Think, Act, Report: EY
Demonstrating a commitment to transparency and encouraging our leaders to improve our diversity.
Setting targets to increase the diversity of our leadership
Our UK and Ireland business has committed to targets of 30% female and 10% black and ethnic minority (BME) representation in our new partner intake (comprising both internal promotes and external hires), measured on a 3-year rolling period. We also have a longer-term aim to achieve these levels of representation on both our leadership team and within our wider partner population. In addition to these targets on new partner admissions, we have also introduced proportional promotion and recruitment targets at all grades. These are enforced on a ‘comply or explain’ basis.
This commitment is driving us towards a more diverse and representative talent pipeline, which is important to ensure our goals are both achievable and sustainable.
In addition to these representation targets, we have also implemented a variety of programmes aimed at ‘levelling the playing field’ for both our women and our ethnic minority people, 2 examples of which are:
Programmes aimed at ‘levelling the playing field’
Career Watch
A 2-year targeted sponsorship programmed to develop and retain high-potential women and ethnic minority people, each participant is matched with a partner who advocates for their career progression over the 2-year period.
Career Watch won the 2014 ‘Tapping into Talent’ award at the annual Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (enei) awards.
BME Leadership Programme
Designed to enhance the leadership presence and impact of high-performing ethnic minority senior managers and directors aspiring to become successful leaders within the firm.
The BME Leadership Programme won a Race for Opportunity award in 2011 for ‘Widening the talent pool - Progression’.
We are seeing progress, with real commitment from our leaders and open, transparent measurement which is helping chart both our future pipeline and our current representation. Think, Act, Report and its focus on reporting as a way to move the agenda along is a valuable tool for all employers on their diversity journey