A shared value around the world

Strength from cultural diversity is one of Deloitte’s shared values, and we recognize that our diversity represents an enormous opportunity. Long before our competitors and the larger business community took actions to support diversity and inclusion in the workplace, Deloitte member firms took the lead. Initiatives for cultural change based on local market priorities were launched, and, in many instances, targets and goals were set to measure progress, and leadership was held accountable for results. Around the world, Deloitte member firms went public with their intentions, and they gained recognition as thought leaders in business and societal change. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) leadership formed the Global Retention of Women (GROW) Council to drive a worldwide effort to increase the representation of women in leadership positions as a first step toward creating a more inclusive workplace.

The following examples represent a selection of our active diversity and inclusion efforts in more than 100 countries:

Deloitte Australia: Since 2000, Diversity and Inclusion has been tied to Deloitte Australia’s talent agenda to create an environment where all people, no matter what their background, will know that they have the opportunity and support to achieve their objectives. Inspiring Women is Deloitte Australia's program to support and develop women across the entire span of their career, and the program has strong leadership commitment from the organization’s CEO Giam Swiegers.

Deloitte Canada: With strong leadership support from CEO Alan MacGibbon, Deloitte Canada not only advances diversity and inclusion goals internally; as a founding member of the Canadian Board Diversity Council (CBDC) the Canadian member firm also seeks to improve the diversity of boards of Financial Post 500 organizations and federal agency, board, commission and crown corporations. Deloitte Canada recognizes that the business environment will continue changing. Ensuring everyone has equal opportunities is more than just the right thing to do, embracing workforce diversity and creating an inclusive environment where all colleagues can contribute their full potential yields both a competitive advantage and a business opportunity. Read more about Canada’s strategy.

Deloitte France: Diversity is at the core of Deloitte France’s organizational culture and concept of citizenship and corporate responsibility. In addition to a very active women’s initiative, called Capital Féminin, the corporate responsibility agenda focuses on education and skill building to narrow the social class diversity gap.

Deloitte Japan: The Tomatsu Win initiative (TWin) supports and facilitates a balanced life for all professionals and has evolved from the women’s initiative launched in 2005. Deloitte Japan is also a member of the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development, which offers programs for women’s advancement and work-life balance.

Deloitte Middle East: The Deloitte ME Retention and Advancement of Women (DRAW) program launched in 2006 is part of the member firm’s diversity and inclusion strategy. The objective: to identify the issues and challenges facing women in the member firm and to improve the retention and advancement of women, particularly to leadership positions. In 2006, Rana Salhab was also admitted to the partnership, and was the first woman partner at any professional services organization in the Middle East.

Deloitte Netherlands: In 2008, Deloitte Netherlands renewed its commitment to increasing its female talent pool and the number of women in decision-making positions. One of the initiatives to support the strategy is the Women Partner Director Program, a program in which female senior managers and directors are coached across function by top management of Deloitte Netherlands. In November 2009, CEO Roger Dassen signed the Charter Talent naar de Top, an initiative of Dutch government in cooperation with Dutch companies. This verifies that Deloitte Netherlands is also measured externally on its achievements in gender diversity on an annual basis. Deloitte Netherlands introduced MCC in 2009.

Deloitte Southern Africa: As early as the 1980s, Deloitte Southern Africa introduced its Transformation Strategy and programs to support the advancement of black professionals, and then broadened their diversity and inclusion efforts in 1999. Futhi Mtoba, Chairman of Deloitte Southern Africa, holds the honor of being the first African Black woman to be appointed as a partner by one of the Big Four accounting firms in South Africa. Targets for both black and female partners have been set for 2012, and each business unit is required to set annual stretch goals that are monitored by the Transformation Board and senior leadership. Part of this extraordinary journey has been captured in the book, "Experiences in transformation."

Deloitte United States: The Initiative for the Retention and Advancement of Women launched in 1993, followed by the Diversity & Inclusion initiative. Both programs helped Deloitte United States to gain recognition as an employer of choice and led to the rollout of initiatives for workplace change and a set of shared values at member firms around the world. In 2004, the U.S. member firm launched Mass Career Customization (MCC), a structured approach for identifying career-life options and matching personal and professional needs with the businesses’ goals. MCC programs are now up and running in North America, Europe, and Asia.