In 1993, Deloitte launched an initiative aimed at retaining and advancing women and building an environment where everyone can thrive, advance, succeed, benefit from one another, and successfully integrate their personal and professional commitments. Since then, Women's Initiative (WIN) has made significant progress and is today ingrained into the very fabric of our culture. WIN was launched in the India offices in 2006 with a vision to drive marketplace growth and create an inclusive culture where the best choose to be.

As the number of women increase in the workforce, it is critical to ensure we nurture this segment and provide equal opportunities for growth and advancement, to enhance innovation and provide the best solutions and services to our clients. An organization that understands how to attract, retain, and advance women will be in a better position to capture a diverse pool of talent, reduce attrition, build balanced leadership and ensure sustained parity at the workplace.

WIN is a strategic business initiative and all businesses have a WIN lead with many of these being men. WIN focuses on three key drivers of success: building the pipeline for women's advancement, creating an inclusive culture and providing enablers through programs and policies supporting a diverse workforce. Our sponsorship program goes beyond mentorship and ensures we have men championing WIN. We have also introduced a path-breaking and science based gender awareness program to enhance greater understanding and appreciation of gender differences at the workplace.

Further, the organization provides a structured framework to avail flexibility, through a Mass Career Customization (MCC) program. WIN is chartered to create an environment that helps women grow at Deloitte. For example, all hiring decisions are based purely on assessment of skills and finalized only after women profiles have been duly considered.

Deloitte is one of the very few organizations to have a full-time Diversity (WIN) Leader. There are gender assessments conducted on a periodic basis across all levels and in all business functions. The assessment includes women headcount across businesses, gender ratio in ratings and promotions, gender ratio in assignment to key business projects, gender gap in attrition across levels and tenure, and finally a review of the recruitment ratios and processes.

Recruitment, retention and advancement parameters are audited by the leadership team. Business leaders sign off on the above parameters and therefore spearhead programs in the areas of accountability, representation, and governance.

We invest in an inclusive workplace not only because retaining and advancing women is the right thing to do but also because it makes good business sense.

Amita Kasbekar is WIN Lead, Deloitte Consulting India