The business case clearly demonstrates that gender diversity in financial services is good for boards, good for management, good for business, good for the economy and the right thing to do. So why do so many businesses allow valuable female talent to slip through their fingers? In this report we explore what the Big Four consultancies (Accenture, Deloitte, EY and PWC) are saying and doing about investing in women, and how we at E2W are reversing the trend and growing and retaining female talent for the financial sector.

1. It is possible to
retain and grow
female talent.

2. Businesses perform better
when men and women
contribute equally, and
gender diversity leads to
better decision making.

3. There continues to be much news and debate about women,
or the lack of women, at all levels in the workplace – and for
good reason.
The business case clearly demonstrates that gender diversity
is good for boards, good for management, good for business,
good for the economy and the right thing to do. Businesses
perform better when men and women contribute equally,
and gender diversity leads to better decision making. When
equality is achieved, businesses receive the Gender Dividend
(the economic benefits of investing in women).
However, as yet, gender parity is a far-off dream.
So what exactly do industry leaders have to say about
gender equality, and what are they doing to achieve it in
their organisations? In this report, we explore the words,
actions and achievements of the big four (and wider industry),
and share our own solutions to gender diversity.
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4. The big four consultancies, Accenture, Deloitte, EY and PWC, may not agree on everything, but
they do agree that gender parity in the workplace is good for business. They are also investing
in supporting women within their own organisations.
According to original 2014 Accenture research Career Capital, building gender diversity and
empowering women is key to success. As Accenture Chairman and CEO Pierre Nanterme says:
“Gender equality is fundamental for business and the next generation of leaders”.
Pierre Nanterme has set a target to achieve a goal of 40% women in their workforce by 2017 via a
new recruitment process. And to date, around 39% of the company’s 100,000 new hires have been
women, thanks to their Career Capital initiative which includes addressing the gender pay gap.
(They don’t indicate what level of position the female recruits hold, however.)
Deloitte’s Gender Dividend meanwhile, states that fully integrating women into both the workplace
and the marketplace can yield a significant return. By understanding women as consumers, and their
impact on the economy and the bottom line, businesses will increase sales and expand markets.
Deloitte’s report A Diversity Dividend revealed that in 1993 there were only 97 women partners
(just 7% of the entire partnership). By 2014, the initiatives that had been put in place had reversed
the trend and 44% of Deloitte employees were women (again, we don’t know at what level).
According to EY, a better parity between genders (and more gender-balanced leadership) will
lead to a better working world with higher GDP and productivity, better share prices and financial
performance and greater prosperity. As Carl Smith, |Global Talent Leader for EY’s advisory business,
says: “More diverse teams create more dynamic results.”
EY’s investor campaign has increased gender diversity on their boards from 11% in 2006 to 15%
in 2013. Since then, they have initiated an HR system which monitors a range of data, from flexible
working status to whether their people have caring responsibilities. In their 2015 UK and Ireland
Diversity and Inclusiveness statistics, EY report that they have already achieved 33% females at
senior partner level.
PwC also believe that the economic advancement of women leads to greater overall success.
They recognise that employing a gender diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of
solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources.
In their 2015 Annual Report, PwC state they becoming more transparent about their progress to
becoming a fully gender diverse and inclusive organisation. For instance, their business leaders are
accountable for recruiting a minimum of 30% female partners each year, and they have specifically
focused on improving gender diversity in their Financial Services / Risk and Regulation department
by ensuring that 40% are female, as per their diversity data report.
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What are the ‘big four’ consultancies saying and doing?

5. 3
“Gender equality
is fundamental for
business and the next
generation of leaders.”
Pierre Nanterme, Accenture Chairman

6. Flexible working,
job shares, childcare
schemes and women
returner programmes
are having some
positive impact,
but is it enough?
The big four all appear to be moving towards 30% on their boards – EY have even exceeded this
target. But in management positions all firms are struggling to even get near to 20%.
So why is gender inclusion struggling on this rung of the ladder? Can we expect firms to go well
beyond 20% in management positions? Are there enough women who are willing to juggle careers
and motherhood to take this beyond 20%? Are businesses able to offer these women (and men) the
environment to make the compromise between parenthood and career worthwhile?
Flexible working, job shares, childcare schemes and women returner programmes are having
some positive impact, but is it enough? Could the industry be more imaginative?
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The focus needs to change

7. So what CAN be done, if anything, to increase gender diversity on all rungs of the career ladder?
It’s important, first of all, to accept that the motivations and challenges are complex, and as such
there is no single solution to the challenge. Here are three key learnings we have gathered over
recent years:
We also believe that it is fundamental to the debate on gender equality to ensure that women
play an equal role in the workplace and the wider community, and not create a divergent track
for them.
What we believe can be done
Work isn’t just ‘work’ – for many women work is more than just
a means to earn a living – it’s a vocation. Their career is a high,
if not top priority.
Mono-cultures don’t work – businesses can only reap the
benefits of a diverse team by truly building a diverse team,
and not by making everyone fit into, and comply with, an
existing mono-culture. Diverse talents need to thrive across
all roles in the business.
Policies will fail without cultural change – careers websites,
women’s groups, recruitment policies and targets will all fail
without true cultural change. Some firms are investing more
in telling us they are diverse (and that other firms should be)
than they are in actually making the cultural changes that they
need to reap the business benefits.
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8. Every year, thousands of career women leave their industry never
to return, because they can’t balance the demands of a career
and being a parent. And while change may be happening, it’s too
slowly or late for this statement to be gender neutral.
This exodus of female talent from the economy has a major impact
on business, society and the lives of the women who sacrifice their
career for full-time parenting. And while this exodus continues it
will, we believe, be impossible for many firms to go far beyond
the 20% gender balance in management roles and receive the full
Gender Dividend.
We lose thousands of women every year
– at great cost
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9. We recognise the value of women and understand the challenges of parenthood, and for the last 15
years we have provided parents with a framework that gives them choice and an environment that is
conducive to their needs. We have harnessed the talents of investment bankers, asset and investment
managers, private bankers and more who would otherwise have left the industry or found barriers
when they returned to work after a career break.
Most of these parents want to continue working but, for the moment, climbing the corporate ladder
and/or their actual role are less important to them than the framework and environment that enables
them to continue.
What’s different about our framework and environment? While it includes the ‘usual’ flexible
working type initiatives it goes far beyond that. For example:
• When we considered our location, our priority was to be near our teams’ homes, not our
clients’ offices.
• We have built a culture based on rewarding and focussing on outcomes, not hours worked.
• Our culture and team are built on an understanding of, and are supportive of, the ‘outside
work priorities’ that our team face.
• We don’t expect consultants working on our client sites to move from one project directly
to the next without a break. Our framework and culture allow them to have time off – 3,6,12
months, whatever they need.
• As a result, the women who work for us continue play an equal role in our clients’ and our
own business.
We recognise that diverse teams have diverse needs and have built a framework, environment and
culture that supports those needs.
As needs change, so do career priorities. And given time and the right support, women’s career will
eventually become a high priority once more – but only if they have been given the opportunity to
continue it.
Indeed, while research shows that 93% of women who leave their careers eventually want to
return, only 40% are able to return to full-time professional jobs. And when they do, they are
often penalised and forced to accept less demanding roles – with all that entails. By comparison, over
80% of the women we have helped to continue in the industry have been able to returned to
city-based careers with financial institutions, or continue their careers with us as members of our
consultancy team.
And our business continues to flourish, thanks to the value that our exceptional and unique talent
pipeline delivers to our clients.
How we are reversing this trend
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10. We believe that gender equality can be achieved (and businesses can reap the reward of the Gender
Dividend), but only if they focus on retaining women. And to do this, they need to look beyond just
flexible working, home working and women returner programmes – they don’t go far enough and
are not innovative enough to retain most of the lost talent.
Our refreshing, creative, ground-breaking approach enables women to continue their careers while
adding value to the industry. By harnessing this resourceful talent pipeline, we are also able to help
our finance sector clients address many of their pressing challenges, including consultancy and
operational cost reduction, lower risk and better outsourcing and offshoring outcomes, as well as
retaining the skills and talents of some truly exceptional people for the industry.
When you build an environment that is supportive of women we have found that it attracts more
women at different career stages and seniority and this becomes self-perpetuating.
And if we can do it, why not the big four, and industry as a whole? We have proved successfully that
it is possible to not just retain women – creating a win for them, a win for our clients, a win for the
industry as whole, and a win for E2W.
Gender equality CAN be achieved
Our refreshing, creative,
ground-breaking approach
enables women to
continue their careers
while adding value to
the industry.
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11. U.K. - Mark Freed
U.S.A. - Pamela Ryan
Suite 1, 40 Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4YU
Email: mark.freed@e2w.co
89 Headquarters Plaza North, Suite 323 Morristown NJ 07960
Email: pamela.ryan@e2w.co
Singapore - Samantha Clugston
302 Orchard Road, #07-03 Tong Building Singapore 238862
Email: samantha.clugston@e2w.co
Switzerland - Victoria Nyberg
Seefeldstrasse 69, 8008 Zurich
Email: victoria.nyberg@e2w.co
For more information, contact:
About E2W
E2W is the go-to place for women to manage their financial services careers and for
financial institutions wishing to claim the Gender Dividend.
E2W enables financial institutions to collect the Gender Dividend (the economic benefit of
investing in women). By exposing our clients to E2W’s exceptionally talented network of
professional women, they are able to leverage high calibre resources with the specific skills
and perspective needed for the job. Clients achieve better and more cost-effective outcomes
than ever before. E2W provides outsourcing to dedicated offices, professional services and
contingent to permanent recruitment.
E2W’s unique business model harnesses women’s experience, knowledge, skills and passion for
the industry. Our consultants have long and established financial markets careers. Clients can
leverage our services on a temporary, project or permanent basis either onsite or working from
one of E2W’s global offices. Women whose talents may have been lost to the industry can
bring a new dynamic to your business.
We do this because it makes good business sense for you and us. It helps an industry
struggling to collect the Gender Dividend, delivers better outcomes to our clients, and
positively changes the lives of our team.
We are a certified (WeConnect) women owned and run business.