1. A Company Of ‘Communities’
Accenture may be a firm that runs virtually, but it does try to get employees together at regular intervals, says its chief human resources officer. Every office has a number of “communities,” or groups of employees from a certain business line.
2. A Culture of Colleague Support
3. Company on the Lookout for Burnout
Without having the traditional boundaries of home and office, many workers lose sight of the division, an expert on work/life balance says. To address this at Accenture, the company tries hard to address employees’ personal needs, as well as their professional ones, says Richard Westphal, director of the firm’s U.S. Retain Talent group.
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Being able to support colleagues is an essential attribute for Accenture employees, since so many of them work in teams that are spread out around the world. The culture of people helping one another is often a hard concept to grasp for new hires, says Janet Hoffman, managing director of Accenture’s global retail practice.
By Jessica Marquez Comments 0 | Recommend 0
eing able
to support colleagues is an essential attribute for Accenture employees, since so
many of them work in teams that are spread out around the world. The culture of
people helping one another, despite being thousands of miles away, is often a hard
concept to grasp for new hires, says Janet Hoffman, managing director of Accenture’s
global retail practice.
"This was something I wondered about
when I started," she says.
"People genuinely want to help each other out."
—Janet Hoffman,
Accenture's global retail practice
Hoffman recalls that on one of her first assignments, she
was sent to Lyon, France, to help a client implement a software program. She had
to explain aspects of the software program to an array of executives who were in
five countries.
"I didn’t know how I could get them all looking at the same
software at the same time," she says. "I just didn’t know what capabilities Accenture
had to do this."
Hoffman sent an e-mail to a colleague, who then e-mailed a
few more consultants. Within 24 hours, six people had gotten back to Hoffman with
answers on how to present the software virtually. "People genuinely want to help
each other out because we have all found ourselves in a position where we need help,"
she says.
Workforce Management, September
20, 2008, p. 23 -- Subscribe
Now!
Jessica Marquez is New York bureau chief for Workforce Management. E-mail editors@workforce.com to
comment. Next Article: 3. Company on the Lookout for Burnout
Without having the traditional boundaries of home and office, many workers lose sight of the division, an expert on work/life balance says. To address this at Accenture, the company tries hard to address employees personal needs, as well as their professional ones, says Richard Westphal, director of the firms U.S. Retain Talent group.
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eing able
to support colleagues is an essential attribute for Accenture employees, since so
many of them work in teams that are spread out around the world. The culture of
people helping one another, despite being thousands of miles away, is often a hard
concept to grasp for new hires, says Janet Hoffman, managing director of Accenture’s
global retail practice.
