“We are honoured to be recognized for the third consecutive time as one of Canada’s best diversity employers,” said Michael Bach, Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, KPMG. “This recognition is a strong testament to the hard work we have done over the last few years to promote and encourage diversity in the workplace.”
This award recognizes the nation’s leaders in workplace diversity and inclusiveness initiatives among several employee groups that have traditionally been under-represented in the workforce.
Reasons cited for why KPMG won this award:
- The creation of a unique reciprocal mentoring program, where employees in senior leadership roles mentor employees who are members of diversity groups at all employee levels; mentees receive valuable professional development advice while mentors gain perspective on how diversity issues in the workplace are experienced by employees
- Recently installed "Reflection Rooms" in its Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, and Edmonton offices for employees who need space to worship or conduct religious observations during the business day
- The creation of a new employee group last year for Muslim employees
- The launch of a revamped diversity, equity, and inclusion intranet site that includes information about diversity council activities; toolkits to help employees start a new people network; and information on diversity, equity, and inclusion-related training and education
- The implementation of a mandatory online training program on diversity in the workplace for all employees, with customized modules for employees, managers, and executive-level staff
- The launch of a National Diversity Advisory Board in 2009, chaired by Senior Partner and CEO Bill Thomas; the board meets quarterly and acts as the advising body for the firm's Canada-wide diversity, inclusion, and equity strategy
- The implementation of a targeted recruitment strategy in 2007 to increase the number of women and visible minority employees by 10 percent over the next 5 years; in 2009, 40 percent of new partners were women or visible minorities, which is an increase from 15 percent for women and 6 percent for visible minorities in 2007
- One of the first employers to create a Director of Diversity role, as well as Diversity Councils in Toronto, Montréal, Calgary, Vancouver (and some smaller regional offices) to address diversity issues relating to local offices
- An in-house group for LGBT employees (pride@KPMG) that publishes a quarterly newsletter to highlight networking events happening at offices across Canada
- Helping to maintain a unique employee network group for employees who are parents of special needs children
- The development of a course on communication in a diverse workplace for managers, which is held once every month and provides training in barrier-free interviewing and accommodation to recruitment staff.
“KPMG encourages diversity within its ranks because it makes good business sense,” said Mario Paron, KPMG’s Chief HR Officer. “We strongly believe that encouraging a diverse workforce will make a better workplace for our people, help us be more creative in how we bring value to our clients, and allow us to remain competitive.”
For more information about KPMG’s employee programs, please visit www.kpmg.ca/careers.
For more information or to arrange a media interview, please contact:
www.kpmg.ca
KPMG LLP, a Canadian limited liability partnership established under the laws of Ontario, is the Canadian member firm affiliated with KPMG International, a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. Member firms operate in 144 countries and have more than 137,000 professionals working around the world.
The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity, and describes itself as such.