Deloitte has decided diversity groups for minority employees are a relic of the past
Deloitte US has decided that it's time to move past diversity groups focused on gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or even veteranship, Bloomberg reported.
Over the next 18 months, the accounting and consulting firm will phase out groups like the Women's Initiative (WIN) and LGBT group Globe, and replacing them with "inclusion councils" where all employees are welcome. It's primarily an attempt to bring the majority - white men - into the conversation.
It's not an abandonment of any progressive principles, WIN's national director Deepa Purushothaman told Bloomberg. "By having everyone in the room, you get more allies, advocates, and sponsors. A lot of our leaders are still older white men, and they need to be part of the conversation and advocate for women. But they're not going to do that as much if they don't hear the stories and understand what that means."
Bloomberg reported that leadership at Deloitte is associating ERGs (employee resource groups), which emerged in the US in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, with Baby Boomers and Generation X, and associating total inclusion movements with millennials.
In June, Deloitte US CEO Cathy Engelbert announced that she was a steering committee member of the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion initiative, where 175 senior executives across the US publicly committed to shared diversity goals.
You can read the full report on Deloitte's announcement in Bloomberg.