KPMG Australia CEO, Andrew Yates, has marked his first day in the job by announcing a range of new workplace and structure initiatives aimed at driving better delivery for clients and cementing KPMG as an employer of choice.
The measures include:
- Setting a new benchmark for parental leave among large employers in Australia, providing 26 weeks flexible parental leave for both parents, with no waiting periods, no tenure guidelines and no distinctions between primary and secondary carers. The leave can be taken flexibly to suit each parent within the first 24 months of the child’s arrival. The parental leave policy continues to apply to all parents regardless of gender and is inclusive of adoption, surrogacies and foster care children. In addition, compassionate leave has been extended to include those who experience pregnancy loss and miscarriage.
- Introducing a cultural leave program to allow team members to take Floating Public Holidays so that they can flexibly utilise the existing Australian public holidays in their state or territory to celebrate cultural or religious days more relevant to their beliefs and traditions. As an example, instead of celebrating the Queen’s Birthday holiday, people may wish to work on that day and instead take a Floating Public Holiday on a day of significant celebration for them.
- Introducing Indigenous Cultural and Ceremonial leave, with an additional day of paid leave every year for all KPMG Indigenous employees to participate in a significant cultural, ceremonial or community date or event.
- Bringing forward KPMG’s annual promotions, bonus calculation and payment - from October to July, commencing in July 2022.
- Nominating Australia’s booming infrastructure sector as one of the firm’s key priorities for growth investment and supporting this by creating a new business unit, Infrastructure, Assets and Places (IAP). IAP will bring together strategic, commercial and technical capability from across the firm, assembling a single group of 450 specialists. The firm’s senior infrastructure partner, Stan Stavros, will lead IAP, reporting directly to the CEO. The group will work with clients to deliver projects that are environmentally sustainable, socially impactful and drive economic growth.
Andrew Yates said the initial package of initiatives signaled some of his key leadership priorities as CEO.
“Our team and the culture we all create here at KPMG will be central to my leadership. Bringing the best hearts and minds together and ensuring our people feel valued and rewarded is the best way to ensure KPMG delivers for our clients,” said Andrew.
“Work-life balance is increasingly hard to achieve in the fast-paced and demanding space we occupy. I know that having the time and opportunity to care for our families, friends and communities is a constant challenge. In March, KPMG became a founding sponsor of the Family Friendly Workplace standards set by Parents at Work and UNICEF, and the enhanced parental and cultural leave programs announced today are an important step towards meeting those standards and setting a challenge for other large employers to follow.
“KPMG will now have amongst the most generous schemes of any large employer in Australia.
Our policy is gender-neutral and does not distinguish between primary and secondary carers.
“Of course, all of these initiatives should also be viewed as ultimately in the best interests of our clients. Culture drives performance, which drives better client outcomes. It’s equally important to constantly review how structure and innovation can be used to better serve our clients.
“I have called out Australia’s infrastructure sector as one of my key target sectors for growth investment. We are witnessing a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure by governments across Australia, backed by strong private sector participation. We know that our clients are seeking holistic solutions to help them plan, procure, deliver and operate their infrastructure, assets and places”.
“The formation of the IAP group and associated investment program will allow us to meet that client need more proactively and to continue building a compelling infrastructure advisory team with the best talent and most comprehensive expertise in the market.”
For further information
Kristin Silva
0411 110 953
ksilva@kpmg.com.au
