Gatsby Benchmarks
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KPMG
Accountancy firm KPMG is ranked as
one of the top 50 employers in the
Social Mobility Employer Index 2018.
Ben Churchill, corporate responsibility
manager, shares some ways the
firm is working with schools to
increase opportunity.
BEN CHURCHILL
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY MANAGER, KPMG
ur ambition is that every
young person has the
opportunity to develop
the skills they need, and
learn first-hand what a career in
professional services means. Direct
contact is crucial in showing young
people that these opportunities are
there for them, and we, as a profession,
want and need them to join us.
O
Engaging with schools
We work with over 100 schools a year;
many of these relationships have
developed over several years. The
formalised careers leader role, with
the necessary support and capacity
behind it, has the potential to drive
further connections between schools
and business, and help increase quality
employer encounters for young people.
Engaging with schools serving less
advantaged communities allows KPMG
to support social mobility and nurture
a talent pipeline from a range of
backgrounds that will help us serve an
increasingly diverse client base. Our
strategic focus is on the areas in which
we feel we can make the most impact:
lifelong learning, numeracy and literacy.
Lifelong learning: As an
employer of more than 1,000
graduates and apprentices each year,
we focus on developing the soft skills,
40 // ROUTES INTO WORK
character and lifelong learning mindset
needed for the changing world of
work. These principles run through all
our schools activity and are exemplified
by the WorkReady programme
(see box, right).
Numeracy: Poor numeracy skills
are one of the biggest drags on
productivity and social mobility; until
we overcome our national fear of
numbers, the problem will remain. This
year, we launched our first National
Numeracy Day, developing numeracy
toolkits which were used by 3,000
school students to explore how they
can be used in everyday life.
Literacy: Using language
effectively is a key foundational
enabler of social mobility. We have
partnered with the National Literacy
Trust on the Words for Work
programme, delivering Reader Partner
and Oracy programmes with local
schools and are working with TutorMate
to offer remote literacy support for
students in low areas of social mobility.
To enable young people from diverse
backgrounds to experience our working
culture, our ‘One + 1’ programme with
the Social Mobility Foundation requires
colleagues to match work experience
placements they offer personal contacts
or those of friends or clients with an
equivalent for a student from a lower
socio-economic background.
The capabilities we look for
It’s hard to predict with any certainty
how work, and skills needs, will evolve.
While there are evidenced shortages
around technical skills, we believe the
development of core soft skills will allow
for the effective augmentation of human
capabilities and technology.
We are looking for young people to
show the following: career motivation;
resilience; delivers quality; drives
“Direct contact is crucial in
showing young people that these
opportunities are there for them”