Global accountancy body makes six recommendations

The speed of business in the 21st century means that management training and development will have to alter drastically according to The future of professional development, the latest report in ACCA’s (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Insight Series.

According to the report, if continuous professional development programmes are to be fit for purpose, keep up with regulatory change and provide acceptable returns on the hundreds of millions of dollars invested each year, then a radical overhaul is needed.

Tony Osude, acting director of professional development at ACCA said: “The set piece ‘talk and chalk’ lectures cannot survive. Business professionals need immediate access to good quality information, and they need to know how to apply it to their work.

“The one size fits all course will need to accommodate the demand for more practical based interactivity between professional peers, and the demands on time. In order to maximise return on investment, and respond to risk and uncertainty, the way people build on their knowledge and skills needs to be transformed.”

Key findings from the report reveal:
• Finance professionals require faster access to knowledge and information due the pace and frequency of regulatory, economic and business changes.
• Greater use of technology is likely to be characterised by the wider adoption of Web 2.0 technologies, enriching the learning experience through increased levels of on-line interaction and collaborative learning with other finance professionals. 
• Employers face a challenge to ensure that development programmes offer enough variety to appeal to all four generations of workers, from Generation Y through to baby boomers. CPD needs to be treated more as a value adding, career-supporting process rather than a ‘tick box’ exercise. 
• Regulation is expected to become less process-driven and more risk based, with employers becoming more involved in the regulation process.  Consequently, professional bodies will need to use technology to ensure member compliance processes become seamless.
• Experience is key, it is the only way to prepare professionals to deal with the new, the unfamiliar and the unexpected.
• Current economic conditions are putting more pressure on organisations to demonstrate return on investment – in relation to development activities this will mean a greater focus on reviewing the effectiveness of current training programmes.

Jamie Lyon, senior manager – professional development, ACCA, concludes: “Accountants are operating in a very different environment and we believe all professional development programmes should reflect this. Although there will always be a place for traditional classroom learning, the way they are taught is going to fundamentally change. The generation entering the profession now is far more technologically adept, and the business benefits of using technology to teach are compelling – it’s really about organisations getting the training blend right.”

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Radical overhaul ----radical (relating or affecting the fundamental nature of sth.;far-reaching or thorough)

                            ----overhaul (a thorough examination of machinery or a system, with repairs or changes made if necessary)

eg,  a radical overhaul of the existing regulatory framework