Holistic Sustainability Approach Serves Deloitte, and Its Clients

When Comerica wanted to undergo a major sustainability initiative last year, the Dallas-based bank turned to Deloitte & Touche. Deloitte came up with a plan that included, among other things, an environmentally sustainable prototype of a branch location that could be duplicated elsewhere. This is exactly the type of ambitious plan Deloitte leaders had in mind when the firm launched it Enterprise Sustainability Group in December of 2006.

"There's been a significant increase in the awareness and sensitivity of the professionals in our firm, as well a real strong sense on the part of our leadership group that, as a leading professional services organization, we had much to contribute in the area of sustainability," says Chris Park, a principal with Deloitte Consulting and one of the firm's co-leaders of the Enterprise Sustainability Group.

Park says Deloitte leadership decided early on that any one of the firm's core businesses wasn't sufficient to offer client solutions around sustainability. Instead, all four Deloitte businesses—Consulting, Tax, Financial Advisory Services and Audit & Enterprise Risk Services—work together on sustainability engagements. "The issues are so complex and so broad that if we wanted to put a consulting offering in the marketplace, it wouldn't be a complete solution unless we included those groups as well," Park says. "The collaboration between the four is essential to offering a complete, end-to-end client solution. And we're still trying to get clients thinking that way; many still aren't thinking about a wholly sustainable enterprise yet."