KPMG launches Return to Work programme to support ex-professionals
KPMG has launched a 12 week Return to Work programme to encourage those whom have been outside the professional services, management consulting and tax, to return to work. The programme, which consists of mentoring, coaching and client facing assignments is aimed at rapidly getting the past professionals up to speed and supporting their path back to employment.
Stepping out of a professional career can become a necessity, whether to look after an ailing family member, child rearing, extended sabbatical or protracted illness. Getting back into the profession after a long period of absence, can be difficult, especially when best practice, taught throughout graduate programmes or updated through engagements and training programmes, have changed or evolved in a rapidly changing business landscape.
KPMG, in a bid to support past professions that have stepped out of professional services life, in this case from management consulting and tax, is offering a new 12 week programme, called Return to Work, to bring talented professionals back to business. The programme offers a combination of mentoring and coaching while placing participants in client facing positions from the get-go. Networking events are also provided, to support the return-to-work process. If both the participant and KPMG are happy with the arrangement, longer term possibilities – including full and part time work – may be available on completion of the programme.
The programme is open to those whom have taken a break of 18 months or longer from professional life, are eligible to work in the UK and can begin in January 2017. A Back to Work event, for those that pass pre-screening, is planned for September, in which training on interview skills is provided, before a formal interview in October.
The programme itself is part of KPMG’s wider efforts to boost diversity within its ranks, as well as increase its access to key talent that may otherwise be lost to it or the profession. Additional efforts from the firm include knocking down barriers to social mobility through changes to entrance requirements as well as reaching out to more diverse professionals in terms of gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation.
Philip Davidson, Managing Partner and Interim Head of People at KPMG, says, “In order to meet our clients’ needs we must build experienced teams from a diverse range of backgrounds. This scheme is designed to bring talented people with wide ranging real world views and valuable skills back into the workplace. We know that traditional recruitment methods can deter returners from applying for jobs; by offering this programme and package of support we hope to appeal to these highly experienced and motivated individuals.”
Other consultancy firms too are running similar schemes, including, among others, A.T. Kearney’s Encore programme and PwC’s Back to Business scheme.
