IN March, the world as we knew it shifted and our plans and normal ways of working changed overnight. For Deloitte, the onset of Covid-19 and our adherence to the government guidance meant successfully transitioning thousands of our people to remote working in a matter of days, including almost 1,000 colleagues in Belfast.
The change meant adopting new ways of working and new technologies, supporting our people as they adjusted to the complexities of working arrangements that sometimes had to fit around family and caring responsibilities, while also putting an increased focus on the mental health issues these new circumstances created.
Like every other business out there, we had no play book to help us chart our way through the pandemic or guide our decision-making. Our immediate focus was ensuring the health and safety of our people, working with clients and suppliers to minimise disruption and supporting our communities to address challenges.
Working remotely, Deloitte staff continue to play a key role supporting clients in the private, public and third sectors in their response to Covid.
We ensured our society partners – including NOW Group and the Simon Community – were equipped to pivot their business models to help those most in need, while also protecting jobs and our own long-term resilience.
While those early weeks and months were difficult, it’s now clear they were just the beginning of what will be a longer road back to recovery.
For leaders in all parts of society, we’re now at a point where it’s essential that we continue to manage the pandemic but at the same time build for the future and look at what needs to change.
Covid has placed a greater focus on what being a responsible business means. Across the firm we are helping clients consider their impact on a range of areas, including climate change, ethical supply chains, the safe storage of data, and responsible investment and lending strategies.
The pandemic has also shone a spotlight on organisational weaknesses and challenges. Around the UK, we have supported clients to embed financial, operational and reputational resilience into areas such as the supply chain, workforce, digital and cyber security.
Deloitte has long been a big advocate of Belfast’s potential and that hasn’t changed with the onset of the pandemic. In Northern Ireland in the year to end of May, we recruited 74 BrightStarts, 33 graduates, 18 placement students and brought 45 people into our business through Academies.
Our belief in the talent and ability that exists here has been reflected in the investment we’ve made in growing our workforce, but also the partnerships we’ve formed and the city-wide initiatives we’ve supported. Our Belfast operation remains on course to be Deloitte’s largest UK office outside of London by next year.
But we have to acknowledge that there is a new and urgent need for all of us who believe in the city to work together to make sure the momentum that’s been building for the past decade isn’t lost.
So while we should absolutely lock in the best of lockdown – the support for our people, the great collaboration with clients, the reduced environmental impact – the question is, how do we accelerate some of the game changing ideas we’ve been talking about for some time?
A green city, a digitally-connected city, a vibrant city with world class infrastructure, from extensive cycle networks to a modernised sewerage system that will enable the development of Belfast to continue.
We have the qualities we need to build for the future and we have resilience in spades, but we now need to raise our heads and work together. The future isn’t pre-ordained but we need to go on the offensive and define what we want it to be.
:: Jackie Henry is Deloitte's senior partner in Northern Ireland
