Seize the future with the new CIMA President

I am excited to embark on this new journey to serve the organisations I have been part of for so long, and help our profession navigate a period of seismic change, so that we can continue to thrive, now and in the future. That’s why our focus this year will be “seize the future”.

Together, we have:

• The opportunity to drive innovation across the profession,

• The opportunity to increase public trust in ESG and sustainability, and

• The opportunity to create an inclusive profession where everyone is treated equitably.

Driving innovation to advance our profession

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023, increasing technology adoption and digitisation will significantly disrupt the labour market, with an overall net positive in job creation, in the next five years. In fact, more than three quarters of the companies surveyed said that they are now looking to adopt big data, cloud computing, and AI.

New and frontier technologies are revolutionising the way we live and work. This is not something that we can ignore.

To remain successful, we must disrupt ourselves and embrace technology. Continued innovation is what ensures not only the long-term resilience of the profession but also the organisations we serve.

We need to work even harder to develop top talent with an innovative spirit, so that we can further leverage emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, and machine learning.

By embracing innovation, we will continue to be agile, flexible, and creative to drive more value; but that’s not enough to keep up with the rapid changes happening around is. We must also commit to lifelong learning to remain relevant and secure future employment not only for ourselves but also for future generations.

Increasing trust in ESG and sustainability

ESG and sustainability are now increasingly at the top of people’s minds and have fast become the lens through which organisations are being judged by investors, regulators, and wider society. That means they are now central to business strategy.

In fact, earlier this year our most recent State of Play in Sustainability Assurance report with the International Federation of Accountants revealed that 95% of large companies reported on ESG matters in 2021, up from 91% in 2019. It also showed that 64% of companies obtained assurance over at least some ESG information in 2021, up from 51% in 2019.

In June 2023, we saw the long-awaited release of two new global sustainability disclosure standards – IFRS S1, General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, and IFRS S2, Climate-related Disclosures – from the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, clearly signalling a new era for corporate reporting.

However, challenges and concerns around the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of ESG and sustainability information remain.

As professional accountants, the skills and experience we have gained as individuals and as a profession make us the ideal leaders.

From building the processes to deliver relevant information and presenting insights to stakeholders, to delivering corporate reporting and providing assurance on sustainability information, we have the necessary skillsets, knowledge, and expertise to integrate responsible and sustainable practices into business and operating models.

We play a vital role in supporting organisations to build resilience and address challenges for the future of the environment, society, and economies.

It is imperative that we seize this opportunity to position ourselves as the stewards of an organisation’s ESG and sustainability agenda, and we can do that through building trust. It is after all the keystone of our profession.

Creating an inclusive profession

I wouldn’t be in the position that I am in today if it wasn’t for the support I received from my family, friends, mentors, and peers through the years. I see success in the profession as a team sport, no one can do it all alone. We need to work together to carve a future where everyone is given equal opportunities to thrive, build successful careers, and make a positive impact.

We have made some significant progress in recent years, but now more than ever we must make sure that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) remains at the forefront of our profession’s values.

First and foremost, we need to continue our work to attract people to our profession in a world where many career paths are open to them. So how do we do this?

We need to make ourselves more visible to younger generations and proactively engage with them early on, to share our own career journeys and stories of what it means to be part of this profession, and how they can join us, to fulfil their ambition.

It is also important that we do not force them into rigid learning moulds. Rather we must make sure that we continue to proactively adapt our pathways to different generations, all with different needs, expectations, and motivations.

In addition, while there have been improvements at entry and mid-level to improve diversity, we know that glass ceilings remain for some people to progress to more senior positions. I want us to use our collective influence to change this.

DEI is not a challenge to overcome, but an opportunity to seize to better serve our communities and organisations, and the more proactive we are the greater our ability to solve some of the biggest challenges of our age will be.

Seizing the future

A quick glance at history shows that time and again our profession has adapted to changing environments to secure and maintain our place at the heart of organisations. Now, perhaps more than ever, we must continue to elevate our position and contribution to the success of our communities, organisations, and economies.

The responsibility of leaders is to be proactive and act decisively, and that is how I intend to act as CIMA President and Co-Chair of the Association. I know that if we seize the future together, our profession has a bright future ahead of it.

I look forward to working with you as we take the profession forward.