While globally, females make up 41 percent of Accenture’s workforce, Accenture in the Philippines has already achieved an overall gender headcount mix of 52 percent women, with more than 50 percent of females holding leadership roles. The corporation is the first company in the Philippines – and the first geographic unit across the global Accenture organization – to achieve the Level 2 EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) Move certification.
They are also pioneers in the Philippines when it comes to gender-equal practices. In September 2017, Accenture Philippines became the first in the IT-BPO industry to offer 120-day maternity leave benefits. In December the following year, it became the first in the industry to offer same-gender life partner benefits and 30-day paternity leave benefits. They are also the first company in the Philippines to offer secondary caregiver leave benefits and adoption leave benefits.
Fittingly, in its over 30 years of operation in the Philippines, Accenture has received more than 30 awards from the industry, the government and the private sector for being a top employer, a leading IT-BPM company, a champion of corporate social responsibility and environmental stewards. Accenture received the Best Employer of the Year award at the 2019 International ICT Awards Philippines, in recognition of its industry-leading initiatives in developing talent, advancing inclusion and diversity and supporting the welfare of its employees. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) bestowed the 2019 PEZA Environmental Performance Award on the company for outstanding practices in environmental sustainability, making Accenture Philippines the first IT-BPM and non-manufacturing company to receive this award.
To ensure relevancy of skills amid the emergence of new technology, all 50,000 over of Accenture Philippines’ workforce are provided with skills necessary to stay ahead of the game. Learning Roadmaps have been developed to help employees become New IT conversant and job-ready through learning activities which leverage on digital platforms, mobile solutions, collaboration tools, virtual learning, online learning boards, immersive learning spaces or playhouses, and innovation competitions to expedite the learning process. Employees also have access to Accenture’s global training hubs, a network of connected classrooms and learning boards, and highly interactive virtual training tools. The company’s up skilling efforts won Accenture Philippines the International ICT Awards Best Employer of the Year for 2019, a repeat of the company’s 2017 and 2008 success.
With innovation being an integral part of its business, the tech giant encourages new learning and development through internal innovation campaigns and initiatives, which are a mix of conferences and competitions for its employees. The Innovation Roadshow and the InnoVision Arena for the Accenture Intelligent Operations Center and the Ideas to Outcomes (I2O), Industry Everywhere, and Tech Month for the Advanced Technology Center are just some of the programs that helped the company generate over 19,000 innovation ideas in 2018.
In addition to this, Accenture Philippines builds Playhouses and Innovation Nooks, which are physical spaces in its facilities, equipped with collaboration tools and other technologies, to encourage collaboration and innovation among employees. In these spaces employees are given the freedom to experiment, collaborate and invent solutions that addresses real-world problems. First Friday Innovation sees each employee allocating one hour of their time each month for experimentation and innovation.
Although Accenture Philippines is a highly digital workplace, it still leverages old-school teaching methodologies, such as classroom training, where employees can enroll in training that suit their requirements, in the location and time they prefer. Using telepresence and video conference equipment, employees are able to communicate, collaborate and learn from the Accenture One Global Network.
As fitting the Workplace of the Year, Accenture Philippines offers benefits which promote the overall health and well-being of its employees and their loved ones. The benefits are also consistent with its strong commitment to inclusion and diversity. Among the benefits are better-than-industry HMO plans for employees and dependents; expanded parental leave of 120 days maternity, 30-day paternity, adoption leave, and caregiver leave; as well as same-gender life partner benefits and parental leave.
The Live Well at Accenture initiative offers various health and wellness benefits and perks,
such as i-Talk (free counseling sessions for employees and their household members), psychological first aid training, health and wellness webinars, and free nutrition counseling.
As of April 2019, the voluntary attrition at Accenture Philippines was 13.5 percent – significantly lower than the industry’s 39 percent. Key talent retention as of April 2019 was 89.7 percent. The company attributes this to its commitment to helping employees be their best self personally and professionally
every day, and to its focus on building leaders that cultivate workplace where people thrive.
To ensure a steady pipeline of job applicants, Accenture Philippines has partnered with over 80+ academic institutions in Metro Manila and Cebu, as well as nearby provincial schools, to roll-out various programs for students. Accenture also started implementing programs and events for senior high school students to encourage them to pursue a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).