Developing talent through learning: Determining what and how while balancing competing demands

By Tiffany Crosby, CPA, CGMA, MBA, OSCPA chief learning officer

As business models continue to adapt to disruptionsand technological advancements, leaders are challengedto successfully develop talent equipped to navigate theemerging environment. Professionals are expected to wieldan ever-increasing set of skills and capabilities that spansthe landscape of people, technical and business domains.Technical expertise is still required but no longer sufficient. Inthis environment, leaders need to address three challenges asthey establish talent development strategies:

1. Determining what knowledge, skills, and abilities are needed and to what level of proficiency.

2. Creating space for employees to learn the knowledge and skills needed in their current roles and for career progression.

3. Managing learning budgets while still providing relevant, high-quality learning opportunities.

Sharing leading practices and providing responsive options that equip leaders to develop their talent are two ways OSCPA functions as your learning solutions provider.

Determining learning & development needs

No magic bullet exists for determining each employee's learning and development needs. From a leading practice perspective, high-performing organizations have developed competency maps, learning academies, or capability models to provide the guidance that employees and their mentors, coaches, or supervisors can use to establish individual learning development plans. In OSCPA’s role as a learning partner and trusted adviser, we have developed a competency model to guide our development and curation of learning content. This competency model is used for Advance, Town Halls, Accounting Shows, webcasts, sections and the on-demand portfolio.

We have also packaged learning around key development challenges (e.g., Transformational CPA Corporate Finance Bundle), business issues (e.g., environmental, social, and governance; advisory services), and specialized knowledge domains (e.g., employee benefit plans, health care).

Creating space for learning & development

Generally, individuals want to succeed at their jobs and value learning opportunities that grow their professional competence. Therefore, organizations' level of investment in professional development continues to be a consideration of candidates evaluating employment options. However, time pressures and workloads often conflict with employees’ planned learning and development activities, creating stress for those who choose to still participate in the learning program. Leaders looking to combat the stress of learning while continuing to recognize its value and necessity need to take intentional actions to make space for learning on the department calendar. For example, leaders could establish periodic learning days during which employees are expected to engage in a pre-determined learning activity such as a group learning event or a self-selected learning activity such as an on-demand, webinar, or virtual conference. Leaders could also schedule watch parties around scheduled virtual events (e.g., Advance, Town Hall) and engage in a post-event discussion. OSCPA's learning team has supported numerous organizations in planning their learning days as leaders grapple with their own time demands.

Managing learning budgets

Learning's value proposition is clear: properly resourced employees with access to the right knowledge and skill resources drive higher performance for their organization. Average learning hours per employee have continued to increase from 2017 to 2021, ranging from 32-54 hours in 2017 to 64 to 80 hours in 2021. These learning hours come with a cost that varies significantly depending on the provider. The costs of internally developed and hosted training are not as easily captured as externally sourced training. Benchmark data suggests that the average learning spend across all size organizations and all employee levels is $1,300 per year. Certain roles and levels require more learning spend, with accounting learning spend starting to trend above the average as role complexity increases and the depth and breadth of knowledge required in the accounting field expands. As organizations continue to challenge spend, learning and development groups have turned to subscription models for a turn-key solution. The quality of these turn-key solutions varies, with many models providing non-interactive compliance-oriented CPE. Removing the tradeoff between cost and value is one of the factors driving OSCPA’s learning partnerships and state collaborations. Through these partnerships and collaborations, OSCPA can bring national, regional, and local thought leaders to our members and related professionals.

The challenges associated with developing (and retaining) talent will not likely lessen in the foreseeable future. Leaders must continue to be innovative, creative, and intentional in determining individual learning and development needs, making space for learning, and managing learning budgets. OSCPA is excited to be a partner in this journey.

Tiffany Crosby, CPA, CGMA, MBA, is the chief learning officer of The Ohio Society of CPAs and leads the Society’s diversity equity and inclusion strategy. She can be reached at tcrosby@ohiocpa.com or 614.321.2255.

Learn more at www.ohiocpa.com/cpe/competencybased-learning.