Why work for KPMG UK? Our awards speak for themselves

    * We are the ‘Best Big Company to Work For’ for an unprecedented third time. This is the second successive    year that we have secured the top position in the Best Companies award which is the biggest survey of workplace opinion in the UK. This year we also received a special ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award in recognition of being in the top three every year since the Big Company category was created in 2005.
   
   *KPMG, for the fourth year running has been named as one of the UK’s Top 50 places Where Women Want To Work.
   
   *KPMG Named in the Top Employers for Working Families list. As part of its 30th anniversary celebrations in 2009, work-life balance charity Working Families has launched an inaugural list of the best of the best family-friendly employers. We’re delighted to be included in this list, which celebrates employers who demonstrate the practical application of a family friendly approach to employment. Working Families identify this as being ‘more than about having a suite of policies around work-life balance. It’s about taking steps to make sure that they are actually useful to the people who need them – not just in their current situation, but through the lifecourse as an employee.’ KPMG is the only Big 4 firm to be included in this list.

   *Melissa Geiger, Partner in KPMG’s Tax practice, has been named in Management Today’s annual ‘35 Women Under 35’ list

But there is a lot more to us than just winning awards. KPMG’s objective is to create an inclusive workplace where difference is valued and talented individuals are treated with respect, have choices in their working patterns and in their development. We believe diversity enables us to:                         

   *recruit and retain the most talented people  
   *provide the best service to our clients  
   *work more closely with our communities  
   *make a positive difference to our business

So how do we do this?

    *We show leadership. KPMG leads the way on flexible working, as the only one of the professional services firms to be listed in Working Families’ list of the top twenty UK employers for working families in 2009.

   *We encourage you to succeed, whoever you are. We support you through offering access to networks, mentoring opportunities, development programmes and inspirational role models.

   *We offer a wide range of flexible working options. 98.5% of flexible working applications are accepted in KPMG.
We create an inclusive environment. KPMG has been included in the Times Top 50/Where Women Want to Work index for the past four years.

   *Across KPMG Europe LLP, women make up 46 percent of the workforce and accounted for 45 percent of graduate recruits in 2008.

Our Training and Networks

Research clearly shows that organisations which have women in senior positions are more likely to prosper. During this year we built on the success of our Retaining Talented Women programme, rolling out REACH - a two-day, women-only development course - in the UK and holding a pilot for participants from KPMG Europe LLP in Germany and Switzerland. The programme has been heavily oversubscribed and we are beginning to see real benefits from it. Retention rates for women at manager level have grown consistently over the years, and this year were at 89 percent. Retention is particularly high among our exceptional performers, at 93 percent for women in 2008.

“Beforehand, whilst I thought it was worth a go, I was somewhat sceptical about the value of a women-only programme. Having been on the course last week, I can honestly say that this was the most inspirational and truly useful course I have ever attended. I already feel so much more empowered and in control, and am following through on actions and learning’s.” Jennie Fisk, Head of Corporate Tax Skillset Technology, UK.

 We are rolling out KNOW - a women’s networking group created by our Swiss colleagues - across the firm, as well as encouraging individual functions to set up their own networking groups and mentoring schemes. We have also launched the ‘Women in KPMG Europe LLP’ newsletter and held our first women partners meeting at the last Partners conference.

Our Support and Flexible Working

Family commitments are also an important issue. Our ‘Family Matters’ programme offers support not just to women with young children, but to fathers and other carers. We offer parenting seminars, up to 20 days of subsidised emergency childcare provision, first aid classes, guidance for those going on and returning from maternity leave and a newsletter to help them stay in touch while on leave.

We are pleased to announce the launch of an emergency childcare service for KPMG people, provided through My Family Care. This service allows parents and carers to search and book local nurseries, childminders or a nanny in an emergency, and includes the option to book emergency care with your own existing childcare provider. The emergency service is provided to cover genuine emergency childcare problems, where not using the service would mean you are unable to work. Within these parameters up to five ‘instances’ (days or part-days) of childcare, per child, per year may be booked.

It goes without saying that KPMG is an environment that demands high levels of ambition and drive. But it’s not the case that working hard means you can’t also have a rewarding and successful personal life.

One of the ways in which we support this is through an approach to flexible working which aims to allow people to make their own choices about how they work. We recognise that one size doesn’t fit all, and that our people have different and changing needs when it comes to working patterns. Any employee, at any grade, and in any part of KPMG can apply to work flexibly. Last year 98 percent of all flexible working applications were accepted, and around a quarter of those applications came from men.

Flexible working doesn’t have to mean working part-time. We also offer a wide range of other options including:

- job sharing annualised days – where you contract work a set number of days each year
- ‘glide time’ - the option of shifting work hours to earlier or later in a day
- unpaid leave of up to three months
- career break - an opportunity to take an unpaid break of between three months and three years
- additional holiday purchase – the opportunity to purchase additional annual holiday, up to a maximum of 35 days - per annum, in addition to the extra five days you can buy via our flextra benefits system
- regular home working 

Case Study

Ameeta Chatterjee, Corporate Finance.

"The things that attracted me to KPMG are its professionalism, its market reputation and the importance it places on people and their development.
In the last five years, I have gained experience with a diverse range of clients. I’ve worked with public and private sector organisations on a number of finance projects, and I’ve also been on a year’s secondment to the Schools Capital Team at the Department of Education and Skills. At the moment, my role involves building cross-border business within the Emerging Markets Group. It’s varied, challenging work, and I’m always learning new things.

KPMG has a strong culture of consultation and I’ve found senior members in my team, and across the firm, willing to invest in my personal development. I was particularly amazed by the level of support I received when I was at KPMG’s management training centre. This came from a senior partner – not in my direct line of command – who acted as my counsel and mentor on a range of issues.

I’ve also benefited from KPMG’s commitment to flexible working. I have two children and KPMG has been great in taking this into account. In 2004, when I returned from maternity leave after my second daughter, I worked three days a week. Then I moved to a four-day week when I felt comfortable with being able to balance my demands at home. At present, I am full-time but work from home one day a week. During all of this time, I can honestly say that the firm has supported me and not once have I felt that flexible working is a career-limiting option."