Creating a Diverse Talent Pipeline
Broadening our talent lens to recruit top talent with excellent experience from diverse sources.
There is a clear business case for a diversity and inclusion focus within organisations and in today’s economic climate we aim to support talented people from diverse backgrounds to join our firm. Barriers to employment exist in many forms but with some focus and support, they can be overcome to open doors for individuals who may otherwise find it hard to access the professional services sector.
Access to top talent is central to achieving our firm’s ambition. Ensuring that talent is from as diverse backgrounds as possible has been part of our strategy for some time. Our Transition Year DEIS targets and University Access partnerships are two examples of this focus. Recently we developed two new programmes, the Development Internship and the Return to Work programme, to encourage talented individuals to join our firm, while providing support to overcome potential barriers they might face.
Development Internship
The Development Internship Programme offers a six-month internship with Deloitte to individuals who have submitted their application for international protection/refugee status and are awaiting a final decision. Individuals seeking international protection/ refugee status are fleeing their home country because it is no longer safe for them to be there. This could be due to a fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, membership of a particular social group or a real risk of suffering serious harm if returned to their country of origin.
To date, Deloitte has partnered with the Irish Refugee Council, Business in the Community, and DLA Piper to offer eight intern placements across our business, with a strong programme filled with learning and development opportunities.
As a nation we need to get the right talent into the right roles, and this means we need to look to immigrants to bring the skills Ireland needs. If migrants don’t feel their contribution is recognised, we risk being unable to retain them in Ireland, and indeed in Deloitte.
Our development internship is a tailored programme to support individuals going through a difficult process to gain access to employment and meaningful work, where they otherwise would likely not progress through the early recruitment stages due to visa requirements. It supports them to use their education and skills, while also integrating learning about our culture here in Ireland.
The Development Internship has been a huge success with one of our Interns already being kept on past the initial six months. The impact on the individuals involved is striking with one Intern saying:
Confidence was a major issue for me. One challenge I overcame was presenting to the team on my internship. I slowly developed my confidence in communicating with different managers, team members and across other Deloitte offices. I overcame my fears and realised that I was in fact able to succeed in this
Return to Work programme
We recently launched a pilot Return to Work programme, aimed at attracting people who have taken an extended career break of 18+ months (but sometimes up to 15 years or more). This supported programme aims to re-integrate this cohort into the workforce. We currently have eight individuals on the pilot programme, which kicked off in May. They are spread across several different departments in the firm.
We partnered with Women Returners to design and deliver the Return to Work programme, providing supports such as a bespoke induction, tailored external coaching with Women Returners and regular networking opportunities, along with our usual new joiner supports.
The programme involves a six-month fixed term contract, with the aim of making permanent offers to those who have been successful in their placement and where there is a business need.
Reintegration into the workforce is a key transition for any returner and joining with others “in the same boat” has proven key to the success of the programme. This programme allows Deloitte to tap into a new talent pipeline with excellent experience. It also helps us work towards our gender balance goals, with the majority of the candidates who applied to the programme being female.
We look forward to growing this programme further over the coming year.
Key contacts
Partner, Audit & Assurance
