Leading with Trust: Path to Impact
#ceoactions
#leadfromthetop
#inclusion
Our Leadership Team is value-driven and has a clear commitment to our strategic focus areas, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. A key strength of their leadership is the trust they place in their teams, empowering them to pursue what they believe is right. This approach ensures that our organization can authentically champion DE&I initiatives with the full backing of the leadership.
When leaders are trusted and supported to implement their beliefs and values, they are empowered to lead with authenticity, integrity, and purpose, resulting in positive impacts on organizational culture, performance, and success.
This Best Practice was first published in the Gender Intelligence Report 2024.
The trust of the Executive Leadership team as the foundation for achieving DE&I goals
In the fast-evolving landscape of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, achieving gender balance has seen significant development. A decade ago, at EY, as in most organizations, there was a lack of widespread understanding and recognition of the importance of DE&I. Many leaders and employees viewed DE&I initiatives as optional or peripheral to core business objectives. Resistance to change was prevalent, with entrenched mindsets and traditional practices hindering progress. Further, there was a lack of clear metrics and accountability frameworks to measure the impact of DE&I efforts while recruitment and retention practices struggled to attract diverse talent.
Engaged leadership and tangible actions
Today, our DE&I journey reflects a bold commitment of turning our aspirations for gender parity into tangible reality. Concerted efforts have been made to shift mindsets and embed DE&I principles into everyday practices and policies. This includes consistent monitoring of identified metrics to transparently track our progress and ensure accountability in achieving our objectives. Leadership across our Service Lines is engaged, driving change and embedding accountability across the organization. Our recruitment and employee development practices include robust bias mitigation strategies, ensuring equitable opportunities for all employees to thrive and advance. Additionally, our comprehensive training initiatives on inclusive leadership and flexible working practices foster a more inclusive and respectful workplace culture.
Change of culture through top-down trust
This transformation would not have been possible without the decisive actions and commitment of our Executive Leadership team. Executive Leadership team members’ visible support lends credibility to our DE&I initiatives. It signals to the entire organization that these efforts are not just optional but are a strategic priority. The Executive Leadership’s trust and belief in DE&I leaders’ capabilities along with its willingness to support their decisions, have created a powerful catalyst for our DE&I journey.
As a result, EY’s DE&I leaders are enabled to take bold and innovative actions, making them more effective in implementing our DE&I strategies and achieving noticeable change. This top-down trust cascades throughout our organization, accelerating buy-in from our leaders and functional areas.
“For DE&I to truly take root, our leaders must understand its importance and be willing to champion it with conviction.”
Robin Errico, Chief Risk Officer
“Investing in our people is crucial. Through our mentorship program, I support individual growth and gain insights into our people’s perspectives, aspirations, and challenges we face as an organization. This commitment to people development and open dialogue is key to our collective success.”
Stefan Rösch, Country Managing Partner
One example of leadership support was the DE&I workshop for the Extended Leadership Team. This workshop aimed to raise awareness of the business case for DE&I, driving buy-in for actions like developing our flexible working framework to accommodate diverse needs, particularly for working parents.
Another example of commitment is the strong support for our company-wide mentorship program. Most of our Executive Leadership team serve as mentors, positively impacting employee development. This also gives leaders a broader perspective on the firm’s challenges and opportunities.
While there are numerous other initiatives embedded in our DE&I efforts and examples of our leadership’s visible support, the foundation for achieving our DE&I goals lies in the trust of the Executive Leadership. DE&I progress is embedded in our leadership team meetings and highlighted in our All People webcasts. Many of the Executive Leadership team also actively participate in DE&I events and have completed comprehensive, inclusive leadership training.
Our toolbox for building trust and gaining support from the Executive Leadership team align with strategic goals:
These strategies will help integrate DE&I efforts into the organization’s culture and operations, securing stronger support from Executive Leadership.
For more information about this Best Practice, reach out to the author:
Margit Vunder
Culture, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead at EY Switzerland
margit.vunder@ch.ey.com
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