Equity consulting

High-performing professional and financial services organisations recognise that they can no longer afford to ignore the economic upside of a diverse and equitable workforce, especially given the scrutiny on EDI and corporate culture from regulators, investors, clients and prospective employees.

‍

The clients we work with have typically made thoughtful EDI interventions including coaching, training, policy revisions and changes to internal systems and processes – but are still not seeing enough of a shift in terms of diverse talent progressing through the ranks. The initiatives they have implemented to date are valuable and no doubt well-intentioned, but we would argue that they only address part of the problem.

‍

Fundamentally reshaping the behaviours and embedded norms that make up a ‘culture’ is not an overnight task. It is also not a task that can be completed just by changing firm policies and collateral – it involves a ‘bottom up’ approach, working with the people who make up the firm, as well as ‘top down’. We often refer to this work as “the fish tank”.... Imagine we take the fish (your people) out of the tank for a little while, give them a polish with some training or coaching, but then return them to polluted water (your organisational culture) again. How can this alone create lasting change?

‍

This is where we bring to bear our considerable experience in gathering meaningful qualitative, thematic data to better understand the lived experience of diverse populations within their organisation. Through interviews and focus groups, we will take an inside-out approach to surface the unwritten ‘code’ by which diverse talent progress – or encounter barriers. Our findings are translated into practical, organisational specific recommendations and - to the extent you would like us to - we work alongside you to prioritise, design and act on these recommendations.