Get Ahead -- By Learning

Source: AICPA CPA Insider

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Jennifer Wilson.

When ConvergenceCoaching was offered the opportunity to partner with the AICPA and CPA2Biz to study learning in the profession and develop a white paper titled “The Evolution of CPA Firm Learning,” we jumped at the chance. The opportunity to explore the ways firms establish a culture of learning provided insights into methods and mindsets that can give a firm a competitive edge.

After reviewing survey data, researching trends, and interviewing five firms generous with their time and access, we identified 10 areas that distinguish great learning organizations:

1. Whether learning is seen – and managed – as a strategic process. Firms that treat learning as strategic discuss it at the partner table, identify a central learning leader, and invest more in learning than firms that do not make learning a strategic priority.
2. The degree to which learning objectives tie to a firm's core strategies.
3. The transition to focus less on “getting CPE in” and more on the transfer of true learning to develop new skills, behaviors, and knowledge.
4. How much influence learners have over their learning plans.
5. The balance of leadership skills delivered compared with technical skills, and at what level they are delivered. Learning organizations deliver leadership programs early, not “saving” these programs until people reach higher levels.
6. The variety of learning methods offered.
7. How well learning activities tie to developing desired competencies.
8. The impact of technology on the firm's learning processes.
9. Whether a firm links rewards to learning.
10. The example a firm's leadership sets related to learning.

For the complete article, read “Turn learning into a competitive advantage.”

From AICPA CPA Insider, December 10, 2012, http://www.CPA2biz.com.