Diversity,  equity and  inclusion: From strategy to practical execution with Baker Tilly and Oracle Cloud

Your employees are your organization. Providing an inclusive culture for your team members is a critical first step in achieving their happiness, increasing their productivity and their desire to remain with the company. In the long run, of course, having happy, productive employees who stay with the company is also an outstanding formula for profitability and financial success.

Companies generally understand the importance and value of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), but of the participants in a recent collaborative webinar with Baker Tilly and Oracle, roughly 75% came from companies with a DEI program that is still maturing.

How to approach diversity, equity and inclusion 

As Oracle’s Nancy Estell-Zoder, Vice President of Product Strategy, noted in the webinar, the COVID-19 pandemic created a culture of isolation that lasted for many months (and in some senses still lingers today). As a result, we all have felt a lack of inclusion in some way, shape or form over the last 15 months. Perhaps more than ever, it is critical for organizations to empathize with this loneliness as they promote a culture of inclusivity and acceptance for all team members.

Baker Tilly, for instance, recently added “belonging” to our firm’s list of core values. Theresa Nickels, General Counsel at Baker Tilly, who leads our DIBS (Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging for Success) committee, describes belonging as: “We foster a deep level of mutual respect where each one of us feels seen, heard, valued and connected. We commit to a diverse and inclusive workplace upheld by fairness, compassion and equality.” Simply put, we want all of our team members to feel that sense of belonging and to bring their authentic self to the office (or the virtual office) each and every day.

At Baker Tilly, we understand that people and their experiences are unique, and we want to not only incorporate this uniqueness into our organization, but we want this diversity to have an impact on the day-to-day decision-making and the everyday life of our employees and, in turn, our business. In short, we want our firm to benefit from our diversity on a daily basis.

How do you define DEI success? 

Baker Tilly defines success in the DEI space from two perspectives – quantitative and qualitative.

From a quantitative standpoint, we want to measure whether we’re increasing our representation of people of color, of women, and other diverse groups – both in the firm as a whole and particularly at the leadership level. From a qualitative point of view, we want to ensure that everyone in the organization feels like they have an equal opportunity for success. With this in mind, Baker Tilly has developed several key initiatives over the years that comprise our DIBS structure, which includes GROW (Growth and Retention of Women), SOAR (Supporting Opportunity, Advancement and Recognition) and NexGen, which is focused on joining workplace generation. We also have a variety of team member networks that are “for team members, by team members.” Some examples of these are PRIDE, which shines a spotlight on our LGBTQ team members; Moms for Moms, which allows parents to connect and share valuable resources; and Read to Lead, which focuses on the sharing of leadership-driven books and articles.