INSIGHTS KATHY CATTON
What's the difference that makes the difference? Research shows us that companies with high ethnic and gender diversity have a higher than average market share. But to achieve the benefits of diversity, organisations need to create environments where people can be themselves at work. Kathy Catton talks to leaders within Deloitte and Stem (specialist rural accountants), recent winners of Diversity Awards NZ™, and asks what’s made the difference?
T
here’s no one right way to approach diversity. We all have different backgrounds, experiences and working styles, so any diversity or inclusion strategy needs to consider how to become champions of equality, diversity and inclusivity given everyone’s backgrounds. For Deloitte, its multifaceted approach to diversity and inclusion focused on accelerating the representation of women in senior roles and fostering an inclusive environment. The New Zealand branch of the multinational professional services 30
HUMAN RESOURCES
SUMMER 2020
network has 1,300 staff throughout the country. While diversity and inclusion have been a focus for the organisation since 2013, the progression of women to senior roles was slower than anticipated, due to long-held perceptions about the role of women in professional services. Women perceived difficulty juggling family and career and were often replaced by men when they left. On top of all this, the consulting services focused heavily on technology offerings, a traditionally maledominated area.
Sponsorship of senior female talent by partners and the introduction of a Women in Leadership programme have encouraged women to stay with the business through to senior level.
Seeing the need to accelerate the representation of women at senior levels, Deloitte introduced a series of initiatives under the umbrella of the ALL IN strategy. An important part of the strategy was modernising the parental leave policy to recognise the importance of shared care, supported by a flexible working policy. Eight weeks’ paid partner leave is available for up to two years following the birth or adoption of a child.
In the past financial year, 57 per cent of hires at manager level and above were female, compared with 36 per cent in the previous year. In the consulting business unit, which is strongly focused on technology services, 54 per cent of hires at manager level and above were female in the year to May 2020, up from 16 per cent in the year to May 2019.
Head of People and Performance Sally Smyth says, “By removing barriers to both parents looking after their children and encouraging greater levels of shared care, Deloitte would improve outcomes for women and foster a more inclusive workplace.”
Since the first year of the Women in Leadership programme in 2017, 14 of the attendees have been promoted to partner and a further 15 have been promoted to director. The ALL IN recruitment strategy identified important ways to improve outcomes for recruiting women to Deloitte.
Sally Smyth says ALL IN received the full support of leadership and has led to a significant increase in the number of women in senior leadership roles. We know that what gets measured, gets done. As with other areas of its business where Deloitte wants to succeed, we set goals that are driven from the
