Shattering the Glass Ceiling:

Women on the rise at ACCENTURE

About Accenture:
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.
Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the worlds most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.

Inclusion & Diversity at Accenture:

Diversity is essential to our ability to deliver high performance to clients. Our global workforce gives clients access to a rich range of talent, representing different styles, perspectives and experiences. This diversity is a critical strength that we work hard to maintain and foster. It makes us a better company on every dimension.

At Accenture, we take the widest possible view of inclusion and diversity, going beyond gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to create a work environment that welcomes all forms of differences. - Pierre Nanterme, Chief Executive Officer.

Ideology of the Management towards Women Professionals:

Organizations can think of helping women improve their aspirations by creating specific channels of career enhancement...Women tend not to ask for a pay raise or promotion, do not cultivate mentors, feel that their careers are not fast tracked, and do not aim for the C-suite jobs." - Rekha Menon, Executive Director, Accenture India, in 2011. "Because we understand that women are critical to the company's success, we aim to attract, retain, and advance women by recognizing and maximizing their performance." - William D. Green, CEO, Accenture, in 2005.

Women at Accenture:
Accenture's long-standing commitment to attracting, retaining and promoting women is critical to high performance and to the success of the company. That commitment is why they have more than 70,000 women approximately one-third of their global workforcecontributing to an environment thats rich in diversity, acknowledges each individual's uniqueness and promotes respect, personal achievement and stewardship.

Issues of the Case:

Gain some key insights into women employees.
Understand the issues and challenges related to promoting diversity and taking up the cause of women employees in the organization. Appreciate the linkage between the various measures taken by the firm and the consequent improvement in the diversity of the firm. Contd.

Issues of the Case: (Contd)

Study the various initiatives adopted by Accenture to achieve the aforementioned. Explore ways in which the women's initiatives could be made more effective for meeting the future requirements of the firm.

The Glass Ceiling Holding wings captive:

Jobs dominated by Women:
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants Child Care Workers Hairdressers, Stylists and Cosmetologists Registered Nurses

Teachers and Teaching assistants

Office Clerks and Cashiers Supervisors and Office Managers

Accenture: Aiming at Workforce Diversity

Encouraging workforce diversity by linking diversity efforts with business strategy, Charging senior executives with effecting diversity, Effective communication of diversification strategy within the organization through the company intranet and online newsletters, Creating accountability systems, measuring headcount, recruitment, associate partner/partner promotions by gender, Conducting annual surveys to evaluate the success of the efforts, contd..

Accenture: Aiming at Workforce Diversity

From the Companys Mission Statement:
In India, with constant leadership support, inclusion and diversity has become integral to our business strategy. Accenture's Inclusion & Diversity strategy in India is a testimony of our commitment to sustain our "code of ethics" and core value of "respect for the individual". These two factors provide the basis of our culture to create an inclusive and harmonious workspace in this geography. Supported by the apex India Inclusion and Diversity Council, the mission of our program is to make Accentures culture of inclusion and diversity central to the way we do business, serve clients, develop people and improve profitability.

 Women suffer motherhood penalty,

Women professionals: The Dynamics at play

Household responsibilities restrict 85 percent of female employees to mid-management level positions,

Near absence of women in corporate boardrooms,

Stronghold of male professionals in many sectors, e.g. finance,

A White House Report in 2009 revealed that American women on an average hold only 18 percent of the highest leadership positions in the country.

Shattering the Glass Ceiling: The Accy Way!!

Annual celebration of International Women's Day:

Annual celebration of International Women's Day:

Accenture has been known for its annual celebration of International Women's Day (IWD), an event it has been celebrating since 2001. The celebrations cover almost 140 events in 34 countries. According to the company, the event highlights Accenture's commitment to recruiting, retaining, and advancing the cause of women at the workplace.
The event provides a global forum for showcasing company initiatives which address the various issues that women face at the workplace. Experts felt that this, in turn, has enabled the firm to achieve high performance

Accenture: A Great Place to Work for Women

Accenture developed the Great Place to Work for Women initiative in 1994. Observers commented that Accenture's commitment to diversity emerged from its need to compete for top talent. They held that the Women's initiative at Accenture was an offshoot of its successful Diversity program in the Unites States of America.

Accenture: A Great Place to Work for Women

Dealing with womens issues at the organizational level while allowing customization at the local level, Designing and implementing campaigns in schools to encourage young females to choose technology as a career, Creating strong liaisons with colleges and universities, Representation of women on the interview panels, Innovative and flexible work arrangements, including flextime schedules and Client-Site Flexible Work Programme.

Women specific studies:

Accenture carried out a study in 2010 to understand the issues that affected women professionals. The study revealed that though both men and women had similar perspectives about their careers, more than half of the female business professionals were dissatisfied with their jobs.

The study suggested various initiatives for women empowerment in corporations. Contd

Women specific studies: Results

70 percent of the women planned to remain with their current companies despite being dissatisfied. They wanted to create opportunities by developing their knowledge and desired skill set to achieve their career objectives. This indicated a commitment amongst women to work hard and develop their careers. According to Adrian Lajtha (Chief Leadership Officer, Accenture), this was an unanticipated workforce dynamic. Todays professionals are not job hunting, despite extreme dissatisfaction. Instead they are focused on enhancing their skill set and finding resources and people that can help them achieve their goals.

Millennial Women in the Workplace Success Index: 2010

Association with International Womens programmes:

Accenture is associated with renowned external forums such as:
NASSCOM, Pamasia, Global Corporate Advisory, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

These forums give their women employees an opportunity to connect to relevant focus groups, and extend their external relationships and networks.

Other initiatives:
Developing High-Performing Women, Women Mentoring, Sponsorship Programs to develop women leaders. For pregnant employees: Multiple workshops and free counseling on Effective Parenting, Regular gynecologist visits, Free womens health camps.

Ensuring the highest level of transport safety and security for their women employees is primary on their agenda. Measures such as a dedicated 24/7emergency helpline, security escorts and dedicated medical cabs for expecting mothers.

Women Initiatives at Accenture India:

In India, Accentures womens networking forum Vaahini, is a formal community that provides a powerful self-growth platform for their women employees.
Its a platform for them to share experiences and learning, and to discuss growth opportunities thereby empowering them to drive change. Vaahini is also a forum for disseminating life skills through workshops on various issues such as self-defense, financial planning, effective parenting, and harassment at the workplace.

Efforts creating visible results:

Over the years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of female employees at Accenture. The companys considered a great place for women to work and develop their careers and personalities. Accenture boasts of top executive positions glorified by women, including Armelle Carminati-Rabasse, Managing Director-Human Capital & Diversity.
For women, this new era may sweep aside many of the old rules that mightve impeded them in the past. Now, they must take stock of their own abilities and actively seek out the training and new skills thatll broaden their prospects. Armelle Carminati-Rabasse

Efforts creating visible results:

Accentures women initiatives have earned the company many awards and accolades, including: The Top Overall Employer by Workingmums.co.uk Named the company Where Women want to work by The Times in 2009. In 2010, almost one-third of the global workforce, about 70,000, were women. Women are comprising increasing part of the companys senior leadership group. More than 15 percent of the companys senior executives are women including three women on the Board of Directors. 33.5 percent of the new recruits are women.

Conclusion:
Women are proving their skills and mettle and earning accolades for their respective organizations. They are progressing at all echelons of the management and chasing challenging paths. Many observers and experts opine that the Glass Ceiling has been considerably shattered but women professionals need to break out of traditional mid-management roles,

Organizations need to further strengthen their womens advancement programs in order to stay competitive, balanced and profitable and increase workforce diversity.

Bibliography:
www.accenture.com Accenture inclusion and diversity reports. Women Initiatives at Accenture reports.

Akshita Morani Aditi Joshi

Presented By:
Bhagyashr ee Godbole Bhawna Singh

Mohita Sadhwa ni Pragya Shrivastav a

Kavita Varghes e

PGDBM - SECTION A

Bottlenecks to progress need to be shattered just like Glass and to that end, grit & determination lead the army of tools!

THANK YOU!!