ACCENTURE IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND - Corporate Citizenship Report
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from Our Leaders: Jack Percy and Louise May 3 Accenture at a Glance 4 Ethics & Governance 6 Skills to Succeed 11 Environment 22 Our People 28 Supply Chain 35 The Path Forward 40 Accenture is pleased to share this report, which details the impact we made globally and in Australia and New Zealand across each of the five pillars of our corporate citizenship reporting strategy: Ethics & Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, Our People and Supply Chain. The report explores our corporate citizenship goals, progress and performance across our operations during fiscal 2015 (1 September 2014 – 31 August 2015) unless otherwise noted. Cover image: Our nonprofit partner, Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), welcomed its inaugural co-CEO, Marlee Silva (second from right), at its 2016 ‘Collaboration Art and Design’ workshop with AIME mentees. 2
LETTER FROM OUR LEADERS Jack Percy and Louise May We are pleased to share the 2015 Corporate Citizenship Report, which details our impact on the communities that we support across the five pillars of our corporate citizenship strategy: Ethics & Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, Our People and Supply Chain. In 2015, we established new partnerships with nonprofit organisations, clients and suppliers as we expanded our business operations and employee base in New Zealand. We also strengthened relationships with existing partners, and the communities they serve, through the continued funding, volunteering and in-kind support that is detailed in this report. Accenture’s global Skills to Succeed initiative is aiming to reach millions of people. However, behind the numbers lies the heart of this initiative: the individuals whose lives are transformed by gaining the skills to get a job or Jack Percy build a business. As you will read, we’re seeing positive change—from skilling Chairman & Managing Director people who are experiencing challenges, to advancing client sustainability, to Accenture in Australia and New Zealand accelerating gender equality in the workforce. We bring the corporate citizenship strategy to life by collaborating with our strong network of partners, including clients, in our endeavours to improve the way the world works and lives. The community and environment benefits when we take action as an organisation, and as individuals within our organisation. Louise May We sincerely thank our partners for their ongoing commitment towards Managing Director, Corporate Citizenship corporate citizenship and our employees who contribute their time and skills. Accenture in Australia and New Zealand We hope you enjoy reading this update on our global commitments and local impact, and thank you for your interest in our endeavours. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 3 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
ACCENTURE AT A GLANCE Accenture is a global professional services company, providing a broad range of services our strategy and deliver our vision comes to life through our approximately 373,000* and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. We work at the people. Our people represent a wide variety of cultures, ethnicities, religious beliefs intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and and languages. This rich diversity makes our company stronger, smarter and more create sustainable value for their stakeholders. innovative, which helps us better serve our clients and our communities. We operate at the heart of our clients’ businesses, helping address their most complex, From our Skills to Succeed initiative to our efforts to drive sustainable economic mission-critical issues. Our clients span the full range of industries across more than growth with our people, clients and suppliers, we take thoughtful actions to bring 120 countries and include more than 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and 94 of positive change, for today and for the future. This includes playing a vital role in the Fortune Global 100. We are proud that 97 of our top 100 clients have been clients convening people and organisations to create long-term value for our communities, for at least 10 years. strengthen our business and enhance our contribution to society. At Accenture, corporate citizenship is central to our vision to improve the way the world works and lives, and it reflects our core values. Everything we do to execute 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries * $31.0B net revenues for fiscal 2015 14 consecutive years recognised among FORTUNE’s Most Admired Companies *As of February 29, 2016 LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO 4 THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 4 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
“Against the backdrop of economic, political and social transformation, one thing remains constant: the responsibilities of corporate leaders to sustainability. At the same time, digital transformation is everywhere— happening at scale and speed— and it allows us to tackle challenges that were previously well beyond our reach. “At Accenture, we see this as an important opportunity to make a difference in the communities where we work and live.” Pierre Nanterme, Accenture Chairman & CEO and Jill Huntley, Managing Director, Global Corporate Citizenship Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, employs over a quarter of all employed Australians, according to Australian Jobs 2016. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 5 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
ETHICS & GOVERNANCE GOAL AWARENESS BUILDING GLOBAL PROGRESS Following the fiscal 2014 launch of Conduct Counts, we will strive for employee awareness In fiscal 2015, we achieved more than 90 percent employee awareness of our five global levels of our five global behavioural standards to be at least 90 percent each year. behavioural standards. GOAL ETHICS TRAINING GLOBAL PROGRESS We will strive to maintain employee completion rates in the high 90th percentile for our In fiscal 2015, we maintained employee completion rates in the high 90th percentile for our Ethics & Compliance training each year. Ethics & Compliance training. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 6 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
The way we innovate, collaborate, operate and deliver As a global organisation, our ongoing challenge in this area is two-fold: first to ensure that all of our approximately 373,000* people consistently model the ethical behaviours value—for our clients and our shareholders—is grounded we expect through regular communication and training; and second, to continue in our core values and shared business ethics. to identify local legal requirements quickly. To do this, we conduct compliance risk assessments for our global compliance program areas—Anticorruption, Anti-Money Our core values—Client Value Creation, One Global Laundering, Competition Law, Data Privacy and Trade Compliance. Each of these takes into account the facts and circumstances of all the countries where we operate. Network, Respect for the Individual, Best People, Integrity In 2014, we launched Conduct Counts, a program that creates global standards of and Stewardship—shape the culture and define the behaviour for employee conduct that are culturally sensitive and locally relevant. In character of our company. They serve as a foundation for 2015, Conduct Counts continued to build on our ethical culture by promoting the following five global standard behaviours, which further bring to life our core values how we act and make decisions. and Code of Business Ethics: 1. We speak up about concerns knowing Accenture never tolerates retaliation. OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH 2. We treat each other with respect. Strong corporate governance, ethics and compliance are key elements of Accenture’s business strategy. They are essential to our ability to grow, differentiate ourselves 3. We are proud to be ambassadors of Accenture, and we act accordingly. from our competitors, and protect our people, brand and financial performance. They 4. We apply our principle of meritocracy when we make decisions about our people. also help make us a high performance business, and help us build trust with our clients, our people and other stakeholders. Much of our business is built on long-term 5. We ensure our personal interests and relationships don’t create conflicts for Accenture. relationships—all of our top 100 clients have been clients for at least five years and 97 We continue to monitor our peoples’ understanding of these behaviours by conducting have been clients for at least 10 years—which requires trust. Our efforts to maintain and periodic standard Conduct Counts surveys in all eligible countries where we have a shape an ethical culture, including our Ethics & Compliance program, help Accenture sufficient number of people to preserve anonymity. This allows us to ask our people to remain one of the world’s most ethical companies. anonymously provide their candid viewpoint on topics related to ethical behaviour at SHAPING AN ETHICAL CULTURE Accenture, which in turn provides critical input for improvement of our business and employment practices. In fiscal 2015, we achieved more than 90 percent awareness Five main elements frame our Ethics & Compliance program: leadership; risk of our five global behavioural standards and we will continue to strive for at least 90 assessment; standards and controls; training and communication; and monitoring, percent each year. auditing and response. The program covers Accenture people, Accenture contractors and third parties. *As at February 29, 2016 LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO 7 THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 7 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Accenture leadership responsibilities framework of expected behaviours in everything we do, from serving our clients and running our business, to further We expect all leaders at Accenture—including our enhancing our brand, reputation and transparency. Our COBE Board of Directors; Chairman & CEO; General Counsel & Chief reiterates that we have zero tolerance for corruption in any 2016 marks our Compliance Officer; and Global Management Committee (GMC) members, who are our 19 most senior leaders—to advocate for form. We encourage our people to speak up if they have a good ninth consecutive faith concern about disrespectful or inappropriate conduct, or ethics and compliance and serve as role models of the highest unethical or illegal behaviour of any kind. We also stress that year on Ethisphere’s ethical standards. Accenture has zero tolerance for retaliation against anyone who speaks up in good faith. We update our COBE regularly “World’s Most Our Chairman & CEO sets the tone for integrity and ethics by communicating on ethics and compliance topics, such to account for internal and external factors, changes in the Ethical Companies” regulatory environment, and business priorities and strategies. as: we have zero tolerance for violations of law and for retaliation against employees reporting issues; and a strong We have additional standards for suppliers and for our people list, recognising our Ethics & Compliance program is an essential part of being a who work with the US federal government. commitment to ethical high-performance company and in reaching our goals as a company. Accenture’s Board of Directors oversees our Ethics & We require all employees to complete at least one hour of required Ethics & Compliance training on COBE and Information leadership, compliance Compliance program, which is managed by our General Counsel Security annually. We also target our training to an employee’s practices and corporate & Chief Compliance Officer. role and provide specific scenarios and examples that are relevant to Accenture’s business and risks. For example, in fiscal citizenship. Members of senior management sponsor and are accountable for implementing corporate policies applicable to their 2015, we required Anticorruption, Anti-Money Laundering, respective areas. Our GMC plays an important role in our Competition Law, Visa & Immigration and Trade Compliance Ethics & Compliance program. It generally meets in person four training for a large subset of our people based on level, times a year and at least two of the four meetings include a geography and role. We also require new joiners to take required compliance topic. The members of the committee frequently training on these topics as well as on insider trading, social co-sponsor various Ethics & Compliance communications and media, data privacy and protecting and respecting confidential programs in partnership with our Chief Compliance Officer. The information and intellectual property of Accenture and others. GMC also helps communicate about new training across all Our annual required Ethics & Compliance training program aspects of Accenture’s business, helping us navigate the ever- tracks results and tests knowledge by requiring employees changing legal landscapes of the more than 120 countries in to pass a quiz at the end of each course. Completion rates which we serve clients. continue to be in the high 90th percentile, which is an indicator of program success. We consider our required Ethics Code of Business Ethics & Compliance training to be so essential that failure to One of our most important written standards is our complete it each year is factored into annual compensation- Code of Business Ethics (COBE). It establishes an ethical related decisions (as permitted by law). LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO 8 THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 8 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Raising and responding to concerns Monitoring and enforcement are integral to our Ethics & Compliance program. We INSIGHTS TO BETTER SERVE REFUGEES actively encourage our people to raise all ethical and legal concerns, and we make CLIENT’S CHALLENGE multiple channels available for them to do so—by name or anonymously. These channels include direct supervisors and career counsellors, a 24/7 Business Ethics Line and A fundamental component to ethical business conduct is supporting human rights and website, Legal, Human Resources and any member of Accenture Leadership. We have we also empower clients with resources to help them further human rights. Working with zero tolerance for retaliation against those who raise good faith concerns, which helps the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Accenture our people feel comfortable speaking up. We continue to look closely at the issues leveraged our Unique Identity Service Platform to deploy a breakthrough biometrics system to meet three objectives: 1) rapidly determine what benefits and services a person being reported so we can understand frequency and identify types of misconduct. Our needs; 2) secure identities; and 3) improve documentation to help long-time refugees find Conduct Counts initiative has supported and enhanced our people’s willingness to speak permanent solutions. up to identify disrespectful or inappropriate conduct. OUR SOLUTION CYBER SECURITY AND DATA PRIVACY Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS) rapidly registers, de-duplicates and Protecting privacy and the security of personal and business data—for our clients and verifies the identities of refugees, ensuring that the right people receive assistance where for ourselves—is essential to maintain the trust of clients and our people. It is also and when they need it, all while ensuring their personal identity information is secure and a core element of our commitment to uphold human rights, to behave appropriately protected. Accenture and UNHCR put an early version BIMS to the test during a four- when we access clients’ strategic and other key corporate data, and to ensure our week pilot at UNHCR’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. employees’ data is safe and secure. THE RESULTS Today, information security has risen to the top of the agenda for most C-suite The Camp’s nearly 17,000 refugees were rapidly registered and verified during the pilot. executives and boards of directors. Rapidly evolving security threats pose an ongoing, Since then, the BIMS has enrolled 120,000 refugees living in nine camps in Thailand and central challenge as companies and governments face an increasingly sophisticated 100,000 refugees in Chad. More refugees will be enrolled as we roll out the system to threat environment. In response, we help our clients protect data through strategic more locations. digital, cloud and security related services, all enabled by new and innovative technologies. Additionally, in fiscal 2015, we acquired a strategic acquisition of FusionX to enhance our cyber security capabilities. We continue to strengthen our Client Data Protection program, which dictates how we protect our clients’ sensitive information and comply with regulatory requirements. In fiscal 2015, the program received the ISO 27001:2013 certification from the British Standards Institution (BSI). The scope of the certification, among the most complex that BSI conducts, covers Accenture’s client work from inception to completion around the world. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO 9 THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 9 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Board diversity and tenure Role of the Board of Directors and leadership Consistent with our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Board seeks geographic, age, gender and ethnic diversity among its members. Its members believe that considering The Board of Directors is responsible for providing governance and oversight of the diversity is consistent with creating a Board that best serves the needs of the company strategy, operations and management of Accenture. It also promotes the long-term and the interests of its stakeholders, and diversity is one of the many factors that apply interests of our stakeholders through accountability throughout our organisation and to identifying individuals for Board membership. The Board also believes that diversity responsible decision making. The Board oversees our senior management, to whom of tenure is important for both fresh perspectives and deep experience and knowledge it has delegated the authority to manage the day-to-day operations of the company. of the company. Therefore, the Board aims to maintain an appropriate balance of tenure Additionally, the Board oversees Accenture’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) across its directors. In addition, our Board averages 7.3 years tenure. program, both directly and through standing committees. Read more in the Proxy Statement for our 2016 Annual Meeting. Corporate Citizenship governance Our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Memorandum and Articles of Association Accountability to advance corporate citizenship at Accenture starts at the top, with form the Board’s governance framework. The Board regularly reviews the guidelines our Chairman & CEO, and cascades through our business, including use of performance and other corporate governance documents and revises them from time to time when objectives relating to corporate citizenship. For example, achieving our global carbon it believes it serves the interest of Accenture and our stakeholders, and in response to target is included in our corporate performance scorecard and is one factor considered in changing regulatory and governance requirements. the performance evaluation and pay of our Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer. The Corporate Governance Guidelines also address the means for communicating Corporate Citizenship governance in Australia and New Zealand concerns to the Board. They specify that our Board should have a majority of independent directors, that those directors must not have any other direct or indirect The Australia and New Zealand Chairman & Managing Director and Australia and New Zealand Corporate Citizenship Managing Director review the strategic direction of the material relationship with Accenture and that each director’s continued independence corporate citizenship program in Australia and New Zealand at least twice a year. is verified in an annual review. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO 10 THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 10 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
SKILLS TO SUCCEED The Smith Family and Accenture delivered a Navigating the Job Market workshop in Perth. GOAL DEMAND-LED SKILLING GLOBAL PROGRESS Equip more than 3 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business. To date, we have equipped more than 1.2 million people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills. GOAL EMPLOYMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP OUTCOMES GLOBAL PROGRESS Increase our focus on the successful transition from skill-building programs to sustainable jobs We instituted new criteria for our largest global foundation grants that require all new and businesses, and improve our collective ability to measure and report on these outcomes. grants to be able to measure outcomes toward transitioning to jobs and businesses. We will use this information to continue to evaluate what works to transition skilled people into sustainable jobs and businesses and recalibrate our programs accordingly. GOAL COLLABORATION FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGE GLOBAL PROGRESS Bring together organisations across sectors to create large-scale, lasting solutions aimed We continue to evolve our role as a collaborator, convener and thought leader, and to at closing global employment gaps. deliver research and insights on what works to help drive systemic change. As part of our role in the global Solutions for Youth Employment coalition, we helped to launch a new report that identifies solutions to the challenges of getting all youth into productive work. Additionally, we initiated a new collective impact initiative in France, and continue to support ongoing initiatives in the United Kingdom and Spain to help drive systemic change. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 11 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Our Skills to Succeed initiative advances employment can inflict long-lasting damage to the prospects of individuals, families, communities and the broad economy. For young people in particular, delays in starting employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for individuals can negatively affect wages for decades and impact their productivity and adaptability. around the globe, leveraging technology to drive impact We launched our global initiative, Skills to Succeed, to tackle these problems, drawing at scale. Together with our strategic partners, by the end on two of Accenture’s core capabilities: developing talent and convening partnerships to achieve tangible, measurable results. of fiscal 2020, we will equip more than 3 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business; enable Since we set our first Skills to Succeed goal in 2010 to equip 250,000 people with skills to get a job or build a business, Accenture and the Accenture Foundations globally have their successful transition to employment; and create invested more than US$300 million through cash as well as pro bono contributions of large-scale, lasting solutions aimed at closing global time and Accenture people’s skills. Globally, we have so far equipped more than 1.2 million people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills. employment gaps. Our Skills to Succeed strategy is focused on three priorities: OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH • Leveraging technology and digital solutions for demand-led skilling at scale. In today’s climate of volatility and constant change, it is more important than ever • Deepening our focus on successful transitions from skilling to sustainable for individuals to have the right skills to open doors to employment and economic employment and entrepreneurship. opportunity. • Collaborating for greater impact by joining or creating cross-sector collaborations to The issues of unemployment and underemployment are enormous in scale and global in close employment gaps. breadth, including in Australia and New Zealand. Unemployment and underemployment GLOBALLY EQUIPPED 1.2M+ PEOPLE WITH SKILLS TO SUCCEED INVESTED US$300M+ IN GLOBAL CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP toward our goal of 3M+ by 2020 EFFORTS since 2011 LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 12 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Local market relevance LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY FOR DEMAND-LED SKILLING AT SCALE At the heart of our strategy is a focus on defining market-relevant, customised Our first strategic priority is to take our demand-led skilling programs to scale by strategies and programs to address national gaps and bridge the divide between leveraging technology and digital solutions. unemployed or underemployed individuals and the needs of employers. We are optimising our use of technology to accelerate the reach of our Skills to Succeed In Australia and New Zealand we ensure our Skills to Succeed program is relevant partners with job seekers and entrepreneurs in a cost-effective way and, in turn, improve to market conditions and enables our nonprofit partners to address the skilling and employment and entrepreneurship outcomes. Globally, we are seeing positive results with employment needs of the people they support. digital learning content and tools to deliver critical skills needed to get a job or start A significant shift in the labour market over recent years has seen our Corporate a business. In addition, we expect that enhanced performance management and data Citizenship strategy adapt and evolve. For example, according to Australian Jobs 2016, analytics will help our nonprofit partner’s to better monitor and evaluate outcomes. the industries of health care and social assistance; professional, scientific and technical services; and, education and training are predicted to experience high-growth, while Skills to Succeed Academy manufacturing; agriculture; and, wholesale trade are in decline. In New Zealand, In fiscal 2015, Corporate Citizenship in Australia undertook a feasibility study to particularly strong jobs growth is expected in the construction and utilities industries, determine the need in Australia for the Skills to Succeed Academy, an online along with hospitality, wholesale and retail. innovative and highly engaging learning tool that helps address youth unemployment Australian Jobs 2016 reports that during times of high unemployment, young people by building skills and confidence of job seekers. We researched in Australia if similar are particularly vulnerable as they tend to have less education, skills and experience tools currently exist; whether there is a need for a tool to address youth unemployment; than those aged between 25 to 44 years. While labour market conditions for youth and, held trials to obtain feedback from young people by using an existing UK version of (15 to 24 years) have slightly improved over recent years, the youth unemployment the tool. rate in Australia remains high at approximately 12 per cent (as of January 2016). The feasibility study strongly indicated the need to implement the Skills to Succeed In New Zealand, according to the Sustainable Business Council Report 2013, just over Academy in Australia to help address the skilling and employment needs of young 13 per cent of youth are not in employment, education or training. people. An Australian version of the tool will be available in October 2016 for use by Accenture’s focus on Indigenous Australians enables us to contribute towards the nonprofit organisations. advancement of Indigenous people, particularly in the area of employment. We are not alone in understanding this important contribution, with the ‘Closing the Gap’ commitment by all Australian governments aiming to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians and provide a better future for Indigenous children through six ambitious targets. Two targets relate to Skills to Succeed, and we partner with nonprofit organisations that address these, including: • Halve the gap for Indigenous students in Year 12 (or equivalent) attainment rates by 2020 • Halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and other Australians by 2018 The Skills to Succeed Academy was trialled in Australia in July 2015 with nonprofit organisations. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 13 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Mentoring Program online portal with Many Rivers TRANSITIONING FROM SKILLING TO SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP To support the implementation of the Many Rivers Mentoring Program, in fiscal 2015 Accenture undertook a project on a pro Our second strategic priority—to deepen our focus on bono basis to build a technology platform that would capture successful transitions through insight-and outcome-driven Our Skills to Succeed strategy mentor and supplementary business owner data, which would investing—comes to life in three types of initiatives: Pathways is supported by our people, be used to establish and build strong and effective mentoring to Employment, Accenture as a Skills to Succeed Employer and who have an impact through relationships. Completed in 2016, the new technology allows Enabling Entrepreneurship. the Mentoring Program to run more efficiently, reach more volunteering, mentoring, mentors and business owners, and enables Many Rivers to In 2015, globally we refreshed our Skills to Succeed donating funds, pro bono measurement approach to improve our ability to measure provide more accurate and reliable reporting. outcomes, report results and provide information needed to consulting and supporting manage and improve the performance for job seekers and partnerships with local entrepreneurs. In addition to tracking the number of people nonprofit organisations and equipped with skills, we also ask our strategic nonprofit connections with clients partners to demonstrate program impact by reporting progress against key outcomes, such as obtaining employment, building and suppliers. sustainable businesses and creating employment opportunities for others. Pathways to Employment In today’s ever-evolving job market, workers often have Along with Accenture providing technology, Accenture people are currently to redefine themselves and learn new skills. The skilling participating in the Many Rivers Mentoring Program. programs we support through our nonprofit partners are designed with job placement and long-term career agility in mind. Our nonprofit partners offer job-readiness training, mentoring, vocational and technical training and new career programs to steer participants in the right direction towards sustainable employment. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 14 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Accenture as a Skills to Succeed Employer COLLABORATING FOR GREATER IMPACT We continue to explore opportunities to connect newly We have learned that no single organisation can adequately skilled individuals through Skills to Succeed programs with address the issue of unemployment. Our third strategic priority opportunities for sustainable employment. For example, we is to bring together, or join with, organisations across sectors have connected our nonprofit partner, Dress for Success Sydney, to create largescale, lasting solutions aimed at closing global with our HR and Procurement teams so they can together employment gaps. determine suitable employment opportunities at Accenture The successful execution of our strategy hinges on deep Australia. The Smith Family provides participants of their relationships with a diverse set of organisations, including our Learning for Life program with information on applying for nonprofit partners, clients, government agencies, employers our annual Graduate Recruitment program. and other funders. These partners bring a broad range of Enabling Entrepreneurship perspectives on complex issues, such as unemployment. As such, it can be a challenge to find common ground and Entrepreneurs have a multiplier effect on communities, generate consensus on the path forward. However, we believe bringing leadership skills to the marketplace and creating new that such efforts are essential to create large-scale change, businesses and jobs for others. When it comes to launching and we are uniquely positioned as a collaborator, convener and a successful business, training is just the beginning. Our thought-leader to develop shared solutions that help create experience shows that effective programs provide ongoing sustainable economic growth for millions of people worldwide. mentoring and other support to address the challenges of starting and growing a business of any size. In 2015, nonprofit partner, Many Rivers, launched its Mentoring Program that sees professional mentors provide support, guidance and skills transfer to micro-business owners to strengthen the support SKILLS TO SUCCEED supports provided by Many Rivers. UNITED NATIONS sustainable development GOALS 4, 8 and 17 LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 15 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
SKILLS TO SUCCEED PARTNERS IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND The Careers Support Program at Dress for Success in Sydney, Brisbane, Wellington and “I found the Dress for Success Careers Support Program Auckland provides career development and employability skills for in-need women and men (in Brisbane) who are actively seeking employment. workshops to be so informative. I was excited with all the new knowledge that I gained about today’s job market. My advice to Five years ago, Accenture supported Dress for Success Sydney and Brisbane to establish their Careers Support Program. In 2014, we started to support Dress for women who find themselves unemployed is to never give up! Success Wellington with their skilling program called the Breakfast Club, and in 2015 Keep learning and searching for work in places you wouldn’t we started to support the skilling component of the Women’s Resource Centre at normally look.” Dress for Success Auckland. Sylvia participated in Careers Support Program workshops at Dress for Success Sydney, Accenture people contributed their time and skills to develop and facilitate many Skills including workshops tailored for the over 50’s age bracket. Recently Sylvia’s new job to Succeed workshops at Dress for Success Sydney and Brisbane. Along with this, our seeking skills and confidence secured her employment as a bookkeeper with a legal firm. people provided assistance in the Dress for Success clothing showroom; donated work appropriate clothing at International Women’s Day events; helped with fundraising events; and, donated funds through our workplace giving program, Accent on Giving. In 2015, an ‘Online Reporting and Booking Tool’ was implemented by Accenture at Dress for Success Auckland to enable better management of participant bookings, administration and reporting processes, seeing an increase in efficiency and effectiveness in how client information is captured and used. Dress for Success in Australia and New Zealand equips hundreds of women with essential employability skills through their Careers Support Program, which includes Skills to Succeed workshops facilitated by Accenture volunteers. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 16 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
In 2015, Many Rivers implemented a Mentoring Program with multi-year support Julie Shaw, founder and creative director of fashion and lifestyle from the Accenture Australia Foundation. Through this program, professional mentors provide support, guidance and skills transfer to micro-business owners to strengthen brand Mayrah, is one of the first of Many Rivers’ clients to be the support provided by Many Rivers. In turn, the introduction of mentors will enable matched with a fully trained mentor through Many Rivers’ Many Rivers’ Field Officers to spend more time supporting new micro-business owners Mentoring Program. Julie and her mentor have been working to start, stay and thrive in business. through the challenges of expanding sales into the United The pilot phase of the Mentoring Program commenced in 2015 in Western Sydney, States market. Julie is now well on her way to achieving her Newcastle and Hunter Valley and metropolitan Perth. This involved mentor training, business goals. followed by successful mentor and business owner relationships being established. Many Rivers is the first Australian nonprofit organisation to be an affiliate of Accenture’s global nonprofit partner, Youth Business International (YBI). This has allowed Many Rivers access to YBI’s expertise and knowledge for entrepreneurship training, mentoring and other business development services. To support the implementation of the Many Rivers Mentoring Program, in fiscal 2015 Accenture consultants started a pro-bono project to build a technology platform that would capture mentor and supplementary business owner data, which would be used to establish and build strong and effective mentoring relationships. Completed in 2016, the new technology allows the Mentoring Program to run more efficiently, reach more Julie Shaw and her mentor (left to right), who are mentors and business owners, and enable Many Rivers to provide more accurate and participating in the Many Rivers’ Mentoring Program. reliable reporting. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 17 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) is a proven structured educational The Beacon Foundation and its High Impact Work Readiness Program equips students program that gives Indigenous high school students the skills, opportunities, belief in Years 11 and 12 with knowledge on how to be successful during the transition from and confidence to finish school and transition into further education, training or school to work with a focus on employment-ready topics. employment at the same rate as all Australian students. In fiscal 2015, Accenture began its support of AIME as their Year 12 National Partner. In fiscal 2015, with funding and volunteers from Accenture, young people were equipped with employability skills by attending 20 High Impact Work Readiness AIME positively engaged and equipped Year 12 students across Australia with valuable skills Program workshops across Australia and participating in The Beacon Foundation’s through their attendance at a range of interactive facilitated sessions with mentors, career core program in two secondary schools in Sydney and Brisbane. In addition, Accenture advisors and university representatives. The focus at these sessions was on completing high people co-facilitated High Impact Work Readiness Program workshops; facilitated skill- school and successfully transitioning into further education, training or employment. building workshops for students in Years 11 and 12; and, donated funds through our Accenture people mentored Year 11 students in Canberra and many got involved in workplace giving program, Accent on Giving. AIME’s annual National Hoodie Day to raise funds and recognise Indigenous success and pride, and help close the education gap for Indigenous youth. Accenture also supported “I started today with very little knowledge about approaching AIME’s one-off limited edition men’s and women’s suit sale. The suit lining featured an a job but now I feel that I am confident with applying and Indigenous print by an AIME art intern, providing a chance to create an original piece while kick-starting a career. pursuing a career path.” AIME identified the need to revise the way technology supported the transition of its Year A participant of The Beacon Foundation’s High Impact Program Work Readiness workshop 12 students into further education and employment. In 2016, Accenture commenced a project with AIME to redesign processes and technology to ensure a smoother process to support students, universities and employers. Accenture employees mentored students who attended a Beacon Foundation High Impact Work Readiness Program workshop in Brisbane. AIME Year 12 student mentees with program staff from University of Wollongong LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 18 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Through The Smith Family and their long-running Learning for Life program, the ‘Young Good Return is an initiative of World Education Australia. Their Skills for Life program Leaders Network’ was established to encourage its members, who are students studying was developed in 2009, with the support from the Accenture Australia Foundation, to in Year 12 or at tertiary institutions, to stay connected and network; give back to the give micro-entrepreneurs the opportunity to complete village-based financial literacy community; and, develop employability skills and confidence. and livelihood training courses to further their skills and see their businesses succeed. Since this time, Skills for Life has equipped nearly 9,000 people living in the Philippines, In fiscal 2015, members of the ‘Young Leaders Network’ were equipped with Indonesia, Cambodia and Nepal with skills to start or expand their business. employability skills by attending Accenture’s Skills to Succeed workshops on Navigating the Job Market and Preparing for Work. Accenture people volunteered to Through our workplace giving program, Accent on Giving, Accenture and its employees, deliver these skill-building workshops in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and known as the Good Return Committee, contributed funding towards Skills for Life in fiscal Sydney to help students make a successful transition into employment with skills 2015. Since the Good Return Committee’s inception in fiscal 2010, nearly AUD$120,000 and confidence. has been donated towards small loans for people in the Asia Pacific region. Once these loans were repaid, the funds have gone towards financial literacy and livelihood training Accenture people participated in The Smith Family’s online mentoring program, courses for other micro-entrepreneurs of the Skills for Life program. iTrack, which matches high school students with a supportive adult who volunteers In fiscal 2015, Accenture provided pro bono consulting to Good Return to evaluate and as a mentor to provide the student with advice and guidance about the workplace, select an online learning management system to enable the provision of ongoing online study and career opportunities. Through our workplace giving program, Accent on training for trainers in Cambodia and Nepal. The new system will play a key role in extending Giving, Accenture and its employees together contributed funding towards the tertiary the scale and reach of Good Return’s financial literacy and skills training programs. education for students of the Learning for Life program. “Following the workshop, I’ve revamped my cover letter and resume, and am attending more interviews for jobs that I’m very hopeful of getting.” A participant of the Navigating the Job Market workshop Women in Cambodia participate in the Skills for Life program and complete village-based financial literacy and livelihood training courses to further their skills and see their businesses succeed. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 19 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
The Connections to Employment program at Mission Australia provided training and employment focussed activities to engage job seekers in securing sustainable employment. In fiscal 2015, through our workplace giving program, Accent on Giving, Accenture and it’s people contributed funding towards the program and facilitated Skills to Succeed workshops to equip program participants with employability skills. In July 2015, when Connections to Employment ceased, Accenture started to support Charcoal Lane, a Mission Australia social enterprise restaurant in Fitzroy that provides young Indigenous people with guidance and opportunity to gain the skills required for a career in the hospitality industry. The program provides not only commercial restaurant skills, but also leadership and mentoring to help vulnerable young people Charcoal Lane provides guidance and opportunity to young people, many achieve their potential and gain long-term independence through employment. of whom are Aboriginal, to gain the skills required for a career in the hospitality industry. Mission Australia’s Pathways to Employment program assists job seekers to gain practical knowledge and personal awareness skills, so they could be more confident in the job market. The program was delivered through Mission Australia skill-building workshops and an online learning management system that Accenture implemented with Mission Australia in 2014. The Accenture HR team in Melbourne volunteered to help deliver a special ‘Christmas Family Day at the Zoo’ for low-income families whose children have never visited a zoo, The Post Schools Pathways program through nonprofit organisation Yalari provides and our people in Sydney volunteered to put on a Christmas barbeque lunch at Mission support and guidance for Indigenous students once they complete their secondary Australia’s ‘Fairlight Centre’, a transitional housing program for formerly homeless men school education, and equips them with skills to be successful at university, further as they journey to independence. study or into employment. With Accenture in Australia’s support over the last three years, students have been equipped with skills to help them on a positive pathway. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 20 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Save the Children established the Youth Advisory Committee to provide young people The Careers Support Program at Wear for Success in Melbourne provides career with valuable hands-on work experience at Save the Children, which would build their development and employability skills for in-need women and men who are actively skills and experience to become effective job candidates and employees at their next seeking employment. place of employment. In fiscal 2015, Accenture people facilitated Skills to Succeed Four years ago, Accenture supported Wear for Success in establishing its Careers workshops on Social Media and Leadership Fundamentals to equip committee members Support Program, and in fiscal 2015, we provided funding and volunteers to support with skills to support their successful transition to further employment. the delivery the program to beneficiaries. Along with this support, our people provided Through employee giving programs, Accenture and its people donated nearly $20,000 assistance in the Wear for Success clothing showroom; donated work appropriate toward Save the Children, including for the Djarindjin Community Op Shop Project in clothing at International Women’s Day events; and, donated funds through our Western Australia, the Youth Advisory Committee and the Nepal and Vanuatu Disaster workplace giving program, Accent on Giving. Relief Appeals. In fiscal 2015, Accenture undertook a project on a pro bono basis to enhance the ‘Online Reporting and Booking Tool’ at Wear for Success, following our implementation of the tool in 2014. Wear for Success can now better manage participant bookings, administration and reporting processes, seeing an increase in efficiency and effectiveness in how client information is captured and used. Campbell Page piloted the Community Hub Café program in Canberra to provide people who are experiencing long-term unemployment with the opportunity to receive hands- on work experience and gain skills in hospitality, customer service and retail in a safe and supportive environment. In early 2015, Accenture supported the pilot phase of the program and Accenture people also got involved by facilitating Skills to Succeed workshops on Resume Writing and Interview Skills. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 21 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
ENVIRONMENT Accenture people in Canberra volunteered with Greening Australia to plant trees. GOAL RUNNING EFFICIENT OPERATIONS GLOBAL PROGRESS Reduce our carbon emissions to an average of two metric tons per employee— By the end of fiscal 2015, we achieved a 47 percent reduction from baseline, reducing our representing a more than 50 percent reduction against our 2007 baseline. carbon emissions from an average of 4.04 metric tons of CO2 per employee in fiscal 2007 to 2.14 in fiscal 2015. GOAL ENABLING CLIENT & SUPPLIER SUSTAINABILITY GLOBAL PROGRESS Begin to measure and report the impact of our work with clients and suppliers in key In fiscal 2015, we piloted methodologies that start to measure the impact of our services areas of sustainability. with clients. NEW RUNNING EFFICIENT OPERATIONS Improve our energy efficiency by 30 percent against our 2007 baseline. NEW ENABLING SUPPLIER SUSTAINABILITY Expand to 75 percent the percentage of our key suppliers who disclose their targets and actions toward emissions reduction. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 22 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Fostering sustainable economic growth for our company We use digital technology to collaborate, learn and connect with our teams and our clients while reducing the cost, time and necessity of travel and travel-related carbon and our stakeholders is at the heart of our environmental emissions. We encourage our approximately 373,000* people around the world to share strategy. Leveraging the power of our people and the digital and implement innovative environmental solutions in their daily work. world is key to achieving our environmental goals for 2020 Environmental stewardship is ingrained in our Code of Business Ethics and our core values, specifically Stewardship. These inform our Environmental Responsibility Policy, and helping to ensure a better future for our planet. which our Environment Steering Group (ESG) established in 2007, updated in 2014, and reviews annually. OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH Accountability for our environmental strategy starts with our Chairman & CEO and cascades to our governance bodies that oversee our environmental policy and corporate Accenture has long understood the need to minimise the impact of our operations in an objective of fostering environmentally sustainable growth. energy and carbon constrained world. Since 2007, when we first quantified our carbon footprint, our commitment has continued to evolve and grow. Today, we build and test innovations like cloud computing that inherently reduces environmental impact. By the end of fiscal 2020, globally, we will reduce our carbon emissions to an average of two metric tons per employee, representing a more than 50 percent reduction against our 2007 baseline. Our environmental strategy focuses on three areas: • Running efficient operations that reduce emissions and other impacts. REDUCED our per employee CARBON EMISSIONS by 47% toward our goal of 50% by 2020 • Enabling client and supplier sustainability. • Engaging our people, leaders, partners and other stakeholders. As a global professional services company, our environmental footprint consists RUNNING EFFICIENT OPERATIONS primarily of the carbon emissions that our people generate through air travel and use of electricity in our office locations. This is especially the case for Accenture Australia Globally, managing our energy use helped make fiscal 2015 the most energy-efficient and New Zealand, where our vast landscape requires us to travel long distances via air year in our company’s history. Since the outset of our energy management programs travel to fulfill our commitments. in fiscal 2007, the collective electricity efficiency of our offices around the globe has improved by more than 28 percent. By executing our strategy, we are confident we can attain bold, sustainable outcomes that reduces our carbon footprint and helps mitigate the impacts of climate change. *As at February 29, 2016 LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 23 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
While collaboration technology minimises our need for travel, it also poses a challenge: technology upgrades that necessitate disposal of obsolete electronic waste (e-waste). In fiscal 2015, we maintained our strong results with responsible disposal of e-waste. Globally, more than 99 percent of our total disposed equipment—more than 46,000 laptop and desktop computers weighing 180 metric tons—was disposed of in a method avoiding landfill, primarily through management by supplier reclamation and responsible disposal vendors. Set a goal to IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICENCY by 30% by 2020 More efficient lighting and cooling Accenture has identified enormous potential to make a difference in environmental Improving operational efficiencies with collaboration technology sustainability by maximising the use of new and digital technologies in our day-to-day operations. For example, Accenture Workplace Services is rolling out the installation of In 2015, our internal IT organisation set forth a bold mission to drive a digital Accenture. LED tubes—sourced through our client Philips—at Accenture locations around the world. We are enabling digital operations within the CIO organisation and across Accenture’s Benefits of LEDs include reduced carbon emissions through lower energy use, reduced global enterprise—reducing the carbon emissions, cost, time and necessity of travel. environmental impact by eliminating fluorescent tubes and their mercury content and Digital will be key to achieving Accenture’s environmental goals for 2020 and beyond. reduced operating costs. Accenture Workplace Services in Australia and New Zealand With a philosophy of moving ideas, not people, we have embedded the expectation of use LED lights wherever possible, along with looking towards the future to determine minimising travel into our culture. We are communicating and connecting in a way other ways to bring about workplace lighting and cooling efficiencies. that is second nature to our people. Further, we are investing heavily in collaborative technologies—minimising the use of hardware where possible in favour of inherently Ongoing efforts to assess and reduce environmental impact sustainable solutions such as cloud computing. Accenture is ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS)-certified globally. ISO 14001 is an international standard for organisations to minimise their In 2015, globally Accenture averaged nearly 9 million videoconferencing minutes per environmental impact. It is a key credential for many of our clients and tangible month across multiple videoconferencing tools. evidence of our commitment to being an environmentally responsible partner. Our Global live-stream broadcasting is an everyday reality across Accenture, bridging the Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney offices are ISO 14001 certified. physical distance between Accenture employees, company leaders, clients and even the general public. This type of virtual face-to-face interaction lessens and often eliminates the need for travel and its corresponding carbon emissions. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 24 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
Water consumption Increasing renewable energy sources We seek to responsibly minimise water consumption across Replacing non-renewable with renewable energy is part of our business. Our operations are not water-intensive, however, our supply chain sustainability strategy. In fiscal 2015, use of we recognise the increasing importance of water availability renewable energy contributed to reductions in per employee in areas of the world that may become water-stressed due to carbon emissions, allowing us to avoid more than 57,000 escalating physical and economic water scarcity. metric tons of CO2 across our global operations. We engage our people through internal environment campaigns Accenture continues to explore cost-practical means to to raise awareness of water conservation measures. We also purchase renewable instead of non-renewable grid energy continue to work with building management to promote wherever possible. The fact that we do not own our office the careful use of water, implementing improvements where buildings limits our ability to self-generate renewable energy or practical. For example, the Sydney Accenture office uses a black enter into contractual agreements with local renewable energy water treatment plant that transforms building waste water into suppliers on our own. We continue to encourage our landlords clean, recycled water for toilets and site irrigation. to pursue cost-feasible, locally available renewable options for tenants, or allow us to pursue them ourselves. Accenture’s The Sydney Accenture office occupies a 6-Star Green Star exterior signage at our Sydney office is powered by renewable Our ENVIRONMENTAL Rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. The sources and we continue to seek other opportunities to use STRATEGY supports UNITED Green Star accommodation provides significant environmental renewable energy. NATIONS sustainable benefits, including reduced water consumption mentioned above as well as heating, cooling and lighting efficiencies. Travel Smart Challenge development GOALS 7 and 13 We conducted our fourth annual Travel Smart Challenge in fiscal 2015. A six-week competition that ran from Earth Day to World Environment Day encouraged Accenture people to think creatively about how they can minimise flights and road travel to reduce their travel-related carbon footprint. In Australia, several employees participated in the Travel Smart Challenge, seeing both domestic and international flights avoided over the six-week timeframe. Over the past four years, participants from around the world have avoided more than 11,000 flights through this initiative. Accenture’s office in Sydney is Australia’s first building rated 6-Star Green Star, the highest performance rating given by the Green Building Council of Australia. LETTER FROM ACCENTURE AT ETHICS & SKILLS TO THE PATH ENVIRONMENT OUR PEOPLE SUPPLY CHAIN 25 OUR LEADERS A GLANCE GOVERNANCE SUCCEED FORWARD
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