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“Making Culture Your Competitive Advantage” was the first panel discussion at the 7th annual Women of Color and Their Allies (WOCA) event on October 8. The session was led by Fair360’s Chief Operating Officer Shane Nelson. To start out, he shared data from the 2024 Top 50 survey which showed that companies with strong cultural practices have lower voluntary turnover in top management. Strong practices include:
- Mentorship
- Sponsorship
- High-potential programs
- Executive Diversity Councils
- Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
KPMG (No. 5 on the 2024 Top 50 Companies list) is a leader in these practices. Panelists Kalpana Arvind, Managing Director, CFO Organization, Shannon Carstens, Partner, Audit, and Sandra Lozano, Partner, Advisory, emphasized the importance of culture. They shared personal experiences and KPMG’s initiatives like the Accelerate 2025 strategy to increase underrepresented talent.
Speakers stressed the need for intentional, incremental changes. They emphasized accountability and leveraging ERGs to foster a culture of belonging and inclusivity. The discussion highlighted the importance of mentorship and allyship in supporting diverse employees.
The Importance of Culture
As kids and as people grow up, they have experiences and qualities that make them who they are. Arvind said once people become adults and start their careers, they must know who they are as part of the team and “who we are as a firm.”
“How do you bring that culture to work?” She asked. “It comes in the form of values. Culture is a combination of everything we do every day … it drives our people and everything we do in our business.”
KPMG’s Culture
In addition to being an Audit Partner, Carstens co-chairs the KPMG Network of Women (KNOW). In her opening remarks, she shared an example of something she believes exemplifies KPMG’s culture.
She talked about how she knew she wanted to get her MBA at one point in her career while maintaining a job. However, Carstens was unsure how to manage school alongside her client load. This uncertainty led her to look for another job that she wasn’t really excited about, but that would allow her to pursue her MBA while working. When she finally told her manager she planned to leave KPMG, he offered to change her schedule. As a result, she was able to stay with the company and pursue her MBA.
“My two takeaways from that story are one, he didn’t flinch at all when changing my schedule, even though that could have negative ramifications with the client, other people’s schedules were going to have to move around … he just did it. It really was his default reaction.”
Her second takeaway was that she’s still telling that story 15 years later.
“It truly became a moment that mattered for me,” she added.
Culture as a Competitive Advantage
Lozano said she thinks of culture as “what young people would call a vibe.”
“What’s the vibe you get when you enter a stadium, when you hit a city restaurant, when you join a group of friends? There’s always this culture or vibe that’s created, and that’s something that we want to recreate or make sure we enhance or have in place at the corporate level,” she said.
People spend so much time at work, and the culture of an organization is how work gets done. Lozano said it’s our mindset, behaviors and the infrastructure put in place. To use culture as a competitive advantage, it must be actionable and measurable.
At KPMG, the culture starts with identity.
“It’s who we are, it’s what we believe, how we want to be seen and what we expect from one another,” she said. “I think this is really prevalent in the way we work with each other, our interactions, and the resources and groups we provide to our professionals.”
Watch the full session recording and check back to the WOCA 2024 event page for updates in the next two weeks!