Employee care

Continuous education

Employee education and growth is a high priority for KPMG in the 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.

According to 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.

Setting off on a career with KPMG in the Czech Republic

New employees who are recent graduates and joining our tax and audit departments 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 really get to know their 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

All employees may choose from the broad offer of our Development Academy and select to participate in half- to several-day courses with top external lectors. The training courses focus on the further development of soft skills.

A key aspect of the offered development programmes is the emphasis 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 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.

Diversity

At the Partner level, 17,24 percent of employees were women and 82,76 percent were men.

• Regarding the Management Committee that is the firm’s steering body, 16,66 percent of its members were women, 83,33 percent were men.
• Four of our partners were citizens of countries other than the Czech Republic.

Overall, our firm employed 61,58 percent women and 38,41 percent men.

Equal and flexible working conditions

We try to accommodate our employees’ need to align their private life with their work. We offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work remotely.

Our aim is to allow our employees to flexibly and effectively manage their working hours while preserving the high quality of our services to both internal and external clients.

During the annual holiday season, we offer employees an additional three-day vacation on top of their regular vacation allowance.

For some time, we have been trying to extend the equal and flexible conditions also to our employees on parental leave. With all, we remain in regular contact and try to create a positive environment for their return back to work. If at all possible, we offer employees the change to participate in engagements on a part-time basis. So far, this approach has been successful even at our most top positions.

Overall, 17 percent of our staff are employed on a part-time basis.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Employees in managerial positions who are on parental leave are allowed to keep and use their company car, mobile phone, and laptop.

Employee satisfaction survey

We regularly conduct a global survey that assesses the satisfaction and the opinions of our employees and helps us find out how people feel at work, how they rate their work environment, and where they see room for improvement.

• In FY 2018, the comprehensive questionnaire was completed by 85 percent of our employees.
• The respondents’ answers to the survey confirmed a high level of satisfaction with the majority of measured aspects.
• Our employee engagement index is currently at 76 percent (an increase by 8 percent).

Best evaluated areas:

Education and development (86 %)

Integration and diversity in the workplace (81 %)

Social responsibility (80 %)

We achieved the greatest improvement in the following areas:

Work environment: I am satisfied with the environment that I work in (+20 % compared to 2017)

Social responsibility: KPMG is social responsible towards its communities (+15 %)

Rewards and recognition: I feel that the remuneration I receive for my work is comparable to that of people that perform similar work in other companies (+14 %)

We continue to work on maintaining the current level of employee satisfaction and on improving selected factors showing room for growth. This concerns especially areas of communication and the sharing of information on how we work with feedback we receive from our clients.

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

A chance for graduates

Every year, ca. 2500 university students and graduates apply for a job with us and every year, we recruit ca. 200 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.

Candidates have to complete online performance tests, prove their level of English language ability, and take part in an interactive assessment centre consisting of group model and individual tasks as well as individual interviews.

Successful graduate applicants primarily begin work as analysts or consultants in our Audit, Tax, Legal Services, or our other advisory service departments.

Senior professionals regularly teach and present at universities like the University of Economics or Charles University on subjects closely connected to their area of expertise.

Every year, we prepare a series of workshops for students to familiarise them with work at individual departments or to help them improve their technical or interviewing skills. In 2018, university students participated in workshops on working with Excel, IFRS standard, the audit and tax professions, and our RC and MC departments. They also got the chance to test their skills in KICC (KPMG International Case Competition), with the winning team representing the Czech Republic at the international finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Find out more about KICC here.

For fiscal year 2019, we are preparing Youniversity, a new project that will let students participate in 10 online courses focusing on soft skills, with topics like e.g. how to deal with stress, self-motivation, effective time management, negotiation skills. Students receive a certificate after having completed all ten online courses.

Benefits

Through a cafeteria system of optional benefits we provide an array of benefits to employees. All employees other than partners are entitled to cafeteria benefits. We do not differentiate based on the type of employment. Part-time employees receive proportionate amount of benefits. Our benefit cafeteria includes over 10 000 options, including 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.

Our employees may also:

• benefit from favourable group life assurance and casualty insurance schemes,
• take longer leaves-of-absences,
• make use of their department’s budget for team building events,
• under the mobility programme, leave for short-term (up to 1 year) or long-term (up to 3-5 years) secondments to other KPMG member firms,
• receive fully paid 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,
• receive 100% salary compensation for up to five days of sickness and take advantage of the various health benefits that make up our Health Firm 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.

New dads get one additional day of paid leave upon the birth of their child.

Disabled employees are offered a wide range of additional benefits ranging from medical services, therapeutic-rehabilitative spa stays and contributions for medical equipment.

We are a Healthy Firm

Our goal is to instil in our employees a heightened interest in their health and a feeling of responsibility for one’s own fate. We do not want to be an employer where people earn money as compensation for losing their good health. Instead, we want to give to our employees the means to offset the demands their work has on them by offering them preventative care. In our efforts, we cooperate with organisations like OZP insurance, Santé medical centre, and others.

We primarily focus on four areas:

• work environment
• psycho-social working conditions
• the health of individuals
• the firm as part of a larger community.

Implemented activities:

• Yoga classes at work
• Pilates classes at work
• Massages at work
• first-aid classes
• OZP health days
• Various seminars.

Expert volunteers

Within the Paths towards Sustainability and the School for Responsible Entrepreneurship programmes, our employees share their knowledge and skills with non-profit organisations and social businesses, as well as with young people, in whom we aim to instil the idea of responsible and sustainable entrepreneurship. Our employees get involved as instructors in our free-of-charge courses, in the realisation of our service grants or as mentors for iKid’s young innovators.

Our employees get the opportunity to improve the knowledge and skills they need to advance their careers and the non-profit organisations receive professional assistance. The programme is an integral part of KPMG’s employee development schedule and closely connected with our performance assessment process. Every involved employee receives feedback on the cooperation they provided. We are proud to report that the engagement of our employees has been recognised by receiving a Gold certificate and first place in the Most Involved Employees category within the Top Responsible Firm awards.

To find out more about our professional assistance and volunteering, read the chapter titled „We Help With What We Do Best“.

DobroDění

We provide our employees with opportunities for personal growth through CSR activities, at the same time motivating them to become personally engaged in their leisure time as well. Through CSR activities, we strive to enhance the working environment.

DobroDays (Charity days)

Thanks to the KPMG volunteering programme, our employees can spend one fully-paid working day per year helping non-profits and the communities in which we are active.

Non-profit organisations

In FY 2015, we assisted in 17 non-profit organisations; during 2016, in 11, and in 2017 and 2018 we helped a total of 15 non-profits in many corners of the Czech Republic.

Employees

In FY 2015, 263 of our employees became involved in this project; in 2016, it was 280, in 2017 this number climbed to 367 and in 2018, 346 volunteers readily shared their expertise.

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Non-profit cinema

We aim to regularly show documentary films on important social or environmental issues directly in the KPMG building. These showings may also be attended by our employees’ guests. 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.

2016

In fiscal year 2016, we showed six different films. They were seen by 105 employees.

2017

In fiscal year 2017, two features were seen by 40 employees and their guests.

2018

In 2018, two showings were attended by 50 employees and guests.

Responsibly from the beginning

Every new employee has to participate in introductory training course on the functioning and the rules valid at KPMG. This also involves the CSR area, as new colleagues find out about our CSR strategy and about opportunities to get involved.

To liven up the introductory week our newcomers spend away from the office, this year we again invited the AllStar Refjúdží Band to perform for them. The band aims to open up for discussion topics linked to migration and to show solutions to current social problems. The band’s performance thus tied into last year’s Theatre of the Oppressed under the patronage of the ARA ART Association.

Non-financial collection drives

Throughout the year, our employees may donate used clothing that we then pass on to organisations that distribute it to their clients in need. In FY 2017, we were able to hand over more than 150 kg of used clothing to the Salvation Army, Nadace Veronika (Veronika Foundation), společnost Podané ruce (Helping Hands Society) and organizace Nadání a dovednosti (Organisation for Talent and Skills). In 2018, we handed over 559 kg of used clothing to St. Teresa’s Asylum, the Salvation Army, o. p. s. Moment, to the Piknik pro lidi bez domova event and to the Veronica Foundation in Prague, Brno and Ostrava.

Breakfast non-profit style

Every week, our employees may buy breakfast or snacks from social businesses. Throughout last year, we cooperated with the sheltered bakery Letohrádek Vendula, Café Dismas and the Fresh Bakery.

Through these offers, we give our staff opportunities for socially beneficial shopping.

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 and delivers orders right at our offices.