Episode 95

Accounting Firm Training & Development Insights

Paul Matthews is a leading Learning & Development professional with three best-selling books to his name. He brings learning and performance to life with stories that both fascinate and inspire. He also prides himself on reducing complex theory down to simple ideas and sharing them in a way that everyone can understand, and more importantly, use to get better results.

As well as being a sought-after speaker, Paul provides consultancy services, training workshops and webinars for blue-chip clients in the UK and beyond.Shownotes:

  • The main problems with learning and development in professional service firms
  • Why good L&D people leave professional firms
  • The problems accounting firms have with training their people
  • The difference between experience and expertise
  • The two things that good professional training should do
  • Why onboarding of new staff is done so poorly in accounting firms
  • How lack of firm vision and strategy adversely affects performance
  • The problem with learning transfer - how training enters the workflow in accounting firms
  • The three 'elephants in the room' for professional firm L&D
  • Where the majority of skills transfer and learning comes from in accounting firms
  • What is the brand or reputation of L&D in your firm?
  • The role of culture in strong professional firm L&D
  • The biggest challenge L&D people have in professional firms
  • What good CPD looks like in an accounting firm
  • How professional firms get people development strategy all wrong
  • The problem with a 'training needs analysis'
  • The one thing missing from most training which negates the transfer of the right behaviors into a firm
  • Guess what proportion of people come out of a training program with the desired learning transfer?
  • The benefits of a growth mindset over a fixed mindset in professional training
  • The problems with leadership training in accounting firms
  • Are accountants best placed as individuals to say what CPD they need?
  • A better metric than ROI to measure the effectiveness of training
  • Accounting firm leaders - how to get buy in for your learning interventions
  • The one thing leaders must do to model a learning, coachable culture
  • The big difference between how children and adults learn
  • The career downsides of neglecting your personal and professional development
  • The secrets of onboarding new staff in your accounting firm

Paul's very passionate about the L&D industry and recognises it as an incredible potential leverage point to make a difference in people's lives. Yet this leverage is so often wasted. He wants to use his extensive knowledge and experience to help you enhance the success of your organisation's L&D performance – and, as a result, change lives.

Paul grew up on a hill country farm in New Zealand and, like many Kiwis, went on to travel the world. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro twice, crossed the Sahara three times and the Himalayas eight times. You can reach him here...

Paul on LinkedIn

Check out his website here

About the Podcast

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Accounting Voices Podcast
Accounting Voices helps people in the accounting world stay relevant visible and vocal. Host Rob Brown interprets trends reshaping the profession and gives listeners insight to build authority influence and a stronger voice in firms and markets.

About your host

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Rob Brown

Rob Brown is the founder and host of the Accounting Voices Podcast, the flagship solo show of the Accounting Voices Network. Each episode offers sharp analysis and commentary on the trends, ideas and people shaping the global accounting profession.

Through this Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob helps accounting firm leaders, decision makers and professionals stay relevant and make sense of disruption in areas like AI, automation, M&A, private equity and soft skills beyond the tech. His perspective blends clarity, insight and curiosity, making complex issues relevant and practical for professionals and decision makers across accounting and finance.

He also leads two monthly panel shows, Accounting M&A and Accounting AI, which bring together senior voices to explore consolidation, strategy and the impact of technology on firms and people.

Rob is the author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and a TEDx speaker whose talk The Personal Brand of You has more than 400,000 views. Over his career he has hosted and moderated more than 1,000 conversations with accounting and fintech leaders worldwide.

Based in Nottingham UK, Rob is a stroke survivor living with epilepsy, a black belt in kickboxing, a decent chess player and an average player of four musical instruments.