Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56539
A career in accounting opens doors and creates opportunities. If students go into accounting, they'll have jobs when they graduate—and their careers can take many different paths. Flynn reached the CEO's office nearly 30 years after taking his first job with KPMG in 1979. Among his varied posts have been stints as Global Managing Partner for Audit and Global Managing Partner for Human Resources, KPMG Interna- tional. He also spent time in manufacturing, retail and distri- bution, and high technology. "Every step along the way—as I became certified and got promoted and made partner—I opened up my horizons and faced new challenges," he says. His own experience has made him an enthusiastic advocate of an accounting degree as a gateway to many careers. Flynn often speaks at business schools about ethics and leadership, and he is a member of the board of trustees for the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he earned his bachelor's degree in accounting. He also has served on the World Economic Forum's International Business Council, the Business Roundtable's Corporate Governance task force, and the board of trustees of the Financial Account- ing Foundation. If anyone asks for volunteers to participate in shaping the future of the accounting profession, it's clear that Flynn would be one of the first to raise his hand. How would you describe the state of the accounting profession today after the scandals of 2001 and 2002? I think the profession is as strong as it's ever been. Nothing is ever stable, so I won't use that word, but I think we have a clearer vision of the accountability of capital markets, we have adapted to Sarbanes Oxley, and we have clarity about our work. At KPMG, we always say we work for the audit committee, with management, on behalf of investors and shareholders. We understand the critical role we play. The profession is also strong today because we've attracted tremendous talent into the field over the last number of years. Yes, we've heard from business schools that applications to accounting programs are up and more top students are choosing to study accounting. If you were talking to a group of college students who hadn't decided on their majors, how would you get them excited about the accounting profession? I'd tell them that they'd get to work with really bright peo- ple on complex issues with the world's leading companies in a dynamic, changing environment. When they take a job with an accounting firm such as KPMG, they receive on-the- job training, they cross borders to do on-location assign- ments, and they work on multidisciplinary teams. They can move across audit, tax, and advisory functions, and they can develop specialties in complex financial instruments such as 20 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2009 valuations, mergers and acquisitions, and core audits. A career in accounting opens doors and creates opportu- nities. I tell students that if they go into accounting, they'll have jobs when they graduate—and their careers can take many different paths. If they take jobs at KPMG, they can have ten different careers within one, or they can use their time here as a credential when they go somewhere else. At KPMG, we've built something called Employee Career Architecture, which helps new hires map out their careers, and we make this available to students who interview with us. If, for instance, a new graduate wants to become a man- ager in five years, Career Architecture tells him which train- ing courses he should take, which job experiences he should have, and what those job descriptions entail. Career Archi- tecture also shows students the different careers they can have and allows them to customize their paths. In 2005, your own career path took you to the C-suite. What were your immediate goals for the company when you became CEO, and what were your long-term goals? I took over at a very difficult time in the firm's history. We were dealing with legacy tax shelter matters, and these were at a critical stage with the regulatory authorities. At the same time, my predecessor, Eugene O'Kelly, discovered he had terminal brain cancer, so I very quickly lost a great friend and partner. There were a lot of challenges that first summer of 2005. It was clear to me that the firm had a great brand, and I wanted to make sure that the KPMG I had known through- out my career was the KPMG that all of our people would know. I wanted to put our past behind us and focus on what I call our promise of professionalism—first to each other, then to clients and the capital markets we serve. To do this, we had to build a values-based compliance culture, where everyone at the firm knew what we stood for and how we were going to act. In the last three years, we've advanced a great deal in build- ing that culture. When I took over the company in 2005, our employee satisfaction level was in the mid-60s. Today it's in the mid-80s. Today, 86 percent of our people believe in the integrity of KPMG. Almost 90 percent believe that we will do the right thing, no matter what the circumstances are. Integrity is something a lot of CEOs promise but don't always manage to deliver. How do you convince employees that integrity is more than a word in a mission statement? We put in a number of vehicles for people to raise their hands,