Through J.H. Cohn’s dedicated Learning and Development department, the Firm invests significant time and resources in developing a curriculum that contributes to the Firm’s strategy while helping employees excel in their job performance and achieve career goals. This includes offering a variety of subjects, through a curriculum of more than 90 programs, which give employees a foundation in various areas of the company business.
The objectives of the Professional Development curriculum are to:
- Ensure that employees are prepared for new roles
- Enhance their technical expertise
- Identify and develop leadership ability
- Develop enabling (soft) skills
- Ensure compliance with Continuous Professional Education ("CPE") requirements
One aspect of learning and development that sets J.H. Cohn apart from the rest is the Firm’s belief that strengthening enabling skills is a critical performance and career development tool. This learning and development approach includes long-term learning paths and resource materials for interpersonal skills in addition to technical knowledge. Technical expertise remains at the core of training initiatives, but supplementing these courses with enabling skills training allows employees to become well-rounded and more valuable to the Firm and to clients.
For experienced professionals, J.H. Cohn runs a Partner Candidate Development Academy—an intense training program for senior managers who have the potential of making partner—and the Rainmaker Academy, which provides development for individuals who have demonstrated the potential to help the Firm bring in significant new business.
J.H. Cohn’s mentoring program involves all professional staff and gives them an opportunity to benefit from the input, experience, and insight of senior colleagues.
Knowledge and Skill Areas
Among the overall knowledge and skill areas included in the curriculum:
- Technical excellence: pronouncements, professional standards and practices, and J.H. Cohn-specific procedures
- Leadership: an integrated program of job assignments, coaching/mentoring, and skill training from entry level through senior firm leader. Intended to help identify leadership talent early in career and grow capability in leaders at all levels.
- Role readiness: introductory programs for each professional level, “milestone” programs for new employees and new managers
- Enabling skills: leadership and management, communication, business development
- Niche (industry) specific: industry foundation knowledge, trends and issues, unique audit/tax/consulting issues
- Technology skills: desktop and J.H. Cohn applications
- High-potential programs: Partner Candidate Development Academy and Rainmaker Academy
In addition to the above programs, the curriculum includes the following learning tools:
- On-the-job development: the Firm proactively involves employees in “next-level” responsibilities on engagements, supported by real-time coaching and feedback from engagement partners and managers
- Action learning: selected employees work in teams to develop recommendations to firm management on strategic issues
- Committees and task forces: high-performing employees participate in problem solving and idea generation on Firm initiatives
- Knowledge sources: employees have access to on-line information on professional practices and procedures, marketplace trends/issues, and J.H. Cohn services
- Collaborative learning: structure for online and in-person knowledge sharing among employees
Development and Delivery
To deliver programs, J.H. Cohn uses a 24/7 online learning and development management system—a one-stop, central place for the evaluation of career goals, self-assessment, program registration, and CPE compliance. In addition, the Firm has embraced e-learning initiatives as a way to provide professionals with a wider range of real-time learning tools. For example, the Firm uses webcasting software to record and distribute internal sessions and has increased its use of external webcasts on relevant topics to enhance the Professional Development curriculum.
The curriculum is developed and maintained through the following processes:
- Continuous need assessment based on external benchmarking, measurement of program results, and input from J.H. Cohn leadership and employees at all levels.
- Dedicated advisory groups of partners and high-performing professionals to provide input and guidance on curriculum development
- Sourcing and selection of best-in-industry external resources
- Engagement of high-performing J.H. Cohn employees to develop and deliver selected internal programs