The Diversity Councils at Credit Suisse make a difference around the world
Over the last years, Diversity Councils have become almost standard tools in the implementation of Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). In practice, these committees vary significantly regarding their set-up, objectives and approaches, which consequently leads to different results. Credit Suisse pursues a distinct approach and has established four regional Diversity Councils in their global organisation.
Just like in many other companies, D&I at Credit Suisse shall be owned and driven by the business. But the Swiss practice what they pray in a consistent way. The Swiss Diversity Council is headed by the CEO of Switzerland who is also the Global Head of Private Banking. Moreover, all the heads of the business units in Switzerland are members of the council, which has a total of 14 members. The mission of the Swiss Diversity Council is to drive the change processes needed, start suitable initiatives and monitor success.
Certainly, the active involvement of top managers is not sufficient to guarantee the actual implementation of Diversity & Inclusion. Thus, the Director of Diversity and Inclusion Switzerland connects the Swiss Diversity Council with HR Business Partners and with D&I Officers in each of the businesses who spend 20 to 30 % of their time on implementing D&I programmes, initiatives and tools. They take the regional D&I framework of priorities, targets and approaches to their organisations and serve as sounding boards. „This role distribution mirrors the ‘promoters model’ from innovation management which is very effective for D&I change processes,” Diversity expert Michael Stuber comments; he facilitated the design and implementation of Diversity Councils in various companies.
Based on the success of the Swiss Diversity Council, its model has been implemented in each of the four global Credit Suisse regions.
