Deloitte and Touche Case Study

Asses the women's Initiative and workplace culture change. How effectively did Deloitte &Touché manage these changes? How do you feel about the sequence of events?

• In June 1999 the main objective of Deloitte and Touché was retaining the talented women and moving them to partnership at a steadily increasing rate. Most of the leadership jobs in the company were managed my men.
• The company recruited the external advisory group "Council on the Advancement of Women" to get the firm's performance and goals with respect to the Women's Initiative. The members of the external advisory group were very strong, they worked in NYSE, Audit managers, former presidents, Board members.
• Internally, the Women's Initiative would be run by the Task Force on the Retention and Advancement of Women.
• The internal Task Force team had studied why women were leaving the firm at a faster rate than men and developed recommendations to reverse the trend.
• The Task Force hired Catalyst, a research organization and concentrated on

• a male-dominated work environment
• a perception of fewer opportunities for career advancement for women
• Work/life balance.

• To address the male-dominated work environment the Catalyst focused on the behavioral change.
• To address the opportunities for women and work/life balance, Task Force designed and implemented a series of operational changes.
• Workshop: “Men and Women as Colleagues”

The two day workshop was to bring the awareness of gender dynamics in the firm.

The workshop conducted through discussion, video and case studies to understand the differences in perception between men and women in the workplace.

The lessons from the workshop gradually helped people to be aware of the different language that was used for women and men. The presentation skills have improved.

• Operational Changes:

Operational changes were guided by three basic principles.

1. Any operational changes had to be driven through line management.
2. Commitment to the Women’s Initiative both internally and externally.
3. Build an accountability structure.

• The Assignment Process:

The assignment process would determine whether and where there was gender bias and ferret it out. Where the women can fit into the particular assignment and they lead the work.

Based on annual assignment reviews, high-performing women should receive their fair share on the best assignments.

• Flexible Work:

Providing flexible work environment to balance their work and personal life

• 3-4-5 program:

To address the issue of work/life balance, ‘3-4-5’ program, consultants would be out of town three nights a week, working four days at client location and in the home office on the fifth day.