Continuing our series on coaching and development, today we’re introducing the Howard Coaching Cohort! A huge part of successfully developing junior team members is ensuring that our coaches are ready to coach and have the skills to do so. The Coaching Cohort is our way of training senior team members to be coaches and creating a curriculum so that they’re on the same page about how to support their coachees. Read more below for how we develop our senior team members and prepare them to coach!
Training
Most of our team members have educational backgrounds in accounting, tax, or financial related degrees. It’s key that they have the leadership and communication skills to successfully coach others. This begins with six months of training with an executive coach. During this period, new coaches learn about themselves and how their experiences can help others. Upon completion, they’re officially part of the cohort, which entails meeting once a month to discuss improving the Coaching Program as well as further development for coaches and managers. The cohort is unique in that it assists our senior team members on taking their skillsets to the next level – it goes beyond accounting and delves into leadership, management, and improving our team as a whole.
Looking Ahead
Now that the Coaching Cohort has been established for nearly two years, we’re focused on making improvements and adjustments to it. In the coming year, our goal is to get more senior team members started on their executive training by offering a CPE day to kickoff their learning. This is especially important, as we offer flexibility for our team to choose whether they primarily work in the office, at home, or a hybrid of the two. We want to ensure that wherever our team does their work, they can be a well-prepared coach that guides coachees in their career path, challenges them, and assists them in identifying opportunities for growth.
The Coaching Cohort presents an opportunity for CPAs that are established in their careers to expand their skillsets and share their knowledge and experiences with others. If you’re experienced in accounting, tax, or auditing and looking for the next step in your career, working at Howard and becoming a coach could be a positive change for you. Call us or connect with us online for more information.
We’ll be back with more soon about one of our Howard coaches and how developing others gave her a newfound passion for her work!