Last summer, in light of Pride month, we talked about diversity and inclusion at the workplace from an intersectionality perspective. We concluded that everyday actions matter, more allyship is needed, and most importantly, if your organisation’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy doesn’t include the reality of all individuals at your company, then it only reproduces discriminating patterns that come at the expense of the marginalised.
For this last blog of the year, we will show you how we at PwC celebrate the cultural diversity of our People and —as a little treat— we’ll share with you their comfort food for their end of year celebrations! Get ready for our little step-by-step recipe that will for sure bring everyone to the table. After all, that is what we have in common: everyone loves to eat and it’s possible that most cultures began with people sharing a meal together.
Step 1: A pinch of awareness and acknowledgement
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Cultural diversity is critical to building a healthy, inclusive, growing organisation. As one of the top 10 biggest employers in Luxembourg, with 3,100 people employed from 85 countries, we have to be aware and acknowledge that not every person at our firm is the same. We are a set of individuals, with different backgrounds, cultures, nationalities, lifestyles, identities, opinions and beliefs, approaches to solving problems, ways of working, and views of personal and professional success.
Our culture is an inextricable part of us and adds value to the working environment within the firm, as well as influences the services we deliver to our clients.
The objective of our Inclusion & Diversity strategy is therefore driven by the following value: nurture a working environment where a diversity mindset is ingrained, and inclusion is the norm. We encourage the right behaviours to create an inclusive culture, which allows our People to be their truest selves.
Step 2: Don’t forget the measurements!
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There is no overview on how you’re doing and where you are going without a proper analysis. This is why we have adopted a data-driven approach that we systematically use in everything we do. It allows us to have concrete statistics that are discussed with leadership and are used to put in motion our actions.
This comes hand-in-hand with our Predictive Analytics programmes, which help us to anticipate how the future looks based on the current status of the firm, and what we can do to get where we want to be: a place of equity. With these two we can both raise awareness and prompt inclusive behaviours and actions linked to recruitment, retention and promotion cycles in the firm.
Speaking of numbers: the annual Global People Survey, which is the cornerstone of our PwC Continuous Listening Programme, provided us with important insights on the perception of our People.
When it comes to Inclusion & Diversity, the perception of the participants improved by +12% within a year, meaning that 72% of our People believe we have an inclusive and diverse work environment and culture. Even if the overall results are positive, we still are motivated to achieve even better results.
Step 3: A spoonful of action
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In the past year, we translated the pledge for more inclusiveness into a series of actions, focusing on creating awareness among our People about the inclusive mindset across all the dimensions of diversity that we expect and want to promote.
From ensuring the accountability of our leaders, to rainbow inclusion badges and organising different events throughout the year, such as our cake baking contest for Diversity Day, we are committed to bring our diversity to life. In our instagram show “From all around…to Luxembourg”, we give the mic to our People who now live and work as expats in Luxembourg, to hear their stories and learn from their experiences.
As a plus, the inclusive mindset we foster inside our walls is carried to the outside as well! In this regard, we are tremendously proud of 90 of our People who volunteered at this year’s Bazar International de Luxembourg, the largest international fundraising event in Luxembourg that aims to financially support and promote charities in all corners of the world.⠀
Step 4: Add flexibility to everyone’s taste
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Through flexible working hours, home-based working and initiatives such as “Working from abroad”, where we offer our People the right to work from another country outside of Luxembourg during the summer and winter holidays (in consideration of the legal requirements of course), we reacted to a need for flexibility that had become more and more apparent not only since Covid.
Indeed, these measures were especially valuable to those of us that have their friends and families living in another country, allowing them to spend more time abroad and stay connected to their cultures, and who needed the flexible working hours and locations to use at their discretion.
Step 5: Enjoy!
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Before we let you discover and enjoy the recipes of our People from different parts of the world, we want to leave you with a quote from Andres Tapia: “Diversity is the mix. Inclusion is making the mix work”. We believe this to be very true. And besides, have you cooked a perfect meal with only one spice?
Recipes
Join us on a culinary trip around the world with recipes of our People.
It is an old social mechanism : we are reassured by people who look, think, talk like us…diversity is really twisting our minds by inviting us to consider the individual differences as a plus in the human experience. Let’s jump out of our comfort zone daily, it is a rewarding journey!
