We take care of our employees

Education and development

Education

• Employee education and growth is a high priority for KPMG Czech Republic. The global KPMG Business School concept incorporates an education scheme that fully corresponds to KPMG requirements and client needs and, at the same time, ensures a high level of quality of courses on offer.
• Under the internal rules of KPMG Czech Republic, all professional employees are required to attend at least 20 hours of continuing professional training a year while the time spent on training during a three-year period should amount to at least 120 hours.
• In the individual professional departments, the employees’ training structure is has been described in training maps.
• The training maps show two categories of technical training courses and certification programmes allocated to individual positions: either mandatory or recommended upon approval by the Performance Manager of the given department.

Launching a career with KPMG in the Czech Republic

• New employees that are recent graduates start their career with a five-week introductory training session.
• The training course particularly focuses on expert audit and tax topics that employees will need in their role as auditor and tax advisor assistants.
• The participants spend one of the five weeks away from the Prague office participating in training and team-building, hence getting the chance to get to know colleagues before beginning to work together.

Deepening expert qualifications

• The introductory training is followed by a structured plan containing local as well as regional KPMG courses and the possibility to participate in specific external training courses.
• KPMG in the Czech Republic supports certifications from the following key entities: ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the Chamber of Auditors of the Czech Republic for colleagues from the Audit department, the Chamber of Tax Advisors for colleagues from the Tax Service Department and the Institute of Certified Accountants for accounting professionals.
• Colleagues from advisory departments study e.g. under the certification programmes of ISACA and PRINCE2, international professional project management associations.

Professional and managerial growth

• The Leadership & Business Academy concept offers a wide range of one-day courses featuring top external lecturers, a series of inspiring half-day workshops and opportunities to meeting fascinating guests from the fields of culture, sports and business called "Meet with..."
• The Leadership & Business Academy also includes a development programme for nominated senior employees and supervisors as well as a managerial growth programme.
• Both development programmes are introduced by an initial development centre; they also comprise an expanded offer of training courses and mentoring and coaching possibilities.
• The key aspect of the offered development programmes is the emphasis put on the possibility to develop recommended competencies through active participation in interesting and demanding projects with immediate and regular feedback from more senior colleagues.
• Apart from management and business skill development courses, our employees may also attend English, German or Russian language classes as part of the Language Academy, either in regular or in summer courses.
• The command of MS Office can be enhanced at internal Excel, Word and Power Point courses, which are part of the IT Academy.
• In the 2014/2015 financial year, male employees attended an average of 72 hours or training while female employees participated in 74 hours of training. The amount of training hours in the previous financial year was 53 hours for men and 51 for women. On average, employees in assistant positions attended 105 hours, senior employees 58 hours, managers 63 hours, directors 26 hours and partners 30 hours of training.

Diverse and pleasant workplace

Diversity

• Currently, 11.5% of the firm’s partners are women and 88.5% are men (the same as last year).
• Management Committee, the firm’s steering body, is made up of 87.5% men and 12.5% of women (again the same as last year).
• Just as last year, the firm has four expatriate partners, one of whom is also a member of the Management Committee.
• Our employees come from 29 different countries, including the Czech Republic, 14 EU countries and 14 countries outside of the European Union.

We are a Healthy Company

• Healthy Company is a programme that aims to help the employer make employees be more interested in more responsible for their health.
• Working at KPMG in the Czech Republic is fascinating but also demanding, hence we aim to offer above-standard health care ­and an adequate work-life balance to our employees.
• We focus on education and training in matters of health. Wherever possible, we try to organise preventive medical checks for employees at the workplace to save our employees’ time and energy and so that they have enough of both for their private lives.
• We focus on four areas: the workplace, psychosocial working conditions, one's own health and the firm as part of a wider community.
• The most visible part of the programme includes the Health Days, yoga and Pilates classes at the workplace.
• Very popular are physiotherapist consultations, 30-minute massages by a blind masseurs, dermatological consultations, fitness coaching, nutritional consultations and a number of other activities.

Balanced and flexible working conditions

• We try to meet our employees' work-life balance needs.
• We allow flexible working hours and the possibility of working from home.
• We aim to let our employees manage their working hours more flexibly and efficiently while maintaining the high quality of services provided to internal as well as external clients.
• During the holiday season, our employees get three extra days off.
• In the long run, we try to have our employees benefit from the balanced and flexible working conditions also when on maternity or parental leave. We stay in regular contact with everyone and try to create favourable conditions that allow them to return to their work. Where the type of work allows it, we give them the possibility to participate in engagements on a part-time basis, even in the case of top management positions.
• Overall, the proportion of part-time jobs in our firm is ‬17%.‬‬‬‬‬‬
• We continue to provide benefits to parents in managerial positions on their parental leaves, allowing them to keep their company cars, mobile phones and laptops. In February 2014, this helped us obtain the Fathers Welcome quality designation, which is awarded to employers who support active fatherhood.

GPS (Global People Survey)

• On a regular basis, we organise a global survey of employee satisfaction, which helps us uncover how employees feel and how they assess the firm.
• A total of 93% of employees completed the questionnaire in 2014. The shortened version of the survey, the Pulse Survey, was completed by 79 % of all employees in 2015.
• The respondents’ answers to the survey confirmed a high level of satisfaction with the majority of measured aspects and 70 % of the questions were answered more positively than in the previous year.
• Our employee engagement index is currently at 74 % which is one percentage point higher than in 2014.

Under standard procedures, people may file a complaint if they disagree with any procedure, measure or behaviour. We also have an anonymous complaint box in our firm.

Graduate Recruitment

• Every year, ca. 1500 university students and graduates apply for a job with us and every year, we recruit ca. 120 of them for positions throughout our departments and offices.
• We recruit both students as well as graduates and offer either full-time positions or employment on an internship basis.
• Our entry full-time positions are suitable for both fresh university graduates as well as for students in the last year of their Master’s Degree studies.
• Internships are designed for fourth and fifth year students. The work a student does within an internship is identical to that at a full-time position, just with less hours, to give students sufficient time to devote to their studies.
• Applicants have a certain advantage if they are studying an economic field, but most important is the level of an applicant’s English language capabilities, their motivation, ability to work in a team and the willingness to learn something new.
• Applicants must pass performance and English tests, followed by an assessment centre and interviews.
• Successful applicants primarily start working as assistants in audit, tax or advisory services departments.
• Senior colleagues teach university courses in fields of their expertise e.g. at the University of Economics in Prague.

Benefits

• We provide an array of benefits to employees using a cafeteria system of optional benefits.
• All employees apart from partners are entitled to cafeteria benefits.
• We do not make a difference based on the type of employment. Part-time employees receive proportionate amount of benefits.

The offer includes over 10 000 options, including e.g. meal vouchers, educational courses, a number of activities in the fields of travel and tourism, culture, sports, wellness and health care, life assurance and casualty insurance, pension insurance, etc.

Employees can also:

• benefit from favourable group life assurance and casualty insurance schemes,
• use overtimes in the form of fully covered compensatory leave or reimbursement under the firm’s overtime policy,
• take longer holidays,
• take advantage of the budget that each department has at its disposal for team events,
• under the mobility programme, leave for short-term (up to 1 year) or long-term (up to 3-5 years) internships,
• obtain fully covered membership in professional organisations and chambers,
• make use of wide-ranging training and development offers, professional certifications and programmes, study leaves, language courses, training of interpersonal competencies or technical and computer skills training,
• in case of illness, use up to 5 so-called sick days, and take advantage of a number of health benefits within the Healthy Company programme,
• participate in a number of firm-wide sports and social events,
• freely partake of refreshments in kitchenettes on every floor and benefit from discounted meals at the employee cafeteria of the Hilton hotel,
• take advantage of discounts in various local establishments,
• use notebooks and internet connections, mobile phones (iPhones), company cars and garage parking

We take care of our employees also in terms of CSR

• We offer them an opportunity for personal growth through CSR activities.
• We motivate them to become personally engaged in their leisure time.
• Through CSR activities, we strive to enhance the working environment.

Mentoring programme for non-profit organisations

• We linked our employee development programme with professional assistance to the non-profit sector, resulting in a mentoring programme supported by the Forum of Donors.
• Volunteers from our talent programme help non-profit sector representatives through mentoring to solve particular issues concerning their area of expertise.
• Non-profit organisations are hence provided with professional assistance.
• Our employees enhance their knowledge and skills they need for their further career growth.
• The programme has been integrated into KPMG’s employee development efforts and is closely linked to employee evaluation and development processes.

„Apart from benefiting from technical skills, I also find consultations in HR area, which I viewed as personal supervision, very helpful for me. It is nice to share one's own experience and problems with someone experienced in this area, who works in the same field but for a different organisation, and is thus able to provide an impartial view of the matter.“

Magdalena Čáslavská Director, Association in aid of persons with autism (APLA)

„The major challenge was to understand what the particular NGO needs and what will really help it. We encounter similar challenges with clients so this is virtually a kind of training and any experience is appreciated.“

Petr Jung Senior Consultant, Management Consulting

A YEAR together – A STEP forward

• In the first phase of the project, our employees are involved as instructors.
• In the second phase, they select a non-profit organisation which will become our partner for the following financial year. (for more information, click here)

Charity days

• Thanks to the KPMG volunteering programme, our employees can spend one fully-paid working day per year helping the communities.
• In 2013, 223 of our employees decided to get involved this way; in 2014 - 199 employees and in 2015 - 263 employees.

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Employee grant programme

• We support organisations with which our employees have a relationship. Every year, our employees may nominate organisations of their choice to the employee grant programme, which may then receive up to CZK 30 000.
• In 2013, we donated CZK 354 400 to projects recommended by our employees; in 2014 – CZK 408 118 and in 2015 - CZK 282 305.

Matching fund

• We support our employees wherever they want to help.
• If a group of employees get together and collect money for a good cause, the firm matches that amount, thus doubling the employees’ donation.

A day for life

• Since 2009, we have been regularly providing our staff with the opportunity to donate blood right at the office.
• In response to the wishes of our blood donors, we agreed with our partner, the General University Hospital in Prague (Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice) to hold our blood drives two or three times a year.

Sports for a good cause

• We give our employees a chance to help with their sports efforts by often supporting their participation in charity sporting events. (For more information, click here)

Non-profit cinema

• Every month, directly in the KPMG building we show documentary films on important social or environmental issues.
• Every projection is followed by a discussion with experts from the non-profit sector.
• The aim of this project is to acquaint our employees with opportunities for personal involvement.
• In the financial year 2014, a total of eight projections were held and attended by 138 viewers, including both employees and their relatives, who are also welcome to come and see the films at our premises.
• In the financial year 2015, a total of five projections were held and attended by 155 employees and their relatives.

Breakfast with Letohrádek Vendula/Pasta by Pasta Fidli

• Every two weeks and right at our offices, KPMG Czech Republic, employees can buy baked goods made by the Letohrádek Vendula bakery providing sheltered employment.
• Every second week, Pasta Fidli, a social business, comes to our offices and sells pasta and related products made by people with disabilities.
• Through these offers, we give our staff opportunities for socially beneficial shopping.

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Ironing Ladies

• Our employees can get their clothes washed and ironed by the Ironing Ladies, a socially beneficial company providing women disadvantaged in the labour market with work opportunities.
• The company picks up the laundry at our offices and delivers it washed and ironed back to the firm.