This month, KPMG announced plans to build an 800,000-square-foot learning, development and innovation facility in Orlando, Florida. Designed for use by employees and partners, the center will include meeting and learning spaces accommodating 1,000 attendees, 800 single-occupancy rooms, a KPMG museum, an innovation center, recreational facilities, and food and beverage venues. It will be completed in late 2019.
Currently, KPMG’s training programs include both online and in-person learning, with many of the in-person programs taking place in large hotels. However, according to Cyndi Bruce, executive director of KPMG Business School, using hotels for in-person training does not allow for the cultural and immersive learning experiences that the new center will provide.
An Approach for Big Four Firms
KPMG isn’t the only one of the “Big Four” professional services firms to open a dedicated training facility. In 2011, Deloitte opened Deloitte University, The Leadership Center, a 700,000+-square-foot campus where employees participate in training and collaborate with peers, leaders and clients. The Deloitte Greenhouse, according to Deloitte’s website, “provides immersive experiences” in which clients participate in “one-to-two day interactive sessions tailored to address specific business challenges.” Using an approach that combines emerging technologies and in-person collaboration, the Greenhouse aims “to engage participants not only intellectually, but physically and emotionally as well.”
In 2013, Deloitte opened the Deloitte University Leadership Center for Inclusion, which hosts training, lectures and events for Deloitte employees, clients and industry leaders to discuss diversity and inclusion at work. The center’s Inclusion Strategy Lab works with clients on their inclusion efforts, and its partnership with the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative has produced a study of the millennial impact on diversity and inclusion.
Branded Learning at KPMG
As training organizations increasingly recognize the importance of branding in order for learning to drive organizational culture and achieve business goals, these types of centers may be a good way for employees to be “steeped in [the firm’s] culture,” as Bruce says. Learners (including employees and partners) at the KPMG center will also have access to company leaders as well as clients in the innovation center.
“We will be able to create a dynamic learning experience unique to KPMG,” says Bruce. “Our professionals’ learning experience will be enhanced and they will strengthen ties to the firm with every visit. Bringing our people together in a KPMG learning, development and innovation facility will do more than just invite our professionals to learn together. We’ll create a memorable experience that will have an immeasurable positive impact on our culture and build pride in the firm. The environment will reinforce our common set of values and shared vision for the future.”
Blended Learning at KPMG
KPMG’s “Workplace of the Future” initiative is, according to its website, a firm-wide initiative to create “a work environment that reflects the evolving needs of our firm and our people” and “enhance our people’s productivity, connectivity, and social interaction.” According to a KPMG representative, “the new learning and development facility builds on that initiative, using innovative design and technology to help deliver training that” meets the business’ needs.
Blended learning, which uses both an in-person classroom setting and an e-learning environment, is one way to achieve this goal. Learners tend to appreciate a mix of training methods, including online and face-to-face, to provide the benefits of training being available when and where they need it. Blended learning, especially flipped learning (learning concepts online and then applying them in the classroom), is particularly beneficial in soft skills training. For example, a consultant might take an online course on communication skills and then apply what he or she learned in a simulated client meeting at a firm’s learning center.
KPMG already uses blended learning, according to Bruce, but the new center will enhance existing training. For many courses, employees will have the opportunity to participate in online training before and/or after the in-person learning at the center to complement the in-classroom experience. However, the center will also leverage technology at the center as well, supporting all delivery methods. The innovation center will provide immersive learning experiences using “the latest technology” so that employees can practice the skills they learn in the classroom.
Technology is making online learning more accessible and engaging. However, KPMG and Deloitte are two large firms approaching learning from the perspective that blended – and branded – learning is the best way for them to recruit and train employees, to become, as Cyndi Bruce said, “a true differentiator” in the industry.
