John B. Veihmeyer
Chairman and CEO, KPMG LLP
Headquarters: New York, New York
Education: BBA in Accounting, University of Notre Dame
First Job: Working in a warehouse, handling shipments and inventory
What I’m Reading: The Speed of Trust by Stephen R. Covey
Best Advice: Don’t try to orchestrate every step of your career path. Just do every job as well as you possibly can.
Forging our future
As we strive to accelerate our growth and forge the future of our firm, diversity and inclusion are as fundamental to our business strategy as technical expertise and industry knowledge. In today’s dynamic marketplace, diversity allows us to deliver services that reflect a broad range of experiences, talents, ideas, and perspectives. At the same time, inclusion is about reflecting the values of our professionals and taking pride in being a place where every person has the opportunity to excel and build a great career.
One of the ongoing challenges we face in expanding our diverse and inclusive culture is ensuring that we are reaching every level of the organization. It is essential that diverse recruits starting at KPMG today see their path to being leaders of the firm tomorrow. We are proactive about assigning diverse, talented individuals to priority client engagements, and exposing them to experiences that will help them succeed over the long term.
One of the approaches we take to expanding diversity and inclusion is through sponsorship. Sponsorship goes a step beyond traditional mentoring, encouraging leaders to not only provide guidance, but to also take an active role in advancing the careers of individuals they are sponsoring. With sponsorship, it is up to leaders to elevate high-potential candidates through the organization, by connecting them with career-defining growth opportunities, providing counseling and coaching, and proactively recommending them for challenging assignments and important client engagements.
Our leaders at KPMG are committed to ensuring that high-performing, diverse professionals reach their full potential. We have worked to operationalize diversity throughout our organization, so that it is part of our strategy, structure, and governance. Diversity is now woven into everything we do from recruiting and professional development to the way we serve our clients; from our supplier relationships to our commitment to youth, education, and workforce readiness.
Attaining organizational diversity is an ongoing journey. We’ve made great progress, and everyone at KPMG is committed to strengthening our inclusive culture. Our success as an organization depends on it.
