Developing Impact in KPMG Corporate Finance
Where it began
KPMG is one of the world’s ‘Big Four’ leading
accounting and professional service firms. In most of their business
lines, and in many of their geographic markets, they have three principal
competitors. However in the Corporate Finance arena, KPMG competes
against the more numerous and tougher global investment banks. Their
strategy became to ‘take the battle to the banks’ and
KPMG ascertained that they required a tougher, more impactful type
of investment banker to do this and win a larger share of the Global
500’s Advisory spend.
Where we came in
Future Considerations were asked to create an executive leadership
training program to develop ‘Impact’ in
KPMG’s Corporate Financiers. The programme had the following
personal development aims: build strong positive impact, have presence,
communicate authentically and influentially, and build trust and
relationships with others. The programme was also tied to individual
and organisational results i.e. concrete improvements in financial
results and client penetration by participants.
We designed a 14-month long programme, which partners and directors
of the firm went through in ‘waves’ of 12-18. The first
wave comprised the UK board and International Chairman of the Corporate
Finance practice. The programme consisted of pre-work, 360-feedback,
7 days of training, regular coaching meetings, action learning sets
on a monthly basis, readings and exercises every month, and post-course
work.
The ‘impact’ model works at three levels: the level
of ‘being’, dealing with authenticity, presence, integrity,
and courage; at the level of skills, speaking powerfully, inspiring
others, building trust, delivering hard-hitting assessments; and
at the level of results, personal, team and organisational. The programme
ties the teaching of impact directly to the results of the individual
through programme goals and scorecards.
We also worked with KPMG on their aim of skills transfer, training
three people to deliver aspects of the programme from small-scale
learning team facilitation to co-leading some programmes.
How it ended… and what next
The first waves completed in 2005 and KPMG commissioned additional
waves and annual ‘refresh’ events to continue to drive
the cultural change into 2006 and 2007. The programme has produced
distinct financial results, Matthew Gregory, Head of Learning said ‘I
believe that this programme has paid for itself’.
They have closed deals and penetrated new clients that they believe
they would not have without the goal setting of the programme. Most
impressive is the change in the kinds of conversations they have
internally; from a culture where ‘cordial hypocrisy’ and
low trust were limiting factors, they now have a culture where people
are straighter and fairer, tougher and more caring. This has resulted
in a new performance culture.
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