How You Can Apply Executive MBA Skills in the Workplace

Enrolling on an EMBA program has advantages that extend far beyond the classroom. Executive MBA programs are designed to further your skills in MBA jobs, and ultimately your employability. There is a focus on hands-on experience and applied business reasoning from the very beginning of the course. Unlike full-time students, executive MBA skills can be applied instantaneously to the workplace itself as students hold down full-time jobs while studying. 

Teamwork

An integral part of many MBA jobs is the ability to work well in teams. Whether this relates to group projects, managing staff or delivering presentations to a variety of people, teamwork and social skills are a necessity. Personal interaction in the classroom and in study groups is considered an essential part of the experience of the program.

Executive MBA programs are traditionally taught in cohorts to resemble most MBA jobs. This is usually a tightknit group of 30-40 students who attend all classes together throughout its duration. The way in which you interact with your peers will determine the professional contacts you form outside of the classroom. Fellow students will come from a variety of different backgrounds with hiring authority or inner circle contacts that will be beneficial upon graduation. Being a team player and forming strong bonds with your cohort will stand you in good stead at any MBA jobs in the future.

Emphasis is placed very much on working together and creating cooperative relationships rather than competing with each other. MBA skills like teambuilding skills will teach you how to rely on others in order to succeed – which is directly transferable to work.

Increased confidence

Throughout the rigors of a program, the executive MBA skills you will acquire will result in increased confidence in the workplace –for those around you as well as you. Executive MBA programs are designed to help you become accustomed to analyzing different business areas from the perspective of a CEO – this will provide you with a strategic perspective that is beneficial when applied in your MBA job.

Certain executive MBA programs feature modules and extracurricular activities that are designed to improve leadership skills; this is of particular use to students who have not come from a corporate background. In a recent TopMBA interview with London Business School EMBA graduate Jessica Dugan – an equine veterinarian – she highlights the confidence she developed within her cohort as one of the most significant benefits in her professional life.

“I’m usually the medical expert that people come to for advice; it’s a very quiet role, and so this was my chance to personally achieve my goal of becoming a more confident person and to be comfortable in front of crowds.”

The finer detail

Unless you’re trained in accountancy, tasks such as reading a financial statement can be somewhat daunting. Understanding balance sheets, cash flow statements and income statements are essential skills in a MBA job, especially when determining the strengths and weakness of a business plan or analyzing a company’s operating environment. While an executive MBA program will not turn you into an accountant, it will equip you with the essential skills to know what you’re doing.

The theoretical elements of the course will also make you more aware of crisis management and how to solve business problems on a grand scale by encouraging you to think critically while applying the practical skills acquired on other modules. 

Broader work opportunities

Honing your skills on an EMBA program can open a variety of opportunities at work. EMBA students have dramatically increased employability upon graduation due to the highly sought-after skillsets that they acquire. This is particularly key when more and more candidates are self funding – though those who stay with their employer more often than not enjoy a promotion.

Indeed, during the EMBA program, some students may find that they are offered new opportunities or bonuses from their respective companies as they build up their business acumen and knowledge. Employees who have acquired an EMBA are highly sought after in the job market.  The MBA skills generated through an EMBA program benefit employers just as significantly – companies profit from talent retention and all the new skills obtained as the program progresses.

Another advantage is the new set of business contacts you will build-up with the peers and alumni of the program in which you are enrolled. After graduation, students will usually keep in touch with each other and alert their cohort to new career opportunities with their careers and industries.