09 December 2004
The CIMA Training Annual Conference 2004 built on the success of last year’s event with 71 delegates attending. The Conference, held in London on 5 October, featured a range of high profile speakers, a lively panel session and thought-provoking workshops all chaired by CIMA’s Director of Brand, Ray Perry.
CIMA Training provides a ready-made package for employers to ensure that the training of Chartered Management Accountants is delivered everywhere to the same consistently high standards. The Conference gives employers the opportunity to share best practice in providing training and support to their CIMA students.
This year, employers were able to share their key business concerns including rising interest rates and the immanent introduction of international accounting standards. They were also encouraged to explore key business objectives such as business streamlining, dealing with corporate governance issues and providing a graduate programme to satisfy graduates’ needs. CIMA would be on hand, Perry said, to support businesses in every way possible including “to help recruit and retain the best employees.”
Robert Jelly, CIMA Director of Education, spoke about Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and its application for the employer. Kevin Hayes, from Lehman Brothers, spoke about the need for ‘connectivity’ when devising a fit for purpose graduate scheme. Charles Spence, BOC Group, offered six different reasons why the Group had achieved a 60% staff retention rate over 16 years. Sara Kearney, CIMA student at the Royal British Legion, was very up-beat about her experiences of a best-practice scheme which took out the uncertainty of the training environment. The final speaker, Charles Tilley, CIMA Chief Executive, gave the Conference a thorough up-date on the latest consolidation proposal between CIMA, CIPFA and the ICAEW.
The afternoon workshops included, amongst others, a presentation about CIMA’s Certificate in Business Accounting and how to create the managers of tomorrow lead by Chris Cain, Regional Director at the Financial Training Company.
