Deloitte and KPMG: The War for Talent

In 2016, India witnessed an intense war for talent acquisition in consulting when Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (Deloitte) poached 20 partners and their teams—around 300 people in total—from KPMG India (KPMG). Deloitte offered a higher compensation to attract KPMG executives and lured partners with a salary jump in proportion to the number of team members they could bring from KPMG. The rivalry between the firms was fuelled by their desire to challenge Ernst & Young Global Limited, the market leader, which had 125 partners in its advisory vertical. This was the biggest poaching attempt in the industry since 2011 and the third time in the span of a year that KPMG partners had quit to join rival companies. For KPMG, it was a big blow, as the company lost many partners from the vertical that was leading its growth globally. KPMG management was now confronted with the challenge of defending against any such future poaching attempts by its competitors and retaining existing employees. The firm needed to engage its existing employees and boost their motivation to avoid further damage.

This case focuses on employee engagement, and can be used in courses on human resource or talent management in management programs at the post-graduate level. After working through the case and assignment questions, students should be able to do the following:<br><ul><li>Describe the dynamics of the talent market in the light of cutthroat competition.</li><li>Explain the nuances of poaching and raids in a human resources context.</li><li>Propose strategies companies can use to retain employees and stop attrition.</li></ul>

• Poaching, Raid, Employee Engagement, Employee Retentiton, Talent Management