WHILE THE DETAILS OF ACCENTURE’S BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN EMPOWERING LIVES AND BUSINESSES IS DOCUMENTED WELL, A LESSER KNOWN ASPECT IS ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION’S IS ITS FOCUS AND DRIVE TO FULFILL ITS CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OR CSR.
Accenture as a technology multinational needs no introduction. As a technological bigwig engaged in technical strategy, digital consultation and operations, the company offers employment to thousands of skilled and semi skilled workforce around the globe. Accenture has been involved in multiple channels to help empower lives of the lesser fortunate ones and the needy. To fulfill its quest to have a real impact in changing lives of the needy, Accenture has adopted its uniquely designed ‘Skill to Succeed’ program, as they walk on the CSR path to empower lives of the needy, The Skill to Succeed program has set up an ambitious goal to equip more than 3 million people globally with the skills to get a job or build a business by the end of fiscal 2020.
Accenture finds a perfect synergy with Skill India Program:
Accenture’s skill to succeed program has found perfect synergy with the government of India’s Skill India program. The goal of Skill India is to create opportunities, space and scope for the development of talent and identify new sectors for skill development, Accenture today is working closely with the central and various state governments by undertaking various initiatives in the skill development ecosystem. The various initiatives undertaken by Accenture with NSDC, SSCs and various state governments have helped the country to achieve their targets of ‘Skill India’ and fill the demand and supply gap of talent across sectors and Industries.
An insight into Accenture Skill to Succeed Program:
Accenture’s ‘Skill to Succeed’ program is aimed to provide advance employment and provide entrepreneurship opportunities for individuals who do not have adequate finances or educational qualifications to build their lives for the better. Accenture has partnered with many well known foundations and organizations having a synergic approach to bring about a real change in the lives of the people.To streamlines its success, Accenture has identified five sectors that have the maximum potential for employment and match the business capabilities and expertise. These include business process outsourcing, hospitality and facilities management, retail, construction and microenterprise.Accenture also draws on the technology expertise to provide a distinct ability to cohesively map methodology, insights and frameworks with technology-driven implementation. The program recognizes the challenges associated with demand-led skilling and its programs build relevant skills that are aligned to market demands, yet are also flexible with changing employer needs and industry trends. Accenture and Indian associates in ‘Skill to Succeed’:
Accenture-Dr. Reddy’s Foundation (DRF) Partnership:
In 2007, Accenture began a longterm partnership with Dr. Reddy’s Foundation (DRF) with its nationwide Livelihood Enhancement Business School (LABS) offering an effective short-term skills training program. Together AccentureDr. Reddy’s Foundation (DRF) Partnership developed an online portal FOIS (Foundations Operations Information System) developed by a dedicated project team to manage its operations and reporting in a lean and efficient manner. As a result, the FOIS portal provides a one-stop solution by integrating several functional modules such Operations, Finance, Corporate Networking, HR and Administration. Various analysis and reports can be generated in a click and the number of people trained and placed can be easily tracked and reported.
Accenture- Don Bosco Tech Partnership:
Accenture team has developed a webbased platform which will streamline all the information from Don Bosco Tech’s training centers, candidate enrollment process, biometric data and Geo-tagged attendance and placement tracking information. This will help scale up the training program quickly with more centers in the future.
Accenture-QUEST Alliance Partnership:
QUEST Alliance designs implements and oversees various multi-state, multi-partner education and skills training initiatives. Accenture is supporting the design and build of a project management tool that allows several functionalities and features including a centralized dashboard to track overall progress of a project along with a tracking and management of field personnel and field-related tasks. The Accenture developed product also offers its partners a window to quickly view the status of the project across all their participating locations. Generation of reports across predefined areas to monitor the health of the project and share required reports with external partners and funders are also easily assimilated.
Accenture- SEWA Alliance:
On -going pro-bono support is helping build capacity in SEWA’s operations in terms of costing, audit process, space management, and improvement in quality, inventory and MIS management. The Accenture program development has so far helped SEWA assembly line reduce manufacturing costs by onethird, reduce wastage in supply chain by 80 percent, halved the number of process steps and increased earnings of individual team members by more than 10 times.
A Success story of Skill to Succeed
28 year old Nithya R comes from a family with 3 members. Her father is a daily wage laborer and earned Rs. 26,000 annually which was not sufficient to sustain the family needs. Being specially-abled it was a challenge for Nithya to find a job Nithya was introduced to the LABS-PwD training program of DRF through one of her friends. Nithya came to the Accenture supported LABS- PwD center at Jayanagar in Bangalore. She enrolled in the ITES domain. The facilitators at the centre counseled her about the entire process of course and job placement prospects.Nithya completed her training in April 2014 and since has been working as a Process Analyst with Accenture India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore on a monthly remuneration of Rs. 9,500. “It was like a dream coming true for me. I never imagined working for a MNC like Accenture. I could only realize this dream of mine through the LABS-PwD training program.” says an extremely happy Nithya.
Text: V-C reate Media Photos: Various Sources