Cpa Ontario Future Forward

In this podcast, Liz West and Sean Mullin break down how the demand for digital skills is the new normal and discuss examples where creativity meets public policy in providing digital literacy programs and pilots to young Canadians.

Join Liz West and Sarah Doyle as they discuss the growing risks and dangers that come along with developing innovation economies and the transformative effects that the right kinds of innovation policies can have.

Canada’s tech sector is constantly growing and changing. Decision-makers need to possess a clear view of how to adopt tech into traditional industries, and how to develop high-quality talent. In this podcast, Liz West speaks with Sean Mullin about new insights into how Canada’s tech sector is changing, what Canadian tech workers look like, and where the road for tech talent in Canada is heading. 

Policymakers around the world are interested in what AI can do when it comes to bettering the lives of citizens. The answer is quite a bit when it comes to the development and delivery of public programs and services. Join Liz West, Sean Mullin and Sarah Doyle as they discuss the intersection of AI and public policy and look at new examples of how policymakers are improving public policy with AI.

Are robots actually stealing our jobs? With the onset of automation, it’s natural to wonder what the future of work will look like. In this podcast, Liz West and Sarah Doyle discuss the impact of automation on Canadian workers and propose a new and more optimistic narrative on the future of work.

The ‘innovation economy’ has become an undeniable part of how we work, live and play. Join host Liz West and her guests, Sean Mullin and Sarah Doyle, as they flush out the meaning and importance of innovation, and the policies that work to translate raw innovation into economic gains and growth.

Academic articles and research papers offer a wealth information on all aspects of auditing. In this podcast, Liz West and Dr. Kristina Hoang explore how policymakers currently engage with the research, how other industries engage with their own academic research, and what auditing policymakers can do to improve the way they assess and use published research in their policy decisions.

Dr. Kris Hoang’s academic research into the psychology of communication reveals much about how auditors and audit committees communicate with each other. Join Liz West and Dr. Hoang as they discuss the factors that can influence what is communicated and how and why some communications differ even in a regulated environment.

In this podcast, Liz West asks Dr. Kris Hoang to share the results of her academic research on the psychology of persuasion, explore the role of persuasion in auditor-client relationships and discuss how to recognize and resist attempts at persuasion to maintain objectivity and fairness in assessments.

Canada’s startup scene has grown to include some globally-recognized red-hot companies. Slack, Ecobee and Shopify are just a few of the many Canadian startups that are garnering attention. With rapidly growing tech companies frequently raising nine-figure contributions from investors, what does the future hold? Join Liz West and Sean Moffitt as they discuss the evolving marketplace for startups in Canada.

Disruption has been defined as a new market and value network, which eventually disrupts and displaces established alliances, market-leading firms and products. As we’ve seen happen in the taxi industry with the rise of Uber, this market-altering chaos typically leaves in its wake a different way of doing things. Join Liz and Sean as they discuss the opportunities and drawbacks of disruption across industries.

The media landscape is vastly different today than it was just a few years ago. The social and mobile revolution has paved the way for data-driven analytics, resulting in new modes of advertising. Join Liz West and Sean Moffitt as they discuss top trends, consumer changes in behavior, shifting media patterns and the emergence of new technologies currently shaping the field. 

The Future is VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. In this podcast, Liz West and Sean Moffitt discuss one of the most valuable things an organization built for growth can do - build a brand. Join Liz and Sean as they connect the dots between evolving marketplaces, emerging innovations and cross-generational workforces.

In the Buzz Report, Sean Moffitt set out to study key questions and concerns pertaining to our digital culture, marketplace and technology. Join Sean Moffitt and Liz West as they discuss what’s changing, what’s staying the same and what we can expect in the future based on key meta-trends and expert insights and projections.

Technology is becoming smarter and more data-driven, automating our jobs, changing our workflows and processes and producing big marketplace winners and losers. Regardless of whether you company is public or private, large or small, no company is immune. In this podcast, Liz West and Sean Moffitt discuss the digital and technology impacts that businesses, not-for-profit-organizations, institutions and governments will have to come to grips with over the next 3 to 5 years.

Technical professionals in particular fall into common traps that hold them back – being a hands-off leader, being a micro manager, thinking your work speaks for itself, being perceived as not strategic enough, and more. Dr. Marc Hurwitz and Samantha Hurwitz share the relevant research and their unique insight having taught, coached and worked with thousands of technical professionals. Avoid the traps and step into your most confident, influential self!

A ledger has two sides to create balance. The same can be said of partnerships. Partnerships need both leadership and followership. This episode explores the complimentary nature of these two roles. After all, you’re not leading if no one is following.  

Accountants spend about 50% of their time engaged in followership according to a recent poll we conducted with CPA Canada with over 6,000 CPAs. How effective you are in your followership role is as important as your leadership role. What does active followership mean? How can you help your team do it better? Get practical tips from two of the most experienced followership trainers in the world. 

Imagine you had a secret formula that supercharged your team, improving accountability, productivity, creativity and engagement by 17 to 43%! Imagine, also, that the same secret formula was trainable… in fact, more trainable than leadership and more widely applicable. What would that be worth to you? Learn how the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC and others have taken the surprising step of training followership, and how it has transformed their engagement and other performance metrics.

When executives fail, it is costly not only to their careers, but to the organization as well. In fact, executive derailment is estimated to cost organizations upwards of $2.7 million per person and the probability of derailment is 40%. When your latest merger and acquisition or change initiative fails, it costs much, much more. The root cause for both is often poor followership.