At Accenture, we believe our commitment to building, maintaining and expanding an inclusive culture is central to our organization's ongoing success. Our approach to inclusion and diversity stems from a twofold desire: to live and work in one world, free from the constraints of geographical barriers or cultural perceptions, and to seek innovative practices that bring additional flexibility to the workplace. We strive to create a working environment that is founded on a positive approach to relationships with others, where individual differences are honored and valued. Respect for the individual is one of our company's core values, reminding us all to treat people as we would like to be treated ourselves. We have confidence in the varied skills and talents of our people, and we know how these qualities can ably transform companies and enable them to achieve to high performance. To encourage diversity in our organisation we sponsor a range of internal and external initiatives aimed at specific employee populations. In particular, we foster networking groups and societies including gender, enablement, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and belief, age and parents. A visible shift in diversity is taking place in our own organization, where differences in elements such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, and physical attributes meld with the invisible-attributes such as work experience, marital status, educational background, parental status, income, religious beliefs and affiliations, geographic location, or socioeconomic status. Such aspects ultimately drive how people behave in situations and shape an individual's "personal" diversity. Although a clear strategy has helped define a history of successful growth, it is the unique skills and talents of Accenture people that excites the marketplace and offers innovative solutions to our clients. Here are some fast facts for you: • Professionals from ethnic minority groups represent more than 16 percent of Accenture's workforce compared with a 7.9 percent average across the United Kingdom population. • In 2005, 2006 and 2007 Accenture female employees were named as high-flyers in Management Today's List of 35 women under 35. • In 2006 and 2007, Accenture was acknowledged by Aurora and The Times as one of the top 50 companies where women want to work. • The Stonewall 2007 Index of Gay-Friendly Companies ranked Accenture 19th out of top 100 companies in the United Kingdom. We have a number of programmes this year and next that are focused on Gender, Ethnicity and Enablement.