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Developing future leaders at KPMG

Introducing the leadership development programme


KPMG is a leading business advisory firm with over 8,500 staff in the UK and 100,000 worldwide. It offers clients audit, tax and advisory services. Early in 2003 KPMG devised a new leadership development programme, which was launched in July that year. The programme reflects an important succession planning need and a requirement to identify and develop future business leaders. According to Mike Rake, Chairman and UK Senior Partner, the stated aim of the programme is to build 'depth and breadth of leadership and business capability in all our people starting with the exceptional performers'.

The scheme is selective. The number of places is limited to 12-15 per cent of staff at any specified grade and level of experience. Functional heads, in consultation with human resources, nominate participants on the basis of current performance, future potential and motivation. Each element of the programme lasts for about a year. Emerging Leaders' Events are currently in place for partners, senior managers and managers. Importantly, an individual's participation in the programme is reviewed at the end of each year - staff can be selected to join the relevant programme at a later stage in their career and existing participants are not guaranteed a place to participate in future events.

Each one-year programme focuses on one or more of the leadership behaviours identified by KPMG as critical to the business, for example, client relationships, business development, creating impact, leading people and teams, flourishing in a complex environment, and managing and mitigating risk.

Programme events


Each programme begins with a two-day event but KPMG is keen to emphasise that these are not courses. These events have a number of activities centred round the chosen leadership behaviour(s). One event for senior managers, for example, focuses on impact and confidence. A number of pre-event assignments are set which participants undertake in co-operation with their colleagues. These include a business intelligence project and preparation for communication exercises. At the two-day event, participants receive input on relevant topics including precision questioning techniques, influencing and media skills. Importantly, they are placed in action learning sets with other participants - these sets are facilitated initially by an internal learning specialist but will then be managed by participants. They are expected to meet regularly and can draw on external resources - including outside business speakers.

Participants maintain reflection notes over the two days and at the end prepare an individual action plan. They will receive a telephone call three months later from the sponsoring partner who will review their progress against their plan. The emphasis, thereafter, is on self-directed learning with peer group support through the learning set. The latter is important. As Emma Grundy, a Learning and Development Manager at KPMG, puts it:

'It can be difficult to admit weaknesses with subordinates or immediate colleagues but the issues can be safely addressed in a learning set.'

E-learning support


Participants have the full resources of the firm at their disposal. They can access these via learning paths, which are set out explicitly on the corporate intranet. Individuals can obtain a range of e-learning material, books and videos through the intranet. Individual one-to-one coaching support is available from specialists in the functions. Writing skills, for example, can be developed through an e-learning module and by submitting work for feedback and advice. The extra support available to those on the programme is targeted via the intranet too. Much emphasis is placed on the learner's responsibility for his or her own improvement.

Generally, given the nature of the demands of the business, every effort is made to go beyond the training event as a solution. Clients will always come first and withdrawals from the programme can be a problem. But, overall, the programme is gaining momentum as participants see the benefits of the new insights they gain.

 
 
 
 
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