Training programs
Through our training programs we aim to differentiate our organization and meet the needs of each of the demographic groups we target. To support graduate recruitment, we host national competitions and have created an interactive portal. We also have an assessment centre, nationalization program and a leadership development centre.
Talent programs
Our existing programs include:
- Summer internships – providing young people with work experience.
- Global graduate recruitment – an interactive portal provides instant access to course information and learning events, inspirational videos of our global leaders and local success stories. It also enables them to enlist the support of qualified students and senior management, encourages management to mentor, connect and share with students, and allows trainees to articulate the challenges they face.
- Graduate recruitment initiatives – our national Ace the Case tournament attracts young leaders and its winners enter the International Case competition. Both tournaments challenge students to work on tough business cases and help us to identify a top talent pool.
- Nationalization – Our initiatives are designed to transfer KPMG knowledge, experience and global best practice into our client environment, with short-term secondments, student internship programs and new graduate programs. We also offer opportunities to ambitious UAE nationals from a variety of academic disciplines and run training programs.
Connecting with alumni and staying global
KPMG has always regarded its former employees as a valuable part of its community. To extend and nurture this network of business professionals, we have set up an alumni program in the UAE. The aim is to keep our people – past and present – in touch with one another and provide a platform for all to exchange experience and build new relationships.
Our future partner program is a long-term approach to building talent. Directors mentored to build the financial and community capital needed to reach partnership level. Through global mobility transformation, KPMG can help design or redesign a global mobility program to align organizational structures, communications, talent management initiatives and programs, and stakeholder requirements. Our global mobility and international HR professionals provide multinational companies with administrative outsourcing support for their international assignment schemes.
At our recruitment assessment center we run exercises while assessing candidates’ competencies.
Developing people
We support the development and career goals of an individual through:
- KPMG Business School: live and virtual classes that deliver business-driven curriculums to meet clients’ audit, tax and advisory requirements.
- Performance management: the foundation of the PM system enables us to identify needs and design development and career paths aligned with our long-term vision.
- My Development Navigator: this tool facilitates a clear correlation between the professional development goals and learning opportunities that are available to help improve or maintain skill sets. It also provides management reporting on the blend of skills in specific units or geographies.
Current success and future plans
The introduction of our graduate recruitment program has resulted in a staff retention rate of about 30% annually. We have learned that we need to expand the depth and scope of assessments and that structured summer internships reveal candidate performance. We will also put stringent safeguards in place to ensure mentoring and coaching take place on the job. By increasing mentoring, we can help trainees manage their workloads and qualify successfully. We are also focusing on using feedback to develop more effective performance management systems and processes.
Through creating a consistent performance management culture, we encourage employees to take ownership of their career progression and leverage opportunities within the business. We are creating a high potential program to better manage and retain outstanding performers across all levels.
Top tips
- Attract: Provide fresh graduates with opportunities to experience a day in your industry field. Ensure assessment centres are conducive to various academic backgrounds and match your organization’s requirements.
- Retain: Build an internal culture to attract external interest. Respond to employee engagement surveys with timely change actions. Also, recognize and interact with individuals to make each employee’s work experience a successful one in your organization.
- Develop: Transform the culture into one in which your organization is perceived as the preferred employer. Build a learning culture where people grow in their competencies through experience, with support and mentoring.