The ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), a bodywith a membership of 162,000 finance professionals around the world,offers business-relevant qualifications to people in the accountingindustry. The ACCA organised a two-day ASEAN Learning Conference thatends today in HCM City . The event is titled ‘Supporting Growth:Nurturing talents for an Integrated Nation'.
Viet Nam News spoke with Alan Hatfield, Director – Learning, the ACCA.
* What did you discuss at the conference and what are the lessons drawn from it?
We discussed effective ways of putting higher education to work, theroles of higher education institutions and employers in developingtalents as well as the regulators' perspective of a strong talentecosystem that supports a sustainable business environment. This isbecause today's business environment is changing more rapidly than everand corporations must create a different workplace culture and aligntheir talents and business strategies to remain competitive.
The impending rise of the ASEAN Community, which aims to accelerateeconomic growth, social progress and cultural development brings with itopportunities and challenges. This conference is designed to provide aplatform to discuss and consider education trends and needs, humancapital development, which is fundamental to developing a steady streamof talent supply, and the role of finance professionals to supporteconomic growth.
The interactive sessions with the trainersdrew questions, suggestions, and ideas from the participants, and weunderstood what challenges higher education providers in differentmarkets are facing and how they overcome such challenges.
The facilitators also gave their thoughts and analyses of thesesituations and provided many valuable insights that were very relevantto our markets and also focused on better methods of teaching and how wecould best enhance the study courses.
* What is yourassessment of the current status of professional human resources andtheir development in ASEAN member countries, especially Vietnam?
The accounting and auditing industry in Vietnam has developedrapidly since its establishment during the 1990s. However, with only2,000 qualified accountants and 200 auditing firms, the supply of humanresources for this industry remains limited compared to the huge demandof Viet Nam 's fast growing economy. We expect the growth toaccelerate as the independent auditing law came into effect in 2012,setting up a sound legal framework to improve the management ofindependent accounting firms and enhance transparency for enterprisesand the economy.
* What are the challenges around thedynamics that drive human-resources needs and the changing aspects ofdoing business?
Staff development in any organisation isimportant as it helps with staff motivation, talent recruitment andretention, and reduces the risk of departments or teams working inisolation. Talent management is all about career development but for itto work, global talent management practices must be adopted locally andmade to work. The challenge lies in not only the development ofeffective corporate governance and financial management but alsoensuring that employers understand the rigour of the processes. In afast changing environment, the job is never complete. While thechallenges may vary, the solutions will be similar irrespective ofwhether the economy is emerging or has arrived.
A key themefor the future has been the need for the effectiveness of talentmanagement practices across the finance function - from shared servicesto the retained finance function. Recent findings from an ACCA reportcalled "Talent management in a shared services world: 2012 survey" showsthat talent management is inconsistent. The report surveyed 1,200organisations, with one third representing companies with more than US$3billion in annual revenues. The research reveals 72 per cent ofrespondents say they do not implement talent management programmesacross the entire function, or admit that they are not aware of suchprogrammes existing. We believe the findings were startling and show aneed for change.
A few key challenges faced by employersinclude managing the overall workload to ensure work flows evenlythroughout the year to make best use of resources and minimise the risksthat arise from working under unreasonable time pressure. Theallocation of staff to assignments based on their ability and experienceand taking account of their training needs is also something that needsto be carefully managed.
* As a major global associationof chartered certified accountants, how do you see the development ofaccounting and accountants in Vietnam? What can you do to support thecountry, and what is your advice to it?
As statedpreviously, the supply of human resources for this industry is nowmeeting only a fraction of the demand from the market. Because of itsincreasing prominence in the economy, finance and accounting areconsidered "hot" professions, hence the rise in the number of financeprofessionals in the market. We view this as a healthy and necessarydevelopment for the economy as this will boost the competitiveness andincrease the general level of competency of human resources.
We believe, given appropriate training, Vietnamese financeprofessionals can attain expertise and professionalism on a par withthat of their international counterparts. However, to date only a smallnumber of professional accountants have gained internationallyrecognised certifications.
Realising this need, ACCA hasbeen actively contributing to increasing the number of qualifiedaccounting professionals through rigorous training courses andorganising high-quality examinations, awarding internationalcertificates and a number of qualifications related to the practice ofaccounting, auditing, finance and management to Vietnameseprofessionals. We have also contributed to enhancing the transparency ofthe local industry by providing inputs and feedback to policy makers.We will continue to hold events and training courses for Vietnamesefinance professionals. Following our agreement of co-operation on jointexamination scheme with the Ministry of Finance, we will roll outsupport for members in training, updating professional knowledge,assisting members in maintaining high standards of professionalism,ethics, and qualification, and sponsor training of ministry officials asa way to develop a new generation of policy makers well equipped withan understanding of international standards and practices.-VNA
Viet Nam News spoke with Alan Hatfield, Director – Learning, the ACCA.
* What did you discuss at the conference and what are the lessons drawn from it?
We discussed effective ways of putting higher education to work, theroles of higher education institutions and employers in developingtalents as well as the regulators' perspective of a strong talentecosystem that supports a sustainable business environment. This isbecause today's business environment is changing more rapidly than everand corporations must create a different workplace culture and aligntheir talents and business strategies to remain competitive.
The impending rise of the ASEAN Community, which aims to accelerateeconomic growth, social progress and cultural development brings with itopportunities and challenges. This conference is designed to provide aplatform to discuss and consider education trends and needs, humancapital development, which is fundamental to developing a steady streamof talent supply, and the role of finance professionals to supporteconomic growth.
The interactive sessions with the trainersdrew questions, suggestions, and ideas from the participants, and weunderstood what challenges higher education providers in differentmarkets are facing and how they overcome such challenges.
The facilitators also gave their thoughts and analyses of thesesituations and provided many valuable insights that were very relevantto our markets and also focused on better methods of teaching and how wecould best enhance the study courses.
* What is yourassessment of the current status of professional human resources andtheir development in ASEAN member countries, especially Vietnam?
The accounting and auditing industry in Vietnam has developedrapidly since its establishment during the 1990s. However, with only2,000 qualified accountants and 200 auditing firms, the supply of humanresources for this industry remains limited compared to the huge demandof Viet Nam 's fast growing economy. We expect the growth toaccelerate as the independent auditing law came into effect in 2012,setting up a sound legal framework to improve the management ofindependent accounting firms and enhance transparency for enterprisesand the economy.
* What are the challenges around thedynamics that drive human-resources needs and the changing aspects ofdoing business?
Staff development in any organisation isimportant as it helps with staff motivation, talent recruitment andretention, and reduces the risk of departments or teams working inisolation. Talent management is all about career development but for itto work, global talent management practices must be adopted locally andmade to work. The challenge lies in not only the development ofeffective corporate governance and financial management but alsoensuring that employers understand the rigour of the processes. In afast changing environment, the job is never complete. While thechallenges may vary, the solutions will be similar irrespective ofwhether the economy is emerging or has arrived.
A key themefor the future has been the need for the effectiveness of talentmanagement practices across the finance function - from shared servicesto the retained finance function. Recent findings from an ACCA reportcalled "Talent management in a shared services world: 2012 survey" showsthat talent management is inconsistent. The report surveyed 1,200organisations, with one third representing companies with more than US$3billion in annual revenues. The research reveals 72 per cent ofrespondents say they do not implement talent management programmesacross the entire function, or admit that they are not aware of suchprogrammes existing. We believe the findings were startling and show aneed for change.
A few key challenges faced by employersinclude managing the overall workload to ensure work flows evenlythroughout the year to make best use of resources and minimise the risksthat arise from working under unreasonable time pressure. Theallocation of staff to assignments based on their ability and experienceand taking account of their training needs is also something that needsto be carefully managed.
* As a major global associationof chartered certified accountants, how do you see the development ofaccounting and accountants in Vietnam? What can you do to support thecountry, and what is your advice to it?
As statedpreviously, the supply of human resources for this industry is nowmeeting only a fraction of the demand from the market. Because of itsincreasing prominence in the economy, finance and accounting areconsidered "hot" professions, hence the rise in the number of financeprofessionals in the market. We view this as a healthy and necessarydevelopment for the economy as this will boost the competitiveness andincrease the general level of competency of human resources.
We believe, given appropriate training, Vietnamese financeprofessionals can attain expertise and professionalism on a par withthat of their international counterparts. However, to date only a smallnumber of professional accountants have gained internationallyrecognised certifications.
Realising this need, ACCA hasbeen actively contributing to increasing the number of qualifiedaccounting professionals through rigorous training courses andorganising high-quality examinations, awarding internationalcertificates and a number of qualifications related to the practice ofaccounting, auditing, finance and management to Vietnameseprofessionals. We have also contributed to enhancing the transparency ofthe local industry by providing inputs and feedback to policy makers.We will continue to hold events and training courses for Vietnamesefinance professionals. Following our agreement of co-operation on jointexamination scheme with the Ministry of Finance, we will roll outsupport for members in training, updating professional knowledge,assisting members in maintaining high standards of professionalism,ethics, and qualification, and sponsor training of ministry officials asa way to develop a new generation of policy makers well equipped withan understanding of international standards and practices.-VNA
