Professional services firm KPMG yesterday announced a new partnership level spokesman for its drive to promote women in the workplace.

Will McCallum, the managing director lead for the firm’s K-Women committee, replaces Richard Lightowler, who recently retired.

The appointment announcement coincided with International Women’s Day, which was marked across Bermuda.

Rebekah Kasumu, a senior manager at KPMG and the chairman of the committee, said: “We were looking at who would be best-placed to transfer our voice to the partnership group.

“We wanted someone from tax because we don’t have anyone from tax and someone we thought would champion our initiative — Will is the one person who ticked all these boxes.”

She added that the committee picked a male because they wanted diversity in the eight-strong committee of women employees.

Ms Kasumu said: “We want to have a different voice in our meetings. It’s an all-women committee, but we do think it’s important to have a male voice at the table to bring a different spin and challenge us as well as project our voice to the partnership committee.”

The K-Women drive, which has been running two years, is part of a global drive by KPMG designed to achieve equal representation for both men and women in the highest echelons of the firm.

Ms Kasumu said: “There is a lot happening in the office around it. We’ve been able to build a lot of networking opportunities, internally and externally. It’s another positive, inclusive item to have in the workplace.”

She added the committee had spent its first year on education on diversity and women’s issues.

Ms Kasumu said: “Now we’re focusing on action points — sponsorship and mentorship, networking and education.”

She added that the number of women directors at KPMG had risen from 23 per cent to 40 per cent in the last year, while there had been an increase of four per cent in the number of women managers to almost 50/50.

Mr McCallum said: “A big part of my role as a leader in the firm is helping people really achieve their full potential — it benefits us as a firm and benefits our clients. People stay with the firm, develop with the firm and develop a long-term relationship with the firm.”

He admitted: “There are challenges — it’s a pretty high-performance culture and we need to keep our eye on the ball as to how we manage the work-life balance for working mothers and working parents in the firm.

“One of the biggest challenges in business is talent management. We want people to stay with the firm, grow with the firm and get promoted. We want everybody to progress and become the leaders of the future.”

Ms Kasumu added: “It’s not that we need something additional to what everyone else wants. We want to be viewed the same as males — flexible working helps both men and women.

“Creating an educational environment where you can educate on career enhancement helps both men and women. It’s not that we want anything in addition.”

Mark Lavery, senior manager in markets, said that the cause of women’s rights was more than just a single day.

He added: “It’s a part of our working culture at KPMG to promote inclusiveness and it’s something we want to promote throughout the years and through the initiatives of the K-Women committee.

“It’s about a seamless integration among all levels of the firm — something we’re doing and doing well.”