Women have left no stone unturned to prove that they are equally capable of doing things as are men. Showing confidence in the capabilities of women, top consulting and strategy firms are looking to improve gender diversity within their ranks. These firms include Boston Consulting Group, Grant Thornton, KPMG, EY and Deloitte.
Employing an average of 35-40 per cent women across the board, these companies are now aiming to achieve equal representation, however, their progress has been slow paced so far. This shift towards bringing in more women in the teams is because having more females makes for stronger teams, leads to better decision-making, greater creativity and fresh innovations, according to the firms
“Increased representation of women in leadership brings diverse perspectives and innovation to the table while enhancing an organisation’s profitability at the same time,” EY talent leader Sandeep Kohli told Economic Times.
Having gender-diverse leadership is a key strategic imperative for an organisation to compete and thrive, Kohli added. Further, stakeholders are also demanding that they build a diverse, equitable and inclusive company.
The women strength at EY India and Global Delivery Services is over 40 per cent combined.
EY India follows the ‘No regression’ principle – which means all efforts at hiring, engagement, or retention should only take the women’s ratio forward. “Our women’s representation has seen an upward trend year after year,” according to Kohli.
What are the initiatives taken?
In order to create a more inclusive work environment for females, these firms are offering flexible work, creche facilities, career planning, mentoring, identifying training and development needs of high-potential employees and creating targeted programmes, along with nanny allowances.
KPMG India
Another consultancy major KPMG has introduced initiatives like the returning women programme, ring-fenced maternity return ratio, career-pathing and providing opportunities for women to build awareness of their own blind spots, such as events for women leaders to share their experiences at external forums.
“We believe that inclusion, diversity and equity (IDE) must flourish throughout our organisation for us to succeed. Diversity at lateral hires is about 42 per cent; campus hires at 49 per cent; overall diversity in the firm – over 40 per cent as of October 2022,” said Sunit Sinha – partner and head of people, performance and culture, KPMG in India.
Grant Thornton Bharat
Grant Thornton Bharat boasts of about 35 per cent women employees, with 15 per cent of them being in tier I, 29 per cent in tier II and 37 per cent in tier III roles. What helped the firm attract and retain the right talent is not only financial incentives but also providing a flexible work environment and access to key opportunities. This helped them eventually having more women leaders, opined partner and COO Prashant Mehra.
Campus hiring is also an important plank to strengthen the pipeline of women and these firms are onboarding anywhere between 45-50 per cent women from campuses.
Deloitte
For example, accounting firm Deloitte has teamed up with specialised recruitment firms to recruit more women. Moreover, it also collaborates with universities and colleges to hire more women specifically in tech roles. “Our campus numbers are heartening as we manage to get a lot of women professionals. We also focus on ‘women-only’ colleges to ensure we have a healthy balance of gender at the workplace,” SV Nathan, chief talent officer at the firm, shared with ET.
BCG India
At BCG India, about 47 per cent of its campus intake joining in the next one year are women. Now, the company is aiming to achieve 50 per cent representation in its overall workforce, up from 38-39 per cent currently. The women representation at the director and above level is around 17 per cent.
“We have a dedicated task force to ensure we provide equal opportunities for pivotal roles,” said Neetu Vasanta, managing director and partner, BCG India, adding that they offer mentorship, flex leaves and comprehensive maternity support.
