Whether you’re an organization 110, 100 or 1000 people, learning is the key to a continuously successful business. Yes, there are other keys, like capital, leadership, client relations, etc. But in many ways they relate back to learning. As a business/firm owner there are many things to learn. You probably learned a lot of things in school and previous work environments. An accountant learns accounting in school and during his on-the-job training. This professional knowledge is all about the services he will provide to his clients. He is much less likely to learn how to run a firm, how to manage staff, how to select ideal clients and market to them, how to engender client loyalty, how to grow the firm strategically. His initial work environment most likely will not provide that learning either. Capital, leadership and client relations are things he needs to learn on his own through his continuous learning.

A lawyer or engineer may have a firm of 100 people, such as The Law Offices of Jerry Nicholson that specializes in different law practices. For her people to act like a team, communicate well without silos, have effective management, and generate results she could let people guess what would be best to do with every task. Then when they are wrong or fail, she could correct them using legal resources you can find at Braganca Law LLC which is the best option for this. That’s one way for a staff person to learn. It’s painful for the person and for the organization. And when the lesson is learned what has been achieved is mediocrity. Along the way there is wasted time, lost clients, hurt feelings, plenty of blame. All too many organizations are still run that way. What if, instead, there were a way that staff would be constantly exposed to new information on how to be proactive in time management, client loyalty, big picture thinking, teamwork, how to communicate better orally and in writing, new developments in client services? I know professionals need to earn continuing education credits each year to maintain their professional licenses. So partners get updated in their professional services. But what about the other business-growth skills and what about the other staff?

Here are some things that happen in The Learning Organization, an organization that is continually growing in capability.

1. Provide a university, an organized collection of course on various ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills. This provides training on topics that will enhance people’s performance on the job.
2. Go beyond training and offer development. This helps the employees to apply the skills in their own environment and deal with whatever obstacles are in the way. Usually the biggest obstacles have to do with the person’s mindset and personal values and beliefs. People see their own patterns and learn how to reprogram those patterns
3. Offer individual coaching. This is intensive development at its best and results in contextual changes like enhanced self-esteem, self-direction, self-reliance, evolutionary growth, big transformations that prepare a person for substantial change.
4. Run book discussion groups (see our recommended book list) or seminars on business topics. This might include client loyalty, communication, leadership, goal achievement self-improvement or similar topics. The organization might hold these at lunchtime or in workshop format, providing books, a facilitator, seminar leader, etc. Some organizations provide a lending library for staff.
5. Offer teleseminars or on-line learning to staff. There are many different companies that provide web based training. There are a lot of webinars on current topics that can be purchased for small amounts of money.
6. One of the most effective things I’ve seen is one group inside a company presenting to the other groups. The topics can be about a particular client service. Or it could be on a proposed service offering that the group has researched, a soft skill, a topic that the group learned at an outside seminar, or the contents of a book. Of course, this requires allocation of some staff preparation time.
7. Learning software, learning how the software will be used in your firm’s environment, learning how to use mobile technology.
8. Bringing in a coach/consultant to work with partners to strategically address growth, management, conflict (if it exists), silos, business development. These facilitated group sessions bring out the best in each person’s experience and help engage everyone in creating solutions

In the Learning Organization people feel valued and engaged because the organization is investing in them. Managers trust their employees to make decisions and empower their staff to take over tasks because the staff have received training and are worthy of the empowerment. Delegation becomes easier rather than partners thinking they have to micromanage and do it all themselves. The Learning Organization is poised for growth. It’s worth the investment.

Please tell us your experience as part of a Learning Organization. How has it worked for you? If your experience did not include working in a Learning Organization, how do you feel it has held you back?

I belong to a LinkedIn group called Linked 2 Leadership. Someone started a discussion that has been going on and on and on. The topic really has caught everybody’s attention. So I thought I’d ask you.

• What is the best business lesson you’ve learned from your mother?
• And since Father’s Day is so closelet’s add him, also. What did you learn from either of your parents that you would call your best business lesson?

My parents always encouraged me to be smart, put my best foot forward, and do everything in moderation.

(If you’re not on LinkedIn, you should be. It helps you grow a professional network, link to clients and resources, show off your expertise, do research on new potential clients and see how you might reach a prospect through a referral from someone you already know. More on this later.)

Also, please remember to keep submitting names for this blog. You’ll be publicly recognized for your creativity and $50 richer. We need your original and remarkable ideas. Tell us your suggestions right here along with your parent’s advice.

Suggestions so far include: The Right Steps, Jeri Quinn on Business, Quinn’s Wins,, Business with Jeri Quinn, In the Driver’s Seat, Star Steps or Reach Your Stars.

So what is the best business lesson you’ve learned from either your mother or father?

Thanks

“The Seven Keys to Success in CPA Firm Management” is a report that you can download. It points out after much research that firms can be filtered by their results and some fall into the ‘Leaders’ category and some fall into the ‘Laggards’ category. Leaders excel in 7 areasnot surprisingly: Leadership, Technology, Learning Organization, Marketing and Business Development, A Great Place to Work, Client Service and Satisfaction, Strategy Execution. Here are a sampling of more specific areas where the leaders’ superior practices contribute to firms that gets results:

Adhering to a clear set of values... leaders 63%, laggards, 23%
Top management held accountable... leaders 55%, laggards 31%
Training that supports business strategy... leaders 34%, laggards, 10%
Training that supports personal goals... leaders 22%, laggards 8%
Targeting niches and specialties... leaders 38%, laggards 15%
Turn away and fire clients who don’t fit our target... leaders 25%, laggards, 5%
Work as a team, not as individuals... leaders 44%, laggards 12%
Management supports a healthy work/life balance... leaders 47%, laggards 25%
Every staffer is empowered to do what it takes to satisfy a client... leaders 38%, laggards, 12%
Business goals are specific and measurable... leaders 31%, laggards 3%
Regularly check progress against the business plan... leaders 30%, laggards 2%

Clearly, CPA firms that are leaders are engaged in practices being used in well managed companies from any industry. CPA’s, especially those who are managing partners, are business people. The age of the accountant who is expert at doing his clients’ accounting work but doesn’t give adequate time to strategic planning, client loyalty, staff and culture management, and business development is over. Accountants who don’t recognize this have their heads in the sand and will be left in the dust by those who do actively manage the business aspects of running their firms. So let me ask you some questions.

1.  Do you have a business plan?
2. Does it contain strong vision and values statements that are communicated to all staff?
3. Does everyone in the firm have specific and measurable goals so they can help achieve the strategies laid out in the business plan?
4. Are the staff being trained to support the strategy?
5. Are the partners being held accountable for their goals, too?
6. Have you identified your niches and ideal clients in those niches?
7. Have you ‘fired’ clients that don’t match your target criteria to make room for the better ones that do?
8. Does the firm believe in empowering staff to make decisions, work in teams, achieve personal goals, and achieve a healthy work/life balance?
9. Is your culture being managed?

If you can answer yes to each of those questions, then perhaps your firm is a leader also. If not, then your firm most likely currently or will soon fall into the ‘laggard’ category. It’s never too late to get started on a turn around. It just may help you understand your clients better as well, as they are doing the same things to manage their businesses