LDST: Blog Post 6: Organizational Culture

The organizational culture at KPMG is very interesting. KPMG is owned by more than 2,000 partners, which has both its benefits and drawbacks. While it is great for gathering different perspectives as well as making sure things are relatively fair and not corrupt internally, it difficult for changes or really anything to get approved and done because so many people want different things. Within KPMG there are different groups: Advisory, Tax, Audit (client facing) and BPG (Business Process Groups) (non-client facing). While the firm makes clear in orientation that we are “One Firm”, the different groups feel separated. Particularly BPG from the other groups. I am in BPG, more specifically in KTech which is KPMG’s IT department. While we are “One Firm” we are technically split up into offices all over the country. There are Tax, Audit and Advisory employees at nearly every office. However, nearly all of KTech is in the Montvale, New Jersey office. Montvale is the “technology hub” for KPMG, so much so that they just invested 20 million into a new building for the KTech employees.

I have also heard and even seen that the culture in IT is different from that of Tax, Audit or Advisory. I believe this applies to KPMG as well as other companies. I know that the people in IT are a little more laid back, converse more and seem to (for the most part) enjoy the work that they do. I have heard that employees not in IT are generally more stressed and more serious. While this is not something the firm explicitly says, it is something I have had other employees say to me and something I have experienced myself while working with people from Advisory.  In general, the people on my floor are extremely fun-loving. When I come back to my desk after meetings some people create and leave little origami creatures on my desk. People like to make jokes, throw things around and bring in candy and sweets for the floor. Sometimes I think we are all just jacked up on sugar. People are also very chatty on my floor, specifically in my section. This seems to get particularly bad around 5 until the end of the day. People move away from their computers and drift into their friend groups to talk. Something that I have observed that I find interesting is that this phenomena is not limited to employees in non-leadership roles. Even those on the KLT (KTech Leadership Team) find time to go over to the desks of their friends and converse in their free time. Another interesting observation is that people of all levels and from all teams converse. It is not that directors only talk to directors, associates to associates, etc. In fact, it is actually quite the opposite and directors and associates from different teams are often friends and will frequently eat lunch together. This informal relationship absolutely carries into the meeting rooms. People in non-leadership roles seem not to be afraid to speak out against an idea or a want of the KLT. I am wondering if this has something to do with the relaxed and friendly atmosphere we have here. I genuinely enjoy the culture at KPMG, which contributes to why I love coming to work every day.