Why investing in people isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s good for business

Every industry and every transformation has this in common: it’s the people who make the difference. 

They’re behind every innovation, every complex project, and every client success story. 

Thinking, adapting and working together to deliver meaningful progress in an increasingly accelerated and interconnected world. 

As businesses face rapid change, whether through technology, regulation, or geopolitical tensions, it’s clearer than ever: organisations that thrive support their people to do the same.  

Here’s how we continue to place our people at the heart of ours.  

After over 37 years at Deloitte, I can look back at some incredible roles and opportunities with the firm, from the early audit years in Belfast to my current firmwide people and purpose leadership role. 

I want exactly that for our people: to not just to have a role, but to build a career with the firm. That means offering opportunities to develop their skills, try new things, and take ownership of their growth, whether that’s through formal learning programmes or secondments to mentoring and on-the-job learning.  

Our early careers pathways, from apprenticeships to graduate scheme, continue to evolve so that we’re reaching people from a wider range of backgrounds and equipping them for long-term success. 

We’re also investing heavily in upskilling across the business. Whether it’s through our GenAI learning programme or leadership coaching, it’s so important that our people are equipped with the skills and confidence to meet the demands of a fast-changing world.  

And in June this year, we marked the one-year anniversary of Deloitte University EMEA, with over 20,000 colleagues from Europe, Africa and the Middle East passing through the doors of this fantastic learning facility – here’s to many more! 

Our enhanced parental leave policy offers up to 26 weeks of fully paid leave for all new parents, regardless of gender or how they become a parent – whether through birth, adoption or surrogacy. This is a major step toward building true equality in caregiving and helping families thrive without compromising their careers.  

We’ve also expanded our policies to support those navigating caring responsibilities, fertility treatments and the menopause, so we can meet our people’s needs with compassion and respect. You can read more about the impact these policies are having here.

We remain committed to flexible working, trusting our people to work when, where and how they want rather than mandating set days in the office – this helps them deliver their best work for our clients while finding a balance that works for them. Our people continue to tell us this makes a huge difference, regardless of whether they’re a parent or not.  

Building an inclusive culture in our UK firm remains an unwavering business priority for me and our UK Executive – it enables us to create a workplace that is reflective of society and helps all our people reach their full potential. 

Having met both our 2025 gender and ethnicity partner targets a year early, we have now set targets for 2030 to continue to increase the representation of those from underrepresented demographics at senior levels. You can read more about these in our 2025 Pay & Inclusion Report. 

Targets are important, but so are targeted interventions. Some of my highlights this year include celebrating 15 years of our Women on Boards Programme, running a second cohort of our popular ‘Retreat’ for our Black Heritage colleagues as part of our Deloitte Black Experience, the launch of our new Social Mobility Community, and the ongoing success of our Future Leaders Programme for women and ethnic minorities.  

Finally, I really enjoy working with our 12 diversity networks. It’s joyous to celebrate our people and the work they do is so important, whether it’s providing a safe space for colleagues, organising vibrant events or helping shape our policies.

Investing in people isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s good for business. Building a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace benefits everyone. Because when our people feel like they belong, they are better able to thrive – and deliver amazing impact for our clients and wider society.  

The world of work will continue to change. New technologies, new skills and new expectations are already shaping what the next decade will look like. But what won’t change is the importance of our people – their ideas, creativity and drive. I’m looking forward to continuing to listen to what matters most to them so they can lead us into the future.