Deborah Yates
National Managing Partner, People Performance & Culture
Deborah Yates joined KPMG as National Managing Partner People Performance and Culture in February 2018 from Reckitt Benckiser where she was Chief HR Officer.
Deb has a vision to ensure KPMG embraces the fast changing future of work – helping KPMG's talented people to embrace technology, agility and disruption, and to ensure they are equipped to outperform in constantly changing environments. She believes that the function of HR exists to develop, attract, retain, engage and inspire extraordinary talent for today, tomorrow and the long term future.
"KPMG attracted me due to its quality of people, and its outward looking focus," she says. "I admire KPMG's curiosity, and our ambition for the future to always be the disruptor not the disrupted! It's challenging and fun, and something I feel that with my experience I can add value to."
That extensive experience includes a complex role as Chief HR Officer at Reckitt Benckiser, an FTSE Top 15 Health and Hygiene Company in the UK, where she led the people strategy across the globe. This included leading the talent agenda, culture and major projects including integrating significant acquisitions. Her career with Reckitt Benckiser began in Australia, and also took her to the Netherlands and the USA.
In Deb's earlier career she was Employee Relations Manager at News Limited in Australia, during a challenging time when newspaper management and staff were grappling with the transition from print to digital formats. For Deb, it was the start of a continued interested in the immense impact that technology has on work and people, and her passion to successfully lead organisations through those changes.
Deb has a passion for workplace diversity, believing that it just makes good business sense and is committed to continue KPMG's charge towards having more women in key leadership roles.
Outside of her KPMG commitments, Deb is a parent to two teenage boys, and loves to run, cook and entertain at her home in Sydney after many years of living away. She is also an active mentor of young women from varied industries and backgrounds.
Business Support Services Human Capital Management Innovation Innovation culture and behaviors Performance management Professional and Business Services Talent Management