Insights: 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?

There’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 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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 top. Increasing the representation of women at a senior level was no different.”

Deloitte’s approach to diversity includes:

• Kiwi Dads: an initiative aimed at normalising fatherhood in the workplace

• Lifestyle Leave policy: staff can purchase up to eight additional weeks of leave a year to meet lifestyle needs

• gender goals for female representation at partner level and leadership positions set out to 2025

• Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard: extensive quarterly reporting to the management group and Board on indicators such as attrition and hiring by gender and the gender pay gap

• gender pay gap analysis as part of salary and promotional rounds

• Women in Leadership programme and Sponsorship programme

• recruitment strategy: designed to leverage brand, and targets to improve outcomes for recruiting women.

For Stem, looking at alternatives to the traditional nine-to-five workday was what led them to strike gold. Adopting a six-hour working day has turned out to be an inspired move for the Te Puke chartered accounting firm, improving productivity and providing a point of difference for recruitment.

The team of 14 previously operated on a traditional 7.5 hour workday, but, in January 2018, the book The Five-Hour Workday: Live differently, unlock productivity, and find happiness, by Stephan Aarstol, proved a catalyst for changing workday hours to improve everyone’s work–life balance.

“Each December we met our IRD filing targets in 20 days so everyone could leave for their Christmas break, when in normal months it took 28 days,” says Director Trudi Ballantyne. “Could we extend this concept to an entire workday – 365 days per annum?”

The firm decided to try a six-hour workday, divided into two, threehour blocks.

Team members were told they need only work six hours a day but would still be paid for 7.5 hours. They would work in two, three-hour blocks with an unpaid half-hour break in the middle, and to maintain team cohesiveness, everyone had to work core hours of 10am to 2pm. An expectation was established that more hours might sometimes be required if a deadline was looming.

Before implementing the new workday, the team worked to improve several key performance indicators. “The whole team was committed to this as they could see the benefits of working a shorter day but still getting paid their full wages,” says Trudi.

Because the office would close at 3pm, a neighbouring business provided a pick-up and drop–off point between then and 5pm. Clients were still able to contact company directors by phone after 3pm, and were assured that, if meetings were required after 3pm, they would be accommodated.

“The feedback from clients was amazing,” says Trudi. “They all thought it was a fantastic initiative and wished they could do something similar in their businesses.”

From the first six-hour workday on 1 October 2018, Stem worked to maintain good connections among its employees. “We did not want the office to become a factory where it was all work and no play,” Trudi says.

Fortnightly activities at 3pm every second Tuesday were introduced, such as walking together, art classes and online game competitions.

“These activities have successfully maintained and strengthened the bonds between our employees,” says Trudi.

The ability to hire and retain excellent staff – the main motivation for implementing the shorter workday – has already brought benefits in the quality of recruits being attracted. “It has given us a point of difference from our competitors,” says Trudi.

With the six-hour workday, Stem’s profitability and efficiency have improved. No team members have so far been asked to work extra hours, and everyone has more time for themselves. Parents who used to struggle to take time off to attend school assemblies or parent–teacher meetings now have the flexibility they need, and people can schedule their appointments – haircuts, doctors, dentists etc – outside work hours.

“The work–life balance for all team members has dramatically improved,” says Trudi. Initiatives like this can not only improve work–life balance but make it easier to recruit and retain staff and encourage innovation in the workplace.

There may not be one significant difference across all organisations, but one thing is for sure: the key to unlocking the economic benefits of diversity is about creating a culture of inclusion.