What is the secret to succession planning in high performance firms? Is there a silver bullet? Tom Hood thinks we are going through a shift change in the CPA Profession. Five fundamental areas are working to reshape the talent development landscape and ultimately succession planning and performance in CPA firms. He makes the case with research and field work having worked on strategic plans with over 100 CPA firms, working with young leaders in the AICPA and MACPA Leadership Academies, and exposure across the CPA Profession (standing on the shoulders of giants). This session was presented in two facilitated sessions at the PKF 2013 Partner Summit in Chicago, Il.

1. Fundamentals of High Performing Firms
– Succession Planning…
PKF North America Summit
November 10-13, 2013
Chicago, Illionois
Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
Business Learning Institute & Maryland Association of CPAs
www.blionline.org

2. Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
If there is a conversation about the future of
the profession, you're bound to hear Hood's
name mentioned as one of the people
leading the way.
– Accounting Today
!
CEO
Maryland Association of
CPAs (MACPA)
www.macpa.org
Business Learning Institute
(BLI) www.blionline.org
!
!
!
!
Named the Second Most Influential in Accounting
by Accounting Today Magazine 2013
Top 150 Influencer by Linked-In
Top 25 Influencers in Learning & HR by HR
Examiner
Top 25 Public Accounting Thought Leaders by CPA
Practice Adviser
Working on Learning Management with AICPA/
CPA2Biz, Cloud Curriculum, Performance
Management /XBRL, Leadership & Generations
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood/

3. A Managing Partner is…

4. Download today’s slides at …
www.SlideShare.net/thoodcpa

5. Insights to Action
“One without the other is either useless or destructive”

6. Yesterday the World
Changed, Now It’s Your Turn
- Mike Walsh

7. HOW TO PROFIT FROM
INNOVATION: Building the
Agile Learning Organization
www.blionline.org

8. The Paradox
The faster things change,
the farther you have to
look ahead.

9. The Shift Change

10. The Shift Change

11. The Shift Change
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Leadership!
Learning!
Technology!
Generations!
Workplace!

12. If Content is King,
Context is the Kingdom!
- Will Avegerakis - AICPA

13. Where did I get this stuff?

14. The research…

15. The fieldwork…

16. The Strategic Thinking process…
www.blionline.org

17. Historical Context – The
Perfect Storm
• Web 2.0
• Globalization
• Generations
Source: Don Tapscott - Wikinomics

18. The New Normal - VUCA

19. T

20. The Research
A 2012 survey by the Corporate Executive Board showed that 60% of
organizations were experiencing a leadership shortage, an increase of 40
percentage points from the previous year.
67%
#1 issue is developing
leaders succession
planning
www.blionline.org

21. The top three issues facing human resources talent development
1.
2.
3.
A shortage of creative, agile leaders.
Inability to rapidly develop workforce skills and capabilities.
Ineffective collaboration and knowledge sharing.
www.blionline.org
Source: 2010 IBM Global Chief Human Resource Officer study

22. Is it really just about
Succession Planning?

23. Shift Happens
www.blionline.org

24. Paradigm Shift
The
high
performers
in
our
survey
invest
more
in
talent,
focus
on
closing
skills
gaps,
have
more
customized
training
and
development
programs,
iden9fy
future
leaders
earlier
in
their
careers,
and
have
robust
succession
plans
in
place.
They
also
focus
more
on
“so=”
leadership
skills
such
as
the
ability
to
embody
the
organiza9on’s
culture
and
values
and
to
lead
effec9vely
in
a
complex
global
business
environment.
www.blionline.org
Source: EY Paradigm Shift: Building a new talent management model to boost growth

25. Case Study:
John Schnitzer – Managing Partner
SEKCo.

26. Example-Succession Planning Timeline
The
partners
created
a
9meline
indica9ng
their
re9rement
date
and
possible
successors
and
iden9fied
key
steps
needed
to
ensure
the
future
success
of
the
firm.
www.bizlearning.net
www.blionline.org

27. Example-­‐Strengths:
Before
A=er
Partner
Re9rement
They
will
lose
about
half
of
their
strategic
thinking
strengths
due
to
re9rements;
however
the
group
will
maintain
a
solid
core
of
strengths
in
the
Rela9onship
Building
column.
www.bizlearning.net
www.blionline.org

28. Example-­‐Strengths:
Before
A=er
Partner
Re9rement
This
firm
is
very
strong
in
the
Execu9ng
strengths
column
so
there
will
be
less
impact
here
due
to
re9rement;
However,
the
firm
will
lose
4
of
their
maximizers
in
the
Influencing
column.
www.blionline.org
www.bizlearning.net

30. The # 1 Issue for past Decade?
Information Flows Effectively Up,
Down And Across The
Organization
Source: PKF RETAIN Retaining Employees Through Active Involvement Now! Survey #1issue for 10 years

32. “In
a
period
of
rapid
change
and
increasing
complexity,
the
winners
are
going
to
be
the
people
who
can
LEARN
faster
than
the
rate
of
CHANGE
and
faster
than
their
COMPETITION.”
-­‐
Tom
Hood,
CPA.CITP.CGMA
11/11/13
T

33. Talent Supply

34. Talent Development = Succession Planning
theBounce
10,000 hour rule
hXp://cpa.tc/2qh

35. www.blionline.org

36. T
Curriculum design by BLI and
AICPA using Top 5 Competencies
for future from CPA Horizons
research and job levels from the BLI
“Bounce” Model. Leadership and
Communications were combined
and the 5th category expanded to
include practice specialties for firms
and functional areas for corporate.
Examples would include: Corporate
Accounting, FPA, divisional
reporting, shared services, etc.
CPA Firms would have audit, tax,
industry specialties.
These technical areas would have
specific curriculums designed to
meet their specific technical
competency needs.

37. CloudLearning
We see this system as a key recruitment and retention
tool, allowing us to offer our people many of the things
that the largest firms do - competency–based curriculum,
career paths, and just-in-time learning, and our own
custom DS learning center.
- Allen DeLeon, Managing Partner!

38. Top Seven Issues
Young Professionals
1. Information overload (including accounting and tax
complexity)
2. Work / life balance
3. Generational issues and communications (including
upper management not sharing knowledge with the
younger generation)
4. Developing networking skills
5. Keeping up with technology -- especially the cloud
6. Finding career guidance
7. Understanding social media benefits
CPA Success blog post http://cpa.tc/1ef

39. The Shift Change
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Leadership!
Learning!
Technology!
Generations!
Workplace!

40. Your Competitive Advantage
“It is hard to plan for the long-term future when
you don’t know what is going to happen five
minutes from now.
Today, a competitive edge based solely on material
advantage is thin and temporary; the edge quickly
becomes the margin. The ability to define the edge,
and the ultimate competitive advantage, is found
in the smarts, heart and ingenuity of your people.
That’s your powerhouse. Tap that, train it, focus it
and mobilize it; now you’ve engaged a network
and inspired a sustainable shift.
www.blionline.org

41. Engagement – Alignment - Commitment
www.blionline.org

42. A leader s
job is to set
context and
provide
hope and
inspiration...

43. Tom
Hood,
CPA.CITP
CEO
Maryland
Associaon
of
CPAs
Business
Learning
Instute
(443)
632-­‐2301
E-­‐mail
tom@macpa.org
Web
hQp://www.macpa.org
Web
hQp://www.blionline.org
Follow
me
on:
ü
TwiXer:
hXp://www.TwiXer.com/tomhood
ü
LinkedIn:
hXp://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood
ü
Facebook:
hXp://www.facebook.com/thoodcpa
ü Slideshare:
hXp://www.slideshare.net/thoodcpa
ü Youtube:
hXp://www.youtube.com/thoodcpa
ü Second
Life
avatar
name:
Rocky
Maddaloni

44. How can we help you keep your LC?
•
•
•
•
Strategy Alignment
Curriculum tied to strategy
I2a Leadership Academy
BLI Leadership Express - ondemand leadership support
• Social learning
http://cpa.tc/32r
In a period of rapid change and
increasing complexity, the
winners will be those
organizations who can keep
their rate of learning greater
than the rate of change and
greater than their competition. –
Tom Hood
www.blionline.org

45. CloudLearning - JIT

46. CloudLearning - JIT