Black Action Plan

Three years on from launching our Black Action Plan, we have reflected on the steps we have taken, consulted with our Black colleagues and used insights from our Inclusion and Ethnicity Councils and Engage for Change survey to help us understand the impact our actions have made and where we still need to do more.

These insights have shown that while we have made some good progress, particularly around creating space for conversation, we need to do more to materially change our Black colleagues’ experience and ensure consistency. To increase our focus and drive momentum across our firm, we have evolved our Black Action Plan into The Deloitte Black Experience.

We are focused on:

Experience:

• Supporting and encouraging our leaders and people to have meaningful conversations about discrimination and racism through our ‘Can You Hear Me’ sessions. These are focused conversations on the experiences of Black colleagues, with leadership driving the narrative around discrimination and racism.
• Improving the onboarding experience and key moments within the employee lifecycle for Black colleagues.
• Delivering educational sessions on mental, physical and financial health, as insights show these can disproportionally impact those from a Black heritage. Sessions already delivered include those on polycystic ovary syndrome and managing anxiety at work. We have also run a blood donation drive for Sickle Cell disease.

Sponsorship:

• Improving access to sponsorship and mentoring opportunities for Black colleagues and providing practical tools to support sponsors. For example, through our Future Leaders Programme.
• ‘Ask the Leader’ sessions that help Black colleagues better navigate our firm while providing opportunities to network with senior Black role models and learn from their career success.

Promotion:

• Monitoring the application of senior promotion criteria, alongside a continued focus on succession planning for our Black talent.
• Using data to identify specific skillsets where we lack Black representation and taking action to improve this. For example, we sponsor Black Tech Fest, a virtual three-day festival celebrates Black culture, showcases innovation and creates pathways for underrepresented talent in the technology space.

Inclusion and diversity are at the heart of our People and Purpose agenda. We want to continually cultivate a culture and an environment where our people have a strong sense of belonging and can be their true authentic selves and reach their full potential. But we know we have more to do.

In May 2020, the murder of George Floyd kick-started widespread global protests and conversations about the treatment of the Black community. For our firm, the Black Lives Matter movement was a moment for reflection. And it highlighted the need for a specific focus on our Black colleagues. We hosted a series of listening sessions for our people across all parts of the firm with a focus on hearing from and understanding the experiences of our Black colleagues.

Our Black Action Plan was launched via a firmwide webinar to 20,000 of Deloitte’s people. The plan included actions to improve every aspect of our employee experience, as well as how we work with our clients and wider society.

On the future of the plan as part of our wider People & Purpose Agenda, Jackie Henry, Managing Partner said:
“I am proud of the efforts of our people in uniting behind and delivering our Black Action Plan. We are building the foundations to ensure that our firm is reflective of society, but acknowledge we have much further to go and more work to do.  We’ll continue to develop our colleagues, track our progress against our targets and embed inclusive behaviours into our culture and ways of working.”