Blog: Commercial Acumen: It’s Not Just for Finance

By Nick Holley, Director of CRF Learning

When someone says “HR needs to be more commercial,” how do you react?

Maybe you nod in agreement while secretly thinking, “I’m not sure I’d pass a finance test.” Or maybe you bristle a bit — because you’re already doing your best to support the business. Or maybe you’re just too busy to stop and think what being commercial actually means for HR.

Here’s the thing: commercial acumen isn’t about turning HR into accountants. It’s about connecting what we do in HR to the outcomes the business really cares about — profit, productivity, customer value, and long-term growth.

And that’s exactly what CRF Learning’s latest short on-demand programme, The Commercial Role of the HRBP, is all about.

What does being commercial actually mean?

At its core, commercial thinking is about value — asking not “what are we doing in HR?” but “what difference is it making to the business?”

It’s about seeing HR through the lens of business impact:

• Are we helping improve productivity?
• Are we supporting smarter, more efficient ways of working?
• Are we reducing cost without killing culture?
• Are we helping leaders make better, value-adding people decisions?

Commercially-minded HRBPs understand how their business makes money — and where it might lose it. They’re curious about customers, competitors, investors, and markets. They’re confident reading a P&L and using data to tell a story. And they’ve got the courage to challenge when something doesn’t stack up.

Commercial HR is business HR

If your response to a headcount request is just “yes” or “no” based on budget lines — that’s not commercial. If you ask “how does this help us hit our targets for cashflow or margin?” — now you’re thinking commercially.

This programme helps HRBPs do exactly that: think like business people and HR people.

It covers everything from business models and value creation, to understanding financial metrics and making the case for (or against) investment. It looks at how HR can influence things like sales, operating costs, working capital and risk — through smarter workforce decisions, better capability building and a relentless focus on business outcomes.

There’s also a brilliant case study of an HRBP who used her new financial know-how to challenge a series of hiring requests that didn’t align with the business’s cash position. Instead of saying “no” from an HR point of view, she asked the commercial question — “how does this support our short-term cash goals?” — and changed the conversation.

Value starts with what we stop doing

One of the key messages? Don’t use business language to justify what you’re already doing. Start with a blank sheet. Understand how value is created in your business — and focus your HR activity on supporting that.

That means:

• Cutting the HR projects that sound good but don’t move the needle
• Aligning incentives with long-term performance, not just quick wins
• Helping the business see talent, not just capital, as an investment
• Evaluating everything you do in HR by its business impact, not process completion

A culture of commercial curiosity

This course isn’t about making HR more ‘corporate’ — it’s about making HR more relevant. It encourages HRBPs to read annual reports, listen to investor calls, talk to finance, learn how the business really works. And then apply that knowledge to shape better decisions and deliver better outcomes.

The message is simple: if HR’s purpose is to create value, then we need to be fluent in the language of value — not just in what we say, but in what we do.

If this resonates, check out CRF’s new short course: The Commercial Role of the HRBP. It’s part of our wider effort to help reimagine the HRBP role for a more strategic, value-focused future. You can learn more about the full series — including our research underpinning it — here: Reimagining HR Business Partnering

Because the future of HR isn’t about being at the table — it’s about helping the business win.