ZODIAK: A POWERFUL BUSINESS SIMULATION FOR YOUR ORGANISATION
Successful organizations rely on their employees, managers, and sales directors to make smart day-to-day decisions by thinking like business owners. As a business acumen simulation that is suitable for a variety of industry settings and geared toward specific audiences (Manufacturing, Services, Healthcare, Sales), Zodiak®: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy challenges learners with the realities of business ownership and empowers them to make smart decisions once back on the job.
FROM EMPLOYEES TO PARTNERS
Business acumen drives alignment of employees to organisational objectives
With a solid business acumen base, individuals can interpret the effect of company strategies and initiatives on the numbers during specific periods of time. They would also use this information to form sound business strategies and to make better business decisions.
When business acumen spreads through an organization, employees and managers begin to ask better strategic questions: about improved processes, streamlined systems, efficient staffing and more.
Business acumen helps everyone understand that it’s not enough to ask, “How do we cut costs?” or to say, “We need to increase sales.” Digging deeper, employees with higher levels of business acumen will ask questions that take into consideration the far-reaching impact of potential decisions and demonstrate a greater ability to make the connections between performance and results.
ZODIAK IS GREAT FOR
A wide range of organisations
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Services
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Sales & distribution
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Manufacturing & other industries
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Healthcare
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Non-profit organisations
Managers
Business Acumen is a critical competency for managers. It links directly to business success and the skill to align departmental and personal actions to financial and strategic objectives.
Employees
Every day, the actions, decisions, and attitudes of employees impact organizational success. With increased business acumen and an attitude of engagement, they’ll understand how they fit into the big picture and contribute to organizational success.
Sales people
To build the foundation for long-term customer partnerships, sales professionals must effectively speak the language of their customers’ businesses. Honed business acumen increases skills – and results – in consultative selling.
Entrepreneurs/
Business owners
A good grounding on business acumen helps you avoid/overcome traps that cause many businesses to fail (especially cash flow) and set you up for success
Human Resource Professionals
Your organisation's leaders speak the language of business. But do you?
Zodiak for HR will equip HR professionals with the knowledge and vocabulary to speak the language of business to organisational leaders. This will enable you to be a valued partner in the organisation's success.
Why Is Business Acumen Important for HR Leaders?
When HR leaders understand the internal and external business, they're better able to align people programs with business needs, Currence says. "HR is no longer about personnel files, data entry and record keeping," she says. Instead, today's HR leaders need to be able to implement programs that align with business strategy — and speak in management language.
- Lin Grensing-Pophal - Forbes - Feb 2018
OVERVIEW
Zodiak is a fast-paced, classroom-based simulation designed to improve the business acumen and financial literacy of managers, employees, and sales professionals. Zodiak allows learners to experience the financial and strategic determinants of organizational success. Through discovery learning, participants experience how their own actions contribute to the organization’s top and bottom lines.
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THE EXPERIENCE
As small teams of learners become new owners of the struggling Zodiak, they take out loans, attract investors, purchase equipment and materials, invest in product development and innovation, and deliver products and services to customers.
By understanding the big picture of how business works and how organizations make money, participants begin to see how their actions effect their organization’s bottom line. Company-relevant information is woven throughout the Zodiak experience, resulting in a rich experience that leaves participants feeling accountable and motivated to make a positive impact.
Game boards, chance cards, chips and presentations combine to give participants the thrill of running Zodiak Inc.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing Zodiak, participants will:
Align personal and department goals with the organization’s financial objectives and strategies
Demonstrate personal understanding of company terms, concepts, and goals
Use relevant financial data and analysis in day-to-day decision making
Understand potential impacts personal and team actions have on organisational objectives
Ask informed questions about financial and strategic issues when taking action on the job
Use financial terminology and concepts in discussions with others, including team members
Appreciate the concept of risk and identify actions to enhance opportunities or mitigate risks
Take personal action to impact targeted financial, strategic, operational, and/or customer objectives
Paradigm Learning Asiapac will collaborate with your management team to customise the desired learning outcomes and key messages
The bottom line impacts everyone, and everyone impacts the bottom line.
"After completing Zodiak, our sales team is more comfortable having business discussions with business leaders about the business"
Sales manager
SOME TAKEAWAYS
Every role can influence the bottom line of the company
Decisions, whether strategic or seemingly small operational decisions can make significant impacts
The impact of product pricing and discounting on profitability
How much additional sales are required to cover additional expenditure or waste
Profit ≠ cash: The importance of accounts receivables collection on liquidity
The importance of risk management
Paradigm Learning Asiapac will collaborate with your management team to customise the key messages.
CONTEXTUAL CONNECTIONS
Zodiak has been successful not just because it’s fun and engaging, but because it uses real-life situations that participants can apply to their own work. Throughout the simulation, client-specific exercises and discussions are integrated to reinforce the connection between the simulation and the real world.
In addition, Paradigm Learning Asiapac's facilitators with deep corporate and business experience are able to link Zodiak's concepts with your company's financials and strategy, whilst demonstrating potential outcomes of decisions using scenario modelling.
These activities allow learners to make insightful connections to your company, their departments and the real world.
Zodiak can also be customised for in-house programs. Enquire for more details.
SUSTAINABILITY: CHANGE BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Zodiak is action oriented. During the workshop, participants derive actions that impact on business financial performance, and take it back for implementation in discussion with their manager.
ZPLUS Online (optional) allows the lessons of the simulation to reach beyond the classroom. It’s designed to review the actions of participants, aid in the creation of action plans, and allow learning and development professional to track progress.
