Baker Tilly Case Study

Summary: Baker Tilly created a robust leadership pipeline by training employees on business acumen and leadership skills. It leveraged Abilitie’s immersive learning programs to sharpen employees’ management skills and ensure sustained employee engagement, with 52% of participants earning promotions following the program. 

“I saw incredible value in the active collaboration, networking with team members across the Firm, and working through real-life case studies with team members from different service lines. I have seen exponential value in what I’ve learned from the program and have actively incorporated these lessons to my day-to-day professional activities. From a personal career growth perspective, I learned an incredible amount through our group brainstorming that I was able to implement across my teams. This brainstorming and discussions helped me implement meaningful and thoughtful changes across my immediate teams that have positively impacted team members within my region.”

John Gallo, CPA, Senior Manager, Assurance

The Challenge

Baker Tilly, a large multinational accounting and auditing firm, faced a notable challenge with its hierarchical structure leading to internal competition and frustration among manager-level leaders seeking promotion. 

While the organization has a robust learning culture, the L&D team realized they needed to enhance employee skills and foster leadership development across all levels. To address this, Baker Tilly’s L&D team sought a hands-on solution to differentiate learning experiences and nurture a leadership pipeline internally. They partnered with Abilitie to transform professionals into leaders and improve retention rates.

The Approach

Baker Tilly partnered with Abilitie to create eight- to twelve-week intensive development programs for employees across the firm’s multiple service lines. The goal was to give employees a safe space to experience business challenges and learn how to solve complex problems through practice, trial, and error. It was also essential to do this in an accelerated period to respect the learners’ time away from work.

To accomplish these goals, Baker Tilly selected Abilitie’s mini-MBA Rising Leader Program, based on the firm’s 12-Week MBA curriculum. The training provided opportunities for development and set employees up to step into the role of senior manager or director at the firm. 

The pillars of the Rising Leader Program are game-based, competitive business simulations, which include: 

1. Management Challenge: People management and communication skills
2. Business Challenge: Financial literacy and value creation
3. Enterprise Challenge: Overall business acumen and value levers/drivers

The simulations followed a similar model—hands-on practice with AI-enabled experiences that hone learners’ real-life skills. This method has been highly successful, giving learners the chance to practice addressing realistic business challenges, see the consequences of their choices, refine their approach, and immediately apply lessons to their real-life work day at Baker Tilly. 

Previously, less interactive virtual learning felt less effective for the large company, but Abilitie’s simulations helped create environments that mimicked the real-world work challenges managers were experiencing in an engaging way. Baker Tilly’s leadership team loved that they were able to help new managers learn how to guide teams and have tough conversations in a risk-free environment. 

The Results

Baker Tilly saw impressive business results from implementing Abilitie’s professional development programs. Post-program, 180-degree surveys from participants and their direct leader/coach confirmed a:

• 52% of participants earned a promotion (compared to 22% for company-wide managers)
• 28% increase in holding critical conversations
• 22% increase in coaching and developing others
• 19% increase in executing strategy under pressure
• 33% increase in confidence for delivering executive-level presentations

Since its inception in 2021, the Rising Leader Program has undergone significant innovation. From the introduction of “Coaching Circles,” where alumni serve as program coaches, to segment-specific facilitation, where distinct faculty lead the Management, Business Acumen, and Strategy segments, the program has continuously adapted to meet participants’ evolving needs. 

Now in its fourth year, the Rising Leader Program is one of three Signature Programs at Baker Tilly and continues to be one of the most impactful training experiences at the company. It has been completed by 131 leaders (7% of managers at the firm).

Baker Tilly continues to refine its courses based on learner feedback. It has already seen immense results in just four years, providing more than enough data to assist in budget planning and future investments in these impactful programs. 

“At Baker Tilly, we believe in providing the right development for employees at all levels of our organization. Offering the Rising Leader Program to our high potential managers has helped build our pipeline for future leadership roles and has allowed our participants to enhance necessary leadership skills while building their internal networks.”

Liz Poeschl, Learning and Development Manager