Strategic Objective 2
Attracting new members:
‘To attract high calibre graduates into Institute membership'
Interface with employers and influencers
Student interface
The Institute’s Tertiary Liaison team increased focus in 2008 on attracting new members and growing the profession through encouraging tertiary students towards the Institute’s qualification paths, with greater emphasis on the academic community, who have important influence over our potential members as well as bringing great strength to the profession as a whole. Some initiatives in this focus included organising and hosting sub-disciplinary academic forums - their success means we have now committed both to hosting three forums per year from five disciplines, and to hosting the major annual heads of departments conference.
Having proven the effectiveness of student advocacy, we have redrawn our four existing sponsorship arrangements with student commerce/accounting associations and added two more. The Institute now has a presence in six major universities which reflects our more proactive commitment.
Other 2008 initiatives include a new Institute honours scholarship at the University of Auckland, sponsorship rights to the annual Auckland Academic Research Conference, and regular availability of an Institute representative to students in a designated space in the Careers Advisory Centre in the new University of Auckland Business School.
The Institute committed a strong presence to tertiary finance and accounting expos with the Membership Division’s support, as well as presenting in heavily-attended tertiary lectures and one-on-one clinics on campus. Chosen for their strategic value and outcome for the profession, these totalled 67 events addressed: 36 in northern tertiaries, 23 in central New Zealand, and eight in southern institutions.
International interface
Global Accounting Alliance (GAA)
Through the GAA, members are provided with support wherever they are around the world. As one of the founding members, the Institute works with other leading institutes committed to thought leadership, research and advocacy in accounting and business. Through the GAA, Institute membership is a global passport that you can access reciprocal benefits from nine international member organisations.
Reciprocal membership arrangements
The Institute has reciprocity arrangements with a number of overseas accounting bodies. Full members in good standing of these bodies who apply for membership of the Institute’s College of Chartered Accountants can expect to be admitted to membership.
| Reciprocal body | Recognised designation |
|---|---|
| Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants | Chartered Accountant |
| The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants | Certified Public Accountant |
| The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia | Chartered Accountant |
| The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales | Associate Chartered Accountant |
| The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland | Chartered Accountant |
| The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland | Chartered Accountant |
| The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants | Chartered Accountant |
Interface with employers and influencers
The Institute’s Employer Liaison activities focus on understanding the needs of employers of our members to ensure the Institute and our qualifications remain responsive to their needs, and advocating the qualities and values of our designations for the benefit of business and governance. A strong focus is the encouragement of organisations to commit to bringing young graduate employees towards qualification with the Institute through their status as approved training organisations, and by helping them to continually improve their internal processes in support of their candidates for qualification and their mentors, who play a key role in this process. Relationships were further strengthened with employers, employer groups, and other key influencers across New Zealand, through 129 (2007: 148) meetings or discussions. With six of the most valuable of these, presentation workshops were held with their management and employees to develop their understanding and contribution to these values.
Recruitment companies around the country which focus on accounting and finance appointments continue to be engaged and are often the Institute’s strongest advocates. 56 (2007: 51) presentations and workshops were held with their management and consultant teams to clarify and endorse the values of the Institute’s designations, our qualification requirements, and especially the ways their clients should expect to benefit by specifying that roles be filled by our members. Through these recruitment companies opportunities are developed to discuss these values directly with their clients.
The important role of addressing and supporting our members who commit to mentoring young members as they work towards qualification was increased: ten workshops or discussion groups were held, as well as many individual meetings with mentors.
Further opportunity was taken in all these activities to reinforce understanding of the recently introduced Associate Chartered Accountant designation, and the special entry provision.
There has been increased participation in suitable business forums to ensure leverage of Institute values and member opportunities, and to ensure our members’ capabilities are accessed to improve the quality of business throughout the economy. The Institute plays a key role in many of these groupings, encouraging rigorous principles and well-developed initiatives for the success of small business and the improvement of business generally.