Addressing Implicit Leadership Theories in Corporate America

This past week, the newly appointed Chairman and Vice Chairman of KPMG LLP held a firm-wide webcast to address the firm’s plan for the remainder of the year in terms of office openings, or lack thereof, as well as a new program they are implementing called Accelerate 2025. The Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer explained the purpose of the program was to intentionally recruit new talent in such a way that the demographics of the firm begin to more closely resemble that of the United States. Until listening in on this webcast, I had not heard of the Accelerate 2025 program, but it is only one way that KPMG has demonstrated their devotion to addressing implicit biases, leadership theories, and inequity within the firm.

In my few weeks as a virtual intern for KPMG, I have heard and learned far more about what the firm is doing to address our implicit theories both socially, in their work, and in their recruiting. In my video modules, there was an entire section on biases and heuristics. The instructors described different types of heuristics and how this could apply to different practices within the firm such as audit, tax, and advisory. I previously had not put much thought into how biases could affect audit work as it seems quite straightforward and numbers oriented; however, they pointed out the implications that availability bias and distance bias can plan on how quickly you accept or deny ideas of co workers and clients in the workplace. As part of my general elective options for my virtual experience, I chose to complete a “KPMG 2.0” module that dove into the dynamics of the workplace. It addressed our unconscious biases regarding co workers and how those can harm both social and work relationships.

A more tangible effort is seen through their Business Resource Groups (BRGs) which we learned about in the second week of our program. Each group is based on a different identity, and they are meant to provide support, education, and community both for those who identify with the group or are allies. A few BRGs include KPMG’s Network of Women, Pride at KPMG, Asian Pacific Islander Network, and Abilities in Motion. Similarly, during the month of July, the firm hosted a week long event titled “Courageous Conversations”. Courage is one of the firm’s core values, and given the current social climate they created this event as a platform to give employees a space to speak up about their experiences or perspectives as well as a space to take a step back just to listen. In numerous ways, they have demonstrated the devotion of the firm and its upper management to addressing uncomfortable topics with the goal of creating a better work environment.