The single biggest issue facing our profession is engaging, retaining and developing enough of the right people. Unfortunately, those with 4-7 years experience can be a flight risk – and losing your high-potential individuals just as they’ve stepped up to Manager can have long-term negative repercussions for your firm.
New Manager Academy is designed to help you engage high-potential, newly-promoted Managers, and accelerate their training so they can more quickly and effectively manage both people and engagements.
The primary measurement of success for this program will be the incremental, consistent, noticeable difference in skills, confidence and ability witnessed by participants and firm leaders who work alongside them.
FAQ
Who should register? This program is ideal for Managers wishing to become more effective in their roles. Participants should be prepared to be actively engaged in improving skills and applying lessons learned to their careers.
What is the timeline? The registration deadline for this one-year program is June 1 with the first events in late June. The program runs through May of next year.
What is the cost? The one-year program is $3,700 per participant
(UAN Members pay $3,100)
What is included?
Nine forums designed to teach key Manager proficiency topics
Guidance in creating Action Plans after each Training Forum to ensure skills are put into practice
A 1 ½ day in-person (or virtual) event designed to take a deep-dive into key Manager skills and encourage networking and innovation
Three advanced training sessions for guides
1 Training Forums
Over the course of the one-year program, participants will receive incremental training on key skills during one-hour webinars led by skilled Upstream presenters.
Participants receive the PowerPoint, questions to consider, and other materials in advance of each presentation and access to the recorded presentation online afterward.
To increase engagement in the monthly forums, participants are asked to commit to responding to key questions that tie to the topic during a live session.
After the Upstream presenter has provided training and instruction on the competency, assigned participants provide their thoughts/insights/experiences.
Training Forum Topics
Understanding Responsibilities and Expectations
Developing Those You Lead
Setting Clear Expectations
Giving Timely, Effective Feedback
Building High Trust Relationships
Prioritizing the Right Things
Effectively Managing Stressful Situations
Facilitating Better Discussions and Decisions
Managing Successful Client Engagements
2 Action Plans
We believe skills are best learned by “doing.” Throughout the year, participants set and accomplish goals after each Training Forum.
Guides work closely with participants, helping them select proper goals and holding them accountable for their Action Plans. With guide-ensured accountability, accomplishing challenging goals allows participants to apply what they’ve learned and give value back to the firm. Participants complete all the goals set in their Action Plans prior to the program year conclusion in May.
3 New Managers Conference
Networking with peers in a stimulating group environment is an important experience for all professionals.
Program participants have the option of attending the New Manager Conference, either in-person or virtually January 2024 in Las Vegas.
This highly-interactive 1½ day conference allows participants to network with peers, share thoughts and gain insights on both current and future firm issues so they can bring new energy, ideas and best practices back to the firm.
During the event, participants work together to solve problems they’ll face as new managers to encourage collaboration, innovative thinking and networking with as many peers as possible.
4 Guides
The process of learning new principles and skills is almost always easier if accompanied by someone who has previously walked the same path.
The firm assigns participants an experienced in-house guide to work with them throughout the program to help participants set and accomplish goals and complete assignments.
Upstream Academy provides three virtual training sessions for the individuals who are selected to serve as guides.
5 Experienced Consultants
Sam Allred, Director at Upstream Academy, interacts with hundreds of CPA firms around the world each year via professional conferences, partner retreats, and webinars. Sam is widely regarded as one of our profession’s top strategic thinkers and has consistently been named as one of the top ten consultants in the profession by IPA.
Jeremy Clopton, Director at Upstream Academy, has a passion for engaging all generations to move their firms forward. His real-world experience comes both as a consultant and in the audit department of a top accounting and consulting firm and he uses this experience to provide a vision for improvement.
6 Unconditional Guarantee
We’re confident that New Manager Academy will be of immeasurable value to you. Like everything we do at Upstream Academy, this program is unconditionally guaranteed to your full satisfaction. If you’re not completely satisfied, we will, at your option, either waive your fee or accept that portion of the fee that reflects your level of satisfaction.
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Networking with peers in a stimulating group environment is an important experience for all professionals.
Program participants have the option of attending the New Manager Conference, either in-person or virtually January 2024 in Las Vegas. 
Guides