Further efforts needed to reinforce client-influenced diversity efforts: report

Australia's Big Four firms are being urged to take further steps to ensure that their diversity policies are effectively embedded following evidence of strong client influence on these businesses.

A study led by Dr. Matthew Egan, a Senior Lecturer in Accounting, Governance and Regulation at the University of Sydney, looked into the experiences of Big Four employees who belong to the LGBTQI+ community through interviews between 2018 and 2019.

"The findings suggest that while firms are increasingly supportive, the reality for many LGBTQI+ professionals is still one of navigating complex and sometimes contradictory expectations," Egan said in a statement.

"It's clear that further efforts are needed to ensure that diversity policies are effectively embedded and translate into everyday practice."

Client influence on diversity

According to the study, the Big Four firms have already adopted progressive positions to support diversity in response to changing societal attitudes regarding sexuality and gender.

"There has been a clear move towards greater inclusivity, driven by societal changes and a recognition of the value of diverse perspectives," Egan said.

However, he noted that the "enduring influence of client expectations in consulting often complicates" employers' desire to be more progressive.

It discovered that LGBTQI+ professionals at Big Four firms continue to face pressure to act differently to manage client relationships.

"Staff are required to continually adapt and negotiate their identities depending on the client," Egan said.

There are cases where employees would speak openly about their sexuality to attract more progressive clients, as well as instances where they remained silent to appease more conservative clients, according to the study.

But he noted that there are cases when the Big Four firms would willingly drop clients who were unwilling to adapt to their changing values.

"The concept of 'the client' still holds significant sway, sometimes at odds with the firms' internal diversity policies. Nonetheless, we found that any privilege the more conservative clients might once have enjoyed was eroding," Egan said.

Egan's study, published in the Accounting, Auditing, & Accountability Journal, is based on 56 in-depth interviews with LGBTQI+ staff and allies in Australia across the Big Four firms: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC.