'KPMG and the global people agenda' podcasts

26 Jan 2007

Presenter:

Hello and welcome to Episode 1 of the first series of KPMG's new range of podcasts for job seekers around the world. In this series, called 'KPMG and the global people agenda' we will be finding out how KPMG is tackling the challenges of attracting the best people in an increasingly competitive marketplace, and its approach to ensuring the organization helps to meet the aspirations of all its people. In this episode I'm going to be speaking to Ian O'Brien who is Chief Operating Officer of KPMG's Global People, Performance and Culture group.

Ian, welcome. I'd like to start by asking you to explain what your role involves?

Yes thank you, I'm the managing partner of KPMG in China's Beijing office. The other important role I have I am the Chief operating officer of KMPG's Global People Performance and Culture Steering group, PPC for short. PPC is a very interesting initiative we created the PPC just about two years ago, we used to have something very traditional called the Global HR group which dealt with HR matters around the world. But we put the PPC together specifically to look at people issues as a business issue not as a HR Operational matter and not as an administrative matter but people as a business issue. To address the need,for KPMG firms' to attract, to develop, to motivate and of course retain talented people in this very competitive world and that's the PPC's focus and therefore we've spent a lot of our time understanding what's going on in the world around us, this so-called war for talent, the needs and aspirations of our people and then developing a whole series of programs, initiatives to deal with that and facilitate sharing of best practice.

The really powerful thing about KPMG we are a network of member firms, we have got some absolutely fantastic practices going on around the world. Some really good initiatives some great people management programs and you see this through many of the awards that have been won around the world. We have been voted best employer in several countries, best graduate recruiter in certain countries, best place for women to work, whole host of awards we've won. And so what we in the PPC have been doing is trying to identify all that great best practices and sharing it and help every country, help every member firm so that if you like we get everyone up to the highest of standards.

Presenter:

How does media talk about the war for talent affect KPMG?

The war for talent is serious and it's real and it's important. I mean when a lot of people use this phrase a war for talent what it really means is that with all the growth and opportunities in our profession and in the economies around the world we are growing very quickly in all our service lines. There is this tremendous demand for our services: lots of companies out there really need help and advice from KPMG and frankly there is a limited pool of resource for us to tap into. Many companies, our competitors and many corporates are fighting for that limited pool of talent. So the war for talent is real, it is serious we're not sitting back and not doing anything about it we've been quite successful in terms of how we're dealing with the issue, how we are attracting talent into KPMG. For example just over the last year we've actually grown our firms combined head count world wide by something like 9 percent.

One of the things we did during 2006 was something called a global brand survey, we went out and talked to our firms' clients around the world what they think of KPMG as an organization. How they perceive us, what are our strengths, is there any recommendation they can give us to continue to improve. Consistently across the board they said to us that it is KPMG's reputation for quality, consistency around the world and why they like dealing with us all comes down to our people.

Presenter:

From your prospective what do talented people really want from their careers, is it possible to generalize?

People want an environment in which they can grow and develop, they want an environment in which they are comfortable, they get on well with the people around them, they're stimulated by the challenging work, the nature of the work, the variety that they have and they can see a clear career progression, they know where they're going, there's a path for them and the support is provided to them to pursue that career path. Whether that be training programs, a work variety, the work experience, opportunities to move into a different office or a different member firm within KPMG and the other developmental programs we have. I think that's very important.

Presenter:

What are you doing among your own people to further your understanding of these issues?

Employee engagement is really critical and we have a whole range of initiatives to really engage with our people and understand the needs so that we can adapt and continue to improve and continue to win the war for talent. We do some formal things: we do some formal employee survey, attitude survey, in fact we just completed one we ran it in November 2006 and we're just starting to get the results back. We do these surveys every two years and it's really pleasing to see that results that have come back in this last survey because we've seen significant improvements on employee engagement the way they feel about the organization, response to many of the initiatives we've been doing in the last couple of years. We then have a whole host of informal channels, we have regular focus group discussions and we interact with all our people on a day to day basis in our teams in engagement.

Presenter:

And what is KPMG doing to ensure it attracts the best people in terms of the opportunities it offers them?

There are some very specifics things we do, very specific initiatives that have come out in the last two years. We have a very robust global learning and development program. We've always done technical training, industry training but now we're doing much more in what sometimes called the soft skills - the management skills, leadership skills, developing people, building relationships because in the world today those kind of skills interpersonal skills are as important as the technical skills. And to build the fully rounded professional and for our people to have all the training and development they need it's important to this full range of training and development programs is available to all our people wherever they are in all countries. So we have put this program together, there are a series of mile stone events we call them that people go through at key stages in their career on induction into a member firm, or on a key promotion, on a key changing role where people will go through a thorough training and development course to get them ready for the next stage in their career. Then there's a whole suite of skills building programs again to match the different stages people are at their career to really equip them with all the skills necessary to be successful at KPMG.

Other things that are really important are flexibility and variety. Our people expect flexibility and they expect variety. What do I mean by that? Variety in terms of the work they are doing, different clients, the ability to move between the service lines within KPMG. We refer to it as a multi-disciplinary organization, it means we have different service lines; there is the opportunity to move very freely between Audit, between our firms' Tax offices, different service lines between our advisory business. To really get the most out of the opportunities KPMG has for our people. By flexibility of course that does involve often flexibility about working schedules, many of our members' firms have put in flexibility working schedules, part time working schedules. To recognize whether it be a working mother, or somebody who perhaps has gone through a career change perhaps needs the flexibility to keep them with the organization.

Another really important area to our younger people is the whole area of corporate social responsibility - CSR. We have for a long time been involved in our firms' communities work, with charities work, with other organizations out there to help and give something back to the communities in which we do business. Where we can add the most value though, is to apply the skills our people have which they have learned through their day to day work if you like, through their audits, through doing their tax work, their advisory work and apply those to the benefits of the community generally. So to use those skills in a volunteering manner, to use those skills for the benefit of a community organization, this benefits the cause and the community but it also gives our people a different perspective and some different exposure and helps develop them as people as well as developing their skills.

Presenter:

What is KPMG doing to ensure it remains an employer of choice?

One of the things in today's world is the impact of globalization. KMPG is a network of member firms with many countries around the world but we are a global organization, our clients are global, our clients' people have global outlooks and it's important our people have global outlooks and have knowledge of the world and experience of the world. So certainly what we are doing more of, and I think this will increase, is international mobility assignments, recruitment from different countries and positioning into other countries and generally increasing the global diversity the cultural diversity and the international experience of our people.

Presenter:

Ian what exactly is it about that keeps you there?

Interesting question, I've been with KPMG for 20 years and many people ask me that question, especially a lot of our new graduates they can't believe anyone would work for the same organization for 20 years. But the answer I always give is about career within a career, I haven't done the same job for 20 years, I think anyone would be board stiff doing the same job for 20 years. I've had many roles, many jobs within KPMG. I've worked in three different places, I've worked in the UK, Hong Kong and now I'm in Beijing China. I've had different roles and responsibilities, different clients I've worked on, different types of engagement. I've worked with some really fascinating clients, whether they are be large multi nationals very local clients. I've been particularly lucky in this last position in China to see the emergence of this terrific economy and how the emergence of China is impacting and affecting the world as a whole. So what keeps me here, interesting work, and great people to work with, variety, the money's not bad, all of those things. I often tell our people if you enjoy what you do, you're good at what you do, you like the people you work with, it's interesting and the money's good, why would you look anywhere else?

Presenter:

Thank you Ian. That concludes this episode in the 'KPMG and the global people agenda' series. Our next podcast in this series will focus on the growing importance of Corporate Responsibility.