ACCA Career Expo 2011

ACCA Pakistan organised ACCA Career Expo this week in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi and Hyderabad. The events in each city featured an exciting career counseling session, launch of Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) and ACCA career fair. There was also a session on employment opportunities for ACCA trainees and members. Various ACCA approved learning partners disseminated information on ACCA and FIA suite of qualifications.  The career fair served hundreds of students who have recently completed their intermediate and A level studies by exploring their career path in fields of finance, accountancy and management.

The speakers in these sessions were Ms. Shireen Naqvi, CEO School of Leadership, Mr Fasi Zaka, Education Consultant, Mr Sharique Siddiqui, Assistant Director – NBFC, SECP, Mr Muhammad Ali, Head of Audit, Engro Fertilizer, Mr Ali Sheraz, Manager Billing and Revenue, Wi-Tribe and the ACCA Pakistan Team including Mr Khurram Iqbal, Customer Service Executive, Ms Sabahat Khan, Customer Service Manager, Ms Noorulain Zafer, Manager Marketing and Student Recruitment, Mr Shahid Khan, Business Development Manager, Mr Taimur Beiram, Business Development Manager, Mr Haroon Jan, Head of ACCA Lahore and Mr Shamez Mukhi, Head of Public Affairs.

After these successful events, ACCA Pakistan is now embarking on the ACCA road-shows at various educational institutions and also career fairs in different cities of Pakistan to provide career advice to students as well as their parents.

ACCA’s third online virtual conference

ACCA’s third online virtual conference attracts big names to discuss important issues for the business world

10 August 2011: More than 6,000 finance professionals have signed-up for ACCA’s (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) online Research & Insights Conference which launched last week. The conference sessions can be viewed on-demand via the ACCA website until 27 October 2011 at the following link: www.accaglobal.com/RIConference 

The conference covered a wide range of topics from a wealth of expert speakers, including: the new business environment: opportunities for growth; why talent management in finance matters; integrated reporting: a framework for the future; financial issues from Brussels; extended audit reporting; the eProfessional: creating the next generation of accountants; making businesses accountable; cloud computing; social media; and XBRL.

HRH Prince of Wales delivered a live address at the conference on his involvement with the Accounting for Sustainability Project, as part of the session on integrated reporting.

The online audience also heard from Professor Mervyn King, deputy chair of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), who also talked about the future scope of integrated reporting, as well as the benefits and challenges of creating a framework that brings together financial, environmental and social and governance information in a clear, concise and comparable format.

Mark Gold, ACCA’s President, delivered a keynote welcome address for online attendees of the conference. Speaking after the event he said: “ACCA’s programme is relevant and timely, and includes excellent insights and advice for budding entrepreneurs and innovative accountants. The key to this conference is that it can be accessed online until the end of October, meaning that for those who didn’t get a chance to see everything in one day, they can dip into the sessions they want to see – from audit to pensions, from shareholding accountability to the future of the European economy.”

“The Research and Insights Conference is a fantastic opportunity to catch-up with the latest thinking on issues at the cutting edge of the accountancy profession,” says Ewan Willars, director of policy at ACCA. “Speakers from around the world covered a variety of regional and global topics that are highly timely and relevant. There is something for every kind of business and finance professional.”

MAXIMIZING PEOPLE POWER

MAXIMIZING PEOPLE POWER

EXPLORING PAKISTAN’S PERSPECTIVE

Talent Management must be placed at the heart of the organisation. It must have buy in from senior management and also the structure of the business must support the talent development principle. At a time when the country’s economy is under tremendous pressure and businesses are finding it difficult to maintain their efficiency or even survive, managing talent can be a saviour. 

ACCA and KPMG undertook a global study of best practices in Talent Management in businesses. The research report ‘Maximising People Power’ highlights the role that finance teams can play to generate a competitive advantage.

To discuss the current state of talent management practices in Pakistan, senior professionals gathered at ACCA’s roundtable discussions on ‘Maximizing People Power’ held in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. They opined that there were many motives for businesses to consider adopting an integrated talent management approach across organizations.  Some key drivers for implementing talent management practices in order of importance were fast track progression and value addition in business, business sustainability, cost efficiencies, succession planning, staying abreast of technical and technological changes, employee retention and developing specialized skills, and continuous learning and development.

Mr Mujtaba Khalid, EVP Internal Audit PTCL said that although PTCL has a training academy in place that looks after the development of its employees. He added further that PTCL is going to introduce job rotation in certain departments in order to realise the benefits of on the job training.

Historically, with a few exceptions, the local businesses in Pakistan have not kept talent management practices on their list of priorities. The main reason for their doing so was the uncertainty around the return on investment and the outcomes of these practices. This has resulted in either slower business growth or closure in case they couldn’t sustain the economic downturn.  On the contrary, multinationals operating in the same economic environment in the country that had talent management at the heart achieved record high profits.

The panellists of the roundtable discussion concluded that growth in businesses is directly proportional to the amount of investment made in managing talent..

ACCA Pakistan receives Best Accountancy Brand Award third time in a row

ACCA Pakistan receives Best Accountancy Brand Award third time in a row

ACCA Pakistan has been awarded Brand of the year award in the category of Professional Accountancy programme 2010. The award ceremony was organised by the Intellectual Property Association and the Brands Foundation.

Mr Shamez Mukhi, Head of Marketing, Communications and Media Relations received the Award on behalf of ACCA Pakistan from the chief guest, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in presence of Chairman IPO, Mr Hamidullah Jan Afridi, Governor Sindh, Dr Ishrat ul Ibad and Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah. While receiving the award Mr Mukhi commented that, "It is an honour for ACCA Pakistan to be acknowledged as a winning brand at the national level for the third time consecutively. While brand visibility is important, it is more significant to live the brand values. ACCA's image really comes from the ACCA community who are ambassadors of our 5 values; opportunity, accountability, integrity, diversity and innovation".

On this occasion, head of ACCA Pakistan, Mr Arif Masud Mirza said "this is a competitive process and relies upon the views of the public and other third party factors" congratulating the Brands Foundation for this initiative, he said "this is an ideal public-private partnership that encourages healthy competition among leading organisations and also increases their awareness about consumer preferences. It is a great platform to support and propel business enterprise in Pakistan."