The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity survey for 2012 features several companies operating in Bermuda, among them accountancy and professional services firms PricewaterhouseCooper, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and KPMG.DiversityInc magazine noted Ernst & Young will be its 2012 Top Company for Global Cultural Competence, with the award to be received at its October 11 dinner in New York and accepted by Steve Howe, area managing partner Americas.With 84 percent of its employees working outside of the United States, Ernst & Young is at the forefront of understanding and developing locally culturally competent workforce policies, including resource groups for women, LGBT people and Black employees in several countries, as well as leadership-development training and supplier-diversity efforts.In the US, the professional-services/accounting firm has had remarkable success in developing an inclusive workforce in every way, even in an industry where the war for talent is more fierce than any other.Despite that success, the leaders of Ernst & Young recognise the need to do more each year, especially to bring more under-represented groups to the top, and they constantly ratchet up their efforts.The firm’s talent-development efforts have been heralded in this publication many times, but in just the last year, Ernst & Young launched “Unplugged,” a coaching and mentoring program for incoming Black and Latino staff members, and at the manager level, a coaching and mentoring program for newly promoted Black and Latino managers. Included in the program was an assigned partner-sponsor, who will coach/mentor these individuals throughout their first year as a manager. “Unplugged” for Asian professionals is planned for later this year.DiversityInc notes that Ernst & Young’s efforts to reach down further and develop a potential workforce are quite remarkable. The firm has been a strong supporter of the Rutgers Future Scholars programme and its groundbreaking efforts to help disadvantaged youth, starting in eighth grade.Ernst & Young also started the Horizon Internship Programme, a multi-year internship program for disadvantaged youth. In addition, many of its professionals work with organisations such as Ascend, NABA and ALPFA to mentor students from underrepresented groups. Ernst & Young also started its own two-year formal mentoring programme — College MAP — to help high-school juniors and seniors prepare for college.DiversityInc said PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is on the forefront of cutting-edge diversity-management strategies and has been working diligently to be the best for years. This year, they made it, especially because of their CEO commitment and corporate and organisational communications, as well as their strong human-capital results. And this comes in the most competitive industry in diversity management in the US and globally.Always cognizant of the war for talent, PwC continuously creates innovative strategies to find, engage and promote the best and brightest employees, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups.Chairman and senior partner Bob Moritz, who has spoken at DiversityInc events, is a vocal proponent of diversity in every way, and he holds executives responsible for specific diversity goals, including being a cross-cultural mentor, recruitment, retention, engagement and promotions in the person’s area of responsibility.Chief diversity officer Maria Castañón Moats reports directly to Moritz and is one of a series of line partners whose rotation heading diversity is key to professional development and the growth of the business.DiversityInc notes PwC continues to be a leader in the types of benefits it offers employees, especially in increasing the ability for people at all stages of life to have flexibility to deal with personal and professional challenges. Its benefits include onsite religious accommodations, backup childcare assistance, nanny resources and referrals, paid paternity leave, well-being rewards, and tax equalisation for all domestic partners.Visit www.DiversityInc.com/discover to read more.