What is your diversity tech initiative? Please provide an overview.
IT’s Her Future is KPMG’s award-winning flagship women in technology programme. Originally founded back in 2015 as a gender diversity action group, it is a true driving force for improved female representation including those from underrepresented backgrounds in technology. The IHF programme is also a core driving force within the firm’s gender equity plan – for KPMG to be the market leading employer for women by 2030. We support our women at every stage of their career by providing learning, mentoring, networking, and community led opportunities, instilling confidence to allow them to be architects of change in technology. The programme has now expanded to 5 countries and has 14 workstreams and each workstream is focused on support and encouraging women in Tech, we work with schools, universities, external organisations, and clients to address the lack of inclusion and diversity in technology from school to industry.
How did your initiative come to fruition?
IT’s Her Future was founded in 2017 as a gender diversity action group within Technology at KPMG. We identified a number of internal challenges and external influences that we wanted to overcome to become the pioneers of change for women in our industry. The vision and objectives for the programme centre around 4 core strategic priorities, attract women into the tech arena from a young age, recruit women into tech at all experience levels, enrich their development, allowing them to progress into more senior positions and cement themselves as business leaders.
Over the course of the past 7 years the programme has already achieved tangible change with key successes including a significant change in the % of women in the tech workforce – to 42% including a 50/50 gender balance at junior grades and currently 1 in 5 mentees have been promoted within 2 years. In addition to this the global firm is capitalising on the success of the award-winning UK programme by expanding the global footprint – having already gone live in 5 different countries.
Why do you think you have been nominated for this award?
IT’s Her Future program has made a significant impact in the way we live and breathe inclusion and diversity at KPMG and is a driving force for continual change. Over the years, the programme has been actively involved in various external and internal initiatives and the 14 workstreams are led by 80+ employee volunteers. The programme’s value has been recognised by schools, charities, external organisations, industry/government bodies and clients– and we are increasingly being asked to share knowledge and best practice with senior clients given the maturity of our operations and impact made.
The programme will help enable women and the wider organisation to be digital leaders.
What impact you have had on your target audience?
The program aims to demystify common misconceptions about the tech industry and careers in technology while emphasizing inclusivity, making tech accessible to everyone regardless of gender and background.
It enables students to start thinking about opportunities for careers in tech, fueling the development of next gen leaders. Our Coding initiative is focused on spreading the awareness and education on Coding to various Schools across the UK. KPMG colleagues to upskill and cross skill them. IT’s Her future has its own podcast where we have had female leaders speak about generalist topics including menopause, parenting and career development. It has recently gone live on YouTube to make it more accessible to people aspiring to join KPMG. IT’s Her Future’s Inclusive of backgrounds workstream which was previously named BAME focuses on alignment of KPMG’s value “Together” – We respect each other and draw strength from our differences.
It was recently rebranded to Inclusive of all background to represent a place where people, irrespective of their backgrounds, Gender, sexual orientation etc come together to form a network to support each other and learn from their differences. The workstream runs coffee mornings with Parents of young girls demystifying their myths about a career in STEM. As part of IT’s Her Future we ran roundtables for all grades and Genders make it a space pace for people to come forward and discuss their apprehensions in a safe space. The findings are the driving force for our strategic priorities.
To help increase the representation of women at more senior grades, we have partnered with external organisations including WB Directors which provide our colleagues support and guidance on undertaking board level positions, helping them to learn new skills and develop leadership capabilities supporting the acceleration of their executive career. Our mentoring workstream is really sought after with over 600 mentees and mentors and one in five mentees have been promoted in the past 2 years. We aim to provide guidance and support to all colleagues to support them in their careers and cross and upskill them through events and workshops .
In terms of results, IT’s Her Future has enabled significant changes in the attraction, recruitment, and engagement of women in technology, achieving a 50-50 gender split at graduate level. We’re now focusing on retention and progression of our female talent to increase the representation of women in senior leadership positions at KPMG. We have achieved a 50/50 gender balance of graduates in tech first achieved back in 2021, which still remains today. 90% female job offers accepted in tech in 2022, an increase of 54% since programme inception in 2015. 44% of promotions were awarded to women in tech in 2022. 42% female headcount of tech in 2022 compared to industry level of 26%.
Please provide an endorsing statement from someone who can support this nomination (Max. 500 words)
It’s Her Future is KPMG’s award-winning flagship women in tech programme. Originally founded back in 2015 as an action group, it aims to tackle gender diversity in tech departments.
Women make up 48% of the UK workforce but only 26% of the technology workforce. This is exactly why programmes like IT’s Her Future are so important, not only for organisations like KPMG but for clients, wider industry and society too.
One of the most commendable aspects of IT’s Her Future is its unwavering commitment to breaking down barriers and making the tech industry accessible to everyone, regardless of gender or background. The program’s emphasis on gender equity has been truly inspiring, creating an
environment where aspiring tech enthusiasts can secure and build a future in the field with confidence, and grow to become pioneers of change.
IT’s Her Future support our women at every stage of their career by providing technical and soft skills based learning, mentoring, networking and community led opportunities, instilling confidence to allow them to be architects of change in technology. We also accept this is a movement beyond just KPMG and so we work with schools, universities, external organisations and clients to address the lack of inclusion and diversity in technology from schools through to industry.
IT’s Her Future has enabled significant changes in the attraction, recruitment and engagement of women in technology, achieving a 50:50 gender split at graduate level. The focus is on retention and progression, and investment in our female technology talent to increase the representation of women in senior leadership positions at KPMG.
1st at women in IT award and women in Finance DEI Initiative of the year 2021 for IT’s Her Future.
1st Education and Training initiative of the year 2021 for our IT’s Her Future Juniors programme at the women in IT awards.
42% proportion of women in all tech departments at KPMG in 2022 with a 50/50 gender balance at Graduate level.
I have witnessed first-hand how IT’s Her Future has made significant strides in demystifying misconceptions about the tech industry and promoting diversity and inclusion within KPMG and beyond. It has undoubtedly left an undeniable mark on the tech industry and our organisation. Its commitment to inclusivity, education, and empowerment has paved the way for a more diverse and innovative future that goes well beyond just the realms of KPMG.
