Teneo - what we are doing to drive inclusion and improve the experience of women within Consulting

Hear from Teneo's Women @ Teneo Consulting on what we are doing to drive inclusion and improve the experience of women within Consulting

Management Consulting has historically been a male-dominated industry, and Women @ Teneo Consulting focuses on creating an equal and inclusive workplace for women. Our strategy to improve the corporate culture is based on three pillars –1. career development, 2. team bonds and 3. supportive policies. Successful implementation of these initiatives is important across the career lifecycle, from recruitment to retention and promotion.

 

Recent initiatives against these pillars include:

W@TC ran a Women’s Leadership workshop in partnership with Aspire Leadership, designed to provide participants at all stages of their careers with a variety of practical skills to approach gendered challenges in the workplace. The day also provided tools on how to bring our best selves to work and develop our unique leadership styles.

The workshop was followed by an individual 1:1 coaching session with Aspire Leadership to explore our own professional challenges in more detail.

“The workshop and coaching sessions have motivated me to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zone, and I’ve come out of it with the tools and knowledge necessary to help me achieve my professional goals.

One of the biggest highlights of the day for me was the camaraderie between the participants as we shared our personal experiences. This emphasised that despite varying seniority and experience in the industry, we all faced similar challenges and obstacles as women.”

An informal panel-type event to facilitate knowledge sharing and allow junior team members to hear from some of our women in leadership positions. We discussed their career paths, the challenges they’ve faced, and techniques they’ve used to overcome them.

The event was held in a private room in our local pub over drinks and nibbles, and was an excellent opportunity for the team to catch up with each other in a relaxed atmosphere.

The W@TC team put our creativity to the test at a ceramics class - as a team full of novice potters, we were excited to dive in and get our hands dirty!

After some initial challenges with the spinning wheel and moulding of the clay, the session ended with painting our array of cups, plates, and bowls (only possible with varying amounts of help from the instructors!) We discovered our, now glazed and fired, masterpieces a week later and even recognised some of them...

Whether we should trade in our laptops and swap creative slide writing for creative ceramics-making, we’ll let you be the judge of that…

Teneo’s approach to hybrid working has evolved, and a key factor in the approach is an enhanced ability to flex work hours around breaks during the day. People often feel less comfortable when outdoors in the dark, and women and minority groups disproportionately feel this – recent events (e.g. the Sarah Everard & Sabina Nessa cases) have heightened the feeling for many people.

To create a culture of inclusivity, we have leveraged flexible ways of working wherever possible to help everyone feel comfortable doing everyday activities (e.g. exercise, commuting and running essential errands) and introduced the Daylight breaks policy.

The Daylight breaks policy is embedded into our policies, case kick-offs and weekly wash-ups to ensure that every individual feels empowered to carry out everyday activities when they feel most comfortable.

For more details on Teneo's diversity and inclusion programmes and initiatives please click here.