Podcast 7: Modern Certification Programs – With Arleen Thomas

EPISODE 7 – MODERN CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

What can associations do to modernize certification programs for young professionals?  And how can this content be leveraged to help existing members update their knowledge and skills?

Join me as I explore these challenges with Arleen Thomas, Managing Director of Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) Offerings at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA).

AICPA is the world’s most comprehensive source of learning and development programs, resources and networking opportunities for accounting and finance professionals.  More than 150,000 of the organization’s 650,000 members hold the prestigious CGMA designation, which indicates advanced proficiency in finance, operations, strategy and management.

To qualify, CGMA holders must complete rigorous education, examination and experience requirements.  They must also commit to lifelong learning and a stringent code of ethical conduct.

So, how does this kind of certification program succeed in today’s environment?

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In an era of relentless change, business professionals can no longer afford to rest on their laurels.  Specialists in every function must continuously upgrade their skills and competencies.  Likewise, certification programs must retool so they remain relevant and effective.
• Successful programs make members’ needs and motivations a priority.

Q&A HIGHLIGHTS:

The CGMA was introduced in 2012, and a new version was launched in 2015.  What is the history behind this certification program?

Business is rapidly changing – fueled primarily by digital transformation.  As a result, many organizations are investing in helping their finance teams develop new skills and competencies.  We saw a role for our association in that education process with the CGMA.

In particular, as technology replaces what I call “transactional services,” there’s a need to retool and move people up the value chain.  Companies with strong finance teams recognize that these professionals add value with insights based on strategy, data and deep knowledge of the business.

The CGMA helps our members develop and demonstrate strategic knowledge and competencies, so it marries what employers want with want individuals can provide.

Excellent.  Tell me more about these competencies…

Right now we’re refreshing the competencies and they’ll be rolled-out in early 2019.  We’re moving to a continuous improvement process.  The market is changing so fast that we can no longer wait to revisit it every 5-7 years.

Where are you focusing attention?

Major changes focus on digital strategy and the impact it has on the finance function.  Of course, we will continue to support the fundamentals – things like cost analysis, financial reporting, communications and team management.  But we can’t ignore how technology and digitalization are affecting business.

Sounds like a lot to manage – 150,000 people from all over the world who are at different stages in their careers, and are developing different competencies at an individual pace.  What kind of learning infrastructure do you have in place to support all of these activities?

We actually have two infrastructures:

1 ) One team helps individuals acquire skills for certification.  Our strategic partner in this is ExtensionEngine.  They developed our learning platform, and they keep us ahead on the learning technology front.  In essence, we are the content experts and they are the learning technology experts, so it’s a perfect fit.

2 ) Another team promotes ongoing development of global competencies.  As the first team researches and defines how financial competencies are changing, we build the content for the certification program.  Then the second team pulls that instructional content and pushes it to our existing CGMA holders, so they can stay up-to-speed.

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What steps did you take to frame this model?  How did you build the business case for continuous development?

This may sound simplistic, but we relied on a classic product management approach.  In other words, we set our business strategy and invested heavily to research the needs of our “customers” (members and employers).  Then we let our strategy and research inform us as we designed the product and positioned it in the marketplace.

What was the most important insight you gained from your research?

Our potential customers want a learning process that is very effective, very efficient and very engaging.  I often say that learning is a participatory sport.

In other words, you need to be engaged in order to learn.  So we start with fundamental concepts, but we immediately move to applied scenarios.  We also provide a safe place to try, fail and learn from failure.  It’s a highly effective way to learn.

What an innovative approach! What does a “safe environment” mean in the context of your certification program, and what does “failure” look like?

Let’s say I’m in a situation where I need to apply a specific competency.  The learning system may present me with multiple scenarios, and I may choose one that is right in some circumstances but not others.

The system can “nudge” me to consider other options that fit different contexts.  Through that relatively safe trial-and-error process, I am learning.

Fantastic.  And ultimately, the goal is to achieve certification, right?

Yes.  Having that designation in your toolkit opens the door to a different level of employability.  It represents skills and competencies that are in demand in the marketplace, so your career will have a different trajectory.

With 1000 or more off-the-shelf learning systems available today, why did you choose a custom approach?

Our customer research revealed that finance teams are no longer considered cost centers.  They add value to the business.  CFOs and controllers want their teams to develop higher-order skills.

So we found a learning and assessment platform that helps CGMA holders immediately apply learning on an ongoing basis.  Employers are seeing ROI from day one, so it was worth investing in a high-end learning solution.

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