Capco joins consulting heavyweights in Valuable 500 scheme
Capco has become the latest consulting industry member to sign up to a campaign to encourage the inclusion of disabled people in businesses. Launched at last year’s annual World Economic Forum in Davos, the Valuable 500 hopes to push for global businesses to putting disability on their agenda – with the historical ‘Big Five’ of Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG and Accenture having already signed up in 2019.
As is the case with the business world in general, the World Economic Forum has increasingly found itself expected to find solutions for ethical and sustainability issues, as well as economic ones. Last year, this saw the summit used as a launch-pad for a new initiative aiming to boost diversity and inclusion for disabled members of the workforce.
Research by EY had previously found that disability was still woefully absent from the majority of board level discussions globally – with a majority of 56% of global senior executives rarely or never discussing disability on their leadership agendas. Seeking to combat this, Caroline Casey launched The Valuable 500 at Davos 2019, seeking 500 global businesses to commit to putting disability on their board agendas.
Casey commented, “It’s no longer good enough for companies to say ‘disability doesn’t fit with our brand’ or ‘it’s a good idea to explore next year’. Businesses cannot be truly inclusive if disability is continually ignored on leadership agendas. I urge businesses to join The Valuable 500 movement to take a stand against being ‘diversish’ – and instead be the tipping-point for change, and unlock the business, social and economic value of disabled people across the world… The potential of 1.3 billion should not be ignored.”
The historical Big Five of Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG and Accenture (formerly part of collapsed professional services giant Arthur Andersen) were each quick to sign up for the proposal. Speaking at the time, Julie Sweet – who has since become Accenture’s Global CEO – applauded The Valuable 500 for “shining a light on the opportunity to bring more persons with disabilities into the workforce.” She added that Accenture was “accelerating disability inclusion” as the matter is “core to our strategy of being an innovation-led company.”
One year on, Capco has become the latest member of the consulting industry to join the campaign. According to a release from the firm, the move comes as Capco looks to strengthen its diversity commitments. The firm noted that it would continue to focus on the promotion of individuality within its organisation, as “every person can bring something different to the table.” This includes those with visible and invisible difficulties, including neuro-diversity and mental health.
Michael Ethelston, Capco’s UK Managing Partner, said of the news, “We will continue to focus on embracing difference and uniqueness – both internally and as we face our clients. In 2020 we will identify, develop and implement strategies that address our most pressing inclusion needs, with a disability inclusion roadmap put in place by the start of 2021. In particular, we commit to prioritise a review of our recruitment processes, training and development, and working environment to ensure that they are inclusive and accessible and to identify where changes and reasonable adjustments are required."
