Why business acumen for L&D leaders matters more than ever
December exposes the real priorities, pressures, and vulnerabilities of an organization. As Josh Bersin’s research highlights, L&D leaders who understand these dynamics position learning as a strategic enabler. For L&D leaders, this month provides more than year-end reflection, it provides clarity into the business acumen L&D leaders need to navigate organizational pressure. When every function is under pressure, behaviors sharpen, gaps surface, and the real capability needs of the business become visible. Developing strong business acumen for L&D leaders is essential during fiscal year-end.
Business acumen is not about becoming a finance, sales, or operations expert. It’s about recognizing what these pressures reveal - and using that insight to shape capability-building that strengthens performance. This checklist helps L&D leaders understand what’s happening in the business, ask better questions, and position learning as a strategic partner for the year ahead.
Your fiscal year-end business acumen checklist
1. Sales: Driving maximum revenue before year end
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
As the fiscal year closes, Sales teams feel intense pressure to bring in as much revenue as possible. Deals accelerate, pricing negotiations intensify, and decision-making under pressure reveals both commercial strengths and capability gaps. This is a unique moment for L&D to observe where value is created - or lost.
b) Year-end actions in Sales
- Contacting accounts with remaining budget
- Prioritizing deals that can realistically close
- Securing commitments that contribute to year-end revenue
- Reinforcing pricing integrity and managing last-minute concessions
c) Business acumen insight
Revenue outcomes are shaped by commercial capability under pressure.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Late-year behaviors uncover capability gaps in negotiation, value communication, and commercial judgment. These insights help L&D design targeted commercial capability-building.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Where are margin concessions most common - and why?
- What behaviors separate top closers from the rest?
- Where does value articulation break down in late-stage deals?
- Which parts of the sales motion show recurring friction?
2. Finance:
The need for accuracy, predictability, and accountability
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
Finance is closing the books, tightening forecasts, and validating cash positions. This period reveals how well managers understand financial concepts - and where poor financial capability creates unnecessary work, risk, or delays.
b) Year-end actions in Finance
- Accelerating overdue receivables
- Verifying accruals and commitments
- Tightening forecast accuracy
- Stress-testing cash-flow assumptions
c) Business acumen insight
Financial performance reflects the capability and discipline of the entire organization.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Errors, delays, weak forecasting, and inconsistent financial ownership often reflect capability gaps. When managers misunderstand financial basics, the whole system suffers - and L&D can directly influence this.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Which teams consistently struggle with financial processes?
- Where does forecast inaccuracy originate?
- Do managers understand the impact of their decisions on financial outcomes?
- How can L&D help translate financial data into confident action?
3. Operations:
The drive to free up cash and remove inefficiencies
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
Operations is focused on optimizing inventory, resolving quality issues, and improving process flow. Year-end pressures expose where decision-making, collaboration, and capability directly impact cost and throughput.
b) Year-end actions in Operations
- Clearing slow-moving or obsolete inventory
- Completing required write-offs
- Resolving bottlenecks and process waste
- Improving workflow and capacity planning
c) Business acumen insight
Operational excellence requires capability, not just process.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
When operational gaps appear, they often trace back to skills - problem-solving, collaboration, technical knowledge, and decision quality. L&D can use these insights to identify high-value capability-building opportunities.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Which processes created the most friction this year?
- Where do decisions slow down operations?
- Which teams rely heavily on a few key individuals?
- What capabilities would meaningfully reduce waste?
4. Procurement:
Pressure to secure value and minimize risk
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
Procurement teams are renegotiating supplier terms, reviewing contracts, and validating commitments. This exposes how well the business scopes requirements, evaluates vendors, and manages risks.
b) Year-end actions in Procurement
- Reviewing renewals and renegotiating terms
- Validating upcoming long-term commitments
- Assessing supplier performance
- Addressing contract gaps or risks
c) Business acumen insight
Supplier outcomes depend on capability - not just process.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Challenges in procurement often reflect capability gaps in negotiation, vendor management, requirements scoping, or cross-functional alignment.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Where do teams struggle to define requirements?
- Which supplier relationships cause friction?
- What negotiation capability gaps appear across functions?
- How well do teams evaluate value vs. cost?
5. HR & Talent:
Clarifying performance, potential, and capability risk
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
Performance calibration, succession planning, and retention reviews reveal where the organization has strong talent - and where capability gaps will create business risk in Q1.
b) Year-end actions in HR & Talent
- Calibrating performance ratings
- Updating succession plans
- Assessing engagement and retention risks
- Preparing January onboarding
c) Business acumen insight
Talent decisions define the capability agenda for the year ahead.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Performance discussions highlight capability deficits. Succession conversations reveal readiness gaps. Retention insights surface leadership and engagement issues - all of which guide L&D investment decisions.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Which roles show the widest capability gaps?
- Where are succession risks most urgent?
- What skills drive retention in our critical roles?
- Which high-potential employees need accelerated development?
Checkpoint - By now you recognize the pattern, let's continue with the remaining five.
6. Learning &Development:
Moving from learning delivery to capability strategy
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
L&D has performance data, leadership priorities, and functional insights converging all at once. This is the moment where L&D shifts from managing programs to shaping capability strategy. This period offers the best visibility into business acumen for L&D leaders because every function’s decisions are fully exposed.
b) Year-end actions in L&D
- Reviewing program impact vs. business outcomes
- Identifying capability patterns from performance data
- Meeting leaders to understand Q1 priorities
- Prioritizing capability-building for the coming year
- Scheduling proactive January meetings with functional leaders before training requests arrive
c) Business acumen insight
L&D becomes strategic when capability - not courses - is the unit of value.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
This is the moment to step into strategic conversations. Capability themes appear clearly. Leadership is receptive. The business is planning. L&D can anchor its work to business outcomes before requests flood in.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- What business outcomes improved through capability this year?
- Where were we measuring activity instead of impact?
- What capabilities most influence Q1 success?
- How do we build metrics leadership will trust?
7. Customer Success:
Protecting renewals and strengthening relationships
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
Customer Success is closing renewals, managing escalations, and reinforcing customer value. These behaviors reveal capability gaps in relationship stewardship and value realization.
b) Year-end actions in Customer Success
- Assessing renewal and churn risks
- Closing outstanding service issues
- Strengthening executive relationships
- Documenting customer wins
c) Business acumen insight
Retention depends on communication, value realization, and capability.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Capability gaps in customer communication, escalation handling, and value articulation often show up as renewal risk. L&D can strengthen these competencies across customer-facing teams.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Which accounts are most at risk - and why?
- What distinguishes our highest-performing CSMs?
- Where does value realization break down?
- How often do communication gaps escalate issues unnecessarily?
8. Marketing:
Aligning value story, revenue priorities, and pipeline
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
Marketing is aligning Q1 campaigns, refreshing value messaging, and refining positioning. Misalignment between functions becomes visible - and so do capability gaps in storytelling and product understanding.
b) Year-end actions in Marketing
- Refreshing messaging and positioning
- Aligning campaigns with sales priorities
- Updating outdated assets
- Improving CRM lead flow
c) Business acumen insight
A strong value story requires capability and alignment.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Breakdowns in storytelling, product knowledge, or cross-functional alignment often reflect capability opportunities. L&D can help unify the narrative and strengthen commercial communication.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Where does messaging break down between Sales and Marketing?
- Which offerings are hardest to explain simply?
- What storytelling skills need strengthening?
- How well do teams communicate customer value?
9. IT and Digital:
Reducing technical debt & strengthening readiness
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
IT teams are closing critical issues, validating data integrity, and preparing systems for January demand. This exposes where digital capability gaps are slowing the business.
b) Year-end actions in IT and Digital
- Resolving high-impact support tickets
- Cleaning and validating key data sources
- Rationalizing unused or redundant tools
- Strengthening cybersecurity hygiene
c) Business acumen insight
Technology delivers value only when people have the capability to use it effectively.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Low adoption, heavy support loads, and inconsistent data quality often point to gaps in digital literacy, process ownership, and confidence.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- Which systems show the lowest adoption?
- Where do users struggle with digital workflows?
- What gaps drive repeated support requests?
- How well do teams understand data quality and ownership?
10. Leadership:
Aligning priorities, expectations, and execution
a) What’s happening - and why it’s an opportunity
Leadership teams are refining Q1 priorities, aligning execution plans, and clarifying decision-making expectations. These conversations expose the capability gaps that will shape organizational performance.
b) Year-end actions in Leadership
- Finalizing Q1 strategic priorities
- Reviewing major initiatives
- Clarifying decision-making responsibilities
- Aligning cross-functional expectations
c) Business acumen insight
Leadership alignment creates the foundation for all capability-building efforts.
d) L&D Lens: What learning leaders should pay attention to
Leadership priorities reveal the capability agenda for the entire organization. This is where L&D can translate strategic intent into capability strategy.
Strategic questions for L&D:
- What are the top three strategic priorities for January?
- Where are capability gaps slowing execution?
- What leadership behaviors will matter most in Q1?
- Where does alignment break down across teams?
Closing thought: From business observer to strategic partner
Strengthening business acumen for L&D leaders is what turns year-end insight into year-round strategic impact. December and fiscal year-end reveal the real capability needs of the business. When L&D leaders understand what is happening across functions, they can anticipate challenges, strengthen performance, and elevate learning from support activity to strategic lever.
These principles apply not only to calendar year-end but to any fiscal year-end cycle. The pressures, insights, and opportunities follow the same pattern.
Understanding the business in December shapes how leaders perceive L&D in January. The question is no longer whether L&D can be strategic - it's whether we understand the business well enough to demonstrate that value.
Your December action:
Choose three functions from this list. Schedule a 20-minute conversation with each leader. Ask about their fiscal year-end pressures. Listen for capability gaps. Enter January not as a service provider, but as a strategic partner.