“We, at Accenture India, are equipped with the next-gen skills and an innovation mind set, we are building a robust future-ready workforce to create differentiated offerings for our clients. On a journey of transition from scaled delivery to innovation at scale, we are rotating our business and services to the New – where Cloud, Security and Analytics are the big game changers that help our clients ride the wave of disruption.”
Sanjay Baurai, Managing Director, Workplace Solutions, Accenture India shares the future of Accenture in India in Walk the Talk with Candor Connect in the inaugural issue.
Q1) Keeping the year 2020 in mind, please share with us, the focus growth plan of Accenture India.
At Accenture, we aim to be the most diverse organization on the planet by 2020 and India plays a large role in that, with more than 150,000 people in India – over one-third of them being women. We also aim to skill 3 Million people through our Corporate Citizenship efforts globally and India will see a measurable impact being made in this area as well.
Our journey towards 2020 promises to be fast paced and innovation-led. We are very excited for what the future holds for us in the intersection of business and technology.
Q2) How do you envision the workplaces in near future? Please tell us more about digital workspaces at Accenture?
The ‘Workplace of Future’ will be Agile, Mobile and Connected, with the employee at the centre of it all.
In my opinion, some integral factors that will define the ‘Workplace of the Future’ are:
As a technology and innovation-led company, at Accenture, we focus on using technology to transform the employee and client experience. We listen to the evolving needs of our people and leverage our digital expertise to create delight through simple, convenient and scalable workplace features.
Q3) Disruption is the key to innovation. New technologies and innovations such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, mobility and Intelligence automation are changing the way work is conducted across functions in any organization. What is your plan to bridge the skill gap arising out of changing dynamics at workplaces?
We are constantly looking to hire niche skills. We focus on different talent pools across campuses, lateral hires, returning workforce and offer meaningful career experiences to all.
We also encourage our existing employees to up-skill and cross-skill themselves with next-gen skills in New IT by offering them over 80 hours of classroom training each, in addition to online courses.
Accenture has rotated its business where over 50% of its revenues come from digital services. To enable this, Accenture invests deeply in trainings and acquisitions to help fill the skill gap. We encourage our people to co-innovate with clients and have made learning an integral part of measuring and delivering value. Our recently launched, state-of-the-art Learning Centre in Bengaluru, combines the latest in technology innovation with ancient learning principles to deliver durable learning at scale and speed.
Our focus on continuous learning helps us address the expected skill gap.
Q4) Accenture has been an equal opportunity employer. Featured and recognized as the company for diversity, flexibility, best company to work for women in India (2016), Role Model Company by the Mind tree, Helen Keller award for promotion for disabled people in India (2016). Please share more with us on inclusion & diversity, as practiced at work places at Accenture.
Accenture takes the widest possible lens to view Inclusion and Diversity. It is fundamental to our culture and core values and defines every Accenture employee in the way they conduct themselves. Accenture has an unwavering commitment to facilitating an inclusive, open and equitable environment for all our employees. We are proud to bring together people from different backgrounds, age, disabilities, culture, gender and sexual orientation.
Our programs across various agendas are driven through Leadership advocacy, sensitization, Employee Resource Groups, diversity trainings, sponsorship and mentorship programs and employee engagement campaigns. You would have seen our recent ‘Inclusion Start with I’ campaign, that clearly sums up our commitment towards celebrating every individual. Inclusion is not an option at Accenture, it is what we do.
We strive to be a Truly Human company in the digital age, focused on creating a sense of belonging and where every individual is encouraged to bring their ‘whole self’ to work.
Q5) How do you collaborate with workspace partners to help you achieve your vision & goals, as ascribed above?
We believe in working with agile workspace partners who understand the pace of change in our industry – be with our people or client needs. We take the responsibility of articulating a clear vision to our partners and this encourages them to bring us the best – in – class services that they have to offer. We also plan for our workspace needs to be met through modular solutions that help us remain agile. This allows our partners to continuously collaborate with us with innovative, new-age solutions that help us on our ever- evolving innovation journey.
Q6) What is one vital advice you would offer to millennial aspiring to work for Accenture?
Know your comfort zone and be prepared to step outside it!
I say this because the change around us is rampant. To constantly challenge oneself and evolve is the key to being future – ready. And that’s what we are looking for, from our people who join Accenture.
Simply put, we are looking at our people to take us to the future!