Learn, explore and unleash your inner chef.

Leaders are not produced by HR but HR must set the right conditions for people to develop into leaders, according to John Somerville, National Managing Partner – Advisory, Australia and ASPAC, KPMG.

Somerville is a speaker at the marcus evans HR Summit 2017, taking place in the Gold Coast, Queensland, 27 - 29 March.

What progressive methods for developing key talent would you suggest? What is unique about KPMG’s approach?

We do not have the answers for all the challenges facing our businesses. Finding the way forward will depend upon our ability to build a safe platform for our people to try new things and learn from the experiences in an iterative manner. Therefore, we need to develop our leadership capacity to support inclusion and diversity of ideas and to build the platform to find the solutions to today and tomorrow’s challenges.

What do you consider “the right type of leader”? How can HR produce the next generation of top leaders?

The right type of leader is less one who points to a far off target and orders the charge and more on who helps people make sense of complexity – ultimately helping others to develop the skills to do so themselves or with their teams. I do not believe leaders are produced by HR. However, I believe HR has a role in helping leaders set the right conditions for people to develop (challenged, diverse input and supported).

How can HR best identify who can lead the organisation in the future?

I do not believe this is the role of HR – rather HR should help leaders determine what skills and experiences future leaders will need and ensure appropriate development and succession options are available.

How should the role of people management be re-designed, and why?

Historical views on hierarchy and business are evolving in response to the complexity of business challenges and the speed of technological change. Accordingly, we need to build different skills to support people operating in these new environments. Of course, this is while also managing the day-to-day operations of the business.