Clive Webb

Many companies will tell you that their global learning and development (L&D) programmes succeed because they respect cultural differences above all else. I don’t necessarily subscribe to this view. While it is important to recognise cultural diversity, it is more productive to start with a mindset that the similarities across regions are greater than the differences.

KPMG is made up of many member firms throughout the world, and our goal is to maintain a common identity while delivering services consistently and sympathetically at a local level. When KPMG set up a new risk advisory service in 2003, my team was faced with the challenge of developing a global learning and development programme for the new service, focusing particularly on behavioural skills.