Accenture faces unique challenges in addressing diversity issues. That, says Kedrick Adkins, partner and chief diversity officer, is because of the way its global workforce must often move around. The global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company has more than 100,000 employees in forty-eight countries.
In 2003 Accenture, which began as Andersen Consulting, expanded its diversity priorities. First, Adkins was appointed to his job. And second, steps were taken to strengthen relationships among employees, and with business clients and suppliers.
The company has also developed an aggressive strategy to recruit diverse job applicants at all levels, Adkins says. And top company leadership is bringing enthusiastic support to making diversity an important aspect of corporate culture.
Accenture has leading companies as clients, and helps them perform at their highest levels by identifying new business and technology trends. The goal is to help them enter new markets, increase their revenues in existing markets, improve operational performance, and deliver their products more efficiently and effectively. Government entities as well as private companies are on the help list, Adkins notes.
Diversity has become an important component of doing business for several reasons, he says. For one thing, clients have diverse, inclusive environments and expect Accenture to have the same commitment.
The company's competitors, too, are diverse and inclusive, and Accenture aims to be the best in this as well as every other area. And, since new pools of employee recruits increasingly come from different segments of the population, the company wants to make its workplace inviting for all.
When Accenture heightened its diversity focus, Adkins began a series of meetings and phone conferences so everyone would understand the importance of diversity and personal views.
The company also tackled management accountability to make sure all its leaders were committed to the diversity mission. A diversity advisory council was formed to review plans, evaluate how they will work out, and then implement them throughout the corporation.
Right now Accenture is working to strengthen three areas: recruiting, training and supplier diversity, Adkins says.
For entry-level employees, the company is focusing on rebuilding relationships with key schools, including HBCUs and Hispanic-serving institutions. It's also working with student organizations in NSBE, SHPE and SWE.
To recruit professional-level employees, Accenture works with the National Black MBA Association and the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, as well as BDPA and SWE.
Accenture's traditional "demand-based recruiting" usually means that it recruits in areas where it has large groups of clients. "That tends to minimize the need for employee travel," Adkins says.
But when it comes to recruiting for diversity, that strategy doesn't always work. The company is now shifting its approach to bring in more diverse employees, even if it doesn't always have a strong customer base in their areas. "Relocation is always an option," Adkins notes.
From the training standpoint, Accenture has added an important new session on minority leadership development. The course was successfully piloted last year, and this year it will be rolled out across all Accenture businesses.
"We talk about skills and development from the perspective of communication, networking and teams, because sometimes minorities come in with a different perspective and you have to learn to work differently," Adkins explains.
The company also offers a women's leadership development course that has been "widely successful," Adkins says. Top-performing women get two or three days of intense training on a variety of topics to reinforce their skills and let them know their leadership is important.
Tying into the training efforts are networking groups, which have been in place for a number of years. Each location is required to have its own annual goals and plans.
The networks are also linked into "city councils," one for each major location, that consist of representatives of the company's various industry practices. Someone in each council is responsible for working with the network groups at that location, Adkins says.
Accenture is currently addressing supplier diversity by looking at increasing the number of minority- and women-owned businesses it works with. It also tries to support its clients' needs if they have a particular interest or expectation.
"At some point, you have to make a decision to jump in," Adkins says. "You look hard and decide that this is what we're going to do. Our team in this area has done a terrific job. We've really made a commitment."
D/C
www.accenture.com
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Locations: |
across the U.S. and worldwide |
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Employees: |
100,000+ |
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Revenues: |
$13.67 billion for 2004 |
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Business: |
Global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing |
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