4. Some insights about this pathway
- This pathway serves as a great launchpad for a career in general management. Why? If you work in this pathway, you are on the commercial side of the business – whether it’s at the level of the brand, marketing, or sales - which exposes you exposed directly to the activities that drive the core of the business – the development and commercialization of products & services and understanding the needs and satisfaction of customers.
- People working in this pathway often can be exposed over time to international aspects of a company’s business related to specific regional, national or international markets and commercial activities.
- Keep in mind that many of the jobs in this pathway are easily measured. This means that KPIs / OKR’s tend to be quantitative and managed closely. For example, professionals in this pathway often have objectives defined in terms of sales/revenues, top-line growth, actions/activity in social media and digital platforms, sales funnel/pipeline numbers, customer acquisition costs, advertisement performance, channel performance, customer satisfaction scores (like NPS). You get the idea ... it’s exciting because you are at (or just one step removed from) the front-lines of doing business – and this comes with often well-defined objectives!
- Ultimately, across most/many sectors the exposure and experience gained in this “front office” pathway will give you business acumen related to markets, to customer, and to business operations that drive the top line (sales/revenues) of the business. And this is experience can be a great launching pad for ascending to general management (running business units, running regional/national units) and functional management of any commercial functions (marketing, sales, brand/communication, customer experience, etc.).
- As you would expect, companies in every sector of business need professionals with expertise in this pathway. That said, sectors in which this pathway has preeminence include FMCG/CPG (fast moving consumer goods/consumer packaged goods), Retail, Luxury & Fashion.
- Related Pathways: If you find this pathway interesting, you might also explore the “Product Management & Service Design” pathway which you may also find interesting.