Accenture: Engaging Employees through Strategic Community Involvement
Year:
2013
Company Description:
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company, with approximately 275,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive
capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive
research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with
clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended
Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
Business Issue:
The key driver for this programme was demand from the community sector for access to Accenture’s business skills and experience. To bring Skills to Succeed to life for our people and to truly get them involved in our Skills to Succeed programmes, we wanted to set up a flagship volunteering programme that allowed employees the opportunity to develop and share their skills and experience in a meaningful way. We also wanted to develop a programme that was free of charge to all of our Skills to Succeed partners.
Solution Applied:
We developed Accenture business class (Abc) – a suite of training modules designed by in-house experts and offered free of charge to all our non-profit partners. There are over 20 modules in total covering Business, IT and Employability Skills that are open to the staff as well as the beneficiaries of the non-profit organisation. Each volunteer is required to complete a 45 minute training course to become ‘accredited’ to teach Abc – this prepares employees for working with the voluntary sector and delivering sustainable value. Once accredited, volunteers have access to all pre-prepared session materials, including exercises and other supporting material, required to deliver the specific module.
The programme is managed by the Corporate Citizenship team, who work closely with the community sector to understand their needs and to match demand for training with supply of volunteers. The Accenture Learning Services Coordinator runs the programme at an operational level. He liaises with participants and volunteers to ensure the sessions run smoothly and requests feedback online immediately after each session.
Company Benefits:
Accenture is committed to our communities, our people and to developing our business. Through Accenture business class, these efforts combine to create value for everyone involved.
The programme helps to enhance our brand, making us an employer and partner of choice. It provides us with opportunities to deepen client relationships. It inspires and engages employees, providing ready-made opportunities to help their local communities. It showcases our capabilities to the community sector and allows our people to develop their skills through volunteering. It allows us to drive our local Skills to Succeed impact and evaluate social outcomes of our programmes to further increase the benefits to the community.
Stakeholder Benefits:
The community sector benefits from direct access to expertise and training from Accenture volunteers without any cost to the non-profit organisation. Through the programme, Accenture responds to the needs of the community sector by creating an expanding suite of training modules and materials tailored to their needs.
Tip:
Look for volunteering programmes that are aligned to your overall
community investment strategy so that you can get employees involved in driving
your agenda and deepening the impact.
Departments involved:
Company – wide
Solution Campion:
Carmel Halpin
Corporate Citizenship Lead, Accenture Ireland
Link:
http://www.accenture.com/gb-en/company/citizenship/Pages/acn-business-class.aspx
