OUR CULTURE STORY | AUTUMN 2019 30
BE YOURSELF CHAPTER ELEVEN
SOCIAL MOBILITY Given that our Managing Partner joined BDO straight from school in 1987, after working in Walthamstow Market and choosing to join the workforce rather than go to university, you’d expect us to care a great deal about social mobility. And we do. We: X X Were a founding partner in the creation of the social mobility drive called ‘Access Accountancy’ in 2014. This continues to provide greater opportunities to talented UK students from disadvantaged backgrounds. X X Were the first major accountancy firm to offer the higher apprenticeship in audit. X X Expanded our long-established school leaver programme. Both our graduate and school leaver programmes are now aligned to the Level 7 Accountancy/ Taxation Professional Apprenticeship standard. Upon completion, our trainees will then qualify as an ICAEW, CIOT, CIMA or ACCA member and will also hold a Level 7 Accountancy / Taxation Professional Apprenticeship, which is the equivalent to a Master’s degree. X X Take part in a range of mentoring and internships with organisations specifically targeting inner city schools and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. X X Ran our first BDO National Apprenticeship Service broadcast last year, which more than 80 schools streamed to their A level students. X X Launched a Summer School for A level students, which helps to bridge the gap between students who have previously had access to work experience and those who haven’t.
ETHNICITY Rashpal Virdee , Head of Employee
Engagement and football superfan, regularly travelling across Europe and South America to watch the beautiful game One of my favourite stories this year is the growth of our BAME Network and the enthusiasm particularly of its co-founders, Irene Temu and Aminata Pungi. They’ve created both an active online community via the firm’s internal social media site, Yammer, and some great ‘live’ community events – including Bantz With BAME, where people get to network with each other in a new way at BDO. The Network also hosts a regular internal podcast called ‘Shine A Light On’, where they tackle real issues – including a podcast with Baroness Ruby McGregor- Smith on career development. That podcast led to a fantastic event at the House of Lords, where BDO and the Baroness hosted a live industry debate on what more professional services firms and Government should be doing to ‘Break The Mould’. Behind the scenes, the BAME Network has advised, challenged and inspired us on many topics, including how we tap into local communities for trainee recruitment, how we can better share and learn from other Diversity groups in law firms, and how we can get prepared for ethnicity pay gap reporting.
X X Introduced ‘Insight Days’ to allow school pupils from a variety of state schools and colleges to spend time at our offices across the country, helping to familiarise themselves with professional environments, recruitment processes and the accountancy industry. X X Support our trainees through their exams, including study time, and our excellent results speak for themselves – regularly up to 10% above the national average. We’re delighted to have just welcomed 90 new apprentices into this year’s new cohort of BDO trainees – our highest ever.
chapter eleven
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