A shared value around the world

As early as the 1970s, Deloitte member firms launched initiatives for cultural change based on local market priorities, and, in many instances, targets and goals were set to measure progress, and leadership was held accountable for results. Around the world, 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 created a global governance structure to drive a worldwide effort to support a diverse and inclusive workplace. Gender diversity was the first priority. Globally and locally, diversity efforts broadened to include people with disabilities, visible minorities, sexual-orientation, multicultural competence, and other dimensions. Deloitte's vision is to be the place where all talent has access to the opportunities to succeed, and our diversity and inclusiveness are the standard of excellence.

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

The Sunday Times ranked Deloitte UK among the Best 100 Companies to Work For in 2012 . That's one of many employer of choice awards the member firm has earned for its commitment to respect, inclusion, and diversity. Partners and employees champion their differences and collaborate to better serve clients through Deloitte Network affinity groups . With organizations like Stonewall, Race for Opportunity, Business Disability Forum, Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion and Business in the Community, the member firm supports diversity across the UK. Their Women in Leadership board-led, mentoring initiative connects senior women with senior practitioners to help accelerate their progress to leadership. Deloitte UK also supports the government's Think, Act, Report initiative on gender equality, integrates diversity in recruitment strategies, and has made diversity management an integral part of the business reward and promotion process.

Since 2000, Diversity and Inclusion has been tied to Deloitte Australia's people 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.

With strong leadership support, 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.

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.

At the January 2012 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Deloitte Japan publicly confirmed its commitment to gender diversity and the advancement of women to leadership. Yoriko Goto, Financial Services Leader, AERS, Deloitte Japan—the first female leader on the Deloitte Japan Executive Board—was one of five official delegates representing Deloitte. To further promote diversity as an essential business strategy and support efforts to develop women leaders, Deloitte Japan is a member of the Japan Women's Innovative Network (J-Win). The non-profit organization's flagship programs—Action on Organization and Action on Women—spotlight practices that yield positive workplace changes and leadership development. Both programs and J-Win's consultation services also make the case for diversity as a key driver for gaining a competitive advantage and sustainable growth. With few women in leadership positions in Japan, female role models and mentors are in short supply. J-Win's Female Members Networks bring executive, senior, manager, and high-potential women together to build the connections and skills to advance in their careers. Read more about J-Win.

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.

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, then 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.

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, then 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."

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.