Cutting CLE / CPE in Tough Times. A Very Bad Idea.

I just came upon this article (hat tip to Jordan Furlong via Twitter: jordan_law21) on Law.com about economic cutbacks including "extra" professional development. CPAs are doing the same thing.

There are so many things wrong with this I couldn't possibly name them all, but lets start with these two:

• Professionals, you ARE your brains. 
  
  Your knowledge is your only source of high-value offerings. OJT is nice, but cannot be solely relied upon for increasing your knowledge. 

• CPE requirements are low, and CLE requirements are ridiculously low, already.
  
  Per the ABA, minimum CLE by state requirements average 10-15 hours annually. Are you kidding me?? For a knowledge profession like LAW? I really hope this is wrong. If a firm thinks that 1-2 days per year is adequate and that they should "cut" anything they support in addition to that, then I'm scared for the future of law. The AICPA has this state-by-state CPE chart that reflects most states require 40 hours of annual continuing education. Physicians' CME requirements by state, at about 20 hours/year, are greater than law, but lower than accounting. 

For knowledge professions, these minimum requirements are far from adequate for average performers, and they sure won't result in very many superstars.

As a buyer of services with the sort of stakes we are talking about... my LIFE, my financial security, and my legal protection, I certainly don't want a lawyer with 2 days per year of learning and a doctor with just 3 days. I'm scared and you should be, too.

Some might argue, well, there is great value in on-the-job training. Ok. OJT guided by senior practitioners meeting minimum continuing education requirements does not excite me. Further, I've worked inside of great firms, large and small. Are you telling me the knowledge transfer from senior to junior is anywhere near where it could or should be? I didn't think so.

Do you realize the Container Store invests 241 hours in employees' first year training and 160/yr after that? Seriously. I wrote about it before at Your CPE is Your R&D, Don't Underinvest. Closet design and storage solution service delivery merit more education than a DOCTOR?  The Container Store gets it. Look at the leadership training and resources here. And the positive impact on morale. And the happy customer trail. This is not mere coincidence.

At any rate, these comparisons are only as useful as navel-gazing can ever be. Firms need to be breaking OUT of the pack. Not cutting back on their most important "asset" - their ability to grow their knowledge and create more value for customers than others can or will add. Knowledge is the only way.

"Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes." 
~Peter Drucker

Law and accounting are already under-trained on leadership, management, and service, if not technical matters. Invest in your human capital.

Please, firms, don't cut eduction. It's the worst decision you could ever make. 

Comments

[JoelUngar]

I think continuing education is our 3rd biggest expense after wages/benefits and rent. I get a minimum of 80 hours a year - we practice in niche areas and you have to stay on top of what is going on.

Great post Michelle.

[Chris Zdunich]

Michelle, without intensely training our people, we would not be able to provide the high level services and expertise Porte Brown is known for.

Without training, we would not be able to teach our accountants how to help our clients identify additional needs that will contribute to greater success.

[Jim Ulvog]

With the volume of change in the pipeline firms are cutting CPE? Every single one of the SASs are being rewritten with little additions here and there. They will all go into effect on the same day. The pronouncements from the FASB have become a flood.

The formal hours are just the starting point. Professionals need to do a lot of extra reading. There is an incredible amount of wonderful books around that would greatly expand a CPAs mind.

Firms need to remember the only thing we have to sell is our brainpower. Individuals need to remember the same. If the firm will not pay for classes to increase your brainpower, then get over to Amazon and start reading! Invest in yourself if the firm won’t.

[Michelle Golden]

Thank you for the comments Joel, Chris and Jim.

Joel and Chris, above average levels of education are absolutely differentiators in knowledge firms. It's a must, really. Continuing Edu is a table stake, but high quality and higher volume edu is a true competitive advantage. Do you know that most CPA firm's CPE budgets are about equal with their annual expenditure on their INTERNET CONNECTION. Seriously, this comes for the AICPA MAP survey.

Jim, you make a great point. I think it is in the post I cross-referenced, but a firm I had the honor of sitting in a management meeting of had several folks apologizing for having spent time learning vs billing during the July a couple years ago when all the risk standards were just out. I was mortified and told them to be proud, not ashamed of this time invested in learning!

I couldn't agree more with your points about learning and reading! Thanks again for taking the time to comment!

[Michelle Golden]

As an aside, a few people unsubscribed to my blog after I posted this. I'm always intrigued when this happens (and seek to learn from it) but have to wonder why if anyone was offended by my statements that minimum CPE/CLE requirements are adequate.

Thoughts?