Deloitte and Touche, Case Study Example

In 1993, a company called Deloitte counted 7% of its partners, principals and directors as female. In 2010, that number increased to 23% (Adams). The following case study illustrates an effective example of some of the struggles that typify the challenges of making a company such as Deloitte and Touche more female friendly.

Culture and tradition obstruct opportunities to appeal to a female audience. One instance in the case study occurs when of two employees favored for promotion by their male supervisor, one is provided membership to an exclusive men’s fitness club frequented by his supervisor. Providing him with additional opportunities to impress and interact with his boss not afforded to the female employee that is given a membership to a different fitness club that allows women, such a move alienates the female employee. This ultimately provides the male employee with an opportunity to lead an important project.

One article pertinent to this issue describes the need to stay on message when it comes to recruiting females. Positive messaging appealing to women includes socially responsible practices, showing a collaborative approach to decision making (Wheeler). Clearly having management involved with exclusive men’s clubs would send a negative message to female employees.

Another example of culture notes perceived differences the manager cites in choosing male employees over female employees for this important project. As he observes the male employee interacting at the men’s club, he notes an aggressive approach that the manager believes shows confidence. Noting the female employee is less prone to speak her mind in a group setting, this observation could be described as a style difference between men and women with little bearing on who is better qualified to lead a project.

As cited in a recent article, “more women than men stay away from careers with punishing hours that undermine family time (Rosenbluth)”. This aversion to certain careers begins immediately out of college, calling for solutions addressing family needs such as childcare, working arrangements, and incentives for fathers to be as committed to parenting. Such need is illustrated in the case study, where the female employee is stymied by a decision to take advantage of a flex-time program. Such programs present challenges to customers who deal with multiple personnel as contacts, and communication issues between different employees who interact regularly. The program has good intent, but in the case study Deloitte and Touche was poorly set up to ensure the program was successful. Communication needs to be well coordinated with the support of upper management to be more successful.

Female recruitment is an important investment in this case study. A sum of $500 million dollars invested with little success rate equates to a bad investment. The business implications are considerable for this failure. In one study conducted by “Pepperdine University found that the Fortune 500 companies with the best record of promoting women outperformed their competitors by anywhere from 41 to 116 percent (Wheeler)”. If you don’t appeal to women you are alienating roughly half of the talented workforce.

In closing, a culture shift is not easy, and does not happen based on implementation of programs such as a flex-time benefit. It takes constant investment of resources and commitment from the top level of an organization in order to be successful.

Works Cited

Adams, Susan. Making a Female-Friendly Workplace. Forbes. 8 Apr. 2010. <http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0426/human-capital-deloitte-antoinette-leatherberry-womens-initiative-work.html >

Rosenbluth, Frances McCall. For Women’s Career Equality: Parent-Friendly Work, Equal Rights Amendment. The Christian Science Monitor. 30 Jun. 2011. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0630/For-women-s-career-equality-parent-friendly-work-Equal-Rights-Amendment>

Wheeler, Kevin. Women are Shifting the Talent Landscape: Strategies to Successfully Recruiting Them. Ere.net. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ere.net/2011/04/25/women-are-shifting-the-talent-landscape-strategies-to-successfully-recruiting-them>