Spotlight on Accenture

Imagine interviewing for a job at a Fortune 500, global consulting firm. In this scenario, you are a practicing Muslim, and as such you pray five times a day. After the interview, your prospective manager takes you on an office tour and let’s imagine you feel comfortable enough asking if there is a place to pray at work. Imagine your surprise when he or she opens the door to a room that has an ablution area with prayer mats pointed towards Mecca and strategically placed dividers between areas for people to pray separately.

This is the exact experience individuals describe when interviewing at Accenture’s newly designed innovation hubs. Actions like these contribute to why Refinitiv’s 2020 report ranks Accenture as the third most diverse and inclusive public company across the globe, trailing the top position by just a single point. Carpenter Group sees Accenture’s commitment to diversity and inclusion—from its leadership to the smallest detail—as a model for corporate citizenship.

These qualities have become the spotlight today. As the global pandemic impacts every human on our planet no action can be called a solution without inclusivity. Since the onset of COVID-19, Accenture has worked tirelessly deploying a truly global response through a triage-like fashion by focusing on areas facing the greatest challenges with the fewest resources. Accenture has delivered critical medical supplies, fed four million people in Argentina, enabled contact tracing in Australia, managed a strategy that ensures Brazil has and will continue to have enough ventilators, and in partnership with Salesforce, is developing a vaccine management system to help local, state, and national governments develop, launch, and run mass immunization programs.

The massive, multinational company, embodies diversity, and employs more than half a million worldwide. Still, it has managed to cultivate a shared culture across its locations that is united by a spirit of innovation. This collective ethos has driven its response to COVID-19, and earned a spot in the top 10 of MIT Sloan Management Review’s Culture 500, a review of how U.S. companies perform across nine cultural dimensions.

“Our people and culture are our biggest competitive advantage, and our unwavering commitment to inclusion and diversity enables us to recruit the most talented people in our markets,” said CEO Julie Sweet about Accenture’s 2020 Culture Champion designation. “This creates an environment that unleashes innovation and allows our people to perform at their very best.” Research continues to show that when people have the freedom to express their true selves in their work environment, their performance, health, happiness, and loyalty to the company improves dramatically.

As brands continue to evaluate their purpose and value in today’s ever-changing world, adopting an inclusive perspective, grounded in humanity feels like the right direction to be heading.

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About Brand Acts of Kindness® 

Brand Acts of Kindness® is a series from Carpenter Group that spotlights companies across industries that are living their brand values in addressing the unprecedented challenges facing the world today.

The series initially headlined companies assisting healthcare workers and first responders, as well as communities, businesses and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also highlight brands taking the lead in supporting social and racial justice, LGBTQ rights, sustainability and the environment. Their stories show how innovation, resolve and action, built on a solid value proposition, can both strengthen a brand and help create a better world.

About Carpenter Group

Carpenter Group is an independent, woman-owned strategic branding, messaging and marketing communications firm that has delivered results-driven solutions to financial, professional services and technology firms for 30+ years.

Our broad cross-discipline experience enables us to craft brand messaging and carry it through to the channels that most effectively connect with our clients’ target audience, from editorial content to advertising to event marketing and more.