Lynne Doughtie, a 2009 recipient of Consulting magazine's Women Leaders in Consulting award, has been named vice chair—Advisory at KPMG LLP (U.S.). In that role she succeeds Mark Goodburn, who recently was named global head of Advisory for KPMG International.
Doughtie will lead Advisory for the U.S. firm and for KPMG in the Americas Region, a network of KPMG member firms that includes more than 7,000 Advisory partners and professionals. Doughtie also will be a member of KPMG U.S. management committee and will sit on KPMG International's global Advisory leadership team.
She most recently served as national managing partner—Advisory, a position that will now be occupied by Carl Carande. Both Doughtie and Carande will assume their new roles on Oct. 1. KPMG Chairman and CEO John Veihmeyer will make the official announcements later this week.
Doughtie says continuing the success the firm has had over the last several years will be a top priority. "We're doing a lot right, and we'll certainly stay the course on certain things; we've had tremendous growth this year, and we will continue to do so in the future by staying focused on the on the client's agenda," she says.
That includes, among other things, helping clients as they respond to new risk environments, manage through rapidly changing public policy and regulatory reform, and take advantage of emerging trends such as Cloud, digital media and advanced data management.
Meanwhile, talent continues to be a hot-button issue and Doughtie says KPMG has done a great job attracting and recruiting talent, but the firm needs to stay vigilant when it comes to retaining its top people. "As far as retention, we've done a lot of good things this year but we need to do even better next year," she says. "I think we need to put the same focus on our people that we put on our clients."
That means more one-on-one conversations with top talent about the value they bring and providing them a very clear career path, she says, "sort of how we approach client retention." And part of that will be an effort to advance more women into leadership roles. Doughtie says more than half of KPMG campus hires are women, and the firm must do an even better job of creating an environment where women feel they can stay and flourish.
"I can tell you that will be high on my agenda," Doughtie says. "You have to have different perspectives at the table; clients are demanding it. It's a real business imperative."
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