The Right Thing Our People: Talent

Our people are at the center of all that we do. They are the value we deliver to our clients. They are the commitment we make to our communities and to each other. We start by hiring the best and then provide a development-oriented, high performance culture with opportunities at every turn to enrich their experiences along the way.

The Talent Experience

Our Talent Experience provides a framework for our people to find the tools, training, and collaborative learning – along with a strong sense of community and collective spirit – that are necessary to grow their careers and increase their market value. Is it working? You bet. Deloitte continues to rank on the FORTUNE^® "100 Best Places to Work" list, jumping 34 spots over the prior year. Business Week once again named Deloitte to the top spot in its ranking of the "Best Places to Launch Your Career." And we were inducted into halls of fame by both Training magazine and Working Mother Magazine for our consistent performance over the years. These, as well as numerous other recognitions, are independent indications that we grow the best so we can be the best.

D Street

When asked what makes Deloitte a great place to work, the answer is consistently the same – our people. We've created an environment where not only our clients profit from our talent, but our people benefit as well from the individual and collective skills and experiences of their Deloitte colleagues throughout the organization. Playing a major role is Deloitte's internal networking site, D Street, which has become the place to go to connect and collaborate. More than 15,000 visitors each month check out some of the nearly 20,000 colleague profiles, the latest blogs and photos; and seek those of like interests.

The "Go Green!" community continues to be larger than all others combined. Promising only "one degree of separation," this high-powered social networking tool demonstrates Deloitte's commitment to grow along with our people and keep pace with the changing trends of today's workforce. In recognition of the power of Deloitte's use of social networking, the Gartner Group recently named Deloitte "a leader in the field."

From Ladder to Lattice

Deloitte's signature response to professional growth, Mass Career Customization™ (MCC), acknowledges that not everyone's career evolves in the same way. Through MCC, we are adapting the workplace to the needs of the individual. And the highly positive feedback we've received suggests that it is indeed working. Surveys of our talent indicate that MCC fosters richer, more meaningful counseling discussions. Satisfaction with career-life fit has increased more than 25% due in large part to the greater sense of "permission" people felt to engage in candid dialogues.

And we're leading the way for career-life fit and workplace innovation outside Deloitte as well. During fiscal 2009, we were invited to conduct more than 90 client meetings and workshops and to deliver more than 200 speaking engagements (including significant interest at DAVOS) on the topic of combining a high performance culture with a sustainable career-life fit. We also accepted invitations from the New York Times to publish a Sunday column, from the U.S. Senate Sub-Committee Study Group on Workplace Flexibility, and from TIME magazine to participate in a feature article. And the book, Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace with the Nontraditional Workforce, authored by two of our colleagues, continues as a Harvard Business Press best seller.

New/Enhanced Benefits

Our commitment to our talent means taking care of our people in all situations, which is why we continually evaluate our benefits programs, gathering internal and marketplace feedback, and upgrading our offerings to remain competitive and evolve with changing needs. Along with the comprehensive coverages that our people have come to expect from Deloitte, new benefits to expand career-life fit were instituted during fiscal 2009. These included extended parental leave for both births and adoptions, enhanced emergency back-up dependent day care for children and elder dependents, and a voluntary sabbatical program, which provides fresh options for career development outside of Deloitte.

The Edge/Straight Talk

Navigating turbulent waters is as artful as it is skillful. Through a steady hand on the tiller, transparent, multi-directional communications, teamwork, and well-timed bits of levity, we stand as a committed community of 45,000 strong. Through The Edge, a vibrant two-way channel, our people are encouraged to weigh in with their own thoughts and ideas in response to CEO Barry Salzberg's discussions.

One of the most popular permanent features of The Edge is Straight Talk with the CEO – a multi-layered effort to break down communication barriers and make CEO Barry Salzberg accessible to all of our talent. In addition to answering questions through the site, our CEO has traveled the country hosting live town hall meetings where in-person and conference call participants are encouraged to submit questions of any nature. More than 20,000 people have participated in these sessions either in-person or virtually over the past months.

Deloitte University

As CEO Barry Salzberg has said on numerous occasions, "talent development is non-negotiable." And one of the most tangible symbols of our commitment to developing our talent is our $300 million investment in the creation of Deloitte University (DU), a state-of-the-art physical facility for learning and leadership development. Scheduled to open in 2011, an important component of DU's mandate focuses on our environmental impact. Sustainability and green considerations will be top priorities for all aspects of this project, including design, materials, engineering, and supplies. Guiding our work are the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards established by the US Green Building Council.

Deloitte to the 10th

In recognition of the 10th anniversary of IMPACT Day, our annual day of giving back to the community, we took time to reflect on how we come together to make a difference for each other and the communities in which we live and work. Over the course of ten weeks, we created a two-way dialogue on topics from finance and fitness to career development and charitable giving. It was truly inspiring to see the many blog entries people wrote offering tips on how to recharge, how to advance in one's career, and how to give back to the community, among others. To top it all off, we announced a way to further deepen our IMPACT through the launch of our Pro Bono Fellowship Program.

The Deloitte Foundation

Funded by Deloitte and its retired partners, the nonprofit Deloitte Foundation has been a key contributor to the development of future talent for more than 80 years. Over the past decade, Foundation giving has totaled over $50 million, most recently focusing on faculty and talent shortages. Programs include:

• Accounting Doctoral Scholars – Funds up to 120 new accounting doctoral candidates in audit and tax over an eight-year period. These individuals will focus on educating the next generation of audit and tax practitioners.
• Scholar in Residence program – Currently in pilot phase, the program provides an opportunity for accounting faculty from the nation's leading colleges and universities to gain hands-on experience working for Deloitte.
• IFRS University Consortium – Provides a variety of resources and materials to help educators incorporate International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) into their curricula. To date, 300 schools have registered.
• LIFE Inc. – Offers a comprehensive career resource and awareness program for middle and high school students to explore a wide variety of careers. The program is currently being rolled out to more than 500,000 students.