The challenge
As one of the ”Big 4” audit and advisory companies worldwide, KPMG will always strive to be at the forefront of workforce development. With more than 4000 Dutch employees spread over 12 offices, working in a great number of different disciplines and industries – from digital transformation, strategy consulting, assurance or financial risk – it is a challenge to provide an adequate L&D offer that meets everyone’s needs and at the same time sets the standard for growing employees into outstanding professionals in the industry.
The solution
In collaboration with Lepaya, KPMG has developed a dynamic learning path for consultants and senior consultants within the Advisory team, that through a personalized L&D approach – from skills assessments to free choice of paths – allows employees to invest in their own development and offers them the opportunity to develop into industry experts.
One size doesn’t fit all
“As an organisation, KPMG is home to recognized experts. On an individual level, every KPMG colleague needs the right knowledge and skills to be able to meet the high-quality standard.”
“A handful of standalone training sessions per year is not enough. Sometimes it can be useful for someone’s development path to participate in a once a year off-site course in order to take a moment and reflect, but as an organization we want to move more towards an integrated form of learning. We know that employees have to return to practice after the training days on location and that they cannot always fully apply what they have heard once to their work.”
“It is also impossible to offer one type of training for all our employees because there is no one type of training that is applicable to all the expertise we have within our ranks. Employees work on a variety of assignments, have different areas of expertise, different customers and, above all, different needs.”
“One size doesn’t fit all. You cannot simply cluster all employees together, you want employees to develop specific skills sets that are relevant to them at that moment. When do they work on which skills?”
L&D on a large scale has to be made personal
“What we saw internally in the field of learning and development was that despite the mapped out learning paths we offered, employees often chose their own path. Although training courses were offered in a certain order, colleagues often kept to their own.”
“These learning paths did not work in practice. That is why we wanted to give employees more freedom to choose from layered training courses within a dynamic learning trajectory. We were looking for in-depth training courses that matched each other well but did not have to be completed in a fixed order.”
“The challenge was to create one overarching L&D strategy, one that would work for the entire target group and had personalized learning paths that provide exactly the skills a consultant needs at a given moment. By combining the data from assessments with content tailored to the individual consultant including a pool of dedicated trainers and training courses in corporate identity, it became possible to personalize development. Whereby each employee can develop her/his expertise by following an individual learning path.”
Personalization & learning in the flow of work
“Together with Lepaya, we saw the opportunity to invest in an ongoing, in-depth learning program that provides our consultants individually with the right skills, at the right time.”
“Based on interviews, deep dives and existing data – who is currently following which training? In which department does she/he work? – we created baseline measurements. With the next step of further identifying the needs of our colleagues by means of individual assessments or skills scans. It was important to paint a picture of what our consultants’ need. Which Power Skills do they want to develop and which learning path can we develop?”
“We mapped out what type of skills proved relevant at various phases of someone’s career. With different target groups in mind, junior, medior and senior consultants, we created trajectories that focus on relevant skills, with repeated modules that go a little bit deeper each time a consultant takes a training. In short: a dynamic, layered learning trajectory in which consultants continuously learn and develop.”
“L&D does not stop after setting up a development project. There is still a lot to innovate when it comes to the learning paths, this is always ongoing. At the moment, we are working on technical integrations. For example, by promoting the learning content via MS Teams, and placing it in the flow of work. It is extremely important for our employees to be able to learn through the channels they work with most so that learning content can be shifted at the right time and our colleagues can immediately apply what they’ve learned. It is also in the planning to make it possible for the level of training to differ per entry-level – measured with a skills scan. This makes training courses more effective and in-depth where necessary.”
The impact
“Employee engagement has grown tremendously! Thanks to the personalized learning trajectories, employees now have the motivation to tackle their own development. This translates into a much higher level of involvement and we see this in our training data. Currently, 86% of employees have registered for our training courses! This is an engagement to be proud of. You clearly notice that for our employees learning feels both personalized and grand, with many options.”
“Retention is of course an important topic within my department and HR. Especially in the current market where, also due to remote working, the chance that people will leave is high and it is difficult to attract colleagues. We offer a long-term vision of learning and support people when they need it, and this definitely has a positive effect on our employee retention. I also see that stakeholders are therefore extra proud of what we have achieved and are happy to share it.”
“A lot has changed in our learning offering and these changes have been very well received. We receive very good reviews from all levels of the organization. The consultants are happy with the training and my stakeholders are very satisfied with the strategy. A win-win.”
And, more importantly, we now see the major impact on behaviour through data. The individual learning paths that are based on data, instead of loose pieces of information, have made it a manageable and measurable process. Learning and development is made very transparent. We are now able to track how people develop and can adjust both individual learning paths as well as team paths accordingly.”
“Despite all the different needs, we have created an L&D offer that is essential to every layer of the organization and that is also widely supported.”
KPMG Advisory and Lepaya: partners with a vision for the future
“With Lepaya as an L&D partner, you don’t opt for individual training courses, but a complete journey and a discussion partner.”
“To take a step forward with L&D at KPMG, I needed a partner with a vision for the future. Someone with whom you, as a cooperation partner, approach and discuss things. “Where do we want to be in 3 years? How far can we go this year and what is the maximum that we can achieve this year?” Together with Lepaya, we are gradually developing a lot of things!”
“Additionally, we focus on application of the learnings, a real integration of learning into practice. For example, where a colleague first had to register for training and then had to wait a very long time, we now move to a situation where you learn in the moment and in the flow of work via online learning. Soon even via VR and gamification. When one of our colleagues says “hey I have a presentation at a client tomorrow”, she/he can immediately get started with exercises and feedback. We want to get the most out of learning!”
Next up: “We are currently continuing to develop employee learning paths in the vorm of the London Underground map. With self-assessments and 360 degree feedback, employees will receive personalized learning advice. They will choose their own route, which tube they want to take and where, and at the end of their development they will have seen the entire city.”
An L&D partner like Lepaya
“The added value of Lepaya in a sentence? Can it be three?”
“With Lepaya, 1+1=3, we complement each other in such a way that we get very far at a super fast pace. In August we started with ideas and in just three months we have set up an entire program. That says enough.”
“Okay, just a few more sentences: it’s also about innovation. Working together with Lepaya goes beyond providing fun training, it is really about setting up a complete program and integrating it into daily work, plus measuring its impact.”
“All our needs are reflected in the program.”
About KPMG
KPMG offers high-quality services in the areas of Audit and Advisory. As overseers of economic traffic, their accountants provide confidence when it comes to information. Their advisers develop advanced digital and other solutions for tomorrow’s economy.
The employees of KPMG are known worldwide for their expertise, and KPMG itself as an organization that steers its employees towards ‘people-driven progress’ with ‘personal development plans tailored to your individual needs and ambitions’. By giving employees the right tools to grow, KPMG has stood for quality for more than 100 years and it becomes clear that progress is really in the DNA of the organization.
Progress that really matters. That’s KPMG.
For more information, visit www.kpmg.com.
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