Creation Date Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Hits 39839 IT Career Path, IT Leadership Skills