3 minute read
A message from the CEO
Over the last year, societies, organisations and governments the world over have been coming to terms with the accelerated change instigated by the global pandemic, attempting to transform themselves to meet the evolving and increasingly challenging expectations of business leaders, workers and consumers. It is clear that we have entered a new business age - an age when digital-first, data-driven technological solutions are assumed; an age when flexible, virtual and agile working is the norm; an age when environmentalism and brand purpose are critical for relevance; an age of new industries, new entrepreneurs and new growth opportunities.
RSM has termed this as ‘The Transformation Era’. As a global organisation, we are accelerating our own transformation agenda, while playing an active role in supporting our clients to transform. The Transformation Era is characterised by continuous and accelerated change across a range of business-critical areas. To cater for this, we are proactively building on our agility and resilience by putting in place new technologies to deepen our dedication to quality and trust, evolving our brand and purpose, exploring new services while developing our existing offering, and empowering our people with data and automated systems towards delivering an exceptional client experience.
As a global organisation, RSM’s core objective is to bring our team of 51,000 professionals closer together and to support the provision of seamless cross-border services to clients. While global policies and procedures are fundamental to us working cohesively, true collaboration only comes when the collective shares the same values and vision for the future. RSM Member Firms are united under the same brand and high-quality standards, yet the right cultural fit, the sharing of the same beliefs, and our dedication to transform together are just as important as the commitment of Member Firms to meet these global expectations. RSM’s core beliefs of Understanding, Collaboration, and Ideas and Insight are central to The Power of Being Understood, and are underpinned by shared global values of Respect, Integrity, Teamwork, Excellence and Stewardship.
We are committed to helping clients overcome the challenges they face and to harnessing the opportunities that present themselves as part of the Transformation Era. By forming deep, long-lasting relationships and providing relevant ideas and insight, we empower clients to move forward with confidence. While businesses and organisations around the world are being challenged to transform, we continue to provide innovative, high-quality services and solutions to help them thrive in this new business age.
Audit, one of RSM’s core service offerings, has been a key focus for RSM’s ongoing transformation, with 2021 seeing the further development of RSM Orb, our global audit solution that scales according to the requirements of individual clients. RSM Orb comprises the methodology, software and tools that are adaptable to local legal requirements and compliant with the International Standards on Auditing. The review and approval of RSM Orb is the responsibility of the Global Quality Committee whilst the Audit Centre of Excellence has the role of defining and shaping our audit services of the future.
Significant investment has been made into the development of a new integrated global independence, entity management and service authorisation system for RSM. Once launched – with the first phase of the roll-out coming in 2022 - ‘RSM InTrust’ will further enable timely and informed data-driven decisions to meet ever-changing regulatory requirements. As we protect the public interest, RSM InTrust will safeguard the independence and collective objectivity of our Member Firms and professionals, helping to avoid conflicts of interest in client engagements and empowering our teams, clients and people around the world to move forward with confidence.
The strength of RSM derives from the people that work within the organisation and in fully utilising their different strengths, insights, and ideas. There are many people who contribute their time and expertise to RSM’s various leadership groups and committees that help to steer and guide the provision of services and the way we operate. Special thanks go to all of these professionals for their dedication and commitment to the ongoing development and sustainability of RSM in these transformative times.
Jean M Stephens
Chief Executive Officer
