Citrin Cooperman

Melissa Hartshorn serves as Chief People Officer at Citrin Cooperman, where she leads the firm’s people strategy with a focus on talent development, leadership accountability and employee experience. Her approach centers on aligning workforce initiatives with business objectives and creating an environment where employees can grow, contribute, and build longterm careers.

Developing Talent through Continuous Learning and Leadership Accountability

One of the most important lessons Hartshorn has learned from her career is that long-term growth depends on creating an environment where people can continuously learn and develop.

In professional services, talent development begins with balancing apprenticeship-based learning with structured development opportunities. Learning by doing allows people to build capability through real client engagements, while structured learning through organized training reinforces the technical aspects of the job and provides a clear framework for growth. Defining role expectations at every level also helps employees understand what is expected of them in their roles and the skills they need to develop and progress. Coaching and regular feedback further institutionalize learning, help prevent capability gaps and support continuous development.

Creating that culture of continuous learning requires leadership accountability. Hartshorn believes talent development cannot be viewed solely as the responsibility of the human resources function, but rather, it is a leadership responsibility. At Citrin Cooperman, that means holding leaders accountable for growing and developing staff by sponsoring talent, creating growth opportunities and helping build the next generation of talent, instead of focusing only on delivering technical services.

That balance between client delivery and talent development can be particularly challenging in a billable-hours environment, where immediate client demands can easily take priority and leave less room for coaching, learning and capability building. Citrin Cooperman addresses this by treating every client engagement as an opportunity to teach and learn, with the work itself providing a way to build skill. Client engagements are structured to give employees assignments that challenge and develop their capabilities, supported by coaching and realtime feedback, so they can continue building aptitude while meeting client expectations. Making development sustainable requires leaders to remain accountable for both delivery and talent development, creating space for coaching and delegation, helping ensure that short-term client pressures do not crowd out longer-term development.

Building a Culture That Attracts and Retains Talent

The emphasis on development is also reflected in how the firm approaches the broader employee experience. Attracting and retaining talent goes beyond providing competitive opportunities. It begins with genuinely caring about people.

“ We think about our talent as taking care of almost 4,000 families, rather than thinking of our staff and our partners as just another number. “

Melissa Hartshorn often thinks about her workforce in terms of the nearly 4,000 families connected to the organization rather than viewing employees and partners as numbers. That perspective shapes the firm’s approach to maintaining a strong, people-centric culture.

A collaborative environment plays a significant role in creating a positive employee experience, particularly when leaders are willing to listen, provide support and demonstrate a genuine interest in helping employees succeed. While professional development remains an important part of that experience, the firm also creates opportunities for people to connect on a more personal level through social connections and community engagement, helping strengthen relationships across the organization and contribute to a stronger sense of belonging

Navigating Change While Preserving Culture

The professional services industry continues to evolve rapidly, particularly as artificial intelligence reshapes the way organizations operate and deliver value.

As AI influences accounting and consulting, organizations must evaluate how work is changing and what new skills employees will need to succeed. That requires a willingness to adapt without losing sight of the factors that make an organization unique.

One area of priority for Hartshorn and the firm has been strengthening its internal value proposition. That effort begins with listening to its people and understanding what matters most. The goal is not simply to define a value proposition but to ensure it is reflected in the behaviors of their people, how they develop talent, and ensuring it creates opportunities that really shape the employee experience.

“ Protecting time for structured learning, leadership development and technical upskilling remains essential because those investments support both service quality and long-term growth. “

As technology transforms workflows and skill requirements, organizations must help employees navigate that change journey. At the same time, it is important to preserve the cultural characteristics that attract people to the organization and encourage them to build long-term careers. Balancing innovation with culture remains a critical leadership responsibility.

Aligning People Strategy with Business Strategy

When organizations face a growing number of priorities, maintaining clarity becomes increasingly important. For Hartshorn, the solution comes down to alignment. The firm’s people strategy should be directly connected to business strategy, with the people function enabling employees to deliver on the organization’s goals.

When people’s priorities mirror the firm’s strategic priorities, the function can stay aligned with what the business is trying to achieve, prioritize its resources accordingly and ensure that talent initiatives support broader growth objectives. Clear metrics then provide a way to track progress, maintain accountability and identify where additional time or attention may be needed.

The Value of Curiosity and Relationships

Looking back on her career, Hartshorn believes one area she would have prioritized earlier is external networking and relationship building. Cultivating strong professional relationships outside the current organization creates valuable opportunities for learning, mentorship, support, and career growth throughout one’s professional journey.

The advice she often shares with emerging leaders is to be curious.

For HR professionals in particular, curiosity should extend beyond the human resources function itself. The most effective leaders seek to understand the business, the broader market environment and the challenges facing clients. They ask thoughtful questions and continuously look for opportunities to connect ideas across different areas of the organization.

Curiosity creates the foundation for that understanding. It encourages continuous learning, strengthens decisionmaking and helps leaders contribute more effectively to the organizations they serve.

Chief people officers have the greatest impact when they understand the intersection of client need, business strategy and people implications. Meaningful opportunities often emerge when those three elements come together.