We’re at the final episode in our series on workforce development and are using this as an opportunity to highlight some of the key points our guests have made these past two months. We’ve talked about the pipeline and the importance of early accounting exposure for high school and college students, how public and private industry approach continual learning for their staff, the skills that will be most in demand for professionals in the future, the value of integrating DEI into these conversations and so much more.

In this episode, you'll hear from Barb Benton, vice president of government relations, and Tiffany Crosby, chief learning officer, who discuss the impact advocacy and legislative efforts have on workforce development. We cover OSCPA’s government relations efforts, sitting for the CPA exam and the critical role members play in using their voice.

We spoke with Jason Weigand, senior director for North America Tax for Proctor & Gamble, about what workforce development is like from a corporate perspective, the areas workers need to consistently upskill to stay competitive, the value in lifelong learning as an accountant and much more. 

We spoke with John Jones, CEO & President of Hope Toledo. Hope Toledo is a 501(c) 3 organization that helps children obtain high-quality early childhood education through Pre-K and post-secondary training in college or trade schools. We talked with John about how DEI impacts workforce development for the profession, specifically around exposing diverse students to accounting and supporting them in their educational journey. 

We spoke with Tracie Miller, program chair of MS and BS accounting at Franklin University and Sara Martin, employee experience manager at BMF, on the role universities and internships play in upskilling and reskilling accounting talent. 

In this episode you’ll notice some common themes emerge among an accounting student, a recent grad and high school educators. We’ll hear about the value of having connections to accounting early in life, whether that’s through school or personal life. We’ll hear about the benefits of talking to others about the opportunities that come from this profession and what upskilling and development look like for young students. Thank you to our guests Kayla Campbell, Ebone' Johnson, Nicole Snider and Kristy Venne. 

In the second episode of our workforce development series, we're digging into how firms are handling the staffing shortage. We’re looking at how firms are finding new staff, working to keep retention high and reskill and upskill their employees. We spoke to Steve Black of Brixey & Meyer and Alyson Fieldman of Rockit Results for their perspective. 

Next week: Hear the student perspective on what it's like to study accounting during the talent crisis, and we spoke with high school educators on exposing more students to accounting. 

The first episode in this series focused on workforce development and the accounting profession, we're speaking with Scott Wiley, OSCPA President & CEO, Tiffany Crosby, CPA, chief learning officer at OSCPA and Craig Marshall, CPA, assurance partner at EY and Board of Directors chair, to look at how workforce development has evolved over the years and how it impacts the profession now. 

In the last episode of the State of Business podcast for 2022 we’re covering some of the top episodes in its history. Some of the most popular episodes from the podcast have covered a wide range of topics, a testament to the diverse and multi-layered accounting profession.  

The State of Business will look different in 2023, as we’re moving to produce seasons of episodes that will focus on diving deep into one topic area. Look for new episodes in the spring.

Answers to Social Security FAQs 

https://oscpapodcasts.podbean.com/e/answers-to-social-security-faqs/

From CPA to convicted felon: One accountant’s harrowing story

https://oscpapodcasts.podbean.com/e/from-cpa-to-convicted-felon-one-accountant-s-harrowing-story/

How to manage a difficult employee

https://oscpapodcasts.podbean.com/e/how-to-manage-a-difficult-employee/ 

In this episode we spoke with James Rumph, enterprise anti-fraud leader at Columbus-based insurance and financial services company Nationwide, on the fraud trends to watch for, the danger of opportunistic fraud and what CPAs can do to help detect it. 

Hear more from James at the Fraud & Forensic Conference on December 20: https://my.ohiocpa.com/topclass/searchCatalog.do?latest=true&keywords=fraud+forensic+conference