KPMG offers a salary raise to meet changing employee expectations

Farai Mugabe, Content & Research, The HR Congress

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Employee expectations are changing. They now expect employers who care and respect them. They also expect a more flexible work arrangement and great rewards for a great job. To retain their most valuable assets, companies are now seeking ways to ensure that they generate increasing value for their employees through several employee-centric measures. 

To meet changing employee expectations, KPMG has introduced a salary raise of between £2000 and £4000. The move will defiantly go a long way in positioning KPMG as an employer of choice in the financial services sector and shielding the business against the negative impact of the great resignation. ¹

Announcing on a Linked In a post a fortnight ago, KPMG UK CEO, Jonathan Holt said that the move was meant to ensure that the company creates a meaningful life for its employees. “I want KPMG to be a place where people do great workers that matter, where they are constantly learning and supported to thrive and are recognized for their impact and the unique perspectives they bring.” He said. ¹

The increase will be an overnight flat salary increase which is designed to ensure that more junior employees feel the greatest benefit. Holt said, “It’s progressive, and we’ve deliberately designed this so that our more junior colleagues feel the greatest benefit now. This is separate to our annual pay review later in the year and doesn’t include our partners or associate partners.” 

This recent salary increase moves KPMG into a great employer that values the efforts of employees. With the aftermath of COVID 19 and the great resignation, employers are seeking ways to retain their critical employees. Recent world developments have resulted in an unhappy, burnt-out, and tired workforce. 41% of the entire global workforce is considering handing over their resignation as a result of several reasons including work pressures. ²

So I was proud to announce to our colleagues yesterday that everyone in our firm will each receive an overnight flat salary increase of between £2,000 and £4,000. It’s progressive and we’ve deliberately designed this so that our more junior colleagues feel the greatest benefit now. This is separate from our annual pay review later in the year and doesn’t include our partners or associate partners.

KPMG says that the move is meant to ensure it remains a great place to work where employees feel valued and are rewarded for their efforts. “… I know that KPMG remains a great place to work is about much more than just how we recognize and reward our people. So this is the first in a series of measures were are developing to bring this vision to life. ”

Companies are seeking ways to ensure that they generate increasing value for their employees through several employee-centric measures.  Employee expectations are changing as noted by KPMG. Employees now expect employers who care and respect them. They also expect a more flexible work arrangement and great rewards for a great job. ³

In a related incident, PWC which is also one of the big four companies in the audit industry recently introduced a flexible work option where employees are allowed to be allowed to stop working at lunchtime if they have successfully carried out their work during summer.⁴As early as 2016, PWC introduced a flexible work arrangement called FlexFridays. Under this new arrangement, PWC employees were offered an option to leave work at 12.30 pm every second Friday of the month.⁵

Technology giant, Microsoft is planning to raise its salaries by almost double. Microsoft aims to retain its critical talent which it believes is in high demand. Companies are moving in to find ways to retain critical talent as they move from the great resignation to the great escape. ⁶

These adjustments are a clear indication that workplaces have never been the same after the COVID 19 pandemic. Working is now a team sport that is more outcomes-driven than anything else. ⁷

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¹What people want from their workplace is changing, by Jonathan Holt, Linked In 

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6928233556720685056/

²Annual work trend index report. Great Expectations: Hybrid Work Work, Microsoft Worklab

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index

The pandemic has taught us to be closer to our people: Five key predictions for 2022

³ The pandemic has taught us to be closer to our people: Five key predictions for 2022, Farai Mugabe, HR Congress

https://hr-congress.com/2022/02/23/the-pandemic-has-taught-us-to-be-closer-to-our-people-five-key-predictions-for-2022/

⁴ PWC announces new flexible work deal for employees, by PWC, PWC

https://www.pwc.co.uk/press-room/press-releases/pwc-announces-new-flexible-work-deal.html

⁵PWC employees allowed to leave work at 12.30 pm on FlexFriday, by PWC, PWC

https://www.pwc.com/my/en/press/161115-pwcmy-flexfridays.html

⁶Microsoft will boost pay and stock compensation to retain employees by Dina Bass, Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-16/microsoft-to-boost-salaries-to-keep-workers-cope-with-inflation

⁷Work is now a team sport, by David C. Forman, HR Congresshttps://hr-congress.com/2022/04/05/work-is-now-a-team-sport/