Taking our women further
Creating an inclusive leadership team.
We are committed to developing our people and creating a culture where everyone, regardless of gender or background, has the opportunity to succeed.
In 2017 we launched our Women's Empowerment Programme which aims to create a flexible and supportive environment, ultimately enabling more women to reach leadership positions.
It is widely recognised that a more diverse leadership team is good for business. We want to better represent our people and our clients, believing that smart decisions today will create lasting value for our Crowe team and their clients tomorrow.
Women in Finance Charter
In March 2019 we signed up to the Women in Finance Charter as a commitment to improve gender diversity among or people. At Crowe we are actively working to have a balance of 30% women at partnership level by 31 March 2027.
When we signed up to the Charter, we had 24% female representation, and our target was 30% by March 2024. As of September 2024, we have 23% female representation in senior management, so last year we revisited our target and extended this to 30% by March 2027. Bearing in mind our future growth plans and our current female pipeline, we feel that this is achievable.
Our business has achieved significant growth over the last two to three years which has meant the partner team has grown quickly, resulting in our female representation reducing. We believe that this is because our current pipeline of emerging female leaders needed more time to develop, and female external hires were not on the market or keen to move in the current economic climate. Over the past 12 months, we have had several new female partners and are expecting more over the next 12 months.
We remain focussed on continuous improvement and the implementation of new practices and approaches to help us reach our target, including:
- rolling out our peer mentoring network for our aspiring female leaders
- delivering our leadership training and coaching for our female talent pipeline, alongside a new leadership programme and data review to retain our female talent
- developing our return-to-work programme
- providing health and well-being support for women specifically around menopause, baby loss, body confidence and other female health issues
- encouraging allyship.
This will be under detailed and continuous review over the course of the next 12 months.
The importance of female leadership
Rebecca Durrant - Partner, Private Clients
"I want to encourage our people, whatever their gender, to be the best they can be. I would like us to identify our future leaders and make sure they have a strong support network to achieve their own success".
Jaki Mitchell - Partner, Business Solutions
"Challenges have always been juggling work and home life but Crowe has always been hugely supportive in allowing flexibility. It’s not a competition between work and home life and if you are happy in both, your output will be greater".
Crowe Cast
Our Women in Business series explores the connection between diversity and business growth. In each episode, our National Head of Private Clients, and UK’s Women’s Empowerment Programme lead, Rebecca Durrant, will interview exceptional women in business, taking a deeper dive into their lives and careers.