Jens Hartke is 45 years old and Director of Corporate Governance Services. He lives in Hanover and Bielefeld and is a true Lower Saxon. In this interview, he explains why he has put down roots here, both professionally and privately.
What connects you to Hanover and the Lower Saxony region?
Jens Hartke: I was born in Bielefeld, studied there and came to Hanover in 2001 for my first job after my second state examination as a lawyer at KPMG. In this respect, I am very rooted here, but I have also ventured outside the box: before I started in Hanover, I worked for KPMG in Johannesburg for a year and travelled to almost every continent for international projects on short-term assignments.
What do you like about the region and its people?
Jens Hartke: I like the open nature of the people here. That applies to friends, colleagues and also clients. You get honest feedback on your work. The people here are down-to-earth and pleasantly reserved. You can also see that in the company management, for example: we have large corporations, large medium-sized companies, family-run companies with a very long history here in the region, and most of them are characterised by reserved management personalities.
I really appreciate this restraint, even in my private life. I have a somewhat extravagant hobby: restoring and driving classic cars, and there are many like-minded people in Bielefeld and Hanover with whom you can meet and exchange ideas, but you would never organise a big rally here to attract attention.
What is your professional expertise and what relevance does it have for companies in the region?
Jens Hartke: As an expert in the field of corporate governance services, I help companies and their owners, management boards and managing directors to reduce their liability. I support and advise on the proper implementation of management systems in the areas of risk management, compliance management, internal control systems and internal auditing.
Many BGH rulings in the area of compliance make it necessary for companies to prove that they have established structures that help to prevent incidents. We support companies in this endeavour. We are being approached more and more, especially when it comes to new regulatory issues such as the General Data Protection Regulation, the Money Laundering Directive and tax compliance management systems.
We want to provide companies in our region with even better information on these topics and therefore also organise events on this subject, which are very well attended. This shows us how much demand is increasing in this area. I believe that we can offer even more services in this area, particularly in terms of corporate governance, and earn the trust of companies.
If the client then shows us where the non-compliance issues were in the past, we can use this to set up preventative measures for the future. The clients then see that this is effective and works and we get this back - in the form of feedback and in the form of follow-up orders. And that's what makes the market here so attractive for me and my team.
Which target group are you addressing?
Jens Hartke: Initially, it was mainly highly regulated companies, i.e. public limited companies and large corporations. Increasing regulation has led to smaller companies, to which this regulation applies, recognising how important these management systems are in the area of corporate governance - because they now also have to maintain a management system in the area of data protection, for example. That's why my target group today is companies of all sizes, with a focus on corporates.
What exciting developments are there?
Jens Hartke: For us, our new branch office has created a new spirit in the team, that's one thing. But we also realise that we are now perceived differently on the market, namely not just - and I don't mean this in a negative way at all - as a long-established auditor and tax consultant, but as someone who provides innovative support to a company and also deals with regulatory issues in an innovative way. To this end, we are also reorganising our approach to the market and are making inroads into companies that have not previously perceived us in this way: as a company that can provide security in corporate management and can advise and support in the implementation of the relevant systems.
Why is KPMG the Clear Choice for Lower Saxony?
Jens Hartke: There's a very clear answer: because we can provide comprehensive advice to clients, especially in the SME sector, because we are innovative with our Ignition Centre in Hanover and not only develop new ideas for clients and targets ourselves, but also do this together with them.