The demands of the widening participation agenda extend far beyond universities. While we aren’t required to have an “access and participation plan”, we care deeply about social mobility, and we’re aiming to be an exemplar for a large business operating responsibly.
Back in 2009, Alan Milburn made reference to the accountancy profession as having had the largest decline of all professions in social mobility. Rather than sit on this, it became a call for sector-wide reform. It triggered the establishment of Access Accountancy – a collaboration of employers and professional bodies, dedicated to improving access to the accountancy profession – and sparked many relevant firms to stand up and be counted.
For KPMG, we believe that robust data collection is a primary catalyst for organisational change. In 2016, we became the first business in the UK to publish comprehensive data on the socio-economic background of our workforce. We did not see this as an end. In fact it raised more questions and provided more challenges than perhaps we had anticipated.
What it did do however, is form a strong foundation from which to have honest internal conversations, develop better understanding of best practice and take steps towards advocating for change outside of our office walls. Today, while we are recognised as a leading business on social mobility, are we where we want to be? No. Is there more to do? Yes. Can we achieve more? Always.
At KPMG, we understand that the playing field is not level – in our firm or in wider society. It is a long-term objective of ours to try and change this. We do not expect results overnight nor do we believe we can achieve our ambitions alone. But we are committed to initiating change.
Deeds not words
In March this year, former Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening launched a “social mobility pledge”, stating that “business is part of the solution on developing potential and giving opportunity, not part of the problem.”
We accept that for too long, government and business alike have talked the talk on joint initiatives to improve social mobility, but often in parallel conversations. The energy with which Greening looked to engage with businesses, both in role and since, has been refreshing and is integral if we are to reverse social immobility.
Why? Because businesses, of all shapes and sizes, are alive to the skills gaps they face today, and the challenges which automation and Brexit will bring tomorrow. Embedding and promoting diversity within a firm is more than a “nice to have”. It is a strategic imperative. One which can foster understanding, erode inequality and – crucially – improve bottom lines.
For KPMG, quite straightforwardly our greatest assets are our people and their skills. Therefore, recruiting and retaining the best candidates is essential to the success of our business. Recruiting employees from all social backgrounds, and across all strands of diversity, gives us an array of viewpoints on client matters, foresight in our decisions and challenge around our actions. But you can’t just hope that this happens; it has to be a deliberate approach, and one which starts early in the pipeline.
Data as a tool in action
As a result of our love of data, we’ve worked with the Bridge Group to develop an algorithm which helps us target both schools and universities in areas of high deprivation or with populations with above average numbers of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. We’re learning from WP in the higher education sector to inform how we best serve the broadest range of communities.
We’ve also used The Bridge Group to understand better the characteristics of the students we target, and have built relationships with universities that we’ve not traditionally recruited from. This has been central in increasing the diversity of our intake: in 2017, 19% of school-leavers who joined the firm were eligible for free school meals, up 4 percentage points since 2015. We’re proud of that change – and we’re convinced that it marks a trend – but there’s plenty more we can do.
Crossing the threshold
Work placements are an important part of the approach because they provide authentic, high-quality, interaction between potential staff and current employees. They demonstrate what it’s like to work for us, and show that we can be accessible to people from all backgrounds. But that’s easier to say than to implement: placements have to work for both the individual and the company.
We run placements, insights and workshops on a large scale. Utilising the energy of our staff across our 22 regional offices, developing strategic relationships with schools and charitable partners, has been the foundation for success. Last year, 3,000 KPMG volunteers delivered 40,000 hours directly supporting 17,000 young people in local communities and across 100 secondary and 30 primary schools in the UK.
In particular, our work placement programme, “Discovery”, which has been running since 2013 and raises awareness of opportunities into the profession for young people from low socio-economic backgrounds, helps build a diverse pipeline for KPMG’s school and college leaver programmes. Since its inception, we have seen year on year increases in the number of Discovery programme attendees being offered a place on the KPMG360° apprenticeship programme.
Diverse entry routes
We recognise the value and innovation that comes from a diverse workforce, and know that having a range of entry routes enables us to attract the best talent from the widest possible talent pool. Our apprenticeship programmes: KPMG360° and KPMG360° Digital (a technology-focused degree apprenticeship designed to meet the changing needs of the business) have been structured so that candidates reaching the end of the programme are at the same level, and have access to the same opportunities within the firm as a graduate at the end of their traineeship.
We know that the current drive for apprenticeships is subject to close scrutiny, with fewer than anticipated new starts since the levy was introduced. We believe apprenticeships should be focussed on quality rather than quantity, and providing strong progression routes for apprentices.
We want to be part of a wider debate about the value of this route to the professions, and the way we do that is through action. Our apprenticeship programmes offer pastoral support, are long-term, and guarantee a full-time role on completion. In 2017, the programme attracted over 1,600 applications, which led to 181 school leavers joining our apprenticeship programmes, up 40% on 2016.
Work to do
High-quality outreach, placements and apprenticeship/graduate routes are hugely important when it comes to making our pledges on social mobility real. As in WP evaluation in universities, the evidence has to come from the outcomes and not simply by weighing the volume of activity. There are also questions of culture and values – we want to work in, and for, an organisation which genuinely values people for who they are. Yes, we hope that makes for good PR, but we also think that it’s good for the long-term sustainability of our business too.
