November 2008: Cidermill delivers business finance learning event to Siemens Industry division

Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies in the UK arranges occasional meetings for their managers. Within the context of a 2-day management conference near Crewe, Cidermill was invited to deliver a short business finance learning workshop for 46 Siemens managers. The goal was to help each manager learn the basics of business finance and raise their level of financial confidence.

The UK division of Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies (formerly Automation & Drives) headquartered in Manchester offers a complete portfolio of products and services for the automation and electrical needs of manufacturing, process and construction industries. This is supported and complemented by a range of engineering, technical support, field service and training activities. The division has a manufacturing plant in Congleton and offices throughout the UK.

The Siemens managers at the conference represented every discipline in the division, including sales, service, project delivery and even finance. So it was appropriate to use the Apples & Oranges® business simulation from the Swedish learning specialist Celemi. The particular version of Apples & Oranges used was the simulation of a manufacturing company.

Managers were assigned to small teams of four and, guided by Celemi-certified facilitators from Cidermill, each team managed a simulated company through three business years. In total the finance workshop lasted for 4 hours within the 2-day conference programme.

The Siemens managers learned to create a profit & loss account and a balance sheet as well as monitor cash flow. The competitive third year of the simulation provided an opportunity to concentrate the energies of each team as well as select a winning team.

At the end of the workshop the teams were asked to prepare a financial model for their own Siemens division, which related what they had learned to the real world.

Reaction from the managers was very positive, and they clearly enjoyed the experience, even though it was a challenge to compress what usually takes 6 hours into a 4-hour workshop timetable. Typical comments from managers were:

• "Good fun whilst learning a complex topic."
• "Excellent basic introduction to finance."
• "Time well spent. Thanks."

In the coming months it is planned that this learning workshop will be repeated for Siemens teams in other UK locations. Having sampled the learning experience themselves, the managers are keen to help their own teams of people gain the same confidence of business finance.

If you want to know how Cidermill Consulting could help your people develop their business skills, contact Cidermill Consulting today. Either send us an email or call us on +44 (0)1386 840277

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