Innovation at KPMG
“My vision is for clients to associate KPMG with innovative solutions and ideas,” says Martin Sheppard, partner in charge of brand and innovation for KPMG Australia.
It’s a bold declaration, but just how innovative are we at the moment and how much more do we need to do to make us the go-to firm for our clients and targets?
Under Martin’s influence, the Australian firm is leading the way with bold initiatives such as its crowdsourcing scheme, BraveBanana, where clients’ real-life business dilemmas are sourced to a KPMG crowd. The scheme originated in the UK (see case study two), where it is now known as Crowd Connection. In its first use in Australia, 340 workable ideas were put forward in just three days.
Another recent example is Innovation Tiger, a nationwide competition sponsored by the Australian firm that’s created plenty of excitement and enthusiasm, and is helping to differentiate KPMG. The scheme generated 170 great business ideas and the firm is going to invest in the winning idea and build it to a commercial proposition.
Elsewhere in our business, we’re exchanging ideas through the Hub and seeing the creation of interactive audit committee reports for the iPad. We’re delivering reports with video embedded in them or QR codes people can scan to get additional information, and using vibrant infographics to bring to life complex information for our clients in more engaging ways.
“Innovation isn’t technology. It can be about producing crisp, high-level messages that people can absorb in minutes, not hours. That’s what we need to bring into our client deliverables,” says Martin.
Are we brave enough?
There’s also been some genuinely innovative thinking in our audit proposals, including the use of animation and producing our own flavours of ice cream for the pitch for the Unilever global audit (see case study one). But are we being brave enough?
“I think there’s a massive shift that’s needed, and it’s a 20-year journey, but there is a high appetite to move there,” says Martin.
“If I talk in an Australian context, by 2033 the start up sector in Australia is expected to contribute $110 billion and employ more than half a million people – ignore that and you lose that market opportunity.
“As an organization we need to encourage entrepreneurship, with reward and recognition for those that are truly creative, even if it’s subtle things like deliverables. We also need to create an environment where it’s safe to fail and to experiment – we need to be allowed to fail and then learn fast.
Innovation in our client deliverables
The US firm has some outstanding recent examples of innovative client deliverables, one being its recent Coca-Cola catalogue.
Even though the spirit of innovation is becoming increasingly instilled in our culture, more often than not it’s demonstrated to our clients through printed documents, so we mustn’t leave it at that if we want to be a genuine market leader.
Adam Bates, the UK firm’s Head of Creative Thinking, agrees. “We’ve got to ignite the curiosity of our people and make them realize that to take a risk – to have a crazy idea – is ok. It’s one of the key things for the firm.”
He points to our need to overcome inertia, quicken our decision-making processes and test ourselves more. “How relevant are we to Facebook, Twitter and so on, and how can we change to become relevant?” he asks. However, things are starting to change in the UK firm, much as they are in Australia.
Best of British
“The best example is our recent National Health Service (NHS) win, which required us to find a way to help the NHS develop its leadership. The innovation was to collaborate with around 20 other firms to deliver the services. All too often we think we have to do it all ourselves, but we realized that alone we couldn’t win.
“Together, we could contribute lots of different things and the pitch was won because we were able to offer that wide range of skills – including things like remote learning for NHS staff using real-life dilemmas they might face.
“It’s not only about the fees, because if it works everyone in the UK who receives NHS care will receive better treatment – which fits our purpose."
The problem, Adam says, is that we don’t share the good stories as much as we should.
“The very best innovations are probably happening right now but we aren’t aware of it.”
Contact Martin Sheppard >
Contact Adam Bates >
Part one: why creativity is crucial to success
