Chief Learning Officer - January 2009 - (Page 51) these experiences, they hone both presentation and discussion skills, as well as their technical expertise. Walk Before You Run When enabling-skills development at J.H. Cohn was initially introduced, the firm’s learning department committed to taking the time to pinpoint the needs of the organization. It took a “roll up, roll down” approach by asking for feedback from more than onethird of the company’s employees. All senior partners were asked, “What are the most critical enabling skills that our staff needs to perform day-to-day to help differentiate the firm?” The learning team also held focus groups with managers and staff to gain their perspectives. For some time, there was ongoing dialogue about how best to address identified needs. Based on the feedback from this assessment, the learning function prioritized developing people, handling tough conversations, relationship development, managing people and oral and written communication. In addition, it clarified the specific ways it needed to align its approach with the firm’s strategic plan. For instance, relationship building is a key strategic driver at the firm; thus, this skill set became one of the highest priorities for development. Before creating the program, the learning team benchmarked against the development offerings of other firms, both within and outside of the accounting industry. This phase also included a vigorous and indepth search for leading providers of these programs. Once the enabling-skills path was launched, the company developed the program gradually by piloting courses and offering them as electives at first. Now finetuned, some of these courses are required. Today, about 25 percent of the department’s course selections address enabling skills. In employee surveys, when asked about training effectiveness, satisfaction has increased. People have commented that they feel better equipped to do their jobs. In fact, when asked about the extent to which the programs are applicable on the job, ratings of enablingskills courses are equal or higher than technical courses. J.H. COHN continued on page 56 Chief Learning Officer • January 2009 • www.clomedia.com 51 http://www.clomedia.com
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