Scott, Detroit
As a Senior Manager at Deloitte, Scott works in the Enterprise Risk Services practice, assessing compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, working with management on risk mitigation, and optimizing information systems for manufacturing clients. Two years ago, he took on a project outside of his regular client work when he agreed to serve as site leader for an IMPACT Day project at Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan. The project – sorting and packing food -- was rewarding but the leadership at both Gleaners and Deloitte realized the volunteers had something far more valuable to contribute: their professional skills.
After a series of meetings between Gleaners’ top executives and a cross-functional group of partners from the audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory service functions of Deloitte, the team agreed that the food bank would benefit most if Deloitte developed a strategic plan for it to better manage its volunteer relationships. And what Scott came to learn was just how much value the volunteers themselves stood to gain by thinking about contributing their time in a new way.
Scott adapted his skill set to the project and he used it as a learning laboratory for junior staff to think creatively about how to help an organization change the way it functions. Involvement in this unique endeavor ultimately served as a highly developmental experience for the project team as they honed basic consulting skills, including interviewing for data collection, benchmarking, and analysis. It also gave them an opportunity to bolster their presentation skills in a real client situation.
All in, the project team contributed more than 400 consulting hours and according to Scott, “It was an eye-opening experience…it made us realize how fortunate we are; sometimes you don’t realize who hunger hits. This was an opportunity for all of us to better understand the realities facing our community, and that broader world view makes us better professionals.”
Moreover, Scott does a lot of on-campus recruiting and he’s often asked if Deloitte supports the community. His personal experience is very convincing. “I don’t just say, ‘Deloitte does a lot of great things.’ I am able to say, ‘Deloitte does a lot of great things, and here are the projects I’m personally involved in…my team is contributing what it does best and because of that, we’re making a lasting difference on the issue of hunger in southeastern Michigan.’”
Most importantly, the project fulfilled a genuine client need. “Once it’s implemented, it’s going to make a real difference. Every dollar we can save Gleaners through an improved process is a dollar more they can use to feed people,” said Scott.
