Strengthening the Strategy around Diversity

This week, I had the honor of engaging in an essential dialogue centered on how optimistic people feel about the state of diversity and inclusion.  Disappointingly, not one person in the audience indicated they were optimistic but what we all agreed on is that NOW is the time to double down on our diversity and inclusion efforts.  It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do for business.

Too often we say we care about diversity and we cite to the millions our companies spend on diversity programs. As executives, entrepreneurs and innovators, we must individually rise to the challenge each and every day to make a collective impact. Within PwC, we’re continuing to make strides toward achieving even greater diversity, both for our firm and our industry, through initiatives such as Aspire to lead, a global series on leadership and gender equality, and our Start internship, which is designed to help college students develop foundational skills for the business world.  But it doesn’t stop there.

On the heels of tragic incidents in the news during a volatile summer, our US Chairman, Tim Ryan, was struck by the depth and immediacy of how these situations affected our people--and how much they wanted to connect with others to process what was unfolding. He was moved to organize candid conversations across the country -- to have a difficult, but necessary dialogue about race in the workplace. It was a bold first move for someone who, at the time, had been in his position less than 30 days. This was our leader rising to the challenge, but it was also about PwC, as a diverse organization, coming together as one.  From this, our efforts have multiplied.  Partners across the US have been actively engaging in conversations with their teams about the state of our nation and the too often tragic events that have a profound impact on all of us.  We are focused on ensuring each member within our organization is understood in a more meaningful way and that it is understood that PwC is a place where we value all people.

At Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit, this was the focus of my conversation, as it’s been at the forefront of business and culture a great deal this year.  Specifically, I discussed how to make businesses stronger through diversity.  The straightforward answer lies in each of us holding ourselves accountable by answering the tough questions and acting on what we find.   

As a community, we asked ourselves:  Do we expand beyond the “usual suspects” to collaborate on work assignments? Are we mentoring staff with experiences different than our own? Are we helping to seek out talent with diverse perspectives – and not just diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds? Are we aware of any unconscious biases?  These are the conversations we need to continue to have and the questions we need to continue to ask ourselves.

Diversity is not just about race or ethnicity, it’s also about ideas and experiences, considered judgment and perspective. This is the diversity that makes a business stronger, which may make all of us stronger.  Following my session, I am optimistic about the number of women willing to collaborate and rise to the challenge – hopefully in more ways than one.

As a first generation college student, I stumbled early in my career trying to navigate internal politics, while building a lasting network of peers, mentors, advisors and sponsors.  Today, as a partner and a leader within PwC, I embrace those early experiences as motivation to learn, grow and act with intention when it comes to advancing diversity and inclusion.   

Over the past several years, I’ve worked with my local leadership and universities throughout the city of Chicago to establish the ‘PwC Honors’ program. This program engages area schools with large student bodies of racial and ethnic minorities to give their top students a glimpse into accounting before they officially start their careers. Since 2012, PwC has hosted hundreds of students from the University of Illinois at Chicago, DePaul University, Loyola University, Roosevelt University – and yes, my alma mater Robert Morris University. This is one way that I’m answering these questions and contributing to building a more diverse workforce.

We as business leaders must individually have a commitment to, and accountability for, contributing to building diversity within our respective business areas.  Research has shown that 85 percent of organizations agree that diversity results in the most innovative ideas and there are a myriad of benefits including smarter teams that have the potential to drive greater market growth. Bottom line: We already know that diversity is a competitive advantage and as businesses, we need to better reflect the communities where we reside and the clients that we serve.

While we need to be asking ourselves the right questions, we as leaders and individuals also need to be accountable for answering them correctly and with action, nurturing diversity across our organizations.