Remedial measures

Indeed, “there is much more still to be done. The shift that needs to occur to really move numbers is more open mindedness to look for staff who don’t look or think the way you think. Businesses need to take a step back and ask: why does my workforce need to look different? Do I have the right talent for the next wave and generation of where the industry is moving?” says Deak Jaros. 

EY’s campaigns challenge gender stereotypes, promote women’s achievement and inspire clients and other key stakeholders to close the gender gap. Cultural change could expedite the attainment of targets in a more spontaneous fashion: one poll published by EY’s Women. Fast forward revealed that company culture may be the biggest barrier to closing the gender gap industry-wide. EY has also launched the #SheBelongs campaign and this needs to be viewed through the lens of a wider concept of inclusivity. “A culture of openness to understand and celebrate difference creates a culture where people feel like they belong, and are then more productive, motivated, engaged and 3.5 times more likely to contribute at their full potential. The most inclusive and diverse teams at EY are the most productive and open to new ideas. We don’t want people who think and look the same way. We appreciate that different perspectives contribute more,” says Deak Jaros. For instance, EY’s 2018 annual report states that, “we analysed 22,000 EY audit engagements and found that teams with a balance of gender outperformed, in both financial performance and quality, teams that were less balanced”.

EY’s inclusion and non-discrimination policies were initially applied in certain regions and have now been rolled out globally. EY is accommodating women by creating different ways for people to work more flexibly, including remotely. “Recruitment aims to hire from diverse backgrounds but the diversity drive goes well beyond the diversity strategy per se with the goal of embedding diversity throughout the organisation. So the innovation strategy, for instance, also needs to demonstrate gender equality and diversity,” says Deak Jaros. 

“Structured leadership training programs, mentoring and succession planning are crucial to find the next generation of female leaders. Staff need a sponsor to support career progression. It is also important to challenge who the successor is and ask not why this person is right, but why this person is not right for a role. This is critical as firms need to think more broadly about talent pools and challenge the natural human tendency to choose the person who looks or behaves the most like you,” she points out.

Through the 2016 launch of EY’s Neurodiversity Center of Excellence (NCoE) in Philadelphia, EY was among the first professional services firms to make a commitment to recruiting and hiring people on the autism spectrum. EY has since opened NCoEs in Dallas and Chicago, where neurodiverse individuals work in analytics, automation and support its Forensics and Cyber practices as professionals who offer vital skills in technology, mathematics and pattern recognition. Their work is driving innovation and improving business processes.

A global drive

US companies are generally perceived to be lagging behind European companies on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) policies and ratings, and this is also true in terms of some dimensions of gender equality. Only 22% of directors on S&P 500 boards are women, against 30.2% of FTSE 100 directors. “Women belong in the boardroom, and certain US states are putting in requirements for this,” says Deak Jaros.

EY looks at diversity globally and across all industries. “Female entrepreneurs make up one third of the global total, but only about 7% of funding went to female founding teams,” explains Deak Jaros. 40% of women have a bank account in G20 and own a third of small or medium enterprises, but only about 10% of them get loans from banks. We want to celebrate female entrepreneurs and the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women programme, which spans 65 countries, is now into its 11th year. It brings some of these achievements to the forefront, and promotes them. This helps the conversation around gender equality, and makes sure the team has the right skills across the board. We want to challenge gender stereotypes and biases, challenge who gets the opportunity, and make sure teams are diverse. Over time that changes the culture of an organisation and the way women are perceived.”

At the current rate of progress, it would take over 100 years to close the gender gap, according to the World Economic Forum. “This projection needs to drop fast,” concludes Deak Jaros.