The challenge

Our leadership needs to be representative of KPMG people and the communities that we live and work in. As a signatory to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), it is even more important for us to make commitments on global gender diversity – commitments we’ve shared publicly in the KPMG: Our Impact Plan report.

In order to uphold our credibility with our people, clients and stakeholders, KPMG member firms need to ensure consistent measurement of progress across the globe and lead in the way we report and talk about our IDE and gender goals and targets.

To help facilitate this effort on a global scale, we have set up a global goal of achieving 33 percent representation of women in leadership¹ level roles by 2025. 

*Leadership is defined as our Partner and Director level grades

The action taken

KPMG firms operate in 144 countries and territories around the world and gender diversity at the leadership level varies considerably depending on location, culture, accessibility, and pipeline of women talent. Many member firms set gender goals at the local level, however setting a global goal is more challenging because of nuances both between and within countries and territories and requires a coordinated global effort. 

To begin, we received senior level support for the idea of consistent global metrics through our Inclusion Diversion and Equity (IDE) and People governance bodies. This support not only gave us the mandate to review current gender data across KPMG, but also to collect an expanded set of metrics. 

Next, we collected existing data from the Global Board countries and conducted a detailed analysis to ensure our collective goal would be ambitious, yet achievable. Our historical assessment showed an average increase of 1.1 percent in women leaders year-over-year. Next, we determined what additional progress KPMG member firms would need to make to deliver on our goal. As a final step, we researched goals in external markets to ensure that as a global organization, we are in line. 

Coming out of the analysis, we worked with our Global IDE Council to agree on baselines and develop our shared goal. Then, we worked with our data team, the IDE Council, the Global People Steering Group and our International Office of General Counsel to develop our collective goal, aligned to country and territory growth plans, which was reviewed and approved by our Global Management Team and the KPMG International Global Board.  

To ensure KPMG member firms are accountable to our collective goal, transparency, measurement and reporting are key. Therefore progress is publicly reported in Our Impact Plan annually. We are also carefully tracking progress at a member firm level and, now that we have data on our first year, we are meeting with member firms to discuss how we can continue to track and progress towards our global goal. 

The KPMG Global Women in Leadership Goal is encouraging member firms to take concrete action on gender diversity in our leadership ranks. Our tools for measuring and reporting on progress will ensure the actions result in real, long-term impact on gender diversity at KPMG. 

“At the core of our Values, and vital to our Purpose, is KPMG’s commitment to gender equality, this includes the advancement of women and representation in leadership roles. Inclusion, Diversity and Equity is core to KPMG - building teams with diverse views that represent the world we live in plays a key role in unlocking our full potential.”

Kristine Remedios, Head of Global Inclusion, Diversity & Equity



The outcomes

Global agreement

We received agreement from across the global network to work towards our first global gender goal. Rather than simply mandating a target and pushing it down to member firms, we created our Global Women in Leadership Goal from the bottom up – building engagement, commitment, and realistic goals at a member firm level.

Increased data visibility

Setting this goal challenged Global Board member firms to examine their gender data. For some, this was the first time they reviewed this data in detail. This in-country review catalyzed member firm leadership into having serious and transparent discussions about their current hiring, development, and retention activities.

Better measurement and transparency

We developed valuable tools to support member firms in their goal setting and progress. The Global Gender Diversity Dashboard, for example, allows member firms to measure employee headcount, new hires and turnover by gender, function, and level to provide a powerful benchmark for progress.

Stronger networks

Our goal setting activities also led to a broader review of how KPMG supports and encourages women in the global organization, which led to the launch of the Global KPMG Network of Women (KNOW) led by four Global Co-Chairs representing EMA, ASPAC, Latin America and North America who support local KNOW Leads from countries and territories around the world.

Healthy ambition

Ultimately, the real success of our ambition will be measured in 2025. We are confident KPMG member firms will reach our Global Women in Leadership Goal.