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Deloitte named a Top 50 Employer for Gender Equality

29 June 2023
Deloitte UK has today been named in The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality list for the eighth year running. The list, which is published in partnership with Business in the Community (BITC), recognised Deloitte as one of the top 50 organisations that continues to prioritise gender equality. 
 
Deloitte in the UK has recently launched new policies to support gender equality and inclusion, including enhancements to its parental leave policies, bereavement and baby loss leave, and a new menopause policy. It also introduced cover for assisted fertility treatment and gender dysphoria as part of the firm’s private medical insurance.
 
This year’s Deloitte UK partner promotions saw 40 (39.6%) women being promoted to partner increasing the total number of Deloitte’s women partners to 386 (29%).
 
Jackie Henry, managing partner People and Purpose at Deloitte, said: “Our place in The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality list demonstrates our focus on creating an inclusive workplace, where everyone can thrive at work. I am particularly proud of the range of enhancements to our existing family policies, making sure that we are taking care of our people at all the important life stages.
 
“We are already seeing the impact of our Future Leaders Programme, which supports women and ethnic minority colleagues in their progression and development journey at the firm and ensure there are more people ready for senior roles. To ensure greater accountability, we are also including diversity metrics in senior leaders’ scorecards this year.
 
“We have seen further progress in the representation of women amongst our most senior leaders. It’s important that we continue to build a diverse firm, with an inclusive culture, and authentic, visible leaders at every level.”
 
Charlotte Woodworth, Gender Equality Director at Business in the Community said: “Whilst organisations such as Deloitte are doing a brilliant job at reducing gender inequalities in the workplace, it is evident that across all organisations there is far more work to be done. There are still too many employees who face barriers in the workplace, from a lack of sponsorship to caring responsibilities. The cost-of-living crisis, following the pandemic, has made these challenges even more noticeable.
 
“It is encouraging to see that this year, we have seen the highest number of applications to the Times Top 50 compared to any year so far. Deloitte being recognised as a Times Top 50 employer for gender equality shows that it is committed to addressing these issues so that inequalities in the workplace can be a thing of the past.”
 
Mary Macleod, Chief Executive at Business in the Community said: “We know that when women succeed, the UK succeeds, enabling our communities and planet to thrive. Deloitte is one of the companies leading the way in building a culture where women can reach their full potential by showing real commitment to addressing gender inequalities in the workplace.”
 
ENDS
Note to editors

Details on family policies changes for Deloitte in the UK include:

Enhanced parental leave
  • Deloitte has increased the length of its enhanced maternity, adoption and surrogacy pay from 16 weeks’ full pay and ten weeks half pay to 26 weeks full pay. In addition, Deloitte’s people are eligible for enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption from their first day of employment at the firm.

Bereavement leave

  • Deloitte has increased bereavement leave for immediate family members from two days to two weeks paid leave. For parents who experience the loss of a pregnancy or baby, their entitlement has changed from two weeks’ paid leave after week 24 of pregnancy, to two weeks’ paid leave for loss at any time during pregnancy.

Menopause Plan

  • Deloitte has introduced guidance to support those affected by the menopause. Deloitte’s new single cover Private Medical Insurance, effective for all its people from 1 January 2023, includes a ‘Menopause Plan’, offering anyone going through the menopause tailored medical support.

Inclusion at Deloitte

  • Deloitte has embraced diversity, ensuring “conscious inclusion” within its succession, progression and promotion approaches to eliminate bias and ensure equality of opportunity at all levels.
  • Deloitte offers additional targeted developmental support (including sponsorship and workshops) to high potential individuals. They review future promotions through both gender and ethnicity lenses to eliminate bias and track and monitor progress against our inclusion goals.
  • Recruiters and hiring managers are trained on bias and inclusion. They also outline expectations of key suppliers regarding diversity and inclusion.
  • Deloitte has increased the number of women interviewers and increased female representation at student events. We run specific events to attract women, for example our Women in Tech Network work with schools and universities to attract more women to technology careers.
  • Deloitte offers Return to Work opportunities for those that have been out of the workplace for more than two years. This includes its year-round supported hiring route. 94% of returners have been female, the majority being a parent or carer.
  • Since the summer of 2021, as part of our post pandemic approach to hybrid and flexible working, Deloitte’s people have been able to choose where they need to be to do their best work, in balance with their professional and personal responsibilities.
  • Deloitte has announced that its UK people are now able to choose when they take public holidays.
  • UK offices have been transformed with more collaboration spaces and the latest audio and video technology to better enable hybrid meetings.
  • All new and recent joiners benefit from a £500 budget, which was provided to our UK people at the start of the pandemic, to ensure they have a full range of equipment to properly support them whilst working from home.
  • Deloitte has released two new toolkits to support people in the firm to become better allies, the Allyship Toolkit and the Better Balance Framework promoting gender allyship.
  • Deloitte launched its ‘Future Leaders Programme’ in 2022. This programme aims to improve representation of women and underrepresented ethnic groups in leadership roles. The first cohort of 500 (76% women) ran in 2022 and consisted of training, networking and peer learning. The taught element of the two-year development programme ended in March 2023 with plans to run the programme for a second year currently underway.
  • Deloitte has long been a champion of agile working, with extended flexible working in place since 2014. To support this further, they have developed the Ways of Working Framework (which they have open-sourced to support other organisations in having inclusive conversations) – a simple tool to help everyone talk about our individual needs and how they can balance our preferences with those of our colleagues. 
  • Deloitte has been certified as one of the 2022 ‘UK’s Best Workplaces for Women’ by Great Place to Work, recognising our efforts in better supporting and empowering women through our workplace culture. 

About Business in the Community

Business in the Community (BITC) has been running The Times Top 50 for 13 years, and this year, received more applications than ever before, with a significant number of new organisations appearing on the list. The name of the list, previously The Times Top 50 Employers for Women, has been updated this year to better reflect that addressing gender equality in the workplace requires achieving equality for all, and requires engagement from everyone. BITC gender equality work focuses on equality for all genders and those who do not identify as a gender.

This year’s applicants were assessed on the work they do to remove gender inequalities in the workplace, from flexible working to family friendly policies to pay, reward, and progression at work. All applicants submitted a case study alongside their application, evaluating their approach and impact in the field of gender equality.

Business in the Community is the UK’s largest and most influential responsible business network dedicated to building a fairer and greener world together, supported by His Majesty the King for over 40 years. We inspire, engage and challenge purposeful leaders to take practical action to mobilise their collective strength as a force for good in society.