The client
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) is a global professional body for Chartered Accountants with 23,000 members and 3,700 students. Their community spans the globe, with members in more than 100 countries. ICAS was created by Royal Charter in 1854 and is an educator, examiner, regulator, and thought leader.
The challenge
ICAS experienced challenges with the attraction and retention of talent. Competition for the best people was intense, and the expectations of employees and candidates were on the rise.
ICAS’s ability to respond with a compelling EVP was restricted. The organisation had 124 unique job titles against a headcount of 164, meaning there was no clear approach to career development and progression.
What we did
ICAS engaged Zuhra Consulting to design and deliver a career progression framework to give staff a meaningful career progression.
We designed a change programme that included consultation and communication with key stakeholders. Our consultants met with the Senior Leadership executive team and ran cross-functional focus groups to define the competencies for successful performance at ICAS.
We then simplified the organisation with a job family framework in which roles with overlapping skills and competencies were aligned with five broad bands. Our consultants created a competency framework aligned with the corporate values and mapped it onto the bands to create clearer pathways.
The result
ICAS has a robust competency framework to support its new 2030 strategy and ambitious vision. The framework supports performance management, aligns colleagues with organisational goals, and gives staff greater clarity on career progression and development.
