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2017 Corporate Citizenship Report

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The 2017 Corporate Citizenship Report by Accenture highlights their commitment to improving societal impact through various initiatives, including skills development for over 2.2 million people and significant reductions in carbon emissions. The report details the company's goals and progress in areas such as inclusion, diversity, and sustainable practices, while documenting their collaborative efforts with organizations like Youth Business USA. With a focus on using technology for social good, Accenture aims to create lasting change globally, ultimately fostering a more equal and inclusive society.

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CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT2017 See how Skills to Succeed helped Tyrone and Tiffany launch their business
TABLEOF CONTENTS ON THE COVER Tiffany Hoang never thought she would own a business, but after facing prejudice and discrimination in previous jobs, she and business partner Tyrone Botelho launched CircleUp Education to make a difference in their community. Their Oakland, California- based social enterprise helps cities, organizations and schools ensure that all people are respected, included and valued. Tiffany and Tyrone made their dream a reality with help from mentors at Youth Business USA (YBUSA). YBUSA provides support to young entrepreneurs facing significant barriers to business ownership, and helps them start and grow their own businesses and ultimately, create jobs. As part of Accenture’s long-standing relationship with Youth Business International—including grant, pro bono and volunteer support—we helped YBUSA develop the skysthelimit.org platform, which uses artificial intelligence analytics to connect budding entrepreneurs like Tiffany and Tyrone with resources, skills training and mentoring. OVERVIEW ETHICS & GOVERNANCE OUR PEOPLE COMMUNITY IMPACT ENVIRONMENT SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE DATA
Society finds itself at a critical inflection point in the digital era, creating both inspiring opportunities and unforeseen risks. In this technology revolution, our focus is finding new ways to apply technology and invention to create a positive and lasting impact for people and communities. The challenge is immense, but we believe it is an opportunity for business, government and nonprofit leaders to collaborate as stewards of an increasingly connected world. By combining human ingenuity with groundbreaking technologies, Accenture solves complex problems and delivers innovation that helps build a more equal and inclusive society. Most of all, we are committed to keeping people at the heart of everything we do. With expertise across more than 40 industries and all business functions, our people turn their ideas into innovations that put people first—to help them succeed and grow in this new era. Our 2017 Corporate Citizenship Report illustrates how we do this by: ADDRESSING COMPLEX PROBLEMS • Solving the challenges of identity: We are partnering with Microsoft on ID2020, a project using blockchain and biometric technologies to enable the 1.1 billion individuals without officially recognized identities to access and share their data electronically. • Transforming health care systems: By applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to data, we optimized the dispatch process for the rural Japanese municipality Saga Prefecture, reducing travel time for ambulance trips to the hospital by an average of 1.3 minutes and most importantly, saving lives. SKILLING FOR THE FUTURE • Closing employment gaps: We equipped more than 2.2 million people globally with skills to gain employment or build a business through our Skills to Succeed initiative. • Helping students reach their potential: With a continued focus on apprenticeships globally, we expanded our US apprenticeship program Jill Huntley Managing Director Global Corporate Citizenship Pierre Nanterme Chairman & CEO to provide under-represented groups greater access to digital economy jobs, and will grow our national program each year, while bringing more corporations on board. SHAPING A RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS • Balancing our workforce: As we continue to make progress toward accomplishing our goal of 25 percent women managing directors by 2020, we set a new goal to achieve a gender- balanced workforce by 2025. • Fostering sustainable growth: We reduced per-employee carbon emissions by 52 percent, surpassing our goal to achieve a 50 percent reduction by 2020. • Transforming our Code of Business Ethics: We digitized our Code of Business Ethics to make it more accessible to all Accenture people. Our Code includes our international human rights statement, which emphasizes our commitment to maintaining ethical and equitable practices worldwide. Thanks to our team of approximately 442,000 people worldwide and an ecosystem of diverse partners, we are living our vision to improve the way the world works and lives. Together, we look forward to the possibilities ahead as we help improve millions of lives around the world, now and for the future. LETTERFROM OURLEADERS 1 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Accenture solves our clients’ toughest challenges by providing a broad range of services in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. We partner with more than three-quarters of the FORTUNE Global 500, driving innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. With expertise across more than 40 industries and all business functions, we deliver transformational outcomes for a demanding new digital world. As we rapidly rotate our business to “the New”—digital-, cloud- and security-related services, enabled by new and innovative technology—we are helping our clients create sustainable value for their stakeholders. We are proud that 98 of our top 100 clients have been clients for at least 10 years. ACCENTURE ATAGLANCE 442,000 PEOPLE serving clients in more than 120 countries $18 BILLION in revenue from digital-, cloud- and security- related services $74 MILLION invested in corporate citizenship efforts $935 MILLION invested in learning and development for our people $34.9 BILLION annual net revenues $1.7 BILLION invested in acquisitions—the majority in “the New” 6,000 PATENTS and pending patent applications in 44 countries $700 MILLION invested in research and innovation to develop leading-edge ideas Note: All figures are US dollars and are as of fiscal year-end 2017 (August 31, 2017), with the exception of approximate headcount (as of February 28, 2018). 2 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
OURCORPORATE CITIZENSHIPSTRATEGY ANDAPPROACH The immersive learning environment of our Innovation Hubs brings together broad networks from Accenture and beyond to solve challenges in a digital context. Technology continues to change the world as we know it, but to create positive, meaningful impact, we must put people first. Taking a People First approach to business, technology and citizenship requires deeper intelligence at all levels—from strategy through operations. At Accenture, we combine human ingenuity with advanced and intelligent technologies to solve complex problems and deliver innovation to build a more equal and inclusive society. From gender equality and climate action to decent work and economic growth and quality education, we are committed to addressing the United Nations’ Global Goals and contributing to the new sustainable development agenda. We set ambitious goals and make strategic investments to drive progress and performance across our organization, workforce, communities, environment and supply chain. At the same time, we collaborate with partners to scale our innovations responsibly and with integrity that informs the way we work with our suppliers, protect our planet and advance inclusion in the digital age, for our company and clients. Putting people first also means investing in learning that benefits current and future generations, and empowers them to create a more equal and inclusive society. Our own workforce represents a wide variety of cultures, ethnicities, religious beliefs and languages. This rich diversity makes us stronger—more innovative, more competitive and more creative, which helps us better serve our clients and our communities. 3 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
GOALS& PROGRESS Pillar Goal Progress Update SDG* ETHICS & GOVERNANCE Awareness Building Following the fiscal 2014 launch of Conduct Counts, we will strive for employee awareness levels of our five global behavioral standards to be at least 90 percent each year. In fiscal 2017, we achieved more than 90 percent employee awareness of our five global behavioral standards. Ethics Training We will strive to maintain employee completion rates in the high 90th percentile for our Ethics & Compliance training each year. In fiscal 2017, we maintained employee completion rates in the high 90th percentile for our Ethic & Compliance training. OURPEOPLE Inclusion & Diversity By the end of 2025, we will achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women and 50 percent men. By the end of 2017, our global workforce comprised 41 percent women—up from 39 percent in 2016. Inclusion & Diversity By the end of 2020, we will increase the diversity of our leadership by growing our percentage of women managing directors to at least 25 percent worldwide. By the end of 2017, our women managing directors comprised more than 21 percent women—up from 20 percent in 2016. Talent Development By the end of fiscal 2018, we will enhance the way our people interact and learn by building a global network of 100 connected classrooms that combine interactive technologies with innovative content design. In fiscal 2017, we surpassed our goal by expanding our global network of connected classrooms to 123. SYMBOLS AchievedIn ProgressOngoing *Our Corporate Citizenship efforts support several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 4 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE
Pillar Goal Progress Update SDG* COMMUNITY IMPACT Demand-led Skilling By the end of fiscal 2020, we will equip more than 3 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business. To date, we have equipped more than 2.2 million people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills. Employment and Entrepreneurship Outcomes By the end of fiscal 2020, we will increase our focus on the successful transition from skill-building programs to sustainable jobs and businesses, and improve our collective ability to measure and report on these outcomes. Over the past five years, new grants from our Global Giving partnerships have helped more than 160,000 people, or more than half of the 315,000 individuals equipped with employment and entrepreneurship skills, go on to secure a job or build a business. Collaboration for Systemic Change By the end of fiscal 2020, we will bring together organizations across sectors to create large- scale, lasting solutions aimed at closing global employment gaps. We continue to grow our role as a collaborator, convener and thought leader, and to deliver research and insights to help drive systemic change, such as New Skills Now: Inclusion in the Digital Economy, which provides insight for nonprofit organizations and funders around how to future-proof workforce development. GOALS& PROGRESS *Our Corporate Citizenship efforts support several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SYMBOLS AchievedIn ProgressOngoing 5 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE
Pillar Goal Progress Update SDG* ENVIRONMENT Running Efficient Operations By the end of fiscal 2020, 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. By the end of fiscal 2017, we achieved a 52 percent reduction from baseline, reducing our carbon emissions from an average of 4.04 metric tons of CO2 per employee in fiscal 2007 to 1.96 in fiscal 2017. Enabling Client Sustainability By the end of fiscal 2020, we will begin to measure and report the impact of our work with clients and suppliers in key areas of sustainability. In fiscal 2017, we continued to pilot methodologies and began to measure the impact of our services with clients, resulting in approximately 430,000 metric tons of realized CO2 savings and more than 1.25 million metric tons of potential savings identified. SUPPLYCHAIN Supplier Sustainability By the end of fiscal 2020, we will expand to 75 percent the percentage of our key suppliers who disclose their targets and actions toward emissions reduction. Through fiscal 2017, 72 percent of our suppliers disclosed their targets, and 76 percent disclosed their actions toward emissions reduction. Supplier Inclusion & Diversity Through our Diverse Supplier Development Program (DSDP), we will develop a total of 170 small, medium and diverse suppliers by the end of fiscal 2020. Through fiscal 2017, we developed 133 small, medium and diverse suppliers through our DSDP, with our South Africa class graduating in 2018. GOALS& PROGRESS *Our Corporate Citizenship efforts support several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SYMBOLS AchievedIn ProgressOngoing 6 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE
Our 2017 Corporate Citizenship Report details the impact we made across each of the five pillars of our corporate citizenship reporting framework: Ethics & Governance, Our People, Community Impact, Environment and Supply Chain. The report explores our corporate citizenship goals, progress and performance across our global operations during fiscal 2017 (ended August 31, 2017), unless otherwise noted. Our previous reports are available on accenture.com. Accountability and transparency are priorities for Accenture and are part of the foundation on which we build trust with our clients, our people, our investors and other stakeholders. We continually take steps to strengthen our reporting approach through ongoing stakeholder engagement and voluntary adherence to global non-financial reporting standards. For our 2017 report, we are transitioning from the GRI G4 guidelines to the GRI Standards as a basis for disclosure. For more information on our GRI disclosures, please see the Reporting Prioritization section and GRI Index. The report serves as our ninth Communication on Progress to the United Nations Global Compact that we signed in January 2008, and it documents our progress to implement the 10 Principles as a member of Global Compact LEAD, which focuses on raising sustainability performance. As a LEAD member, we are committed to work toward implementing the Blueprint for Corporate Sustainability Leadership, and sharing related outcomes and learnings with the broader universe of companies in the Global Compact. We disclose our key non-financial metrics in our Performance Data Table, including data from the last five years. More information about our global corporate citizenship activities, including our detailed GRI Index, UNGC Index and most recent CDP response is available on accenture.com. Additionally, Accenture holds a range of industry-wide external certifications that are relevant to corporate citizenship, including ISO® 14001, ISO® 27001 and OHSAS 18001. Current financial information about Accenture can be found in our recent Annual Report and 10-K and 2017 Proxy Statement. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Fostering a dialogue with key stakeholders is an important part of our reporting process. It helps us understand and communicate which topics are most important to our stakeholders and to manage our business. We regularly engage internal and external stakeholders in discussions regarding our goals, our progress and performance to improve our reporting. We use input from a variety of stakeholders (see table below) to inform our approach and align more closely with stakeholder expectations. STAKEHOLDER GROUP EXAMPLES OF ENGAGEMENT Clients Satisfaction surveys, client account lead relationships, project quality assurance processes, conferences and events, responses to information requests (e.g., CDP Supply Chain) Current Accenture People Surveys, internal memos and webcasts, accenture.com, social media, Business Ethics Helpline, focus groups, employee resource groups Investors Quarterly earnings calls, Investor & Analyst conferences, responses to investor questionnaires (e.g., CDP Climate Change, DJSI), investor relations team outreach Suppliers CDP’s Supply Chain program, Supplier Standards of Conduct, Diverse Supplier Development Program, training and mentorship Governments, Multi-laterals & Policy Makers See Political Contributions and Lobbying Policy, discussions via Government Relations team Nonprofit Partners & Foundations Skills to Succeed grantee relationships, nonprofit initiatives for employee volunteering and giving, advocacy and societal change group participation, virtual roundtables Potential Recruits, Alumni & Civil Society Social media, accenture.com, careers blog, alumni forums and events, news releases OURREPORTING APPROACH 7 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
REPORTING PRIORITIZATION To prioritize our report content, we review our non-financial materiality matrix annually to ensure the topics remain accurate and relevant. Since our last report, Compliance with Environment and Social Regulation has been split into its component parts to reflect the rise in new social regulations and their greater relevance to our stakeholders. For added clarity, Direct Economic Impacts has been renamed to Distributed Economic Value. Human rights continue to be an important focus for our stakeholders—the areas of human rights that are most relevant to our business and operations are indicated within the materiality matrix. Topics not included on this matrix are not considered relevant for our non-financial disclosures. • Energy Use • Waste, Including E-Waste • Water • Carbon Emissions • Compliance with Social Regulation • Inclusion, Diversity & Equal Opportunity* • Talent Attraction & Development • Employee Well-being* • Environmentally Sustainable Procurement • Community Giving, Engagement & Social Impact • Compliance with Environmental Regulation • Enabling Clients’ Sustainability • Top-level Governance of Environmental & Social Issues • Human Rights in the Supply Chain* • Data Privacy & Security/ Cybersecurity* • Ethics & Integrity* • Employment Conditions and Working Practices for Our People* • Digital Responsibility • Supporting Suppliers’ Sustainability • Indirect Economic Impacts • Distributed Economic Value • Alignment with Voluntary Environment, Social & Governance Standards • Consistency in Public Policy & Advocacy • Supplier Diversity IMPORTANCETOEXTERNALSTAKEHOLDERS Medium IMPORTANCE TO BUSINESS *Potential human rights impact Very HighHigh GRI Note: The outlined sections of the matrix indicated above contain the most material non-financial topics in scope for reporting with the GRI Standards and that are included in our GRI Index. For each topic, our list of definitions of material topics references the specific Standards used as well as Management Approach information. This report has been prepared referencing the GRI Standards. For more information about these Standards, please visit the GRI website. MediumVeryHighHigh 8 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
AWARDS& RECOGNITION Recognized among FORTUNE’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 16 consecutive years; ranked No. 1 in IT Services category for 5 years Ranked No. 12 on the Thomson Reuters’ Diversity & Inclusion Index Recognized in CDP’s Climate Change Report as a leading company for reducing emissions and mitigating climate change Included on FORTUNE’s Change the World list of the 50 best companies putting purpose at the center of their business strategies Recognized among Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies for 11 consecutive years Recognized among DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity for 11 consecutive years and six in the top 15 Included on CDP’s Supplier Engagement Leader Board, recognizing companies that are reducing emissions and lowering climate-related risks within their supply chains Included on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 10 consecutive years Joined Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies Hall of Fame recognizing 15 consecutive years Included in Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America & FTSE4Good Global Index for 13 consecutive years Received a perfect score on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index each year since 2008 Ranked No. 7 on CR Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens list 9 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “Best People is an Accenture core value. By recruiting diverse candidates, I am helping us deliver innovation to clients.” Lula Samuel Manager 36% of the 11 independent members of our Board are women Strong ethics and shared values drive everything we do at Accenture. Acting with integrity has always been, and always will be, fundamental to how we operate. Guided by an industry-leading governance model, a set of fundamental behaviors and new digital tools, we strive to build trust while empowering our people to act with integrity every day. ETHICS GOVERNANCE 11 on Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies list YEARS CONSECUTIVE fundamental behaviors form the foundation for our reimagined Code of Business Ethics 6 ETHICS GOVERNANCE
OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH A commitment to ethics and strong corporate governance are key elements of Accenture’s business strategy. The commitments that support our culture are essential for us to grow, differentiate ourselves from our competitors, and safeguard our people, brand and financial performance. They are the foundation on which we build trust with our clients, our people, our investors and other stakeholders. This trust is evident in the enduring relationships we have with our clients. We develop much of our business from long-term associations—all our top 100 clients have been with us for at least five years, and 98 of those have been clients for a decade or more. We demonstrate our commitment to ethics as a supporter and advocate for human rights, where our efforts focus on areas most relevant to our business and operations, and the potential effect they will have on the people of the world. Additionally, we uphold our long-standing support, as a LEAD member, of the United Nations Global Compact (which we signed in January 2008), as well as our commitment to adhere to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Through all our efforts and commitments, Accenture continues to shape and maintain a highly ethical culture. In fact, our Ethics Compliance program helped earn Accenture a spot on Ethisphere’s 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies list. This marks our 11th consecutive year on the list, recognizing our commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate citizenship. SHAPING AN ETHICAL CULTURE Code of Business Ethics As we foster an ethical culture, in addition to identifying legal requirements and assessing emergent risks, our ongoing challenge is to help ensure that all of our people consistently model ethical behaviors. Today’s complex business environment and evolving legal and regulatory requirements create new situations in which the right decision requires careful consideration of a host of complex factors. That is why it is vital to have both a well-defined code of business ethics and a straightforward way of helping our people access the information they need, when and how they need it. The Ethics Economy According to “Fjord Trends 2018,” we are in “The Ethics Economy.” Customers and employees want to buy from— and work for—companies that share their belief system. Organizations are under increasing pressure to publicize their ethical principles. In many cases, companies may face more-severe consequences for failing to comply with disclosure standards than in years past. 11 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 11
In September 2017, we reinvented our Code of Business Ethics (COBE), transforming it for the digital age. By applying design thinking and integrating intelligent technology, we have essentially remodeled our COBE from a lengthy, text-heavy document into an interactive, mobile-first tool that helps our global workforce act with integrity—at speed. In addition to embedding ethical decision making into how our people work and live, we have reinforced our commitment to ethical business practices. The latest version of our COBE, available in nine languages, has been streamlined and reorganized, and content has been added to provide additional guidance and greater detail about various matters of special interest like new technologies and human rights. We encourage our people to speak up if they have a good faith concern about disrespectful or inappropriate conduct, or unethical or illegal behavior of any kind. Accenture takes all concerns raised—whether to a supervisor, career counselor, an Accenture leader, or Human Resources or Legal representative—seriously, and the matter will be handled by the most appropriate global or local team. Concerns may also be reported anonymously, where legal restrictions allow, to the Accenture Business Ethics Helpline 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our redeveloped COBE has evolved in three ways: 1. More approachable content—We condensed and reorganized the COBE around six fundamental behaviors and added relevant new content related to the use of new technologies, corporate citizenship and our commitment to human rights. As such, the COBE links to our new policy 1006, Prohibition on Human Trafficking, Forced Labor and Child Labor, which was published in May 2017. The six fundamental behaviors are: • Make Your Conduct Count—Fostering respect, fairness and shared ethical values. • Comply with Laws—Accenture people, and those acting on our behalf, are responsible for understanding the applicable rules and working with Legal to ensure compliance with all laws. • Deliver for Our Clients—Serve clients, regardless of role, focusing on their best interests while acting as stewards of Accenture. Code of Business Ethics Our Code of Business Ethics isn’t just a document—it’s what we believe, how we live and how we lead. It’s embedded in all we do, empowering our people to operate with the highest standards so they can lead with confidence and help create a better world.” Chad T. Jerdee General Counsel Chief Compliance Officer “ 12 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
• Protect People, Information and Our Business—Working together to build a better, stronger and more durable company for future generations, preserving the Accenture brand, meeting our commitments to keep information and intellectual property safe, acting with an owner mentality, and developing and looking after our people. • Run Our Business Responsibly—Using sound business judgment to make decisions and do so within our authority, using sound discretion to take appropriate risks and remaining accountable even where decision making is automated. • Be a Good Corporate Citizen—Support and respect human rights, foster environmental responsibility and encourage involvement in the communities where we work and live. 2. Human-centered experience—We have digitized our COBE and created an easy- to-use chatbot to help guide our people to the information they need. Designed to evolve using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning capabilities, the chatbot can help surface real-time trends that enable Accenture to tailor its responses continuously and identify new topics and training opportunities while preserving user anonymity. The COBE chatbot transforms a legal document into a living resource. 3. Simplified COBE training—We took a fresh approach to training by designing shorter but more visually engaging, interactive and frequent courses. Following a five- minute multimedia introduction to COBE, monthly follow-up courses take learners through the six fundamental behaviors. To take advantage of new technology, our road map for COBE includes making the experience even more responsive, embedding the chatbot into other employee collaboration platforms and exploring various forms of input such as voice. Conduct Counts The first fundamental behavior featured in COBE is “Make Your Conduct Count,” which articulates five culturally sensitive—locally relevant, yet global—standards to help guide our people’s behavior across our unique and diverse “culture of cultures,” so that we can be at our best each day: • Speak up about concerns, knowing Accenture never tolerates retaliation. • Treat each other with respect. • Conduct ourselves in accordance with the highest standards of professional behavior, as ambassadors of Accenture. • Apply our principle of meritocracy when we make decisions about our people. • Ensure our personal interests and relationships do not create conflicts for Accenture. Central to the success of Conduct Counts is employee completion of our required Ethics Compliance training. This training is regular and required for all Accenture people; it is the employee’s responsibility to complete all of his/her required Ethics Compliance training by July 31 each year to be fully eligible for year-end rewards (as permitted by law). In fiscal, 2017, we achieved employee completion rates of more than 99 percent. In addition to engaging with individual country managing directors on their local actions, we also formed our Country Managing Director Advisory Council. Comprised of business leaders in seven countries, the Council members participate in quarterly calls to provide perspective, offer guidance on local needs, create geographic synergy and serve as a sounding board for priorities and new initiatives. We continue to monitor our people’s understanding of our Conduct Counts behaviors by conducting periodic anonymous surveys about ethical behavior at Accenture. In fiscal 2017, we once again achieved more than 90 percent awareness of our five global behavioral standards. As of early 2017, Accenture people within all countries have completed the survey twice, and we intend to implement the survey globally every two years. Leadership Responsibilities We expect all leaders at Accenture to advocate for ethics and compliance, and serve as role models of the highest ethical standards. This leadership list includes our Board of Directors, Chairman CEO, General Counsel Chief Compliance Officer, and Global Management Committee, which has ultimate accountability for running our business. Our Chairman CEO—and other senior leaders—set the tone for integrity and ethics by communicating clearly and frequently, including through video, blog posts and other digital and social channels, about our approach to ethics and compliance. These communications include messaging about our zero tolerance for violations of law and for retaliation against employees reporting issues. Our leadership also regularly stresses why a strong Ethics Compliance program is an essential part of leading in the New and reaching our company’s goals. 13 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
The Importance of Anticorruption Our global Ethics Compliance program, which includes our global Anticorruption program, requires all Accenture people to act with business integrity and in an honest and ethical manner. Our COBE and related anticorruption policies require our people, business partners and suppliers to comply with all antibribery and anticorruption laws everywhere we do business, including, but not limited to: • The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). • The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Public Officials in International Business Transactions. • The United Nations Convention Against Corruption. • The UK Bribery Act. We are also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative. This program unites companies through a zero- tolerance policy toward bribery and corruption in any form, and it applies to all Accenture people— directors, officers and employees in every country and every Accenture entity—and the ways we develop, implement and maintain our broad-based anticorruption programs. One of the most important aspects of our anticorruption compliance program is providing training to our people. With approximately 442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, no traditional or “off-the-shelf” training program could possibly meet our diverse needs. To address this, we adopted a risk-based and targeted approach that provides a baseline of training to all our people, with additional training provided to those in higher- risk roles, including live in-person training with local attorneys in many of the highest-risk marketplaces. In addition to formal training requirements, we provide regular global and local communications that address recent anticorruption headlines and invite interactive participation. By focusing these educational activities on real-life scenarios, we help ensure that our training and awareness efforts remain relevant and practical without becoming stale or repetitive. In the past year, we worked with outside counsel— including the former head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s FCPA division—to conduct an in-depth risk assessment of our anticorruption program. The assessment confirmed that Accenture’s compliance program continues to be among the most-advanced and forward-thinking programs in the world. HUMAN RIGHTS As we serve clients across the globe, we support and respect internationally recognized human rights wherever we do business. These standards are expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Support and respect for the protection of human rights are at the heart of our core values, especially Respect for the Individual, Best People and Integrity. Our commitment is anchored in our COBE, our Supplier Standards of Conduct and our global policies. We speak up if we experience any human rights violations and take action—or reach out for guidance—if we witness or become aware of any violations across the following areas: • Diversity and equal opportunity—We are committed to eliminating discrimination in employment and apply our principle of meritocracy when we make decisions about our people. We value diversity and do not discriminate. We value different cultures, strive to have a diverse and inclusive workforce, and meet legal hiring mandates. (See Our People.) • Employment conditions and working practices—We are committed to: - Eliminating human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labor. - Abolishing child labor. - Ensuring a respectful environment for our people. - Respecting the right of our people to form and freely join (or refrain from joining) legally constituted representative bodies and working in good faith with them. • Health, safety and security—We are committed to ensuring the well-being of our people. (See Our People.) • Supply chain—We are committed to supporting and respecting human rights in our supply chain in a manner consistent with our Supplier Standards of Conduct. (See Supply Chain.) 14 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
• Data privacy—We protect the privacy and security of personal data and use personal data responsibly. • Anticorruption—We comply with all anticorruption laws. Our clients and other stakeholders look to us for transparency regarding our human rights commitments, policies and efforts. In 2018, we published some of our key global policies externally to show how we drive salient human rights within our organization. Newly published policies include Raising Legal and Ethical Concerns and Prohibiting Retaliation and Prohibition on Human Trafficking, Forced Labor and Child Labor. Additionally, in 2017 we published our first annual UK Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement. This statement was updated in 2018 to reflect enhancements we are making to the protections. More information about our progress and performance in this area is available in the Supply Chain section. We continue to review human rights efforts across our operations, as well as best practices in the marketplace, to understand how we can further strengthen our practices and better fulfill our commitment. If it is unclear how to apply the law consistent with our human rights principles, we seek to use good judgment consistent with our core values and COBE to support and respect the principles of internationally recognized human rights. With the rise in human rights regulations, in addition to upholding mandatory, disclosure- based laws, our ambition is to go beyond simply meeting transparency elements and look for ways to further bolster our efforts in this space. CYBERSECURITY AND DATA PRIVACY: TODAY’S REALITY Safeguarding the data of our clients, our company and our people is one of the most fundamental and important responsibilities we have. It is a challenge that we take very seriously and that requires our most-sophisticated assets and expertise. True to this, we exercise appropriate caution whenever we access the confidential data of clients and our people; safeguarding technology and information through threat identification, risk mitigation and other information security protocols. Everyone at Accenture has a responsibility to demonstrate effective data-management practices in accordance with our company policies and procedures. We use a common information security and compliance language across all geographies, keeping our people aware of current and emerging threats, while regularly reminding them of daily practices they can employ to maintain data protection. In addition, our Client Data Protection program drives a culture of stewardship among our global clientele focused on protecting the information of our clients, our employees and Accenture’s own data. Recognizing and responding to an ever-evolving threat landscape is the new reality for today’s global economy. Digital consumption by businesses and the population at large has increased dramatically. This, combined with the expanding Internet of Things—the automated and connected data network of phones, wearables, vehicles, home appliances and various other types of devices—generates specific risks that we must address continually. At Accenture, we recognize the critical need to always be looking to the future and assessing our approach to information security and data protection in the digital age. Our cross-functional strategy focuses on identifying evolving threats across the technology environment, driving appropriate behavior to reduce the possibility and consequence of attacks, and quickly responding to cyber incidents should they occur. With cybersecurity and data privacy deeply embedded in our operations, we maintain resilient protection and comply with globally recognized privacy principles and best practices. We are responsive to changing client expectations as we identify and measure against applicable standards and frameworks: • We continue to lead the way by expanding our focus beyond legal compliance to broader management accountability and data ethics. We have a comprehensive privacy statement, and continue to strengthen our data privacy program through regular risk assessments. • We are strengthening our Client Data Protection program, which dictates how we protect our clients’ sensitive information and comply with regulatory requirements. This covers every client engagement—from initial discussions, we assess vulnerabilities and put together a framework to help mitigate risks and protect the client. • All aspects of our complex operations, including our numerous sites and extensive workforce, are covered by the scope of the ISO® 27001:2013 certification from the British Standards Institution (BSI). This respected 15 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
international certification demonstrates that Accenture adheres to the highest and strictest standards for information security. It is the largest single certification to be awarded by BSI. • The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is designed to modernize and unify data-privacy laws across the European Union— protecting and strengthening individuals’ rights. Accenture adheres to its requirements; applying them as our worldwide data-privacy standard, not just throughout Europe, while we continue to adhere to additional, more- stringent requirements in other countries. To be ready for GDPR, which will become effective in May 2018, we have further invested into our data-privacy officer network and are enhancing our already-resilient processes to protect client and internal data. • We maintain a proactive, vigorous incident response, with professionals with specialized, industry-recognized skills working around the globe to provide 24/7 response, in addition to ongoing assessment of emerging threats and vulnerabilities. • We provide guidance for Accenture people on evolving security threats through a global multi-channel awareness program called “Work Smart to Stay Safe.” We regularly test our people on how to recognize and avoid falling for social engineering attacks through specialized phishing and ransomware training, the most-common social engineering tactics that have been identified as high-impact, critical security risks. • We routinely measure and benchmark Accenture’s capabilities to validate our program. In addition to providing technologies, controls and practices that protect Accenture, our people and our clients’ data on an everyday operational basis, we work with clients through Accenture Security to deliver comprehensive security solutions spanning strategy development, risk management, cyber defense, digital identity, application security and managed security services. From modernizing a global retailer’s digital identity management system, embedding AI, robotics process automation, chatbots and other advanced capabilities, to enhancing security, increasing productivity and moving products into stores faster, Accenture Security helps organizations effectively manage cyber risk. Insights on Security • The “Cyber Threat-scape Report“ examines key trends during the first half of 2017 and how they may evolve over the next six months. • “The 2017 Cost of Cyber Crime Study“ finds that companies on average must deal with 130 cyber breaches a year, but can still grow confidently amid this evolving threat landscape. • Each year, we publish the “Accenture Technology Vision,” outlining our view of the top tech trends, including those in cybersecurity and data privacy, and and the impact they will have. 16 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE A North American biotech giant wanted to secure confidential patient clinical data in its cloud environment, give its global scientific community faster access to the data and comply with government regulations regarding privacy. OUR SOLUTION The client turned to Accenture to transform its scientific data cloud, integrating data from disparate sources on a single cloud platform and strengthen its security posture. We are helping the company adopt cloud and governance models, define its cyber threats, set up and operationalize its cloud platform and integrate sophisticated data privacy controls. THE RESULT With Accenture’s help, these solutions are helping the client dramatically improve efficiency, enabling the company’s global scientific community to gain faster, more secure access to the data they need to develop their life-saving treatments. BRINGINGVITAL DRUGSTOMARKET FASTERWITH THECLOUD On average, it takes at least 10 years to bring a new drug to market. Accenture is helping a biotech company enhance its cloud platform to shorten this process by one to two years—speeding innovation and enhancing treatments through improved data storage, access, privacy and security. 17 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
average board member tenure average age born outside the US African American Asian Hispanic 60 6 2 2 1 4.6YEARS of the 11 independent members of our Board are women, including our lead director *Note: As of December 15, 2017; includes only our director nominees who stood for reappointment. 36% DIVERSITY AMONG DIRECTORS* CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Accenture’s corporate governance matters are covered in our Proxy Statement, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 15, 2017, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines. These documents outline the role of the Board and its committees, key governance practices, as well as the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of our directors. As detailed in our Proxy Statement, our Board takes an active role in Board succession planning and refreshment, and works toward creating a balanced Board with fresh perspectives and deep experience. We believe that considering diversity through many facets including gender, ethnicity, experience and skills is consistent with the goal of creating a Board that best serves the needs of Accenture and the interests of its shareholders. As of the date of our Proxy Statement, our Board consisted of 12 directors: our Chairman Chief Executive Officer and 11 independent directors, one of whom was not subject to reappointment due to retirement and four of whom are female, including our lead independent director. As of the date of the Proxy Statement, of the directors who stood for reappointment: • Two are African American, two are Asian, one is Hispanic and six were born outside of the United States. • Average tenure was 4.6 years and average age was 60 years. In addition, our Board has a diversity of experience, qualifications, attributes and skills—including global expertise, senior leadership experience, innovation and technology focus, financial expertise, investment expertise and public company board experience. 18 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Focusing on COBE chatbot enhancements including new interaction features, machine learning and analytics. • Further enhancing COBE training. • Implementing Conduct Counts-related local actions, integrating it with other programs and developing enhancements to the survey that we will conduct in fiscal 2019. • Revising and simplifying our Privacy Policy subject to regulatory approval. Recent Governance Action Actions taken in recent years demonstrate Accenture’s commitment to strong corporate governance. These actions include our continued Board refreshment and our ongoing shareholder outreach program, during which we communicate with our largest investors and discuss topics critical to their needs and expectations. For example, in 2017 this outreach included discussion around our public commitment to achieve our gender-balanced workforce by 2025. (See Our People.) Additionally, our Board continued to review various best practices, resulting in an update to our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Committee Charters, and it also approved our updated COBE. Corporate Citizenship Governance Accountability to advance corporate citizenship at Accenture starts at the top with our Chairman CEO, and cascades through our business, including performance objectives relating to corporate citizenship. For example, achieving our global corporate citizenship goals is considered in the performance evaluation and compensation of our most senior leaders, including our Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer. READMORE 19 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 19CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
32%of new managing directors are women—up from 30% prior year At Accenture, our people are our largest and most important investment. We aim to be an employer of choice for the most innovative talent on the planet. In the age of intelligent business, the very concept of work is being redefined as different generations enter and exit the workforce amid a rapidly changing technological landscape. Our leadership imperative is clear: Create the future workforce—now. OURPEOPLE 10 on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list YEARS $935M invested in learning and development to grow our people 160K Accenture people reskilled in New IT in 18 months 50/50gender-balanced workforce by 2025 HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “As member of the Inclusion Diversity team in the Middle East, I am helping advance gender equality in the region.” Melissa Madenjian Analyst OUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLE
OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH As a talent-led organization, Accenture puts people first. Our professionals make extraordinary contributions to our clients’ work and to the communities in which we live, and these efforts fuel our own business results. On our journey to become the most truly human organization in the digital age, we are creating an environment to help our people live, learn and lead at their very best personally and professionally. We are striving to create visionary, next-generation practices in learning and development, inclusion and diversity, and the employee experience. Accenture’s talent strategy focuses on being an employer of choice for top talent by: • Continuously investing in the growth and development of our people. • Advancing an inclusive and diverse environment where people feel a sense of belonging. • Supporting engaging employee experiences where people can be at their best more often. Our aim is to discover, inspire and grow exceptional people both professionally and personally, while staying ahead of our clients’ needs by training our people continually in next-horizon skills. DEVELOPING OUR PEOPLE Creating the Workforce of the Future The future of work has already arrived, and digital leaders are fundamentally reinventing their workforces. At Accenture, we are constantly refining our talent practices for the digital age to attract, develop and inspire people on their own terms. We understand that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to generate enormous economic and social gains. Successful leaders are using AI and data to create more- productive and symbiotic relationships with workers, customers and partners. We see this combination of human ingenuity with intelligent technology, like AI, positively augmenting roles and further elevating people’s ability to attain more-satisfying work and greater business value. Our survey of more than 1,000 large companies currently using or testing AI and machine-learning systems revealed three entirely new categories of uniquely human jobs—trainers, explainers and sustainers. Trainers teach AI systems how to perform, process data and behave. Explainers articulate to business executives the inner workings of AI systems, improving transparency. Sustainers ensure that AI is fair, safe and responsible. In our own workforce, we automated more than 17,000 back-office jobs through robotic process automation, freeing more than 40 million productive hours across Accenture in fiscal 2017. We redeployed the people most affected by these changes, freeing them from repetitive tasks and equipping them to advance Accenture’s success in critical new ways. When it is not possible to redeploy a person to a different role by leveraging existing skills and experience, we look to “new skill” that person. We are generating talent development programs at speed and scale to help ensure that our people— including those at risk of displacement—remain continuously client and market relevant. New skilling is especially important so that people can find their next role at Accenture. An example of this process occurred in fiscal 2017, when one of our client contracts ended. This change directly affected several hundred Accenture people and their jobs. We again decided to new skill our people—helping some pivot into different areas of the same organization and others into entirely new careers. Through new skilling, we have seen our people’s abilities elevated—not eliminated—all while remaining highly responsive to our clients. Accelerating New and Specialized Skills at Scale As technology disrupts organizations across industries and the digital landscape continues to transform, we strive to stay ahead by evolving alongside our people. This year, we continued to make significant progress helping practitioners pivot to “New IT.” In just over 18 months, more than 160,000 Accenture people became conversant 21 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
in new technologies, including automation, Agile development and intelligent platforms. Our New IT training program has enabled us to prioritize skill investments to meet specialized demand in real time, addressing client needs—and helping make Accenture the largest independent technology services provider. Along with helping our people pivot to “New IT,” we are committed to enabling their continuous professional development. In fiscal 2017, we invested US$935 million to develop our people, including substantial investments in reskilling, to help them stay relevant in key areas such as cloud, AI and robotics. Additionally, we substantially enhanced the areas of mobility, personalization and flexibility—how and when our people collaborate—in our training by offering greater access to information and learning experiences. We support anytime/anywhere learning through Accenture Connected Learning— comprising our more than 2,700 digital learning boards, thousands of online courses, five regional learning centers and a virtual campus of connected classrooms. By the end of fiscal 2017, we expanded our network to 123 classrooms, beyond our goal of 100 by the end of fiscal 2018. Building on our internal success, in November 2017 we launched the Accenture Future Talent Platform externally. This interactive learning tool includes talent-transformation services to help clients develop their IT workforces in critical areas such as digital, cloud, security and AI. We crafted a scalable, cost-effective approach for a new era of learning that puts the spotlight on learning anytime, anywhere through digital technologies—while tailoring the curriculum to the specific needs of each company or individual. For example, we are using the platform to help a European bank launch its own school of automation. The program will identify new roles and skills and build a training plan for a pilot, followed by a 40,000-person rollout. Expanding Performance Achievement As part of our large-scale overhaul to our performance management approach, in fiscal 2016 we simultaneously introduced Performance Achievement while shifting away from annual reviews. Performance Achievement is geared toward encouraging forward-looking conversations while using a strengths-based approach, and is designed to support the rich diversity of our people and deliver a unique employee experience for all. By the end of fiscal 2017, more than 66 percent of Accenture people completed strengths assessments, and our people managers created Opening a New and Innovative Learning Center in India The newest addition to Accenture’s learning environment is the India Learning Center in Bangalore, a state-of-the- art facility designed for both high-tech-driven learning and introspection. Opened in 2017, the center combines the latest advances in learning science and technology with principles from ancient Indian wisdom to create a more-connected and truly human learning experience. With four fully wired classrooms that allow people to work and learn together, a broadcast studio to share content, and a human performance and learning space, the center epitomizes “Learning in the New”—enabling the rapid development of relevant skills at scale to help our clients address the challenges of digital disruption and the unprecedented pace of change. 22 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 22 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
more than 640,000 unique actions to help our people define what is next for their careers at Accenture. This enables us to better understand our people’s skills and aspirations, and provide them with personalized actions for growth—all part of our mission to accelerate career development on a continuous basis. Providing feedback in the moment is critical to enable the culture of performance. By the end of fiscal 2017, our people had given more than 1.7 million instances of feedback to each other. Additionally, we recalibrated Performance Achievement to include actions and behaviors to help elevate personal and team performance. These activities help to regularly evaluate strengths, priorities and team engagement incorporating real-time feedback. We also provided insights and guidance on coaching to our people managers through our Leading Extraordinary Teams course. This program is designed to help participants be better coaches; most of our people—77 percent—say that coaching helps them produce high-quality and innovative work. Developing Leaders at All Levels Our ambition to become the most truly human organization in the digital age means we want our people to be at their best professionally and personally, focusing on the whole person (not just the worker). In fiscal 2017, we introduced a new leadership model and reimagined our development programs to better reflect this innovation-led mindset. Our new Leadership DNA defines expectations of Accenture leaders at all levels, specifically recognizing inclusion and diversity as a central ingredient to innovation and creating a people-first organization. It also focuses first on the outcomes that represent a new kind of leader—one who experiments, inspires others, works across boundaries and adapts to the constant change around us. Our leadership development programs concentrate on having people step outside of their comfort zones and practice new ways of working and interacting with each other. For example, we launched a new RISE Leadership Journey for newly promoted associate managers, managers and senior managers to practice the behaviors of our Leadership DNA so they can create a truly human environment for their teams. The participants connect with local colleagues to network and celebrate their career achievements, and attend a one-day workshop to reflect on and enhance their leadership skills. Self-study using learning boards, peer coaching groups, self-assessment, and follow- up career counselor and supervisor conversations round out the three-month experience that reached approximately 20,000 people in fiscal 2017. GOING BEYOND INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY TO CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING We continue our unwavering commitment to diversity with the aim that each and every one of our people has a full sense of belonging within our organization. As a business imperative, every person at Accenture has the responsibility to create and sustain an inclusive environment. Our leaders around the world, including members of our Global Management Committee who sit on the Accenture Diversity Council, have helped shape our five Inclusion Diversity global priorities: women; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT); persons with disabilities; cross-cultural diversity; and ethnic diversity. In creating a culture of innovation, it is critical to cultivate a place where people are comfortable opening up to colleagues about difficult topics— such as bias and inclusion. According to Catalyst, employees who feel included are more likely to innovate new ways of working and be supportive of one another. The challenge, as an organization, is to move along the continuum from a broad look at diversity to creating an inclusive environment that fosters a real sense of belonging. “What we’ve seen in our company is that when we create an environment where all people feel like they belong, you truly start to see people flourish—and performance both at the individual and the organization level also flourish.” Ellyn Shook Chief Leadership Human Resources Officer 23 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
We have embraced the concept of inclusion to address this challenge. For example, the #InclusionStartsWithI movement used a video to spark discussion about how Accenture people can help foster a positive, inclusive environment. The video resonated with our people, showing how bias can appear in both expected and unexpected ways—and that each of us has the power to make a difference. Our people asked to share the video with their families, friends and clients, creating a wider and deeper dialogue both inside and outside of Accenture. The movement caught on with people posting personal commitments—to create a more inclusive workplace—on social media using #InclusionStartsWithI. With more than 465,000 views at the end of fiscal 2017, #InclusionStartsWithI remains Accenture’s most popular video ever on our Facebook and YouTube channels. Additionally, more than 20 clients have begun using the video to start challenging conversations or have approached us to understand how they can integrate #InclusionStartsWithI into their programming as they move toward more-inclusive workplaces. WATCHAVIDEO Measuring the progress of our diversity programs across a global landscape continues to be one of our greatest challenges and opportunities. In fiscal 2017, we created scorecards for our LGBT and persons with disabilities programs. We are collaborating with external organizations on what “good” looks like, so we can drive more consistency across our geographies—even in countries where it is legally or culturally difficult. We use these scorecards to track what is working and apply successful initiatives in new locations— for example, creating a Pride Network in China. Gender Equality at Accenture Research shows that more women in the workforce helps grow the global economy. At Accenture, we believe the future workforce is an equal one, and gender diversity is essential for an innovation- led organization. That is why we set a new goal to achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women and 50 percent men, by 2025. On the path to 50/50, we have taken steps to attract, develop and advance women including: • Using a text analytics tool to help identify and eliminate gender bias in our job descriptions. • Sponsoring our most-senior women to advance in profit and loss roles—80 percent of whom have been promoted or expanded their responsibility since the program’s inception six years ago. • Launching initiatives that enable women with in-demand skills, such as our Women in Technology program, which helps fast-track the careers of high-performing women. • Collaborating across business and government to further gender equality in the workplace— including our role as a founding signatory of the White House Equal Pay Pledge, and our Chairman CEO and Chief Leadership Human Resources Officer’s roles as founding members of the Paradigm for Parity coalition. According to our research, the gender pay gap is as wide as ever. Globally, for every US$258 a man earns, a woman earns US$100. If the current state of the workplace remains the same, women will not earn equal pay until 2080 in developed markets and 2168 in developing markets. Accenture’s research report “Getting to Equal 2017: Closing the Gender Pay Gap” offers compelling evidence for how to expedite career opportunities for women and equalize the pay scale across genders. At Accenture, we strive to ensure that all our people—both women and men—are compensated fairly and equitably from the moment we hire them through all the milestones of their careers. We are proactive in our efforts to ensure pay equality and have ongoing rigorous processes in place to identify discrepancies, looking carefully at specific roles at all stages of an individual’s career. If we identify a problem, we fix it. Accenture’s InclusionStartsWithI video has inspired more than 4,200 mentions on Twitter, generating a potential 30 million impressions, and spreading a message of encouragement and action. 24 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
In addition to annually publishing our workforce demographics—including gender—across key geographies, in November 2017 we disclosed our gender pay gap data in the United Kingdom in line with new government regulations. We continue to increase the number of women in our most-senior roles, which is key to closing the pay and bonus gaps. In 2017, women accounted for 32 percent of our newly promoted managing directors globally, the largest percentage of women ever promoted to this level at Accenture—up from 30 percent in 2016. Of the combined promoted managing directors and senior managing directors, women comprised 31 percent—also a record—up from 29 percent in 2016. We have set key milestones to build on this momentum and keep us on track. In March 2017, we announced a goal to increase the proportion of women managing directors in our workforce to at least 25 percent worldwide by the end of 2020. By the end of 2017, women accounted for more than 21 percent of our managing directors. Further, last year we surpassed our goal of 40 percent women new hires worldwide by 2017 a year early, demonstrating our ability to attract a promising share of female top talent. In 2017, we moved well beyond our ambition of 40 percent and reached 45 percent women new hires—up from 44 percent in 2016. By the end of 2017, as a result of our efforts, women accounted for: • 29 percent of Accenture executives, which comprises managers, senior managers, managing directors, senior managing directors and members of our Global Management Committee. • 41 percent of our global workforce, up from 39 percent in 2016. • 36 percent of the 11 independent members of our Board, including our lead director. The path to gender parity is a challenging one. The number of women in STEM graduates is limited (and shrinking), and the task of educating tens of thousands of managers on the value of hiring and managing a diverse team is monumental. Indeed, according to a World Economic Forum study, “the gap between men and women across health, education, politics and economics widened for the first time since records began in 2006.” Each March, we punctuate our commitment to gender equality by celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD). In 2017, our IWD events brought together Accenture people, recruits, alumni and more than 2,500 clients across more than 350 events in 48 countries to explore how digital technology is helping women advance at work and close the gender gap. Additionally, we support the United Nations Global Compact Women’s Empowerment Principles, which help the private sector promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community. Accenture people in Brazil celebrate and explore “Leading in the New” at our 2017 International Women’s Day event. 2013 40% 2014 37% 2015 38% 2016 44% 2017 45% WOMEN NEW HIRES AT ACCENTURE 25 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
PRIDE: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Equality Helping to ensure an inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees and all other gender minority groups around the world is a key part of our belief that diversity makes us stronger. By convening discussions, strengthening networks and using the power of social collaboration, we are building awareness and fostering a sense of community within and beyond our LGBT Network. For the third consecutive year, Accenture hosted a panel titled, “Are LGBTQ Rights Going Backwards?” at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in January 2017. The session took place against a backdrop of considerable political upheaval in many parts of the world. In the face of both continuity and change, the panel took on wide-ranging topics, including businesses’ responsibilities to help drive and sustain change. Panelists included our own Sander van ‘t Noordende, group chief executive – Products. In addition, for the first time in the history of the WEF Annual Meeting, LGBT was front and center on the main agenda, and Sander was invited to speak inside the meeting in a session called “Good for Business: The Power of Being Out.” The discussion covered a range of topics including genetics, mental health issues and the impact that business can have on fostering acceptance for a diverse society for everyone—particularly those from the LGBT community. During June 2017, more than 32,000 people watched our Pride Live sessions via Facebook. PRIDE networks in Brussels, Manila, Mexico City and New York shared their views on the power of networking, allies and more. To help keep our people connected throughout the year, we grew our global community of allies to more than 20,000—an increase of more than 66 percent over the year prior. At the same time, we continue to foster partnerships between global and local PRIDE networks. Today, 42 countries have a have a local network, all represented by a local lead who is the driving force behind the program. In fiscal 2017, to help celebrate our people and their talents, members of our PRIDE network in India formed a choir that performs publicly throughout the year. Accenture is committed to providing a supportive environment for all our people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. In fiscal 2017, we extended our LGBT self-identification program to four new countries, ensuring increased transparency and providing data and insights that allow us to identify gaps in career progression. Currently, the program is available for 20 percent of our workforce in eight countries, with continued expansion planned for fiscal 2018 and beyond. In 2017, Accenture received the first-ever Global LGBT Network of the Year Award from Stonewall in addition to being a Top Global Employer for the third year in a row. 26 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 OUR PEOPLE
Persons with Disabilities With a focus on enablement, we welcome people with different abilities, perspectives and experiences because we believe inclusion starts with each one of us. This approach invites new solutions to business challenges, a higher level of innovative thinking and the opportunities for people to reach their full potential. Our Accessibility Council comprises a group of senior leaders who help guide accessibility decision making at Accenture as we continuously strive to be fully accessible. In 2017, the Council set a new goal: all interactions of our people with Accenture software, devices, services and environment should be compliant with globally defined accessibility standards. Our ongoing priority has been to make Accenture’s key global information and reporting tools accessible to persons with disabilities. As we evaluate and remediate all our applications, we already have made our skills and policies websites fully accessible, and we have rolled out accessibility training to all site developers. Additionally, we updated language in real estate provider documents to ensure Accenture- leased spaces meet our universal accessibility standards, as defined by Accenture’s life safety requirements and workplace design standards. We also look for ways to remove barriers to employment for persons with disabilities outside Accenture by working with partners who share our commitment to enablement. In June 2017, we launched a series of workshops with Microsoft, joining our client and accessibility teams to share best practices. Additionally, we initiated a partnership with the Federation of Disabled Persons in China and sponsored the Disability Matters Asia-Pacific conference in India. Ethnic Diversity We celebrate the diversity of opinions that may be influenced by a variety of ethnic backgrounds and can improve the way we work together as a team every day. Ethnicity is an especially important topic for us in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, and we made good progress with our our Black African, African Caribbean and African and Hispanic American populations, respectively, in fiscal 2017. We offered a number of programs in these three locations including: • Driving Stronger Performance and Excelling in High Performance training in South Africa, which was attended by 75 Accenture people. • Accelerate Professional Development Program in the United Kingdom, a year-long program reaching more than 300 members of the Accenture African Caribbean Network. • ”Super Week” in the United States, where we delivered leadership training sessions to more than 1,000 participants from across our LGBT, Women, African American and Hispanic American communities. In five regions across the United States, regional one-and-a-half day Super Week Leadership Summits offer an opportunity for our people to come together to invest in themselves, their development and their networks. The Summits cultivate leadership potential at all levels, facilitate retention and growth and connect employee resource groups between offices. Cross-cultural Diversity A diverse workforce brings with it a broader skill base, creativity and innovation. Accenture aims to provide our people with the resources and training to work effectively across cultures—both virtually and face to face. Bridging cultural divides can be exceptionally challenging within a workplace environment, especially in an organization comprising approximately 442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Today, people seem more divided than ever on issues spanning race, religion and politics, and a growing number of corporate leaders are recognizing that societal tension and discrimination can have a significantly negative impact on employees. We believe that taking risks can enhance an inclusive culture. Specifically, when people dare to take on tough topics and risk inviting tough conversations, the results can help enhance diversity and increase cultural sensitivity. With that in mind, in fiscal 2016, we launched a webcast called Building Bridges, a town hall on race, with more than 4,000 of our people participating in the initial webcast. 27 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Since then, Building Bridges has grown organically, with more than 15 subsequent installments over the past year across the United States. Topic areas have expanded to address subjects such as faith—spurred by recent attacks on mosques and temples—sexual identity and being your authentic self in the workplace. One Building Bridges session in our New York office focused on the topic of religion because we understand the importance of fostering cross- faith and multicultural understanding and respect. It helps us recognize and appreciate the religious observances of our colleagues and deepen connections among our people. By encouraging these conversations, we are building trust, strengthening teams and supporting compassion so that all feel more included. “It was definitely refreshing to see the highest level of our senior leadership sponsoring a [Building Bridges] conversation. Once that happened, I felt empowered.” Rah Thomas Managing Director – Accenture Operations Using AI to Help Improve How Visually Impaired People Live and Work A new AI-powered solution helps visually impaired people improve the way they experience the world around them and enhance their productivity in the workplace. The solution, called Drishti, which means “vision” in Sanskrit, empowers a visually impaired person by providing image recognition. For example, Drishti can tell the user the number of people in the room, their ages and emotions along with other environment-scanning capabilities using AI technologies powered by a smartphone assistance program. Initially developed by Accenture Labs and tested with visually impaired professionals through a collaboration with the National Association for the Blind in India, we plan to introduce Drishti to more than 100 visually impaired employees in India. We are currently piloting the solution at Accenture in South Africa, and testing a Spanish language version with Accenture people in Argentina. WATCHAVIDEO 28 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
CREATING TRULY HUMAN EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCES In today’s “always on” digital world, it is our people—their personal connection with clients and colleagues, delivering solutions with a uniquely human touch—who distinguish Accenture in the marketplace. Yet, working in a digital age at times can mean that we are not our whole or best selves because we are connected to work 24/7, and are more disconnected from family and friends as well as our own self-care. At Accenture, we are committed to fostering an environment where our people can be their most- authentic selves every day. We want our people to be at their best—mentally focused, physically energized and filled with a sense of purpose and belonging. Fostering a “truly human” environment is not simply a process but a mindset shift we are encouraging our people to embrace. Worldwide, we are embedding new ways of working and thinking into our existing programs, processes, policies and more, so that these new ways become a natural part of who we are as a company. Then regionally, we know each location has its own recipe for success that is steeped in local beliefs and ways of working. We are proud to be a culture of cultures where our people are making an impact in a variety of ways through a variety of locally relevant approaches. It is through our culture of cultures we have seen truly human come to life in special ways for our people around the world. For instance, we have seen individuals and groups come together to create grassroots change in their offices. In Africa, a young leader is driving the development of a new office that incorporates paths for walking, running and cycling, and new innovative work spaces driven by the region’s office feedback and collaboration. In the United States, a few individuals spent a weekend transforming a conference room into a mindfulness meditation space for their colleagues. As we continue to grow our business, we are evolving our culture in a truly human way. This is about owning personal and professional success—and inspiring others to do the same. When we are open and transparent, we establish trust, making it easier to talk about the important and very human situations we all experience in our lives—and helping our people thrive both inside and outside of Accenture. Fostering Employee Well-being We are committed to providing our people with programs that enable them to take care of themselves and their families—and that fit with their lifestyles. It is important to our people that they are healthy and that their work and life are in sync, which is why we introduced an Employee Well-being Council in India to focus on mental and physical health. Similarly, we developed the Accenture Mindfulness Program in partnership with Potential Project, a global leader in corporate mindfulness. This program incorporates insights from neuroscience, meditation techniques and exercises. Participants learn how to train their mind to become more mentally focused—increasing their ability to prioritize, improve performance, be more resilient, and reduce distractedness, stress and emotional exhaustion. Learning modules include topics on “mindful e-mails” and “mindful meetings.” Our people extend their yoga practice to an office-based wellness event. 29 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
In the United States, during Mental Health Awareness Month in May 2017, we launched the “Mental Health Allies” program—modeled after existing programs in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Mental Health Allies consist of a trained group of ambassadors and advocates who help our people access the support they need, such as our Employee Assistance Program, policies and emergency help. We have trained more than 1,700 allies since the program launched, and programs in Canada and China are in development. In Greater China, the myClub program continued to engage and build healthy communities among our people with common interests in exercise activities, including badminton and yoga. As of fiscal 2017, the program drew more than 3,000 participants. In Latin America, our people participate in a variety of company-sponsored events such as Kids Day, Diversity Week, Mother’s Visit and appearances by various speakers. More than 500 of our people opened their hearts and minds to their colleagues by sharing personal testimonials based on their experiences. In Argentina, we invited our people to bring their children to work for a half day in August 2017. More than 600 people took part in activities and games designed especially for families and aligned with new themes: body, heart, mind and soul. In Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, we launched a digital platform that helps our people be more focused on their nutrition, sleep, physical activity and stress. Additionally, in Western Europe, several of the countries where our people work and live have participated in Team Award Health Challenges where more than 230 people took part in a “Think Healthy” campaign. Looking ahead, our new Employee Experience Innovation Space at The Dock in Dublin explores how design can improve our peoples’ lives. Experiments engage people with technology and trials such as Accenture Fit, a Fitbit-based tool testing wearables’ impact on mental and physical well-being. WATCHAVIDEO Creating a Safe Workplace Part of empowering our people to be at their best is helping to ensure rigorous health and safety programs for employees and guests in our offices as well as the thousands of Accenture people delivering services on site for our clients. Workplace safety is one of the tenets of our Code of Business Ethics—to provide a safe, secure and non-threatening work environment. In our offices, we have developed global internal standards for safety and security, while also maintaining our OHSAS 18001:2007 certification—a standard for occupational health and safety—in Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and our largest site in Bangalore, India. Our Global Asset Protection (GAP) team is responsible for providing business continuity and security in the form of emergency assistance as needed during our peoples’ work or business travel. GAP maintains a 24x7 Global Watch program to assist our people with security risks and health advice, and promotes awareness among our people traveling to high-risk locations. In recent years, we added technical tracking resources to enhance our response and focus on the safety of our people during crises. Beyond physical safety, we help ensure our people treat each other and those we interact with in work- related situations—whether in person or online— with respect and professional courtesy. We do not tolerate harassment of any kind, and we publicize the channels (such as their supervisor, a trusted mentor or the Accenture Business Ethics Helpline) for our employees to report incidents free from fear of retaliation. 30 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE When Goldcorp, a leading gold production company, acquired the mineral rights to a mine in Argentina, the company knew it could embrace technology to improve the efficiency and safety of working conditions for underground workers on site. OUR SOLUTION We collaborated with Goldcorp to implement an entirely new communications and data infrastructure. This system integrates the company’s existing Wi-Fi network with location-based technologies and gas detectors to remotely monitor equipment and air quality in the underground mine, ensuring the protection and well-being of Goldcorp’s workers. THE RESULT Goldcorp is armed with a better understanding of up-to-the- minute mine conditions, as well as the precise locations of workers and assets. Now a “connected mine,” the company can respond rapidly to safety incidents and has improved its operational performance through enhanced communications between mine locations. The ability to analyze real-time data is generating insights on how to further improve workforce safety, productivity and utilization. IMPROVINGEMPLOYEE SAFETYWITHTHE CONNECTEDMINE Working with Accenture, Goldcorp is leveraging the connected mine concept to improve safe working conditions through a real-time people tracking and gas monitoring solution that alerts miners and dispatchers when approaching an unsafe area. CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE 31 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 OUR PEOPLE 31
Listening to and Co-creating with Our People At Accenture, it is a leadership priority to lead by example with open, honest dialogue and active listening. We are at our best when the ideas, thoughts and feelings of our people are heard. In India, we asked more than 10,000 Accenture people what they need to be at their best. For instance, we found that 72 percent feel a sense of purpose when they are involved with creative, innovative work, learn continuously and create positive results with their teams, clients or communities. We have used this information to encourage micro actions—such as setting clear priorities, implementing “walk and talk meetings” and encouraging regular time off—to co-create a more truly human environment. In Ireland and the United States, we held an Employee Experience Big Ideathon in July 2017. To revolutionize our employee experience and ensure we continue to attract and retain the best talent, this design thinking event was created to generate more ideas and direct feedback to support and enable our people. Accenture people from all disciplines and levels joined the live collaboration. Several winning ideas will be taken forward as we continue to evolve Human Resources at Accenture. We will be scaling this program and running it several times per year in Accenture cities across the globe. Finally, in fiscal 2017, we launched our first Talent Innovation Studio in Accenture’s India Learning Center. It is a space to conduct research and innovate talent practices across three areas— human performance, learning and recruitment—all while involving our learners in the process. The studio currently is conducting experiments with chatbots and AI for learning guidance, as well as brain science and virtual and augmented reality for learning. Virtual environments can be created to accommodate various learning needs. For example, learners can give presentations to a virtual audience and gain instant feedback on their performances. The team is working on challenges ranging from gender bias to integrating heart, body, mind and soul into the learning experience. A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Providing the resources and support for people to have the relevant skills to be successful. • Enhancing our commitment to inclusion and diversity. • Expanding our truly human employee experience— including an expanded focus on mental health. • Reimaging recruiting to be more digital and to harness new sources of talent through apprenticeships. 32 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 32 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
As the digital era presents immense opportunities and unforeseen risks, we are finding new ways to apply technology to create positive and lasting impact. Together with our partners, clients and communities, we aim to solve complex problems, including closing employment gaps through Skills to Succeed. By combining human ingenuity with groundbreaking technologies, we can deliver innovation that fosters a more equal and inclusive society. COMMUNITY IMPACT HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “My colleagues and I help the homeless through mock interviews and resume building, bringing the best of Accenture to the community.” Sean McLaughlin Senior Manager $74M+invested in Corporate Citizenship efforts in fiscal 2017 of our Skills to Succeed beneficiaries are women 52% in a row on FORTUNE’s Change the World list 2YEARS 2.2M+ people equipped with Skills to Succeed toward our goal of 3M+ by 2020 COMMUNITY IMPACT
OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH We are living in a volatile era, with the pace of change disrupting society faster than communities can adapt. Technology is a driver of some of these ongoing changes—but it can also be part of the solution. Our approach focuses on leveraging the power of people and technology to improve business performance and benefit society, making the world a better place to live. Together with our partners, and with the energy and ideas of our people, we are developing solutions that address a wide range of complex societal challenges. For example, through our corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, we are closing skills and employment gaps for marginalized people around the world. And through our Accenture Labs’ Tech4Good projects, we are addressing everything from accessibility and inclusion to health and the environment. In fiscal 2017, we invested more than US$74 million in corporate citizenship efforts, as well as in-kind support such as pro bono and paid volunteering from our people. Building on this momentum, we are continually evolving our corporate citizenship programs to meet the priorities of today and to anticipate the needs of tomorrow. When we launched Skills to Succeed in 2010, the global economy was emerging from a recession characterized by high unemployment rates in many countries, particularly among youth. However, as we look at the world today and five to 10 years into the future, we see a different picture. We see the combination of human ingenuity with intelligent technology unlocking increased business value and personal work satisfaction. As technological changes fundamentally alter the way we work, we recognize the urgency in evolving our programs to anticipcate the needs of the future workforce. For many nonprofit organizations focused on solving societal issues, it can be challenging to keep up with the pace of technology while continuing to address the needs of a range of beneficiaries. Our aim is to continously collaborate with our nonprofit partners, and, along the way, involve new partners to support new initiatives and reach vulnerable populations. SKILLS TO SUCCEED The rapid pace and scale of technological change, combined with the movement of different generations in and out of the workforce, is disrupting labor markets and fundamentally altering the future of work. While these shifts may create economic growth, new jobs and flexible work, they may also have other social consequences, including the loss of roles and jobs due to automation. Anticipating and preparing for the impact of digital technologies on the workforce is an urgent issue. For example, nearly one in 10 jobs are at risk of automation across the 35 countries that are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Skills to Succeed aims to help address these needs by advancing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for individuals around the globe, leveraging digital innovation to help close employment gaps at scale. We are also one of the proud partners for Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE), a global coalition aimed at mobilizing efforts aimed at increasing the number of young people engaged in productive work by 2030. S4YE seeks to develop and enable innovative solutions at scale through practical research and engagement with governments, businesses and civil society. Together with our network of nonprofit organizations and other ecosystem partners, we have equipped more than 2.2 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business. We aim to equip more than 3 million people by the end of fiscal 2020. Additionally, we work together to promote equality and inclusiveness, and to ensure that our beneficiaries reflect diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences. In fiscal 2017, women represented 52 percent of our beneficiaries around the world. We are continuously evolving Skills to Succeed to address urgent workforce needs around the world and equip individuals to thrive in the digital economy. people equipped with the skills to get a job or build a business goal by 2020 34 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Preparing the Workforce of Today To keep up with the rapid pace of technological change, workers must continually reinvent themselves and embrace lifelong learning to stay relevant. Accenture’s global reach and breadth of experience allows us to understand local market requirements and develop targeted programs that align the currently available talent supply with employer demand. In each region, our local corporate citizenship teams tailor skilling programs that help transition people to locally in-demand jobs. Our teams use their training and technology expertise to create innovative digital learning solutions that extend the reach and impact of our initiatives across multiple geographies. These assets, such as our Skills to Succeed Academy and Emplea+ digital learning platforms, will allow us to engage hundreds of thousands of job seekers around the world over the next four years. We are also using technology to improve employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for people ready to enter the job market or pursue their next career opportunity. Our skilling programs are designed with job placement and long-term career agility in mind. We team with our strategic partners to offer job-readiness training, mentoring, vocational and technical training, and new career programs. We measure the impact of our programs through key outcomes including obtaining a new job, building sustainable businesses and enterprises, and creating employment opportunities for others. Over the past five years, new Global Giving grants from our Accenture Foundations—which represent some of our most strategic investments—have helped skill more than 315,000 people, more than half of whom have gone on to secure a job or build a business. Some of these initiatives focus on entrepreneurs who in turn create jobs, and these entrepreneurs reported hiring an additional 3,200 people. Examples include: AI-POWERED PLATFORM CONNECTS YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS WITH NEEDED SUPPORT Youth Business International (YBI) helps motivated young entrepreneurs who face significant barriers to business ownership start and grow their own businesses and ultimately, create jobs. In the United States, to better meet the needs of thousands of young entrepreneurs seeking support, Accenture helped YBI affiliate Youth Business USA (YBUSA) develop the skysthelimit.org platform. The platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to help connect budding entrepreneurs with the resources, skills, training and mentoring they need to achieve their goals. Mentors provide in-person and virtual support, networking connections and help on topics ranging from accounting to web design. Since the launch of the platform in 2017, more than 3,500 young entrepreneurs and volunteers have registered online, including Accenture people. YBUSA has built businesses such as a cake-decorating company, a clothing brand and a consultancy that brings custom justice training to organizations. BENEFICIARY STORY: TAKING A LEAP TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE When nonprofit staffers Tiffany and Tyrone decided to launch their own business, in response to prejudice and discrimination they had experienced in the workplace, it was a leap of faith. “It was really scary when we decided to go off on our own,” said Tyrone. “We didn’t have much support, but both of us had this desire to make a difference.” YBUSA mentors helped them with every aspect of launching their business, from creating a business model to leveraging technology solutions to hiring and training employees. Tiffany and Tyrone are now the proud founders of CircleUp Education, an Oakland, California-based social enterprise that designs and implements custom workplace trainings on diversity and inclusion, restorative justice and communication skills. Business partners Tyrone and Tiffany got the skills they needed to build their business through Accenture Skills to Succeed partner Youth Business USA. 35 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
WORKPLACE INCLUSION MODEL HELPS PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES THRIVE In Italy, 82 percent of persons with disabilities are unemployed, making this one of the country’s major social challenges. Job Stations helps people with mental disabilities join—or rejoin—the job market by providing a smooth reintegration process while rebuilding their self-confidence. To date, the Job Stations model has been implemented in three locations. Each of these smart, inclusive and non-threatening environments hosts 50 workers with mental disabilities. They provide services to a network of 10 companies, including Accenture—approximately half of “Job Stationers” are providing services to our corporate and business functions. BENEFICIARY STORY: A NEW START AFTER DEPRESSION After losing his father, his job and his relationship of 10 years, Cristiano fell into a major depression and avoided human interaction. Job Stations offered a welcoming, accessible and inclusive environment to help him rejoin the job market. Cristiano worked with an Accenture tutor and received on-the-job training to function at a new level of professionalism. Being part of a team of co-workers who also face mental health struggles helped Cristiano feel safe and increased his sense of community. Since starting work at Job Stations, Cristiano has reconnected with his teenage son and begun a new relationship. He spends weekends exploring his native Italy, and says, “Every day I do my best to give meaning to my existence. What really helps me is going to work and doing something I’m passionate about.” Job Stations enabled Christiano to re-enter the workforce in a supportive environment. TRAINING INITIATIVE HELPS MILITARY VETERANS TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN JOBS In the United States, finding sustainable employment is a challenging part the transition from military to civilian life. Recent surveys by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Center for a New American Security, and Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University indicate on average 50 percent of veterans left their first post-military jobs within a year. Accenture is helping IVMF expand its Onward to Opportunity- Veteran Career Transition Program, which provides comprehensive training, certification and transitional employment support to veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses. By the end of fiscal 2017, the program had placed more than 1,000 participants into meaningful employment opportunities—including at Accenture. With funding from the Accenture Foundation and pro bono services, IVMF will expand its initiative to eight additional US military installations, reaching approximately 23,000 participants, with more than half expected to advance their current careers or secure employment. WATCHAVIDEO VIRTUAL REALITY AIDS FIRST-TIME JOBSEEKERS In Argentina, Accenture has created Job Interview 360, a virtual reality experience that allows young people looking for their first job to immerse themselves in an interactive job interview experience. Based on guidance from our Recruiting team, the six-minute experience takes the user from first contact with the recruiter through the interview, providing feedback on their performance. Currently in use by six nonprofit partners, Job Interview 360 has helped more than 50 job seekers prepare for success. Preparing the Workforce of the Future Technological innovation, including the rise of AI, has far-reaching implications for tomorrow’s workforce. Skills to Succeed aims to provide the next generation of workers, particularly those five to 10 years from entering the workforce, with the marketable skills required to prepare for and thrive 36 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
in the digital economy of the future. This includes addressing the glaring gap between the demand for STEM skills and the availability of qualified talent. As highlighted in our New Skills Now: Inclusion in the Digital Economy research, early exposure to computer science along with the integration of critical employability skills is crucial to helping prepare the next generation of workers for careers in technology. Our youth-facing programs aim to educate students early on, especially young women and minorities, by encouraging and inspiring them to learn digital skills. Immediate action in developing employability skills—such as leadership, analytical thinking, creativity and emotional intelligence—are necessary steps for adding critical value to the evolving digital market. Examples include: TECHNO NINJAS RISE FROM THE CODERDOJO CoderDojo is where Accenture people teach young “ninjas” to code and work on computer science projects. We currently have 15 volunteer teaching locations globally and plan to expand to more than 20 locations. Volunteering at our CoderDojos is a great way for Accenture people to impart career advice and inspire the next generation of coders. For example, a group of ninjas at Accenture’s The Dock location in Dublin recently gained skills in artificial intelligence, building a chatbot using Scratch software. “A personal highlight for me was chatting with one of the parents at our last session before summer break,” said Maria, an Agile coach at The Dock. “She told me about the change she has seen in her daughter since she joined the Dojo. Her daughter has become much more confident and developed so many new skills. The mother was full of praise for our Dojo and the impact it has made on their lives.” In Recife, Brazil, our volunteers introduced approximately 20 young women to the world of programming and creating applications at the CoderDojo Workshop for Women. For Jessica Veridiana, the CoderDojo experience convinced her to change her college major from medicine to technology. She is now developing a prototype nutrition-focused smartphone app. WATCHAVIDEO Creating Inclusion in the Digital Economy In 2017, we created the research project New Skills Now: Inclusion in the Digital Economy to provide insight for nonprofit organizations and funders around how to future-proof workforce development—especially for vulnerable and marginalized populations. The research synthesizes our learnings from Skills to Succeed and will inform how we evolve our corporate citizenship programs. A few of the key insights include: Reaching individuals earlier at a broad age range to develop skills and build habits and mindsets. Providing upskilling and reskilling opportunities to give individuals adaptability in the changing workforce environment. Broadening skill sets to include universal skills such as technology know-how, problem solving and interpersonal skills, coupled with relevant specialized skills to address local priorities and market-specific needs. 37 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
BENEFICIARY STORY: IGNITING A PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY Before joining CoderDojo at The Dock in Dublin, nine-year-olds Ruby and Zara had little exposure to computers beyond YouTube and playing Internet games. In late 2017, thanks to their new skills in coding and technology—including robotics—they won their age category for the European Digital Girl of the Year Award. Zara never misses a robotics session at the Dojo, and has an insatiable passion for technology and learning. Ruby is an inspiration to other girls and her professors, always keen to support her friends in understanding technology. Said Zara, “CoderDojo has changed my life—I look at something and think how it works and how can it be made simpler and quicker. I want to study robotics and link it with my passion of becoming a scientist.” Young coding ninjas from our Dublin CoderDojo program are the future of the digital world—they were named Digital Girls of the Year for Europe in 2017. ELEMENTARY STUDENTS DISCOVER ROBOTICS A public elementary school’s curriculum in Yokohama City, Japan, involves a robot programming workshop called Robo*C, where Accenture volunteers teach children the fundamentals of robot technology and the state of new technology in society. Students from a local technical vocational school are also involved in the program as teaching assistants and coaches. Besides learning the basics and discovering the joy of creating something with programming, students learn problem-solving and communication skills. Trial and error and learning from failure are encouraged. Activities include discussions and presentations to think and talk logically, and making robot kits. To date, more than 700 children have learned about technology through Robo*C, developed with nonprofit partner Canvas. Accenture as a Skills to Succeed Employer We are committed to providing skilled individuals with sustainable jobs both inside and outside Accenture. Through Skills to Succeed, we equip individuals with job-readiness and market-relevant skills. This approach expands our talent pools to include new groups of high-potential individuals, and supports our ambition to establish Accenture as the most inclusive and diverse organization in the world. Our approach also provides individuals from diverse backgrounds unique opportunities to advance in our organization, as well as to advance economically and socially. According to our joint research with Grads of Life and Harvard Business School, two-thirds of companies believe that requiring a four-year degree excludes qualified candidates from consideration. We are challenging these assumptions with our apprenticeships and other programs that hire Skills to Succeed beneficiaries. 38 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Examples include: SAN ANTONIO APPRENTICESHIPS BRING DIGITAL SKILLS TO A HIGH POVERTY AREA Accenture Federal Services (AFS) has launched an innovative public-private partnership with the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas and nine nonprofit partners targeting the Eastside Promise Zone, a local high-poverty community. In fiscal 2017, more than 30 apprentices took part in the pilot—just over half possessing only a high school diploma or technical training. After completion of the apprenticeship, AFS offered full-time employment to 10 participants, and all participants had gained training and skills needed for entry-level jobs. For fiscal 2018, we have expanded the scope of the program to 75 apprentices. The ultimate objective is to expand into a comprehensive year-round program in which students and adults can gain hands-on experience to better position themselves for entry-level jobs for careers in the digital economy. WILBUR WRIGHT COLLEGE APPRENTICESHIPS Apprenticeship programs play an important role in closing the skills gap. Our program at Chicago’s Wilbur Wright College provides students pursuing their associates degree or making a mid-career change with technology and job-ready skills. The program has driven a talented pipeline of candidates and enabled us to have a positive impact in the community. Shortly after the first apprenticeship class, Accenture committed to bring on 25 apprentices each year. Also, we launched a Chicago Apprentice Network aimed at bringing more corporations on board. Innovating with Save the Children In our partnership with Save the Children, we seek to apply innovation and technology to scale employment and entrepreneurship outcomes across the world. Fiscal 2017 highlights include: • Hosted an innovation workshop with Save the Children’s leaders at Accenture Labs in Silicon Valley to help explore emerging technologies to help children survive, learn and be protected worldwide. • Developed a digital strategy and road map for their Skills to Succeed-related programs with three innovation opportunities shortlisted for prototyping. • In Indonesia, launched the Dooit mobile app, which helps girls develop financial literacy, good savings habits and positive goal-setting skills. 39 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE Saga Prefecture’s emergency dispatch system was based on manual methods, with dispatchers and first responders relying on local knowledge and gut instinct to decide on the fastest route from emergency to clinic. OUR SOLUTION Leveraging talent from the United States and Japan, we analyzed 150,000 cases of transport data collected from iPads installed in emergency vehicles. Using AI technology and machine learning, we found new opportunities to improve coordination between the government, hospitals and emergency agencies. That meant we could optimize the end-to-end emergency dispatch process—reducing 40 percent of the cases where hospitals have difficulty accepting patients and cutting average transportation time by 1.3 minutes. THE RESULT This data is now helping doctors, emergency responders and Saga Prefecture officers work in unison toward improving the lives of citizens by enabling emergency responders to operate with the certainty that only a data-powered approach can deliver. In this case, analytics has proved that it’s more than a game-changer; it’s a life saver too. SAVINGLIVES WITHHEALTHCARE ANALYTICS By applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to data, Accenture discovered that we could optimize the end-to-end emergency dispatch process for the rural municipality Saga Prefecture in Japan. LEARNMORE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 40 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
INNOVATION FOR SOCIETY In addition to innovating to design workforce solutions as part of Skills to Succeed, we are using the power of new technologies such as AI, blockchain and extended reality to positively impact people’s lives and help address a variety of complex societal challenges. Collaboration is critical to our ideation. We bring together ecosystem partners such as clients, nonprofits, universities and social enterprises to test and prototype innovative solutions. IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DIGITAL IDENTITY More than 1 billion people—about one-sixth of the world’s population—are largely excluded from society and the economy because they lack documented proof of their identity. Without it, they are deprived of access to the basics we take for granted, such as banking, education, health care, housing and voting rights. To address this problem, Microsoft and Accenture are working together to support ID2020, a digital project using blockchain and biometric technologies to allow individuals to access and share their data electronically. This will not only make it easier to employ and be employed, it will support people’s broader welfare and economic growth. DELIVERING MORE MEALS WITH DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES Rooted in a vision to eliminate child hunger, the “Million Meals” project uses disruptive technologies to address challenges in mass meal production and delivery. Accenture Labs, the research and development arm of Accenture, executed a six- month project in the Bengaluru kitchen of Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest nongovernmental organization-run mid-day meal program. The program had potential to improve efficiency by 20 percent, and our project moved the organization from manual collection of feedback to a more-efficient technology-based solution using blockchain, sensor-enabled devices and AI to predict the next day’s meal requirements. The team also used Internet of Things sensors to monitor and sequence the cooking process to ensure optimum energy consumption and consistent food quality. WATCHAVIDEO CREATING AN INCLUSIVE THEATER EXPERIENCE USING AUGMENTED REALITY Through a collaboration with Accenture Digital, London’s renowned National Theatre is transforming and personalizing the theater experience for hard-of-hearing patrons. The Accenture Digital Open Access Smart Capture pilot program has combined smart captioning and the power of augmented reality to create a personalized theater experience. Through the latest Epson Smart Glasses, users can see customized captions perfectly synced with the actors’ performances right in front of their eyes, from any seat in the auditorium. Accenture Digital teams hope to have fully functioning, always-on augmented reality captioning systems in all three of the National Theatre’s auditoriums by late 2018, opening the door to transformative innovation across the arts and other industries in the future. WATCHAVIDEO USING MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TO DELIVER HEALTH CARE AT SCALE In India, Accenture Labs is teaming with MAYA, a nongovernmental organization that delivers health care to marginalized people at scale. Together we developed a self-sustaining, cost-effective entrepreneurial opportunity for health navigators to help individuals overcome barriers to quality care, delivering preventive and informational services to rural and semi-urban communities related to diabetes, hypertension, hygiene, nutrition and vision care. 41 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
In 2017, a pilot program and platform served 700 patients, and in fiscal 2018, Accenture Labs is researching the use of mobile phone cameras as a basic diagnostic tool for anemia and eye care using video processing and AI to bring more health care services onto the platform, resulting in higher-quality care at the patients’ doorsteps and increased revenue for the health navigator. The platform has applicability across multiple geographies, particularly for underserved populations, and supports creation of new services and products in preventive health care. ENABLING FUTURE LEADERS WITH A MOBILE COMMERCE APP In the United States, Accenture has enabled Girl Scouts of America to teach modern entreprenurial skills by helping them digitize the Girl Scout cookie program with a mobile commerce app. The Digital Cookie platform allows Girl Scouts to set up their own personal Digital Cookie sites, and to track and manage orders, in a safe and easy manner. About 200,000 girls are now learning valuable, real-life lessons about digital commerce, social networking, leadership and financial literacy. WATCHAVIDEO POWERED BY OUR PEOPLE Accenture’s approximately 442,000 people around the world live out our vision of improving the way the world works and lives. Their dedication and passion for driving change is evident in their daily client work—including their support of our community-impact efforts. We help our people maximize their impact by providing a variety of opportunities to make a difference through volunteering, pro bono work and giving. Volunteering and Pro Bono Work Volunteering is one of the many ways our people are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work. It is a meaningful way for them to connect with their communities while growing their careers. In turn, pro bono work enables our people to use their skills while leveraging disruptive technologies to solve some of society’s greatest challenges. Using AI, blockchain, Internet of Things and robotics, among others, our people act as a positive force for organizations that work for the greater good of society. Joining the Partnership on AI Accenture joined the Partnership on AI, an alliance of businesses, researchers, academics and policy makers dedicated to advancing the understanding of AI technology. We will actively contribute insights, research and capabilities in areas including Responsible AI, and will dedicate people and resources to collaborate with Partnership on AI members to help address important global challenges such as food, diversity, inclusion, health, education and economic opportunity. “It’s up to us to ensure AI can truly be a force for public good,” said Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology innovation officer. “Our experience and research demonstrates that AI’s true potential can only be achieved by adopting a ‘people first’ approach that reflects what we call Responsible AI— being fair, accountable, honest, transparent and human-centric in how we apply AI. We are proud to join the Partnership on AI to contribute in these areas and help define a successful and impactful future for AI.” 42 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
In fiscal 2017, our people contributed more than 726,000 hours to company-sponsored corporate citizenship activities during work hours, including pro bono consulting projects, as well as more than 185,000 hours of their own time through Accenture-facilitated volunteer events— totaling more than 911,000 hours giving back to the communities where we work and live. In the spirit of continuous improvement and a commitment to reflecting our people’s evolving priorities and interests, in fiscal 2018, we are launching a new, dynamic, digital employee volunteering platform. We are adding more volunteering options to the mix and celebrating our people’s personal volunteer passions as well as company-sponsored activities. By broadening the volunteering experience, we aim to recognize all the ways our people are making a difference. Along with providing updates to the volunteering platform, we are looking for ways to improve global participation, redefine what participation can mean, track involvement and ensure volunteerism is a thread throughout the employee experience. Examples include: #AI4GOOD HACKATHON Our second annual global Artificial Intelligence Hackathon brought together Accenture developers, strategists and designers from around the globe to shape the future of how AI can be used to support students, job seekers and entrepreneurs building the skills to thrive in the digital economy. Approximately 480 Accenture people across more than 90 teams developed concepts including: using an AI assistant on kiosks to help people experiencing homelessness in New York City find food, shelter and health care, and a digital learning advisor that uses AI to create a personalized learning profile and recommendations for employment. 1,600+ VOLUNTEER EVENTS IN INDIA As the volunteer coordinator for our locations across India, Anna Lopez, an associate manager in Program Operations, has made volunteering accessible and fun for thousands of her colleagues across India. In fiscal 2017, Anna helped organize more than 1,600 volunteer opportunities from Skills to Succeed events focused on work readiness and basic computer knowledge to Eco-watch programs and helping at local animal shelters. Outside of work, Anna is also making a difference by volunteering at Rehabilitation Aids Workshop, a group exclusively staffed by women with disabilities supplying high-quality, affordable rehabilitation aids to a wide client base of low-income people, especially women and children, in Bengaluru. “Seeing the gratitude of the beneficiaries is truly overwhelming and inspiring, said Anna. “Their smiles and warmth are everything to me. It is also inspiring when a volunteer comes back to share a positive experience and how it has changed their life for the better.” HOUR OF CODE We partner with Code.org to help children around the globe gain exposure to computer science through Hour of Code. As part of our commitment to preparing young people for the digital economy, Accenture people participated in Hour of Code in 204 cities across 56 countries, completing more than 14,000 hours of coding. Through a large increase in the number of local volunteer teaching events in 2017, we doubled our outreach to more than 200,000 students around the world. In 2017, Accenture Technology developed a coding tutorial designed to help students understand AI, which teaches computers to think and act like humans. We launched the tutorial during Hour of Code 2017, introducing the concepts of AI to thousands of young people, while engaging Accenture volunteers to teach these students. Accenture volunteers, including Omar Boulos (back row, third from right), regional managing director – Middle East and Turkey, delivered an Hour of Code in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Our volunteers taught coding to students at a local girls’ school the following day. 43 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
In addition, in 2017 Accenture’s Hour of Code volunteering expanded to new locations across the Middle East region—including, for the first time, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Accenture volunteers delivered an Hour of Code to approximately 50 boys in grades 5–9 at Bayan Gardens School in Al Khobar, and then the next day, to 30 girls at the Al Azizyah School, also in Al Khobar. “My fellow Accenture volunteers and I are extremely proud and privileged to have been part of the first Accenture Hour of Code initiative in Saudi Arabia, allowing us for the first time to give young girls an invaluable insight into coding,” said Renate Verheul, management consulting senior manager – Health Public Service. “By inspiring these girls and seeing their eagerness to learn, we continue to pave the way for the future female workforce in this region.” WATCHAVIDEO Accenture Development Partnerships Accenture Development Partnerships brings Accenture capabilities and experience to help the international development sector address the most complex social, economic and environmental issues of our time. Our teams have delivered more than 1,250 engagements spanning more than 70 countries since 2003. Eligible Accenture people can apply for six-month assignments with the program, which undertakes projects within the nonprofit sector in the developed and developing world, providing access to our highly skilled talent at significantly reduced rates. These projects are also an investment in high- performing people, offering them the opportunity to stretch their proven skills and experience in a unique working environment. In fiscal 2017, approximately 400 Accenture people contributed to the greater good through Accenture Development Partnerships. Said New York-based manager Stephanie Loh, “Taking part in Accenture Development Partnerships has been a life-changing experience for me. It opened my eyes to the tremendous social impact that businesses can have—and that I can have. My first project took me to Tanzania to help upskill clinicians in public hospitals, and it was so innovative and meaningful that I thought—yes, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It makes me proud to work at Accenture—they actually pay me to make a difference in the world!” Examples include: PLAN INTERNATIONAL When Plan International was preparing to launch an ambitious global strategy to transform the lives of 100 million girls, it recognized the need to enable innovation. Accenture Development Partnerships, using the Accenture Innovation Architecture, supported the development of the strategy that embeds innovation at the core of the organization. This approach combined our innovation hub offerings with counsel from a network of innovation champions and varied partners to nurture and support creative ideas in an environment where experimentation is encouraged and failure is a part of the learning process. The initial strategic priorities include maximizing the value of data, helping girls into meaningful employment and entrepreneurship, and reimagining the future of child sponsorship. For example, to help the organization improve sponsor engagement while increasing staff efficiencies, we developed an intelligent photo analyzer prototype using digital recognition technology with AI to help ensure the quality and appropriateness of photos of sponsored children. UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSION ON REFUGEES With the United Nations High Commission Refugees (UNHCR), we conducted a global analysis of refugee mobile and Internet access and usage trends across 100 countries. With this insight, UNHCR launched pilot connectivity programs in six countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, with a plan to launch more. The programs focus on building cross-sector partnerships to enable connectivity, promoting the delivery of humanitarian solutions through digital platforms and empowering refugees with digital solutions. 44 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Employee Giving Our people’s generous donations have made a measurable difference in many lives, including improving their education, health and the environment. To make it easy to give back, we provide a variety of ways for our people to make charitable donations to their causes of choice. During fiscal year 2017, Accenture people donated more than US$8.8 million to charitable causes through company-sponsored channels. RESPONDING TO HURRICANES IN NORTH AMERICA The human response to a series of destructive hurricanes that struck in 2017 brought out the best of Accenture. Our people in the directly affected cities of Houston, Miami and Tampa, worked together to collect supplies and get them to people in need both locally and other areas affected by the storms. Accenture people from other locations contributed as well, donating to United Way hurricane- relief funds and the Accenture Charitable Trust (ACT). The ACT provides short-term financial assistance to US-based Accenture employees experiencing severe financial hardship because of an immediate, unforeseen and extraordinary emergency or catastrophic disaster. Accenture matched these funds, dollar for dollar, for a total of more than US$850,000 contributed to hurricane-relief efforts. The Trust granted more than US$652,000 to approximately 170 employees across Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas, Said one of our ACT grantees, “When my family lost our house, possessions and cars during Hurricane Harvey we needed to act quickly, but just as quickly ran into cash flow problems. The process to apply for an ACT grant was extremely efficient and painless. I had the funds in about a day, and it made a real difference for my family.” A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Integrating the findings from our New Skills Now research into our Skills to Succeed offerings to help future-proof workforce development— especially for vulnerable and marginalized populations. • Expanding our focus on upskilling and reskilling to help people thrive in the changing environment. • Exploring more ways to bring innovation and new technologies to the nonprofit sector for greater social impact. • Reimagining the volunteer experience at Accenture, leveraging new digital tools and feedback from our people to create opportunities that are meaningful, accessible and engaging. 45 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
At Accenture, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and to fostering sustainable growth for our company and our clients. By improving the efficiency of our operations, harnessing the ingenuity of our people and supporting the sustainability efforts of our stakeholders, we aim to accelerate the global shift to a low-carbon economy and to lessen the effects of climate change. ENVIRONMENT 52% reduction in per-employee carbon emissions, achieving our goal ahead of schedule 200,OOO METRICTONS reduction of CO2 emissions from office electricity usage improvement in energy efficiency over fiscal 2016 8% of our energy came from renewable sources 21% HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “I am supporting a water and sewage project for a client that provides drinkable tap water to small cities.” Giovanna Saito Analyst ENVIRONMENT
OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH As part of our ongoing quest to lessen our environmental impact, we continue to cultivate a green culture at Accenture. Our environmental strategy focuses on three areas: running efficient operations to reduce emissions and other impacts; enabling client sustainability; and engaging our people, leaders, partners and other stakeholders. Accountability for our environmental strategy starts with our Chairman CEO and cascades to the governance bodies that oversee our environmental policy and corporate objective of fostering environmentally sustainable growth. Reducing our environmental impact is ingrained in our Code of Business Ethics and our core values, specifically Stewardship. These inform our Environmental Responsibility Policy, which our Environment Steering Group established in 2007 and reviews annually. Assessing and Disclosing Climate-related Risk In fiscal 2017, alongside other members of the World Economic Forum’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, Accenture expressed support for the recommendations of the industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), urging companies to evaluate and disclose their climate-related financial risks. Timely implementation of these recommendations is a crucial step toward delivering on the commitments of the Paris Agreement and keeping global warming well below 2°C. Enhanced disclosure will allow us to better assess the financial impact of climate change and to support an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy. Every year since 2007, Accenture has reported our environmental performance to CDP, including our environmental risks, opportunities and methodologies on climate change mitigation and adaptation. In 2017, in accordance with TCFD guidelines, we updated our financial filings to include the fiscal impact of these and associated risks: • As a global company, we are more susceptible to certain risks, including the increasing frequency and severity of adverse weather conditions. • These events pose significant risks to our people, facilities and operations around the world, as well as to those of our alliance partners and clients. • By disrupting communications, travel and access to talent, these events could make it difficult for us to deliver our services and solutions. RUNNING EFFICIENT OPERATIONS As a professional services company, our environmental footprint consists primarily of the carbon emissions we generate through travel and electricity use in our locations. As such, we are continually exploring new ways to make our operations more efficient by putting technology to use for direct energy savings, increasing renewable energy sources and establishing a culture of digital collaboration that lessens the need for travel. Since setting our initial carbon target in fiscal 2008, we have reduced our per-employee carbon emissions by more than 52 percent against our fiscal 2007 baseline—surpassing our 2020 goal of 50 percent ahead of schedule. This is especially notable as our headcount increased by more than 10 percent during fiscal 2017 alone. We achieved this target, in part, due to significant progress in energy efficiency. Last year we realized a reduction of approximately 20,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions from office electricity usage, thanks to our ongoing commitment to energy efficiency and increased investments in renewable energy. For example, in India, approximately 40 percent of our real estate portfolio runs on green energy, and more than 85 percent of our Bengaluru real estate operates on green power. We also continue to address travel intensity and realized an approximately 4 percent reduction in per-person travel-related CO2 emissions over fiscal 2016. This sizable achievement is a testament to the quality of our environmental iniatives and to the ingenuity and dedication of our people—who are truly a force for change at Accenture. Having achieved our goal early, Accenture is now working with key stakeholders, including the Science Based Targets initiative, to define the 47 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
next chapter of our environmental strategy—and related targets. We are committed to doing our part to keep global warming well below 2 (degree sign) C, in line with the recommendations from the Paris Agreement, and we look forward to sharing more information over the next year. Leveraging New Technologies for Energy Management We continue to make energy efficiency advances across our real estate portfolio, seeing improvements every year since fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2017, we achieved a more than 8 percent improvement in energy efficiency over the previous year. These improvements have accumulated over time, helping us save more than 1.2 million megawatt hours of electricity and more than 700,000 metric tons of CO2 since 2007. They also generated more than US$160 million in energy savings over the same period, benefited our company and our clients. Examples include: INCREASING AIR HANDLING UNIT EFFICIENCY In fiscal 2017, to optimize the energy used by fans that control office air flow, we piloted electronically commutated fans in our locations in Bengaluru. Driving both environmental and economic sustainability, the pilot showed that offices could reduce annual energy consumption and recoup their investment in less than a year. In fiscal 2018, we will begin to bring this technology to scale across our India offices in multiple cities, with anticipated annual savings of over US$1 million in energy costs, more than 7,400 megawatt hours of electricity and 6,100 metric tons of CO2 . ENERGY-MANAGEMENT PLATFORM In fiscal 2017, we unveiled a new energy- management platform, based on smart metering, that displays energy efficiency and performance information in real time, helping our building operators and our people monitor and reduce energy consumption. Users can compare efficiency across buildings and floors, and over time, identify opportunities for long-term energy-waste reduction. We used this capability to collect and present information on our own energy consumption, and Accenture Operations uses the platform to help clients improve their own energy efficiency initiatives. By the end of fiscal 2017, we had installed more than 650 smart meters in 38 buildings across 14 countries. In addition, we teamed with sustainability students from the University of Illinois to develop new energy dashboards that display energy performance in a simple, impactful way. The students combined internal and external market research to generate a range of ideas and dashboard types that could be incorporated into our global energy platform. Increasing Renewable Energy Sources Our renewable energy initiative—part of our supply chain sustainability strategy—aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy costs and our per-person carbon footprint. In fiscal 2017, 21 percent of our energy came from renewable sources, allowing us to avoid more than 63,000 metric tons of CO2 across our global operations. This represents a savings increase of approximately 18 percent from 2016. Also, we reviewed hundreds of Accenture offices to identify opportunities to purchase renewable energy instead of non-renewable grid energy. Our principal focus areas are China, India, North America, the Philippines, and key markets in the European Union and South America. Through an operational pilot in the United Kingdom, we have optimized how we source renewable energy at a significant cost savings compared to previous years. We have also developed renewable energy buying guidelines to help ensure the environmental impact of our approach. of our energy came from renewable sources21% 48 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Our challenge is that we do not own our office buildings, which limits our ability to self-generate renewable energy or establish contractual agreements with local renewable energy suppliers on our own. We continue to actively encourage our landlords to pursue cost-feasible, locally available renewable options for tenants or to allow us to pursue them ourselves. To see which of our locations are currently using renewable energy, visit our Environment Impact Map. Saving Carbon by Reducing Travel Intensity In fiscal 2017, our continued investment in virtual collaboration technology—along with our promotion of energy-efficient behaviors— sustained our multi-year success in reducing travel-related CO2 intensity. As a result, we reduced our air travel carbon emissions per employee by approximately 4 percent from fiscal 2016. Widespread use of collaboration technologies, continuing operational rigor in our delivery model, and an increased focus on virtual and regionalized training helped us avoid an additional 14,000 metric tons of CO2 and save US$97 million compared to fiscal 2016, while simultaneously enabling people around the world to spend more time in their home locations. We continue to look for new ways to decrease our travel intensity, such as: Using Analytics to Reduce Environmental Impact Accenture’s Smart Spending program began as a review of employee spending in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ultimately, this review led to the creation of an Accenture data lake that allowed the business to evaluate employee expenses more effectively. We have since used this approach to drive efficiencies across key client teams and global projects, and today, we are applying this same methodology to help clients reduce travel costs and environmental impact. Promoting Energy-efficient Transportation in India Accenture is engaging with our supply chain to promote more environmentally friendly methods of transportation for our people. For example, in India, we are encouraging shuttle vendors to decarbonize their fleets by replacing vehicles with natural gas or electricity-powered alternatives. In 2017, we introduced a fleet of 50 electric cabs across two of our Bengaluru locations. The vehicles, which run on 100 percent green power, covered 2.1 million kilometers in fiscal 2017, approximately 1 percent of the total mileage covered by our non-electric vehicles during the same period. Transportation enabled by natural gas accounted for more than 65 million kilometers, approximately 20 percent of the total distance covered by Accenture-provided vehicles servicing these offices during 2017. Through our use of these vehicles, we avoided approximately 3,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions last year. Collaboration at Hyperscale: Technologies Contribute to Emissions Reductions Our internal IT organization plays a major role in helping to mitigate our environmental impact. We use digital technology to collaborate, learn and connect with our teams and clients, increasing our engagement while reducing the cost, time and carbon emissions associated with travel. Accenture Broadcast produced 3,000 live-stream events in fiscal 2017, including all-employee broadcasts, Telepresence conferences and external events. With 19 fully equipped pop-in studio locations globally, we make recording video communications accessible to our people across key Accenture offices, reducing the need for travel. Chief Information Officer Andrew Wilson prepares for a broadcast at Studio 34, Accenture’s flagship broadcast studio. Broadcasts keep employees informed, reduce travel and benefit our planet. 49 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Accenture is one of the largest global users of Skype for Business®. In 2017, we used Skype for Business at hyperscale, averaging more than 300 million audio and 36 million video minutes per month across multiple collaboration tools. More than 800 of our clients communicate with Accenture people easily and securely over various platforms. Collaboration technology helps reduce our need for travel, yet also poses its own challenge: technology upgrades that necessitate disposal of obsolete electronic waste (e-waste). In fiscal 2017, we maintained strong results for responsible disposal of e-waste. More than 99 percent of our total disposed equipment—more than 73,000 laptop and desktop computers weighing more than 300 metric tons—was disposed of by methods avoiding landfill, primarily through supplier reclamation and responsible disposal vendors. Ongoing Efforts to Assess and Reduce Environmental Impact Accenture is ISO® 14001 Environmental Management System-certified globally. ISO® 14001 is an international standard for organizations to minimize their environmental impact. It is a key credential for many of our clients and tangible evidence of our commitment to integrate robust environmental practices into our operations. Additionally, our ISO® 14001 certification sites serve as incubators for innovations that can be shared with other Accenture locations worldwide, such as installing smart meters in our facilities and piloting people-focused initiatives like our Travel Smart Challenge. To see our ISO®- certified locations and locations that use smart metering, visit our Environment Impact Map. Responsible Water Management Accenture is not a water-intensive company—our water use comes almost exclusively from office- based operations—but we are not immune to the impact of climate change-driven water scarcity. We are seeing the impact of this scarcity in locations such Cape Town, South Africa, which is in the midst of a multi-year drought impacting daily life for millions of residents, including our people. We manage our water consumption closely with a special focus on regions of water scarcity, particularly as such regions have grown in recent years and are projected to expand in the future. In fiscal 2018, we plan to evaluate our office portfolio for which locations are most impacted or may be impacted by water scarcity in the future. Accessing fresh water can be a challenge for our locations in India, due to water scarcity and a large demand-supply gap. By implementing stricter controls around water usage and promoting awareness among our people in fiscal 2017, we reduced per-employee water consumption in our largest offices by more than 8 percent from fiscal 2016. Water sustainability initiatives included installing water tap sensors and bio taps across locations and using recycled water from sewage treatment plants in toilets. These types of risks represent tangible examples of why we support the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures and continue to seek ways to mitigate the impact of climate change through emissions-reduction activities. As an extension of that support, we are beginning to incorporate water-scarcity issues into our enterprise risk- management process, particularly when evaluating new site locations. In areas not affected by drought or water shortages, we still monitor our water consumption to identify opportunities for efficiency improvement. For example, after identifying a significant increase in water consumption within our São Paulo location in Brazil, we installed an expansion tank system to help prevent water overfill at the cooling towers. During 2017, the office reduced water consumption by 23 percent and water costs by 37 percent, saving approximately 2.5 million liters of water. 50 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE As a retail chain with a large and diverse portfolio of stores, our client faced rising utility expenses and the constraints of a small, internal energy management team. OUR SOLUTION We found great disparities in energy use across the client’s stores, even between stores in the same city. Performance models showed many stores consumed 30 percent more energy than expected. By focusing on the 15 percent of stores that used the most energy, we helped the client achieve a 4 percent total energy budget reduction. THE RESULT Armed with this information and by employing a data management tool, the client has improved its access to energy data and now uses advanced analytics to prioritize corrective actions, measure results and drive down energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By focusing resources on only a small fraction of the total portfolio, we identified savings of more than 7 percent, resulting in millions of dollars of savings. DRIVINGENERGY EFFICIENCY WITHAI Accenture is helping a large North American retail chain realize cost savings and advance its sustainability agenda using artificial intelligence and advanced analytics solutions. 51 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
ENABLING CLIENT SUSTAINABILITY At Accenture, we have the power to effect change not only through our internal policies but also by supporting clients during their environmental journeys. Tracking and understanding the impact of our client-facing sustainabilty initatives allows us to make improvements over time. Our Client Carbon Savings program is a critical component of our environmental strategy and one of the primary ways we help our clients meet their economic and sustainability goals. In fact, we track the impact of our carbon-reduction activities on clients and other stakeholders, alongside key project deliverables. The program vision is to: • Help clients realize the potential positive environmental impact of the work Accenture delivers. • Lay the foundation for Accenture to achieve its fiscal 2020 environmental target of measuring and reporting the impact of our work with clients in key areas of sustainability. • Support our development and project teams in deploying new strategies and tools to capture, measure and report carbon savings. In fiscal 2017, we identified potential savings for our clients of more than 1.25 million metric tons of CO2 and US$43 million, and implemented strategies to help them save a cumulative 430,000 metric tons of CO2 and US$14.8 million. We also expanded the program to include a renewable energy assessment, allowing clients to identify and realize savings stemming from renewable energy sources. Helping Clients Improve Business and Environmental Performance Companies are beginning to recognize that sustainable practices can be a major source of growth and innovation when they are designed and led well. At the same time, digital technologies are making sustainability easier to achieve, allowing organizations to embrace new, resource-efficient business models and ways of engaging with customers. When our clients put sustainability at the heart of their business strategy, they are able to pursue large-scale transformations and drive meaningful results. In fiscal 2017, our clients achieved significant carbon reduction and unlocked new business value as a result of sustainability initiatives. ACCENTURE ENERGY MANAGEMENT AS A SERVICE Through our corporate greenhouse gas reporting services, Accenture is helping our clients to measure, reduce and disclose their GHG emissions to shareholders, consumers and the general public. Our strategic renewable energy assessments allow our clients to set corporate sustainability goals and to tactically assess where they can invest in onsite and offsite renewable energy. As a result, they realized approximately 430,000 metric tons of CO2 savings in 2017 and identified more than 1.25 million metric tons of potential savings. Accenture is also harnessing the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics to help our clients reduce energy consumption and costs while also delivering new insights into their business operations, with realized cost reductions of 8 percent. Connected facilities are changing how clients view energy management and is now being leveraged to fuel larger digital and IoT transformations. Driving lower costs and reducing consumption means delivering financial savings of more than US$6 million— alongside environmental benefits of decreased emissions—for our retail and utilities customers. Convening Partners and Clients for Climate Solutions As Accenture strives to advance the global environmental and climate agenda, a key role we play is helping our clients and industry become responsible stewards of digital transformation. As a collaborator, convener and thought leader, we invest in research and development to help create business strategies and technology solutions that allow our clients, partners and suppliers to improve their sustainability performance. 52 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Highlights from 2017 include: • World Business Council for Sustainable Development: In collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Accenture Strategy developed the “CEO Guide to the Circular Economy,” a blueprint for business leaders on how to leverage circular innovation to capture significant benefits, boost the global economy’s resilience, support people and communities around the world, and help fulfill the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. • CDP: Accenture Strategy and CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) released new research that examines the link between environmental and financial performance in the consumer goods and the telecommunications industries. Based on more than three years of data and interviews with consumer goods and telecommunications executives, the research revealed that many businesses are failing to capture or disclose financial value from environmental performance. The reports outline practical steps to drive stronger financial outcomes through progressive environmental performance. • Business in the Community: Accenture Strategy partnered with Business in the Community to explore opportunities and challenges associated with the digital revolution in the United Kingdom. The resulting report, “Priorities for responsible business in a digital age,” identifies four digital priorities that define the areas businesses need to immediately focus on, in order to manage the unintended consequences of the digital revolution. • econsense: Forum for Sustainable Development of German Business: Accenture Strategy partnered with econsense to develop a blueprint for companies looking to adopt more sustainable business practices. The resulting report, “A Practical Guide to Create Positive Impact That Makes Business Sense,” aims to help private-sector leaders drive positive change in ways that align with their business objectives. Supporting World Economic Forum Initiatives Through our pro bono work, Accenture supports the World Economic Forum’s global project to design and deliver public-private partnerships that aim to produce tangible climate results through 2020 and beyond. Our Chairman CEO Pierre Nanterme is also a member of the World Economic Forum-facilitated CEO Climate Initiative Leadership Group, which represents approximately 80 CEOs of global companies. The World Economic Forum Climate Initiative helps to raise ambition and spur faster climate action, and supports efforts by private and public stakeholders to accelerate transition. It also leverages opportunities provided by the Fourth Industrial Revolution to realize new business models and technologies. Accenture participates in The Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE)—a global public-private platform of more than 40 global leaders from business, government and international organizations. PACE kick-starts and scales-up circular economy projects by enabling and brokering partnerships, addresses cross-cutting policy barriers, and links networks and knowledge across existing institutions. In collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Accelerating Sustainable Production (ASaP) project, Accenture co-authored a white paper, “Driving the Sustainability of Production Systems with Fourth Industrial Revolution.” The report is a guide for optimizing the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in production, helping countries and businesses achieve sustainable growth and contribute toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Climate Initiative, PACE and ASaP are part of the World Economic Forum’s Shaping the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security System Initiative. We are also a part of the World Economic Forum’s Digital Transformation Initiative (DTI), which aims to maximize opportunities for business and society—including environmental sustainability— stemming from digital technologies. The initiative’s research supports collaboration between the public and private sectors focused on ensuring that digitalization unlocks new levels of prosperity. 53 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
The Circulars 2018 We celebrated The Circulars 2018, an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders. In its fourth year, the award program recognizes individuals and organizations from across the globe that are making notable contributions to the circular economy in the private sector, public sector and society. The annual awards are hosted at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. ENGAGING OUR PEOPLE Much of our progress in the environment space is driven by our people, particularly our awareness- building and behavior-change initiatives. Our Environment, Workplace, IT and Procurement teams bring our environmental strategy to life on a daily basis. These creative initiatives help Accenture people around the world foster positive sustainability attitudes and habits. Our Eco Champions develop innovative, environmentally conscious work practices and market-relevant engagement campaigns to drive their adoption. Volunteers participate in eco-volunteering activities, including a mix of digitally enabled events and challenges, as well as in-person eco initiatives. Examples of global activities include: USING TECHNOLOGY TO HELP AMAZON WILDLIFE As part of Zooniverse’s AmazonCam Tambopata project, Accenture people around the globe are using technology to peer deep inside the rainforest of southeastern Peru. The project relies on volunteers and a network of video cameras to measure the distribution of wildlife along the Amazon River. During Accenture’s 2017 World Environment Day celebrations, approximately 220 employees from 22 countries classified more than 10,200 wildlife images in just one week— all from the comfort of their own computers. Researchers rely on Zooniverse volunteers and the “wisdom of crowds” to produce reliable and accurate data. By participating in the largest- known permanent camera trap monitoring program in South America, we are contributing to conservationist research that otherwise would not be possible on such a scale. Said Chicago-based strategic programs and operations manager April LaCroix, “It is so much fun to see a family of tapirs just out on a stroll in the Amazon. It’s great to be exposed to such a unique and beautiful part of the world while making a difference.” TRAVEL SMART CHALLENGE We held our sixth annual Travel Smart Challenge in fiscal 2017, a six-week competition that encourages our people to reduce their travel-related carbon footprint by thinking creatively about how they can minimize air and road travel. Over the past six years, participants from around the world have avoided approximately 18,700 flights, saving more than US$13.8 million in travel costs. Additionally, our people avoided more than 3.1 million ground transportation miles, contributing to an estimated overall reduction of more than 9,700 metric tons of CO2 . Examples of local activities include: MANAGING WET WASTE Accenture generates approximately 2,000 metric tons of wet waste each year in India. To prevent sending this waste to landfills, we worked with vendors to process and convert it into organic fertilizer and biogas. The initiative, which has been rolled out at Accenture offices in Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune, will redirect up to 1,800 metric tons of wet waste annually, resulting in an estimated 3,000 metric tons of CO2 savings. 54 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
PRESERVING GALVESTON BAY As a member of the Houston Eco team, Business and Integration Architecture Senior Manager Laurinda Lin regularly volunteers with the Galveston Bay Foundation, planting marsh grass to help preserve the bay’s coastline and picking up waste in the local bayous and waterways. She also raises awareness through fundraising. Says Laurinda, “We get so much from our Earth and often take it for granted— we should do what we can to help preserve it.” Read more eco volunteering stories on our Environment Impact Map. Read more eco volunteering stories on our Environment Impact Map. Houston Eco team member Laurinda Lin plants marsh grass in Galveston Bay wetlands with her sister. A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Developing our next round of environmental goals, with a focus on delivering on the commitments of the Paris Agreement and keeping global warming well below 2°C. • Expanding our client carbon- savings programs and continuing to measure the carbon-reduction benefits our clients gain as a result of our solutions and services. • Adopting and scaling use of technology—such as increased use of smart meters powered by new energy dashboards—to continue making our operations more efficient, and to help our people work and travel “greener.” • Collaborating with clients, suppliers and thought leaders to turn policy into actions that deliver concrete climate solutions and sustainable outcomes. 55 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
We are committed to promoting inclusive, ethical and sustainable procurement practices that create long-term value for our clients, our suppliers and our communities. With a multi-billion-dollar supply chain, we have the opportunity to leverage our purchasing power to drive positive change on a global scale and to create a more-inclusive digital world. SUPPLYCHAIN HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “I am helping my client create and maintain a sustainable supply chain and adhere to international guidelines regarding production of their products.” Benny Lamprecht Consultant 76% of our key suppliers disclosed emissions-reduction actions and 72% disclosed targets 130+ small, medium and diverse suppliers developed by end of fiscal 2017 10 on Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s Top Corporations list YEARS spending commitment to women-owned businesses $100M SUPPLY CHAIN
OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH At Accenture, we view our supply chain both as a critical enabler of our business and as a catalyst for innovation. By infusing inclusion, diversity and sustainability into our procurement practices and ensuring our suppliers share our values, we are helping to create a more socially and environmentally responsible world. Across our six main purchasing categories— contractors; HR and professional services; IT and telecom; marketing and communications; travel and mobility; and workplace and facilities—we apply three strategic priorities for responsible supply chain management: • Adhering to our Supplier Standards of Conduct • Driving supplier sustainability • Advancing supplier inclusion and diversity At a basic level, working with Accenture means adhering to our high standards of conduct, which are fundamental to any partnership. However, we go beyond strong compliance procedures, leveraging our global reach and scale to maximize value for our clients and to drive meaningful change across our ecosystem. We believe that working with suppliers from diverse backgrounds and perspectives allows us to remain agile, disruptive and ahead of the market. This is particularly true of our professional services suppliers and contractors, who make up the vast majority of our procurement spend. These suppliers provide us with valuable insights and IT expertise that enable us—and our clients—to leverage cutting-edge technologies and business models, while driving economic growth in communities around the globe. Accountability for our procurement strategy starts with our Chief Operating Officer Jo Deblaere who leads Accenture’s business operations globally and is responsible for ensuring operational excellence across our supply chain. This cascades to our Chief Procurement Officer Kai Nowosel and to our local and regional Procurement teams who manage the day-to-day activities of Accenture’s supply chain. HUMAN RIGHTS AND OUR SUPPLY CHAIN Accenture’s core values, including our commitment to doing business ethically and legally, are the foundation of our company’s culture. Central to this is the fulfillment of our long- standing commitment to support and respect internationally proclaimed human rights, which requires the full participation and support of our suppliers. As described in Ethics Governance and our Code of Business Ethics, Accenture adheres to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which includes the elimination of slavery and human trafficking in supply chains and business operations. In early 2017, Accenture published our first UK Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement explaining some of the key steps we took in the previous fiscal year to support the elimination of slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains. The statement was updated in February 2018 to reflect more recent actions and initiatives. We also created a supplier-awareness animation that we are socializing with our Procurement and Environment teams, as well as with select supplier personnel in the United Kingdom and beyond. The animation outlines our long-standing commitment to the United Nations Global Compact principles around environment, social and governance factors, and underscores both the human rights and high labor standards we require of our global network of suppliers. Evolving Our Supplier Standards of Conduct Our leaders, people, clients and partners want to know that we manage our procurement process responsibly, including where and how we create or source our goods and services. We set high standards for the way we conduct business, and we require suppliers across all procurement categories and stages to adhere to our Supplier Standards of Conduct or to make an equivalent commitment. 57 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
As with our Code of Business Ethics, our Supplier Standards of Conduct reflect our core values and our commitment to the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact to advance human and labor rights. Published in 20 languages, these Standards specify the labor criteria to which our external suppliers must adhere, and require compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. In fiscal 2017, we enhanced our Standards to provide more clarity around our expectations for suppliers in areas such as human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labor and child labor. For example, we updated our Standards to reference the International Bill of Human Rights and International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We also added specific requirements regarding how to define human trafficking, as well as new language regarding child labor and at-will termination of employment. We also expanded our supplier onboarding process to be more rigorous about the information we require suppliers to disclose, helping us to make more-informed decisions about the suppliers with whom we engage. DRIVING SUPPLIER SUSTAINABILITY We expect our suppliers to provide updates around their environmental initiatives, goals and impact, and we encourage local and regional teams to discuss sustainable procurement during their regular supplier meetings. By educating our suppliers on the benefits of sustainable business practices, we are increasing the number that monitor, measure and communicate their environmental impact. Our geographic Procurement teams continue to include the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of prospective suppliers as factors for our purchasing decisions beyond the categories with the largest sustainability impact: IT and telecom, travel and mobility, workplace and facilities. We are continuing to refine and improve these processes across geographies by recommending best practices and standard ESG questions to be used in requests for proposals. For instance, we are exploring how we can engage with suppliers to act on sustainability performance either through a supplier reward program, supplier inclusion and sustainability events, or peer-to-peer discussions. Our Procurement team is also a driving force behind our use of renewable energy. In 2017, our Procurement and Energy Management As-a-Service teams combined their deep knowledge of the global renewable electricity market together with their experience working with global clients to identify creative and cost-effective ways to purchase renewable electricity for our office portfolio. We are also working with our Environment teams to clearly define our path toward achieving Accenture’s renewable electricity and greenhouse gas reduction goals. In 2017, Accenture established new standards for the purchase of renewable energy, including hydropower and solar, wind, geothermal, ocean and biomass power. Our aim is to ensure that we only work with providers that source energy with integrity, transparency and accountability, taking into consideration their impact on local ecosystems and communities. Supplier Standards of Conduct published in 20LANGUAGES 58 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
CDP Supply Chain Program As a corporate member of CDP’s Supply Chain program, we use CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) tools to promote engagement, transparency and sustainable business practices with our suppliers. Beginning in 2010, we have invited a select group of suppliers to respond to CDP’s Supply Chain self-assessment questionnaire each year. Gathering information in a standardized way helps us gain a better understanding of each supplier’s environmental practices. It also supports Accenture’s 2020 goal to measure and report the impact of our sustainability initiatives with clients and suppliers, and formalizes our efforts to advance supplier emissions disclosure. Over the years, Accenture has significantly increased the number of suppliers we ask to participate in CDP’s reporting program. In 2017, 103 of our suppliers publicly disclosed their responses, compared to 28 in 2013. Additionally, our suppliers generally have been more engaged and receptive—in 2017, 74 percent of our suppliers participated, well above CDP’s global average of 58 percent. We also made progress toward our 2020 goal to have 75 percent of our key suppliers disclose their carbon-reduction targets and report on the actions they are taking to reduce emissions. In 2017, 72 percent of our suppliers disclosed their targets, and 76 percent disclosed the actions and initiatives they are taking toward emissions reduction. Our efforts are not going unnoticed: Of the more than 3,300 companies that partcipated in CDP’s supply chain program in 2017, Accenture was among the 2 percent that earned a spot on the Supplier Engagement Leader Board—an honor reserved for companies that are engaging with their suppliers to manage carbon emissions and address climate-related issues across their supply chains. disclo72% disclosed emissions-reduction actions of our key suppliers disclosed targets disclosed targets72% 76% 59 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
CLIENT CHALLENGE The global tea industry is often associated with poverty, low wages and worker exploitation. Malawi 2020—a public coalition of donors, nongovernmental organizations and commercial tea producers, buyers and retailers—sought a partner to develop an innovative, sustainable pricing and procurement framework to ensure a living wage for Malawian tea industry workers. OUR SOLUTION Through stakeholder engagement and extensive data collection, Accenture Development Partnerships created a pricing framework to help tea buyers with price discovery, so that they could see the impact of the prices they were paying CREATINGALIVING WAGETHROUGH SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT Accenture Development Partnerships is working with Malawi 2020 to develop a sustainable procurement framework to help ensure a living wage for more than 30,000 Malawian tea industry workers. and know they were sustainable. While the price reflects the cost of production, the amount paid also contributes toward a living wage. THE RESULT Currently available to the 12 tea buyers sourcing from Malawi that are represented in the coalition, the framework has the potential to alleviate poverty in one of the poorest countries in the world, introduce a motivated, productive workforce for the tea industry, and enable tea brands, packers and retailers to achieve positive social impact. CASE STUDY 60 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
ADVANCING SUPPLIER INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY Accenture promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment, and we strive to partner with businesses that embrace these values as well. We believe inclusive procurement practices create long-term value for our clients and our communities, while helping us remain agile, disruptive and ahead of the market. Our Supplier Inclusion Diversity Program, which reaches 17 countries, allows us to drive a more-inclusive and empowered marketplace. By incorporating diverse businesses into our supply chain, we gain access to innovative, responsive and cost-competitive supply solutions for our clients. At the same time, we help Accenture’s suppliers grow their representation and influence in their own markets. In fiscal 2017, DiversityInc recognized our efforts by ranking Accenture No. 3 on its Top Companies for Supplier Diversity list, marking our sixth consecutive year on the list and our second in this spot. As we continue to expand these programs, the proliferation of different national standards for diversity makes gauging the global effectiveness of our Supplier Inclusion Diversity Program a challenge. Similarly, reporting laws and regulations can make it difficult to identify which businesses qualify as diverse. We have been able to track our diverse procurement spend most consistently within the United States. In fiscal 2017, our total US procurement spend with diverse suppliers was more than 27 percent. While this is a decrease in percentage terms since fiscal 2016, it represents a year-over-year increase of more than US$3 million in actual spend with US diverse suppliers. We also track and externally verify our spend with black-owned businesses, black-women- owned businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises in South Africa (see Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act on page 63). Across geographies, we are exploring new technologies that will help centralize and standardize the management of these programs. We continue to look for opportunities to include more diverse suppliers and increase this spend, both in total and as a share of overall spend, in ways that support our procurement strategy. Diverse Supplier Development Program Accenture’s Diverse Supplier Development Program (DSDP) reflects our commitment to developing and expanding relationships with diverse businesses owned by ethnic minorities, women, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBT community, veterans and other entrepreneurs. The formal, 12- to 18-month program matches senior Accenture executive mentors with diverse supplier “protégé” companies to help them grow their businesses. Our goal is to pair DSDP protégés with Accenture executive mentors in their industry who can provide more-targeted, experience-based guidance. While finding appropriate matches can be challenging and time intensive, protégé feedback has shown such expertise is critical. We continue to seek ways to enhance this matching process. Not only does DSDP represent another sourcing option for Accenture and our clients, developing diverse suppliers strengthens communities by creating more businesses, jobs and economic growth. We are paying particular attention to vendors that have AI and other innovative and in-demand skills that we consider “in the New.” As of fiscal 2017, 133 diverse suppliers had graduated or were in the process of completing the program—23 in Canada, 24 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and 86 in the United States. Our goal is to graduate 170 diverse suppliers by fiscal 2020, and we have plans to graduate multiple classes in Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the United States in fiscal 2018. We are also strategically expanding DSDP to focus on geographies key to enabling our business and those of our clients. We currently offer DSDP in Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the United States. We 0 170 133 small, medium and diverse suppliers developed toward our goal 61 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
are planning to expand our mentoring program into India by 2019, and we are also investigating the feasibility of launching in Latin America. Many of our DSDP graduates have become Accenture suppliers. Among them is Nancy Williams and her then-business partner Roz Alford, who in 1989 founded the entity now known as ASAP Solutions Group LLC. A woman-owned business and technology consulting and IT staff augmentation firm that delivers business and technology solutions to FORTUNE 500 companies, ASAP was one of the first graduates of DSDP and remains one of our preferred Tier 1 suppliers, supporting several of our large clients. In 2016, Roz retired from ASAP Solutions Group, passing control to long-time business partner, Nancy. Under Nancy’s stewardship, ASAP has expanded branches in Bangalore and Hyderabad, India, and across the United States. Thanks to Accenture’s support and mentorship, graduates of our Enterprise Supplier Development Program (also referred to as ESDP, the name used for DSDP in South Africa), which focuses on innovative information computer technology (ICT) scale-ups, are better prepared to bring new capabilities to the South African economy. We not only develop, accelerate and partner with protégés, we also expose them to cutting-edge technologies. This year, ESDP beneficiaries experienced Accenture Liquid Studios, which help companies embrace new technologies, skills and ways of working. Celebrating Recognition for DSDP Protégés In 2017, VDart, Inc., a global digital staffing and solutions provider and Accenture DSDP graduate, was named Class IV Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The award recognizes minority businesses within the NMSDC network that have achieved exceptional growth and operational success and that give back to other minority businesses and to the community. “For a Minority Business Enterprise to win Supplier of the Year in Class IV category in a span of 10 years is a tremendous accomplishment, and we would not have achieved it without the support of Accenture,” says Sidd Ahmed, VDart president and CEO. “Accenture’s Diverse Supplier Development Program and consistent engagement with our suppliers has allowed us to grow and flourish on the national stage.” Ampcus, a DSDP program graduate and former Mentee of the Year, is a global business technology consulting and services firm headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia. For nearly 14 years, Ampcus has been providing innovative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions to FORTUNE 500 corporations around the globe, as well as to federal agencies on various mission-critical projects. In 2017, Ampcus received the NMSDC’s prestigious Supplier of the Year award, which recognizes US- based Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) that excel in five categories: Growth Development, Operations, MBE to MBE Purchases, Community Involvement and Regional Council Involvement. Ann Ramakumaran, Ampcus founder and CEO, had this to say about the program: “Our experience working with Accenture and participating in their DSDP helped prepare us to compete for the NMSDC Supplier of the Year award. It allowed us to examine our business with a different perspective, providing insights and guidance that have been beneficial as we develop our long-term growth strategy.” DSDP protégé VDART, Inc. was named Class IV Supplier of the Year by NMSDC. 62 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act Accenture practices align with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act in South Africa, which aims to drive economic transformation and a more-inclusive marketplace. The Act requires organizations to undergo an annual verification process. Based on the outcome, organizations are ranked on a scale of 1 to 8, with 1 being the highest and 8 the lowest. In 2017, Accenture was audited based on new ICT Charter B-BBEE codes, which are more stringent than in the past, with higher requirements and increased targets including for diverse supplier development and spend. We achieved a level 2, and are continuing to explore new ways of improving our performance. Also in 2017, our procurement spend in South Africa with black-owned vendors was 40 percent against the new legal target of 40 percent; our spend with black-women-owned vendors was 32 percent against the new legal target of 12 percent; and our spend with small- and medium-sized enterprises was 41 percent against the new 30 percent target. Women-owned Businesses One of the most significant challenges we face as an organization is identifying women-owned businesses that have or want to develop the capacity to meet our procurement standards. To help address this issue, we connect women entrepreneurs with WEConnect International, which empowers women to succeed in global markets by providing training and certification opportunities. We co-founded and have representation on the Board of WEConnect International, and Accenture now collaborates with them in 13 countries across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. These programs aim to level the procurement field and integrate more women-owned enterprises into the supply chain. In September 2017, WEConnect International announced a US$400 million commitment from corporate members to buy more from women- owned businesses over the next three years. Accenture committed $100 million, with an additional pledge to direct $50 million of this spend to women in developing countries. In December, we repeated this commitment at the Women’s Economic Empowerment Global Summit in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, organized by the government of Sharjah and UN Women. In addition to our commitment through WEConnect International, our Chief Executive Officer – North America Julie Sweet joined with Helping Clients Forge Their Own Path Accenture has emerged as a pioneer and leader in supplier inclusion and diversity, and increasingly, we are supporting our clients as they develop their own supplier inclusion and diversity programs. In 2017, we participated in WEConnect International’s report on the “Business Case for Global Supplier Diversity and Inclusion: The Critical Contributions of Women and Other Underutilized Suppliers to Corporate Value Chains,” which cites how our work in this area has evolved and how it is often our clients that are demanding inclusive sourcing efforts on a global basis. We also continued our Chief Procurement Officer Circle events, which are monthly gatherings aimed at providing global procurement executives within our client network with a forum to discuss ideas and issues related to their supply chains. In 2017, Accenture’s Chief Procurement Officer Kai Nowosel and Strategy Sourcing Procurement Managing Director Kevin Doran—who co- host the Circle events—joined members to discuss a variety of critical topics, including supplier diversity and modern slavery. 63 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
other American and Canadian business leaders as co-chairs and signatories to the Canada- United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. This statement supporting the advancement of women in business was announced in February 2017 by the Canadian and US governments. The role of this council is to boost women’s economic engagement, inspire aspiring entrepreneurs, and provide a forum to share stories of progress and success. Its mandate is to develop recommendations that can reduce barriers that limit women’s participation in business, and to support their professional advancement and assist them in starting and scaling their businesses. The council will continue to release its recommendations, which will ultimately contribute to the increased economic growth, integration and competitiveness of the Canada-United States economy. Those with Distance to the Labor Market Accenture is proud to be a corporate leader in inclusive procurement practices, and we continue to explore new ways and opportunities to promote the inclusion of persons with distance (whether physical, social or cultural) to the labor market on a global scale. Accenture Procurement collaborates on local initiatives across our geographies, engaging entities and individuals who may experience distance from the labor market in recruitment and procurement opportunities. This includes minority-, ethnic- and women-owned businesses and persons with disabilities, visible or otherwise; veterans; refugees; people living away from economic centers; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. We support these groups not only through direct recruitment, but also through agreements with our facilities’ vendors and collaboration with for-profit and nonprofit organizations. In 2017, Accenture was selected as one of the NGLCC’s Best-of-the-Best Corporations for Inclusion, in recognition of our commitment to equality and our actions to incorporate diverse suppliers into our supply chain. We also served as the primary sponsor of NGLCC’s Global Entrepreneurship Week in Washington, DC, and became a corporate member of three NGLCC affiliates—the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Scandinavian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and Vienna- based East Meets West, which focuses on Eastern and Middle Europe. Our involvement with NGLCC, as well as with partner organizations, helps support its goal of creating a more-inclusive marketplace both within the United States and abroad. A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Increasing client connections to help advance inclusion, diversity and sustainability in our ecosystem. • Adopting a new reporting tool to more accurately monitor investments, calculate return and report our global spend with diverse suppliers. 64 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
We are very proud to renew our commitment to the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which we signed in 2008. We continue to support the organization’s efforts to advance sustainability, gender equality and human rights. These efforts are well aligned with our commitment to ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility—and make Accenture an even better partner for all of our stakeholders. Pierre Nanterme Chairman CEO PERFORMANCE DATA “ ” 65 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
The following table quantifies our progress since fiscal 2013 on key non-financial indicators. Unless specified, all metrics are global in scope, reported on a fiscal year basis, consistent with previously reported figures and cover those of our consolidated entities. All data are consolidated from performance management systems across multiple Accenture teams and vetted through an internal controls process, which includes senior leadership, to ensure they provide an accurate representation of Accenture’s non-financial performance. Accenture at a Glance1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 US $ THOUSANDS Net Revenues2 $28,562,810 $30,002,394 $31,047,931 $32,882,723 $34,850,182 Operating Expenses Excluding Reimbursable Expenses 24,224,130 25,701,882 26,612,062 28,072,278 30,217,573 Operating Income $4,338,680 $4,300,512 $4,435,869 $4,810,445 $4,632,609 Global Headcount at Fiscal Year End (rounded) 275,000 305,000 358,000 384,000 425,000 Our People FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 Total Training Spend (US $ thousands) $878,108 $786,517 $841,440 $940,509 $935,200 Average Training Hours per Employee 50 45 46 46 45 Women in Workforce3, 4 36% 36% 38% 39% 41% Women New Hires3, 4 40% 37% 38% 44% 45% Women Executives3, 5 28% 28% 28% 28% 29% Women Managing Directors3, 6 17% 17% 18% 20% 21% CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP PERFORMANCE DATATABLE 66 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Community Impact1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 People Equipped with Skills to Get a Job or Build a Business (cumulative, rounded) 512,000 815,000 1,243,000 1,720,000 2,230,000 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS BY REGION US $ THOUSANDS North America $8,848 $11,207 $11,009 $12,394 $12,484 Europe 18,813 19,698 17,192 17,439 18,619 Growth Markets 8,760 9,999 15,636 14,903 16,080 Global 10,728 12,355 14,934 14,733 14,436 Total Accenture Contributions $47,148 $53,259 $58,771 $59,468 $61,619 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS BY TYPE US $ THOUSANDS Cash $13,917 $14,833 $20,452 $19,081 $19,638 In-Kind (Accenture Development Partnerships and Pro Bono Consulting) 30,616 35,203 35,562 37,129 38,408 Time (Paid Volunteering) 2,615 3,223 2,757 3,258 3,573 Total Accenture Contributions $47,148 $53,259 $58,771 $59,468 $61,619 Accenture Foundations Contributions7 $12,911 $15,907 $16,509 $9,591 $12,521 Total Accenture and Accenture Foundations Contributions $60,059 $69,166 $75,281 $69,060 $74,140 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS: PERCENTAGE BY REGION PERCENT OF TOTAL North America 19% 21% 19% 21% 20% Europe 40 37 29 29 30 Growth Markets 18 19 27 25 26 Global 23 23 25 25 24 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 67 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Community Impact1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS: PERCENTAGE BY TYPE PERCENT OF TOTAL Cash 29% 28% 35% 32% 32% In-Kind (Accenture Development Partnerships and Pro Bono Consulting) 65 66 60 62 62 Time (Paid Volunteering) 6 6 5 6 6 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Hours of Participation in Accenture-Sponsored “Time Skills” Programs8 518,202 591,800 629,734 700,502 726,303 Employees Participating in Accenture-Sponsored “Time Skills” Programs8 4,618 6,751 5,292 6,422 7,349 Employee Donations (US $ thousands) $6,957 $7,783 $8,781 $9,110 $8,804 Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 Total Carbon Emissions per Employee (metric tons of CO2 )9 2.58 2.28 2.14 2.13 1.96 Reduction in Carbon Emissions per Employee Compared to FY07 Baseline 36% 44% 47% 47% 52% CARBON EMISSIONS BY SOURCE9 METRIC TONS OF CO2 Air Travel 351,328 333,664 372,594 373,316 389,098 Other Business Travel 91,282 100,400 99,694 157,701 157,471 Office Electricity10 232,988 224,211 232,953 259,540 240,008 Other Energy (Natural Gas, Diesel) 8,153 7,136 7,528 6,537 4,436 Total Carbon Emissions 683,751 665,411 712,769 797,094 791,013 68 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 CARBON EMISSIONS BY REGION9 METRIC TONS OF CO2 North America 216,403 219,455 231,177 230,897 234,746 Europe 125,255 122,384 130,426 144,307 147,815 Growth Markets 340,882 323,464 351,166 421,890 408,451 Global 1,211 107 0 0 0 Total Carbon Emissions 683,751 665,411 712,769 797,094 791,013 CARBON EMISSIONS BY SCOPE9, 11 METRIC TONS OF CO2 Scope 1 32,155 29,767 26,290 27,203 24,095 Scope 210 232,988 228,030 237,239 263,050 243,773 Scope 3 418,608 407,615 449,240 506,841 523,145 Total Carbon Emissions 683,751 665,411 712,769 797,094 791,013 CARBON EMISSIONS: PERCENTAGE BY SOURCE PERCENT OF TOTAL Air Travel 52% 50% 52% 47% 49% Other Business Travel 13 15 14 20 20 Office Electricity 34 34 33 32 30 Other Energy (Natural Gas, Diesel) 1 1 1 1 1 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 69 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 CARBON EMISSIONS: PERCENTAGE BY REGION PERCENT OF TOTAL North America 32% 33% 33% 29% 30% Europe 18 18 18 18 19 Growth Markets 50 49 49 53 51 Global 1 1 0 0 0 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% CARBON EMISSIONS: PERCENTAGE BY SCOPE11 PERCENT OF TOTAL Scope 1 5% 5% 4% 3% 3% Scope 2 34 34 33 33 31 Scope 3 61 61 63 64 66 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Office Electricity Efficiency (kWh / square meter) 213 206 201 196 179 % Improvement in Electricity Efficiency Compared to FY07 Baseline 25% 27% 29% 31% 37% % Electricity from Renewable Sources 12% 16% 20% 18% 21% ENERGY USAGE BY SOURCE9 MWh Electricity 377,377 404,334 435,168 482,869 478,338 Natural Gas 16,684 18,034 21,092 17,166 15,485 Diesel 19,243 13,948 13,047 12,255 5,225 Total Energy Usage 413,304 436,317 469,306 512,290 499,047 70 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 ENERGY USAGE: PERCENTAGE BY SOURCE PERCENT OF TOTAL Electricity 91% 93% 93% 94% 96% Natural Gas 4 4 4 3 3 Diesel 5 3 3 3 1 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Total Amount of Electronic Waste Disposed by Accenture (metric tons)12 254 266 180 360 302 Electronic Waste Disposed by Accenture that Avoided Landfill12 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% Total Water Consumption (cubic meters)13 1,934,000 2,191,000 2,179,000 Water Consumption per Employee (cubic meters) 5.81 5.85 5.39 Supply Chain1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 DIVERSE PROCUREMENT SPEND BY TYPE (US ONLY) US $ THOUSANDS Minority-Owned Business $235,200 $255,792 $327,811 $351,468 $355,519 Women-Owned Business 143,214 114,939 117,448 104,948 100,620 Small Business 104,963 75,807 76,573 74,965 81,963 Other Type Business14 38,089 3,571 5,646 9,129 5,649 Total Diverse Procurement Spend (US Only) $521,466 $450,110 $527,479 $540,510 $543,751 71 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
Supply Chain1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 DIVERSE PROCUREMENT SPEND: PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL PROCUREMENT SPEND BY TYPE (US ONLY) PERCENT OF TOTAL PROCUREMENT SPEND Minority-Owned Business 12% 15% 18% 19% 18% Women-Owned Business 8 7 7 6 5 Small Business 6 5 4 4 4 Other Type Business14 2 1 1 1 1 Total (US Only) 27% 27% 30% 29% 27% 1 Some detail numbers may not sum exactly to total number due to rounding. 2 Net revenues excludes reimbursements (for example, travel and out-of-pocket expenses and third-party costs, such as the cost of hardware and software resales). 3 Values reflect our workforce as of December 31 of that year and do not include information from Avanade, a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft that is majority-owned by Accenture. 4 Values for “Women in Workforce” and “Women New Hires” prior to 2015 reflect our workforce as of August 31. 5 “Women Executives” comprises our women managers, senior managers, managing directors, senior managing directors and members of our Global Management Committee. 6 “Women Managing Directors” comprises our women managing directors, senior managing directors and members of our Global Management Committee. 7 Accenture Foundations refers to independent charitable organizations that bear the Accenture name. 8 “Accenture-sponsored ‘Time Skills’ Programs” comprise Accenture Development Partnerships, pro bono consulting and paid volunteering projects. 9 Detailed methodology for carbon emissions and energy usage calculations is available in Accenture’s CDP Climate Change response; 100% of Accenture’s fiscal 2017 Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, as well as a small subset of Scope 3 emissions received a positive statement for a limited assurance review by an independent third party. 10 CO2 emissions related to Scope 2 Office Electricity reflect a market-based accounting approach as defined by the GHG Protocol Scope 2 guidance. In line with the guidance, market-based emissions for office electricity in fiscal 2017 include renewable electricity impacts as well as 3,365 tons of residual non- renewable emissions in Europe. Also in line with the guidance, we report CO2 emissions using a location-based approach, which for fiscal 2017 would be 300,233 tons for Office Electricity and 303,998 tons for Scope 2. 11 Starting in fiscal 2014, we classified Natural Gas usage as Scope 2 emissions from the Scope 1 emissions they had been classified previously. 12 Electronic Waste (e-waste) is the most significant environmental aspect in our waste stream and includes laptops and workstations with disposal method tracked in Accenture’s global asset management system. Other waste streams result primarily from our office-based activities, many of which include recycling services that are both inside and outside our operational control, and overall are not considered to have a significant environmental impact. 13 Fiscal 2017 Total Water Consumption is derived from 65% measured data and estimating the remainder based on average per-workstation consumption from measured locations. 14 “Other Type Business” consists of the following subcategories: Service-Disabled Veteran, Veteran, Historically Underutilized Business Zone, and LGBT. 72 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
ABOUT ACCENTURE Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. We welcome your feedback. Copyright ©2018 All rights reserved.

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2017 Corporate Citizenship Report

  • 1. CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT2017 See how Skills to Succeed helped Tyrone and Tiffany launch their business
  • 2. TABLEOF CONTENTS ON THE COVER Tiffany Hoang never thought she would own a business, but after facing prejudice and discrimination in previous jobs, she and business partner Tyrone Botelho launched CircleUp Education to make a difference in their community. Their Oakland, California- based social enterprise helps cities, organizations and schools ensure that all people are respected, included and valued. Tiffany and Tyrone made their dream a reality with help from mentors at Youth Business USA (YBUSA). YBUSA provides support to young entrepreneurs facing significant barriers to business ownership, and helps them start and grow their own businesses and ultimately, create jobs. As part of Accenture’s long-standing relationship with Youth Business International—including grant, pro bono and volunteer support—we helped YBUSA develop the skysthelimit.org platform, which uses artificial intelligence analytics to connect budding entrepreneurs like Tiffany and Tyrone with resources, skills training and mentoring. OVERVIEW ETHICS & GOVERNANCE OUR PEOPLE COMMUNITY IMPACT ENVIRONMENT SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE DATA
  • 3. Society finds itself at a critical inflection point in the digital era, creating both inspiring opportunities and unforeseen risks. In this technology revolution, our focus is finding new ways to apply technology and invention to create a positive and lasting impact for people and communities. The challenge is immense, but we believe it is an opportunity for business, government and nonprofit leaders to collaborate as stewards of an increasingly connected world. By combining human ingenuity with groundbreaking technologies, Accenture solves complex problems and delivers innovation that helps build a more equal and inclusive society. Most of all, we are committed to keeping people at the heart of everything we do. With expertise across more than 40 industries and all business functions, our people turn their ideas into innovations that put people first—to help them succeed and grow in this new era. Our 2017 Corporate Citizenship Report illustrates how we do this by: ADDRESSING COMPLEX PROBLEMS • Solving the challenges of identity: We are partnering with Microsoft on ID2020, a project using blockchain and biometric technologies to enable the 1.1 billion individuals without officially recognized identities to access and share their data electronically. • Transforming health care systems: By applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to data, we optimized the dispatch process for the rural Japanese municipality Saga Prefecture, reducing travel time for ambulance trips to the hospital by an average of 1.3 minutes and most importantly, saving lives. SKILLING FOR THE FUTURE • Closing employment gaps: We equipped more than 2.2 million people globally with skills to gain employment or build a business through our Skills to Succeed initiative. • Helping students reach their potential: With a continued focus on apprenticeships globally, we expanded our US apprenticeship program Jill Huntley Managing Director Global Corporate Citizenship Pierre Nanterme Chairman & CEO to provide under-represented groups greater access to digital economy jobs, and will grow our national program each year, while bringing more corporations on board. SHAPING A RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS • Balancing our workforce: As we continue to make progress toward accomplishing our goal of 25 percent women managing directors by 2020, we set a new goal to achieve a gender- balanced workforce by 2025. • Fostering sustainable growth: We reduced per-employee carbon emissions by 52 percent, surpassing our goal to achieve a 50 percent reduction by 2020. • Transforming our Code of Business Ethics: We digitized our Code of Business Ethics to make it more accessible to all Accenture people. Our Code includes our international human rights statement, which emphasizes our commitment to maintaining ethical and equitable practices worldwide. Thanks to our team of approximately 442,000 people worldwide and an ecosystem of diverse partners, we are living our vision to improve the way the world works and lives. Together, we look forward to the possibilities ahead as we help improve millions of lives around the world, now and for the future. LETTERFROM OURLEADERS 1 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 4. Accenture solves our clients’ toughest challenges by providing a broad range of services in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. We partner with more than three-quarters of the FORTUNE Global 500, driving innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. With expertise across more than 40 industries and all business functions, we deliver transformational outcomes for a demanding new digital world. As we rapidly rotate our business to “the New”—digital-, cloud- and security-related services, enabled by new and innovative technology—we are helping our clients create sustainable value for their stakeholders. We are proud that 98 of our top 100 clients have been clients for at least 10 years. ACCENTURE ATAGLANCE 442,000 PEOPLE serving clients in more than 120 countries $18 BILLION in revenue from digital-, cloud- and security- related services $74 MILLION invested in corporate citizenship efforts $935 MILLION invested in learning and development for our people $34.9 BILLION annual net revenues $1.7 BILLION invested in acquisitions—the majority in “the New” 6,000 PATENTS and pending patent applications in 44 countries $700 MILLION invested in research and innovation to develop leading-edge ideas Note: All figures are US dollars and are as of fiscal year-end 2017 (August 31, 2017), with the exception of approximate headcount (as of February 28, 2018). 2 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 5. OURCORPORATE CITIZENSHIPSTRATEGY ANDAPPROACH The immersive learning environment of our Innovation Hubs brings together broad networks from Accenture and beyond to solve challenges in a digital context. Technology continues to change the world as we know it, but to create positive, meaningful impact, we must put people first. Taking a People First approach to business, technology and citizenship requires deeper intelligence at all levels—from strategy through operations. At Accenture, we combine human ingenuity with advanced and intelligent technologies to solve complex problems and deliver innovation to build a more equal and inclusive society. From gender equality and climate action to decent work and economic growth and quality education, we are committed to addressing the United Nations’ Global Goals and contributing to the new sustainable development agenda. We set ambitious goals and make strategic investments to drive progress and performance across our organization, workforce, communities, environment and supply chain. At the same time, we collaborate with partners to scale our innovations responsibly and with integrity that informs the way we work with our suppliers, protect our planet and advance inclusion in the digital age, for our company and clients. Putting people first also means investing in learning that benefits current and future generations, and empowers them to create a more equal and inclusive society. Our own workforce represents a wide variety of cultures, ethnicities, religious beliefs and languages. This rich diversity makes us stronger—more innovative, more competitive and more creative, which helps us better serve our clients and our communities. 3 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 6. GOALS& PROGRESS Pillar Goal Progress Update SDG* ETHICS & GOVERNANCE Awareness Building Following the fiscal 2014 launch of Conduct Counts, we will strive for employee awareness levels of our five global behavioral standards to be at least 90 percent each year. In fiscal 2017, we achieved more than 90 percent employee awareness of our five global behavioral standards. Ethics Training We will strive to maintain employee completion rates in the high 90th percentile for our Ethics & Compliance training each year. In fiscal 2017, we maintained employee completion rates in the high 90th percentile for our Ethic & Compliance training. OURPEOPLE Inclusion & Diversity By the end of 2025, we will achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women and 50 percent men. By the end of 2017, our global workforce comprised 41 percent women—up from 39 percent in 2016. Inclusion & Diversity By the end of 2020, we will increase the diversity of our leadership by growing our percentage of women managing directors to at least 25 percent worldwide. By the end of 2017, our women managing directors comprised more than 21 percent women—up from 20 percent in 2016. Talent Development By the end of fiscal 2018, we will enhance the way our people interact and learn by building a global network of 100 connected classrooms that combine interactive technologies with innovative content design. In fiscal 2017, we surpassed our goal by expanding our global network of connected classrooms to 123. SYMBOLS AchievedIn ProgressOngoing *Our Corporate Citizenship efforts support several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 4 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE
  • 7. Pillar Goal Progress Update SDG* COMMUNITY IMPACT Demand-led Skilling By the end of fiscal 2020, we will equip more than 3 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business. To date, we have equipped more than 2.2 million people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills. Employment and Entrepreneurship Outcomes By the end of fiscal 2020, we will increase our focus on the successful transition from skill-building programs to sustainable jobs and businesses, and improve our collective ability to measure and report on these outcomes. Over the past five years, new grants from our Global Giving partnerships have helped more than 160,000 people, or more than half of the 315,000 individuals equipped with employment and entrepreneurship skills, go on to secure a job or build a business. Collaboration for Systemic Change By the end of fiscal 2020, we will bring together organizations across sectors to create large- scale, lasting solutions aimed at closing global employment gaps. We continue to grow our role as a collaborator, convener and thought leader, and to deliver research and insights to help drive systemic change, such as New Skills Now: Inclusion in the Digital Economy, which provides insight for nonprofit organizations and funders around how to future-proof workforce development. GOALS& PROGRESS *Our Corporate Citizenship efforts support several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SYMBOLS AchievedIn ProgressOngoing 5 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE
  • 8. Pillar Goal Progress Update SDG* ENVIRONMENT Running Efficient Operations By the end of fiscal 2020, 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. By the end of fiscal 2017, we achieved a 52 percent reduction from baseline, reducing our carbon emissions from an average of 4.04 metric tons of CO2 per employee in fiscal 2007 to 1.96 in fiscal 2017. Enabling Client Sustainability By the end of fiscal 2020, we will begin to measure and report the impact of our work with clients and suppliers in key areas of sustainability. In fiscal 2017, we continued to pilot methodologies and began to measure the impact of our services with clients, resulting in approximately 430,000 metric tons of realized CO2 savings and more than 1.25 million metric tons of potential savings identified. SUPPLYCHAIN Supplier Sustainability By the end of fiscal 2020, we will expand to 75 percent the percentage of our key suppliers who disclose their targets and actions toward emissions reduction. Through fiscal 2017, 72 percent of our suppliers disclosed their targets, and 76 percent disclosed their actions toward emissions reduction. Supplier Inclusion & Diversity Through our Diverse Supplier Development Program (DSDP), we will develop a total of 170 small, medium and diverse suppliers by the end of fiscal 2020. Through fiscal 2017, we developed 133 small, medium and diverse suppliers through our DSDP, with our South Africa class graduating in 2018. GOALS& PROGRESS *Our Corporate Citizenship efforts support several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SYMBOLS AchievedIn ProgressOngoing 6 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE LEARNMORE
  • 9. Our 2017 Corporate Citizenship Report details the impact we made across each of the five pillars of our corporate citizenship reporting framework: Ethics & Governance, Our People, Community Impact, Environment and Supply Chain. The report explores our corporate citizenship goals, progress and performance across our global operations during fiscal 2017 (ended August 31, 2017), unless otherwise noted. Our previous reports are available on accenture.com. Accountability and transparency are priorities for Accenture and are part of the foundation on which we build trust with our clients, our people, our investors and other stakeholders. We continually take steps to strengthen our reporting approach through ongoing stakeholder engagement and voluntary adherence to global non-financial reporting standards. For our 2017 report, we are transitioning from the GRI G4 guidelines to the GRI Standards as a basis for disclosure. For more information on our GRI disclosures, please see the Reporting Prioritization section and GRI Index. The report serves as our ninth Communication on Progress to the United Nations Global Compact that we signed in January 2008, and it documents our progress to implement the 10 Principles as a member of Global Compact LEAD, which focuses on raising sustainability performance. As a LEAD member, we are committed to work toward implementing the Blueprint for Corporate Sustainability Leadership, and sharing related outcomes and learnings with the broader universe of companies in the Global Compact. We disclose our key non-financial metrics in our Performance Data Table, including data from the last five years. More information about our global corporate citizenship activities, including our detailed GRI Index, UNGC Index and most recent CDP response is available on accenture.com. Additionally, Accenture holds a range of industry-wide external certifications that are relevant to corporate citizenship, including ISO® 14001, ISO® 27001 and OHSAS 18001. Current financial information about Accenture can be found in our recent Annual Report and 10-K and 2017 Proxy Statement. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Fostering a dialogue with key stakeholders is an important part of our reporting process. It helps us understand and communicate which topics are most important to our stakeholders and to manage our business. We regularly engage internal and external stakeholders in discussions regarding our goals, our progress and performance to improve our reporting. We use input from a variety of stakeholders (see table below) to inform our approach and align more closely with stakeholder expectations. STAKEHOLDER GROUP EXAMPLES OF ENGAGEMENT Clients Satisfaction surveys, client account lead relationships, project quality assurance processes, conferences and events, responses to information requests (e.g., CDP Supply Chain) Current Accenture People Surveys, internal memos and webcasts, accenture.com, social media, Business Ethics Helpline, focus groups, employee resource groups Investors Quarterly earnings calls, Investor & Analyst conferences, responses to investor questionnaires (e.g., CDP Climate Change, DJSI), investor relations team outreach Suppliers CDP’s Supply Chain program, Supplier Standards of Conduct, Diverse Supplier Development Program, training and mentorship Governments, Multi-laterals & Policy Makers See Political Contributions and Lobbying Policy, discussions via Government Relations team Nonprofit Partners & Foundations Skills to Succeed grantee relationships, nonprofit initiatives for employee volunteering and giving, advocacy and societal change group participation, virtual roundtables Potential Recruits, Alumni & Civil Society Social media, accenture.com, careers blog, alumni forums and events, news releases OURREPORTING APPROACH 7 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 10. REPORTING PRIORITIZATION To prioritize our report content, we review our non-financial materiality matrix annually to ensure the topics remain accurate and relevant. Since our last report, Compliance with Environment and Social Regulation has been split into its component parts to reflect the rise in new social regulations and their greater relevance to our stakeholders. For added clarity, Direct Economic Impacts has been renamed to Distributed Economic Value. Human rights continue to be an important focus for our stakeholders—the areas of human rights that are most relevant to our business and operations are indicated within the materiality matrix. Topics not included on this matrix are not considered relevant for our non-financial disclosures. • Energy Use • Waste, Including E-Waste • Water • Carbon Emissions • Compliance with Social Regulation • Inclusion, Diversity & Equal Opportunity* • Talent Attraction & Development • Employee Well-being* • Environmentally Sustainable Procurement • Community Giving, Engagement & Social Impact • Compliance with Environmental Regulation • Enabling Clients’ Sustainability • Top-level Governance of Environmental & Social Issues • Human Rights in the Supply Chain* • Data Privacy & Security/ Cybersecurity* • Ethics & Integrity* • Employment Conditions and Working Practices for Our People* • Digital Responsibility • Supporting Suppliers’ Sustainability • Indirect Economic Impacts • Distributed Economic Value • Alignment with Voluntary Environment, Social & Governance Standards • Consistency in Public Policy & Advocacy • Supplier Diversity IMPORTANCETOEXTERNALSTAKEHOLDERS Medium IMPORTANCE TO BUSINESS *Potential human rights impact Very HighHigh GRI Note: The outlined sections of the matrix indicated above contain the most material non-financial topics in scope for reporting with the GRI Standards and that are included in our GRI Index. For each topic, our list of definitions of material topics references the specific Standards used as well as Management Approach information. This report has been prepared referencing the GRI Standards. For more information about these Standards, please visit the GRI website. MediumVeryHighHigh 8 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 11. AWARDS& RECOGNITION Recognized among FORTUNE’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 16 consecutive years; ranked No. 1 in IT Services category for 5 years Ranked No. 12 on the Thomson Reuters’ Diversity & Inclusion Index Recognized in CDP’s Climate Change Report as a leading company for reducing emissions and mitigating climate change Included on FORTUNE’s Change the World list of the 50 best companies putting purpose at the center of their business strategies Recognized among Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies for 11 consecutive years Recognized among DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity for 11 consecutive years and six in the top 15 Included on CDP’s Supplier Engagement Leader Board, recognizing companies that are reducing emissions and lowering climate-related risks within their supply chains Included on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 10 consecutive years Joined Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies Hall of Fame recognizing 15 consecutive years Included in Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America & FTSE4Good Global Index for 13 consecutive years Received a perfect score on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index each year since 2008 Ranked No. 7 on CR Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens list 9 OVERVIEW CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 12. HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “Best People is an Accenture core value. By recruiting diverse candidates, I am helping us deliver innovation to clients.” Lula Samuel Manager 36% of the 11 independent members of our Board are women Strong ethics and shared values drive everything we do at Accenture. Acting with integrity has always been, and always will be, fundamental to how we operate. Guided by an industry-leading governance model, a set of fundamental behaviors and new digital tools, we strive to build trust while empowering our people to act with integrity every day. ETHICS GOVERNANCE 11 on Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies list YEARS CONSECUTIVE fundamental behaviors form the foundation for our reimagined Code of Business Ethics 6 ETHICS GOVERNANCE
  • 13. OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH A commitment to ethics and strong corporate governance are key elements of Accenture’s business strategy. The commitments that support our culture are essential for us to grow, differentiate ourselves from our competitors, and safeguard our people, brand and financial performance. They are the foundation on which we build trust with our clients, our people, our investors and other stakeholders. This trust is evident in the enduring relationships we have with our clients. We develop much of our business from long-term associations—all our top 100 clients have been with us for at least five years, and 98 of those have been clients for a decade or more. We demonstrate our commitment to ethics as a supporter and advocate for human rights, where our efforts focus on areas most relevant to our business and operations, and the potential effect they will have on the people of the world. Additionally, we uphold our long-standing support, as a LEAD member, of the United Nations Global Compact (which we signed in January 2008), as well as our commitment to adhere to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Through all our efforts and commitments, Accenture continues to shape and maintain a highly ethical culture. In fact, our Ethics Compliance program helped earn Accenture a spot on Ethisphere’s 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies list. This marks our 11th consecutive year on the list, recognizing our commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate citizenship. SHAPING AN ETHICAL CULTURE Code of Business Ethics As we foster an ethical culture, in addition to identifying legal requirements and assessing emergent risks, our ongoing challenge is to help ensure that all of our people consistently model ethical behaviors. Today’s complex business environment and evolving legal and regulatory requirements create new situations in which the right decision requires careful consideration of a host of complex factors. That is why it is vital to have both a well-defined code of business ethics and a straightforward way of helping our people access the information they need, when and how they need it. The Ethics Economy According to “Fjord Trends 2018,” we are in “The Ethics Economy.” Customers and employees want to buy from— and work for—companies that share their belief system. Organizations are under increasing pressure to publicize their ethical principles. In many cases, companies may face more-severe consequences for failing to comply with disclosure standards than in years past. 11 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 11
  • 14. In September 2017, we reinvented our Code of Business Ethics (COBE), transforming it for the digital age. By applying design thinking and integrating intelligent technology, we have essentially remodeled our COBE from a lengthy, text-heavy document into an interactive, mobile-first tool that helps our global workforce act with integrity—at speed. In addition to embedding ethical decision making into how our people work and live, we have reinforced our commitment to ethical business practices. The latest version of our COBE, available in nine languages, has been streamlined and reorganized, and content has been added to provide additional guidance and greater detail about various matters of special interest like new technologies and human rights. We encourage our people to speak up if they have a good faith concern about disrespectful or inappropriate conduct, or unethical or illegal behavior of any kind. Accenture takes all concerns raised—whether to a supervisor, career counselor, an Accenture leader, or Human Resources or Legal representative—seriously, and the matter will be handled by the most appropriate global or local team. Concerns may also be reported anonymously, where legal restrictions allow, to the Accenture Business Ethics Helpline 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our redeveloped COBE has evolved in three ways: 1. More approachable content—We condensed and reorganized the COBE around six fundamental behaviors and added relevant new content related to the use of new technologies, corporate citizenship and our commitment to human rights. As such, the COBE links to our new policy 1006, Prohibition on Human Trafficking, Forced Labor and Child Labor, which was published in May 2017. The six fundamental behaviors are: • Make Your Conduct Count—Fostering respect, fairness and shared ethical values. • Comply with Laws—Accenture people, and those acting on our behalf, are responsible for understanding the applicable rules and working with Legal to ensure compliance with all laws. • Deliver for Our Clients—Serve clients, regardless of role, focusing on their best interests while acting as stewards of Accenture. Code of Business Ethics Our Code of Business Ethics isn’t just a document—it’s what we believe, how we live and how we lead. It’s embedded in all we do, empowering our people to operate with the highest standards so they can lead with confidence and help create a better world.” Chad T. Jerdee General Counsel Chief Compliance Officer “ 12 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 15. • Protect People, Information and Our Business—Working together to build a better, stronger and more durable company for future generations, preserving the Accenture brand, meeting our commitments to keep information and intellectual property safe, acting with an owner mentality, and developing and looking after our people. • Run Our Business Responsibly—Using sound business judgment to make decisions and do so within our authority, using sound discretion to take appropriate risks and remaining accountable even where decision making is automated. • Be a Good Corporate Citizen—Support and respect human rights, foster environmental responsibility and encourage involvement in the communities where we work and live. 2. Human-centered experience—We have digitized our COBE and created an easy- to-use chatbot to help guide our people to the information they need. Designed to evolve using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning capabilities, the chatbot can help surface real-time trends that enable Accenture to tailor its responses continuously and identify new topics and training opportunities while preserving user anonymity. The COBE chatbot transforms a legal document into a living resource. 3. Simplified COBE training—We took a fresh approach to training by designing shorter but more visually engaging, interactive and frequent courses. Following a five- minute multimedia introduction to COBE, monthly follow-up courses take learners through the six fundamental behaviors. To take advantage of new technology, our road map for COBE includes making the experience even more responsive, embedding the chatbot into other employee collaboration platforms and exploring various forms of input such as voice. Conduct Counts The first fundamental behavior featured in COBE is “Make Your Conduct Count,” which articulates five culturally sensitive—locally relevant, yet global—standards to help guide our people’s behavior across our unique and diverse “culture of cultures,” so that we can be at our best each day: • Speak up about concerns, knowing Accenture never tolerates retaliation. • Treat each other with respect. • Conduct ourselves in accordance with the highest standards of professional behavior, as ambassadors of Accenture. • Apply our principle of meritocracy when we make decisions about our people. • Ensure our personal interests and relationships do not create conflicts for Accenture. Central to the success of Conduct Counts is employee completion of our required Ethics Compliance training. This training is regular and required for all Accenture people; it is the employee’s responsibility to complete all of his/her required Ethics Compliance training by July 31 each year to be fully eligible for year-end rewards (as permitted by law). In fiscal, 2017, we achieved employee completion rates of more than 99 percent. In addition to engaging with individual country managing directors on their local actions, we also formed our Country Managing Director Advisory Council. Comprised of business leaders in seven countries, the Council members participate in quarterly calls to provide perspective, offer guidance on local needs, create geographic synergy and serve as a sounding board for priorities and new initiatives. We continue to monitor our people’s understanding of our Conduct Counts behaviors by conducting periodic anonymous surveys about ethical behavior at Accenture. In fiscal 2017, we once again achieved more than 90 percent awareness of our five global behavioral standards. As of early 2017, Accenture people within all countries have completed the survey twice, and we intend to implement the survey globally every two years. Leadership Responsibilities We expect all leaders at Accenture to advocate for ethics and compliance, and serve as role models of the highest ethical standards. This leadership list includes our Board of Directors, Chairman CEO, General Counsel Chief Compliance Officer, and Global Management Committee, which has ultimate accountability for running our business. Our Chairman CEO—and other senior leaders—set the tone for integrity and ethics by communicating clearly and frequently, including through video, blog posts and other digital and social channels, about our approach to ethics and compliance. These communications include messaging about our zero tolerance for violations of law and for retaliation against employees reporting issues. Our leadership also regularly stresses why a strong Ethics Compliance program is an essential part of leading in the New and reaching our company’s goals. 13 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 16. The Importance of Anticorruption Our global Ethics Compliance program, which includes our global Anticorruption program, requires all Accenture people to act with business integrity and in an honest and ethical manner. Our COBE and related anticorruption policies require our people, business partners and suppliers to comply with all antibribery and anticorruption laws everywhere we do business, including, but not limited to: • The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). • The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Public Officials in International Business Transactions. • The United Nations Convention Against Corruption. • The UK Bribery Act. We are also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative. This program unites companies through a zero- tolerance policy toward bribery and corruption in any form, and it applies to all Accenture people— directors, officers and employees in every country and every Accenture entity—and the ways we develop, implement and maintain our broad-based anticorruption programs. One of the most important aspects of our anticorruption compliance program is providing training to our people. With approximately 442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, no traditional or “off-the-shelf” training program could possibly meet our diverse needs. To address this, we adopted a risk-based and targeted approach that provides a baseline of training to all our people, with additional training provided to those in higher- risk roles, including live in-person training with local attorneys in many of the highest-risk marketplaces. In addition to formal training requirements, we provide regular global and local communications that address recent anticorruption headlines and invite interactive participation. By focusing these educational activities on real-life scenarios, we help ensure that our training and awareness efforts remain relevant and practical without becoming stale or repetitive. In the past year, we worked with outside counsel— including the former head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s FCPA division—to conduct an in-depth risk assessment of our anticorruption program. The assessment confirmed that Accenture’s compliance program continues to be among the most-advanced and forward-thinking programs in the world. HUMAN RIGHTS As we serve clients across the globe, we support and respect internationally recognized human rights wherever we do business. These standards are expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Support and respect for the protection of human rights are at the heart of our core values, especially Respect for the Individual, Best People and Integrity. Our commitment is anchored in our COBE, our Supplier Standards of Conduct and our global policies. We speak up if we experience any human rights violations and take action—or reach out for guidance—if we witness or become aware of any violations across the following areas: • Diversity and equal opportunity—We are committed to eliminating discrimination in employment and apply our principle of meritocracy when we make decisions about our people. We value diversity and do not discriminate. We value different cultures, strive to have a diverse and inclusive workforce, and meet legal hiring mandates. (See Our People.) • Employment conditions and working practices—We are committed to: - Eliminating human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labor. - Abolishing child labor. - Ensuring a respectful environment for our people. - Respecting the right of our people to form and freely join (or refrain from joining) legally constituted representative bodies and working in good faith with them. • Health, safety and security—We are committed to ensuring the well-being of our people. (See Our People.) • Supply chain—We are committed to supporting and respecting human rights in our supply chain in a manner consistent with our Supplier Standards of Conduct. (See Supply Chain.) 14 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 17. • Data privacy—We protect the privacy and security of personal data and use personal data responsibly. • Anticorruption—We comply with all anticorruption laws. Our clients and other stakeholders look to us for transparency regarding our human rights commitments, policies and efforts. In 2018, we published some of our key global policies externally to show how we drive salient human rights within our organization. Newly published policies include Raising Legal and Ethical Concerns and Prohibiting Retaliation and Prohibition on Human Trafficking, Forced Labor and Child Labor. Additionally, in 2017 we published our first annual UK Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement. This statement was updated in 2018 to reflect enhancements we are making to the protections. More information about our progress and performance in this area is available in the Supply Chain section. We continue to review human rights efforts across our operations, as well as best practices in the marketplace, to understand how we can further strengthen our practices and better fulfill our commitment. If it is unclear how to apply the law consistent with our human rights principles, we seek to use good judgment consistent with our core values and COBE to support and respect the principles of internationally recognized human rights. With the rise in human rights regulations, in addition to upholding mandatory, disclosure- based laws, our ambition is to go beyond simply meeting transparency elements and look for ways to further bolster our efforts in this space. CYBERSECURITY AND DATA PRIVACY: TODAY’S REALITY Safeguarding the data of our clients, our company and our people is one of the most fundamental and important responsibilities we have. It is a challenge that we take very seriously and that requires our most-sophisticated assets and expertise. True to this, we exercise appropriate caution whenever we access the confidential data of clients and our people; safeguarding technology and information through threat identification, risk mitigation and other information security protocols. Everyone at Accenture has a responsibility to demonstrate effective data-management practices in accordance with our company policies and procedures. We use a common information security and compliance language across all geographies, keeping our people aware of current and emerging threats, while regularly reminding them of daily practices they can employ to maintain data protection. In addition, our Client Data Protection program drives a culture of stewardship among our global clientele focused on protecting the information of our clients, our employees and Accenture’s own data. Recognizing and responding to an ever-evolving threat landscape is the new reality for today’s global economy. Digital consumption by businesses and the population at large has increased dramatically. This, combined with the expanding Internet of Things—the automated and connected data network of phones, wearables, vehicles, home appliances and various other types of devices—generates specific risks that we must address continually. At Accenture, we recognize the critical need to always be looking to the future and assessing our approach to information security and data protection in the digital age. Our cross-functional strategy focuses on identifying evolving threats across the technology environment, driving appropriate behavior to reduce the possibility and consequence of attacks, and quickly responding to cyber incidents should they occur. With cybersecurity and data privacy deeply embedded in our operations, we maintain resilient protection and comply with globally recognized privacy principles and best practices. We are responsive to changing client expectations as we identify and measure against applicable standards and frameworks: • We continue to lead the way by expanding our focus beyond legal compliance to broader management accountability and data ethics. We have a comprehensive privacy statement, and continue to strengthen our data privacy program through regular risk assessments. • We are strengthening our Client Data Protection program, which dictates how we protect our clients’ sensitive information and comply with regulatory requirements. This covers every client engagement—from initial discussions, we assess vulnerabilities and put together a framework to help mitigate risks and protect the client. • All aspects of our complex operations, including our numerous sites and extensive workforce, are covered by the scope of the ISO® 27001:2013 certification from the British Standards Institution (BSI). This respected 15 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 18. international certification demonstrates that Accenture adheres to the highest and strictest standards for information security. It is the largest single certification to be awarded by BSI. • The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is designed to modernize and unify data-privacy laws across the European Union— protecting and strengthening individuals’ rights. Accenture adheres to its requirements; applying them as our worldwide data-privacy standard, not just throughout Europe, while we continue to adhere to additional, more- stringent requirements in other countries. To be ready for GDPR, which will become effective in May 2018, we have further invested into our data-privacy officer network and are enhancing our already-resilient processes to protect client and internal data. • We maintain a proactive, vigorous incident response, with professionals with specialized, industry-recognized skills working around the globe to provide 24/7 response, in addition to ongoing assessment of emerging threats and vulnerabilities. • We provide guidance for Accenture people on evolving security threats through a global multi-channel awareness program called “Work Smart to Stay Safe.” We regularly test our people on how to recognize and avoid falling for social engineering attacks through specialized phishing and ransomware training, the most-common social engineering tactics that have been identified as high-impact, critical security risks. • We routinely measure and benchmark Accenture’s capabilities to validate our program. In addition to providing technologies, controls and practices that protect Accenture, our people and our clients’ data on an everyday operational basis, we work with clients through Accenture Security to deliver comprehensive security solutions spanning strategy development, risk management, cyber defense, digital identity, application security and managed security services. From modernizing a global retailer’s digital identity management system, embedding AI, robotics process automation, chatbots and other advanced capabilities, to enhancing security, increasing productivity and moving products into stores faster, Accenture Security helps organizations effectively manage cyber risk. Insights on Security • The “Cyber Threat-scape Report“ examines key trends during the first half of 2017 and how they may evolve over the next six months. • “The 2017 Cost of Cyber Crime Study“ finds that companies on average must deal with 130 cyber breaches a year, but can still grow confidently amid this evolving threat landscape. • Each year, we publish the “Accenture Technology Vision,” outlining our view of the top tech trends, including those in cybersecurity and data privacy, and and the impact they will have. 16 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 19. CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE A North American biotech giant wanted to secure confidential patient clinical data in its cloud environment, give its global scientific community faster access to the data and comply with government regulations regarding privacy. OUR SOLUTION The client turned to Accenture to transform its scientific data cloud, integrating data from disparate sources on a single cloud platform and strengthen its security posture. We are helping the company adopt cloud and governance models, define its cyber threats, set up and operationalize its cloud platform and integrate sophisticated data privacy controls. THE RESULT With Accenture’s help, these solutions are helping the client dramatically improve efficiency, enabling the company’s global scientific community to gain faster, more secure access to the data they need to develop their life-saving treatments. BRINGINGVITAL DRUGSTOMARKET FASTERWITH THECLOUD On average, it takes at least 10 years to bring a new drug to market. Accenture is helping a biotech company enhance its cloud platform to shorten this process by one to two years—speeding innovation and enhancing treatments through improved data storage, access, privacy and security. 17 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 20. average board member tenure average age born outside the US African American Asian Hispanic 60 6 2 2 1 4.6YEARS of the 11 independent members of our Board are women, including our lead director *Note: As of December 15, 2017; includes only our director nominees who stood for reappointment. 36% DIVERSITY AMONG DIRECTORS* CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Accenture’s corporate governance matters are covered in our Proxy Statement, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 15, 2017, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines. These documents outline the role of the Board and its committees, key governance practices, as well as the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of our directors. As detailed in our Proxy Statement, our Board takes an active role in Board succession planning and refreshment, and works toward creating a balanced Board with fresh perspectives and deep experience. We believe that considering diversity through many facets including gender, ethnicity, experience and skills is consistent with the goal of creating a Board that best serves the needs of Accenture and the interests of its shareholders. As of the date of our Proxy Statement, our Board consisted of 12 directors: our Chairman Chief Executive Officer and 11 independent directors, one of whom was not subject to reappointment due to retirement and four of whom are female, including our lead independent director. As of the date of the Proxy Statement, of the directors who stood for reappointment: • Two are African American, two are Asian, one is Hispanic and six were born outside of the United States. • Average tenure was 4.6 years and average age was 60 years. In addition, our Board has a diversity of experience, qualifications, attributes and skills—including global expertise, senior leadership experience, innovation and technology focus, financial expertise, investment expertise and public company board experience. 18 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 21. A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Focusing on COBE chatbot enhancements including new interaction features, machine learning and analytics. • Further enhancing COBE training. • Implementing Conduct Counts-related local actions, integrating it with other programs and developing enhancements to the survey that we will conduct in fiscal 2019. • Revising and simplifying our Privacy Policy subject to regulatory approval. Recent Governance Action Actions taken in recent years demonstrate Accenture’s commitment to strong corporate governance. These actions include our continued Board refreshment and our ongoing shareholder outreach program, during which we communicate with our largest investors and discuss topics critical to their needs and expectations. For example, in 2017 this outreach included discussion around our public commitment to achieve our gender-balanced workforce by 2025. (See Our People.) Additionally, our Board continued to review various best practices, resulting in an update to our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Committee Charters, and it also approved our updated COBE. Corporate Citizenship Governance Accountability to advance corporate citizenship at Accenture starts at the top with our Chairman CEO, and cascades through our business, including performance objectives relating to corporate citizenship. For example, achieving our global corporate citizenship goals is considered in the performance evaluation and compensation of our most senior leaders, including our Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer. READMORE 19 ETHICS GOVERNANCE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 19CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 22. 32%of new managing directors are women—up from 30% prior year At Accenture, our people are our largest and most important investment. We aim to be an employer of choice for the most innovative talent on the planet. In the age of intelligent business, the very concept of work is being redefined as different generations enter and exit the workforce amid a rapidly changing technological landscape. Our leadership imperative is clear: Create the future workforce—now. OURPEOPLE 10 on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list YEARS $935M invested in learning and development to grow our people 160K Accenture people reskilled in New IT in 18 months 50/50gender-balanced workforce by 2025 HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “As member of the Inclusion Diversity team in the Middle East, I am helping advance gender equality in the region.” Melissa Madenjian Analyst OUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLE
  • 23. OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH As a talent-led organization, Accenture puts people first. Our professionals make extraordinary contributions to our clients’ work and to the communities in which we live, and these efforts fuel our own business results. On our journey to become the most truly human organization in the digital age, we are creating an environment to help our people live, learn and lead at their very best personally and professionally. We are striving to create visionary, next-generation practices in learning and development, inclusion and diversity, and the employee experience. Accenture’s talent strategy focuses on being an employer of choice for top talent by: • Continuously investing in the growth and development of our people. • Advancing an inclusive and diverse environment where people feel a sense of belonging. • Supporting engaging employee experiences where people can be at their best more often. Our aim is to discover, inspire and grow exceptional people both professionally and personally, while staying ahead of our clients’ needs by training our people continually in next-horizon skills. DEVELOPING OUR PEOPLE Creating the Workforce of the Future The future of work has already arrived, and digital leaders are fundamentally reinventing their workforces. At Accenture, we are constantly refining our talent practices for the digital age to attract, develop and inspire people on their own terms. We understand that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to generate enormous economic and social gains. Successful leaders are using AI and data to create more- productive and symbiotic relationships with workers, customers and partners. We see this combination of human ingenuity with intelligent technology, like AI, positively augmenting roles and further elevating people’s ability to attain more-satisfying work and greater business value. Our survey of more than 1,000 large companies currently using or testing AI and machine-learning systems revealed three entirely new categories of uniquely human jobs—trainers, explainers and sustainers. Trainers teach AI systems how to perform, process data and behave. Explainers articulate to business executives the inner workings of AI systems, improving transparency. Sustainers ensure that AI is fair, safe and responsible. In our own workforce, we automated more than 17,000 back-office jobs through robotic process automation, freeing more than 40 million productive hours across Accenture in fiscal 2017. We redeployed the people most affected by these changes, freeing them from repetitive tasks and equipping them to advance Accenture’s success in critical new ways. When it is not possible to redeploy a person to a different role by leveraging existing skills and experience, we look to “new skill” that person. We are generating talent development programs at speed and scale to help ensure that our people— including those at risk of displacement—remain continuously client and market relevant. New skilling is especially important so that people can find their next role at Accenture. An example of this process occurred in fiscal 2017, when one of our client contracts ended. This change directly affected several hundred Accenture people and their jobs. We again decided to new skill our people—helping some pivot into different areas of the same organization and others into entirely new careers. Through new skilling, we have seen our people’s abilities elevated—not eliminated—all while remaining highly responsive to our clients. Accelerating New and Specialized Skills at Scale As technology disrupts organizations across industries and the digital landscape continues to transform, we strive to stay ahead by evolving alongside our people. This year, we continued to make significant progress helping practitioners pivot to “New IT.” In just over 18 months, more than 160,000 Accenture people became conversant 21 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 24. in new technologies, including automation, Agile development and intelligent platforms. Our New IT training program has enabled us to prioritize skill investments to meet specialized demand in real time, addressing client needs—and helping make Accenture the largest independent technology services provider. Along with helping our people pivot to “New IT,” we are committed to enabling their continuous professional development. In fiscal 2017, we invested US$935 million to develop our people, including substantial investments in reskilling, to help them stay relevant in key areas such as cloud, AI and robotics. Additionally, we substantially enhanced the areas of mobility, personalization and flexibility—how and when our people collaborate—in our training by offering greater access to information and learning experiences. We support anytime/anywhere learning through Accenture Connected Learning— comprising our more than 2,700 digital learning boards, thousands of online courses, five regional learning centers and a virtual campus of connected classrooms. By the end of fiscal 2017, we expanded our network to 123 classrooms, beyond our goal of 100 by the end of fiscal 2018. Building on our internal success, in November 2017 we launched the Accenture Future Talent Platform externally. This interactive learning tool includes talent-transformation services to help clients develop their IT workforces in critical areas such as digital, cloud, security and AI. We crafted a scalable, cost-effective approach for a new era of learning that puts the spotlight on learning anytime, anywhere through digital technologies—while tailoring the curriculum to the specific needs of each company or individual. For example, we are using the platform to help a European bank launch its own school of automation. The program will identify new roles and skills and build a training plan for a pilot, followed by a 40,000-person rollout. Expanding Performance Achievement As part of our large-scale overhaul to our performance management approach, in fiscal 2016 we simultaneously introduced Performance Achievement while shifting away from annual reviews. Performance Achievement is geared toward encouraging forward-looking conversations while using a strengths-based approach, and is designed to support the rich diversity of our people and deliver a unique employee experience for all. By the end of fiscal 2017, more than 66 percent of Accenture people completed strengths assessments, and our people managers created Opening a New and Innovative Learning Center in India The newest addition to Accenture’s learning environment is the India Learning Center in Bangalore, a state-of-the- art facility designed for both high-tech-driven learning and introspection. Opened in 2017, the center combines the latest advances in learning science and technology with principles from ancient Indian wisdom to create a more-connected and truly human learning experience. With four fully wired classrooms that allow people to work and learn together, a broadcast studio to share content, and a human performance and learning space, the center epitomizes “Learning in the New”—enabling the rapid development of relevant skills at scale to help our clients address the challenges of digital disruption and the unprecedented pace of change. 22 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 22 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 25. more than 640,000 unique actions to help our people define what is next for their careers at Accenture. This enables us to better understand our people’s skills and aspirations, and provide them with personalized actions for growth—all part of our mission to accelerate career development on a continuous basis. Providing feedback in the moment is critical to enable the culture of performance. By the end of fiscal 2017, our people had given more than 1.7 million instances of feedback to each other. Additionally, we recalibrated Performance Achievement to include actions and behaviors to help elevate personal and team performance. These activities help to regularly evaluate strengths, priorities and team engagement incorporating real-time feedback. We also provided insights and guidance on coaching to our people managers through our Leading Extraordinary Teams course. This program is designed to help participants be better coaches; most of our people—77 percent—say that coaching helps them produce high-quality and innovative work. Developing Leaders at All Levels Our ambition to become the most truly human organization in the digital age means we want our people to be at their best professionally and personally, focusing on the whole person (not just the worker). In fiscal 2017, we introduced a new leadership model and reimagined our development programs to better reflect this innovation-led mindset. Our new Leadership DNA defines expectations of Accenture leaders at all levels, specifically recognizing inclusion and diversity as a central ingredient to innovation and creating a people-first organization. It also focuses first on the outcomes that represent a new kind of leader—one who experiments, inspires others, works across boundaries and adapts to the constant change around us. Our leadership development programs concentrate on having people step outside of their comfort zones and practice new ways of working and interacting with each other. For example, we launched a new RISE Leadership Journey for newly promoted associate managers, managers and senior managers to practice the behaviors of our Leadership DNA so they can create a truly human environment for their teams. The participants connect with local colleagues to network and celebrate their career achievements, and attend a one-day workshop to reflect on and enhance their leadership skills. Self-study using learning boards, peer coaching groups, self-assessment, and follow- up career counselor and supervisor conversations round out the three-month experience that reached approximately 20,000 people in fiscal 2017. GOING BEYOND INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY TO CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING We continue our unwavering commitment to diversity with the aim that each and every one of our people has a full sense of belonging within our organization. As a business imperative, every person at Accenture has the responsibility to create and sustain an inclusive environment. Our leaders around the world, including members of our Global Management Committee who sit on the Accenture Diversity Council, have helped shape our five Inclusion Diversity global priorities: women; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT); persons with disabilities; cross-cultural diversity; and ethnic diversity. In creating a culture of innovation, it is critical to cultivate a place where people are comfortable opening up to colleagues about difficult topics— such as bias and inclusion. According to Catalyst, employees who feel included are more likely to innovate new ways of working and be supportive of one another. The challenge, as an organization, is to move along the continuum from a broad look at diversity to creating an inclusive environment that fosters a real sense of belonging. “What we’ve seen in our company is that when we create an environment where all people feel like they belong, you truly start to see people flourish—and performance both at the individual and the organization level also flourish.” Ellyn Shook Chief Leadership Human Resources Officer 23 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 26. We have embraced the concept of inclusion to address this challenge. For example, the #InclusionStartsWithI movement used a video to spark discussion about how Accenture people can help foster a positive, inclusive environment. The video resonated with our people, showing how bias can appear in both expected and unexpected ways—and that each of us has the power to make a difference. Our people asked to share the video with their families, friends and clients, creating a wider and deeper dialogue both inside and outside of Accenture. The movement caught on with people posting personal commitments—to create a more inclusive workplace—on social media using #InclusionStartsWithI. With more than 465,000 views at the end of fiscal 2017, #InclusionStartsWithI remains Accenture’s most popular video ever on our Facebook and YouTube channels. Additionally, more than 20 clients have begun using the video to start challenging conversations or have approached us to understand how they can integrate #InclusionStartsWithI into their programming as they move toward more-inclusive workplaces. WATCHAVIDEO Measuring the progress of our diversity programs across a global landscape continues to be one of our greatest challenges and opportunities. In fiscal 2017, we created scorecards for our LGBT and persons with disabilities programs. We are collaborating with external organizations on what “good” looks like, so we can drive more consistency across our geographies—even in countries where it is legally or culturally difficult. We use these scorecards to track what is working and apply successful initiatives in new locations— for example, creating a Pride Network in China. Gender Equality at Accenture Research shows that more women in the workforce helps grow the global economy. At Accenture, we believe the future workforce is an equal one, and gender diversity is essential for an innovation- led organization. That is why we set a new goal to achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women and 50 percent men, by 2025. On the path to 50/50, we have taken steps to attract, develop and advance women including: • Using a text analytics tool to help identify and eliminate gender bias in our job descriptions. • Sponsoring our most-senior women to advance in profit and loss roles—80 percent of whom have been promoted or expanded their responsibility since the program’s inception six years ago. • Launching initiatives that enable women with in-demand skills, such as our Women in Technology program, which helps fast-track the careers of high-performing women. • Collaborating across business and government to further gender equality in the workplace— including our role as a founding signatory of the White House Equal Pay Pledge, and our Chairman CEO and Chief Leadership Human Resources Officer’s roles as founding members of the Paradigm for Parity coalition. According to our research, the gender pay gap is as wide as ever. Globally, for every US$258 a man earns, a woman earns US$100. If the current state of the workplace remains the same, women will not earn equal pay until 2080 in developed markets and 2168 in developing markets. Accenture’s research report “Getting to Equal 2017: Closing the Gender Pay Gap” offers compelling evidence for how to expedite career opportunities for women and equalize the pay scale across genders. At Accenture, we strive to ensure that all our people—both women and men—are compensated fairly and equitably from the moment we hire them through all the milestones of their careers. We are proactive in our efforts to ensure pay equality and have ongoing rigorous processes in place to identify discrepancies, looking carefully at specific roles at all stages of an individual’s career. If we identify a problem, we fix it. Accenture’s InclusionStartsWithI video has inspired more than 4,200 mentions on Twitter, generating a potential 30 million impressions, and spreading a message of encouragement and action. 24 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 27. In addition to annually publishing our workforce demographics—including gender—across key geographies, in November 2017 we disclosed our gender pay gap data in the United Kingdom in line with new government regulations. We continue to increase the number of women in our most-senior roles, which is key to closing the pay and bonus gaps. In 2017, women accounted for 32 percent of our newly promoted managing directors globally, the largest percentage of women ever promoted to this level at Accenture—up from 30 percent in 2016. Of the combined promoted managing directors and senior managing directors, women comprised 31 percent—also a record—up from 29 percent in 2016. We have set key milestones to build on this momentum and keep us on track. In March 2017, we announced a goal to increase the proportion of women managing directors in our workforce to at least 25 percent worldwide by the end of 2020. By the end of 2017, women accounted for more than 21 percent of our managing directors. Further, last year we surpassed our goal of 40 percent women new hires worldwide by 2017 a year early, demonstrating our ability to attract a promising share of female top talent. In 2017, we moved well beyond our ambition of 40 percent and reached 45 percent women new hires—up from 44 percent in 2016. By the end of 2017, as a result of our efforts, women accounted for: • 29 percent of Accenture executives, which comprises managers, senior managers, managing directors, senior managing directors and members of our Global Management Committee. • 41 percent of our global workforce, up from 39 percent in 2016. • 36 percent of the 11 independent members of our Board, including our lead director. The path to gender parity is a challenging one. The number of women in STEM graduates is limited (and shrinking), and the task of educating tens of thousands of managers on the value of hiring and managing a diverse team is monumental. Indeed, according to a World Economic Forum study, “the gap between men and women across health, education, politics and economics widened for the first time since records began in 2006.” Each March, we punctuate our commitment to gender equality by celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD). In 2017, our IWD events brought together Accenture people, recruits, alumni and more than 2,500 clients across more than 350 events in 48 countries to explore how digital technology is helping women advance at work and close the gender gap. Additionally, we support the United Nations Global Compact Women’s Empowerment Principles, which help the private sector promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community. Accenture people in Brazil celebrate and explore “Leading in the New” at our 2017 International Women’s Day event. 2013 40% 2014 37% 2015 38% 2016 44% 2017 45% WOMEN NEW HIRES AT ACCENTURE 25 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 28. PRIDE: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Equality Helping to ensure an inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees and all other gender minority groups around the world is a key part of our belief that diversity makes us stronger. By convening discussions, strengthening networks and using the power of social collaboration, we are building awareness and fostering a sense of community within and beyond our LGBT Network. For the third consecutive year, Accenture hosted a panel titled, “Are LGBTQ Rights Going Backwards?” at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in January 2017. The session took place against a backdrop of considerable political upheaval in many parts of the world. In the face of both continuity and change, the panel took on wide-ranging topics, including businesses’ responsibilities to help drive and sustain change. Panelists included our own Sander van ‘t Noordende, group chief executive – Products. In addition, for the first time in the history of the WEF Annual Meeting, LGBT was front and center on the main agenda, and Sander was invited to speak inside the meeting in a session called “Good for Business: The Power of Being Out.” The discussion covered a range of topics including genetics, mental health issues and the impact that business can have on fostering acceptance for a diverse society for everyone—particularly those from the LGBT community. During June 2017, more than 32,000 people watched our Pride Live sessions via Facebook. PRIDE networks in Brussels, Manila, Mexico City and New York shared their views on the power of networking, allies and more. To help keep our people connected throughout the year, we grew our global community of allies to more than 20,000—an increase of more than 66 percent over the year prior. At the same time, we continue to foster partnerships between global and local PRIDE networks. Today, 42 countries have a have a local network, all represented by a local lead who is the driving force behind the program. In fiscal 2017, to help celebrate our people and their talents, members of our PRIDE network in India formed a choir that performs publicly throughout the year. Accenture is committed to providing a supportive environment for all our people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. In fiscal 2017, we extended our LGBT self-identification program to four new countries, ensuring increased transparency and providing data and insights that allow us to identify gaps in career progression. Currently, the program is available for 20 percent of our workforce in eight countries, with continued expansion planned for fiscal 2018 and beyond. In 2017, Accenture received the first-ever Global LGBT Network of the Year Award from Stonewall in addition to being a Top Global Employer for the third year in a row. 26 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 OUR PEOPLE
  • 29. Persons with Disabilities With a focus on enablement, we welcome people with different abilities, perspectives and experiences because we believe inclusion starts with each one of us. This approach invites new solutions to business challenges, a higher level of innovative thinking and the opportunities for people to reach their full potential. Our Accessibility Council comprises a group of senior leaders who help guide accessibility decision making at Accenture as we continuously strive to be fully accessible. In 2017, the Council set a new goal: all interactions of our people with Accenture software, devices, services and environment should be compliant with globally defined accessibility standards. Our ongoing priority has been to make Accenture’s key global information and reporting tools accessible to persons with disabilities. As we evaluate and remediate all our applications, we already have made our skills and policies websites fully accessible, and we have rolled out accessibility training to all site developers. Additionally, we updated language in real estate provider documents to ensure Accenture- leased spaces meet our universal accessibility standards, as defined by Accenture’s life safety requirements and workplace design standards. We also look for ways to remove barriers to employment for persons with disabilities outside Accenture by working with partners who share our commitment to enablement. In June 2017, we launched a series of workshops with Microsoft, joining our client and accessibility teams to share best practices. Additionally, we initiated a partnership with the Federation of Disabled Persons in China and sponsored the Disability Matters Asia-Pacific conference in India. Ethnic Diversity We celebrate the diversity of opinions that may be influenced by a variety of ethnic backgrounds and can improve the way we work together as a team every day. Ethnicity is an especially important topic for us in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, and we made good progress with our our Black African, African Caribbean and African and Hispanic American populations, respectively, in fiscal 2017. We offered a number of programs in these three locations including: • Driving Stronger Performance and Excelling in High Performance training in South Africa, which was attended by 75 Accenture people. • Accelerate Professional Development Program in the United Kingdom, a year-long program reaching more than 300 members of the Accenture African Caribbean Network. • ”Super Week” in the United States, where we delivered leadership training sessions to more than 1,000 participants from across our LGBT, Women, African American and Hispanic American communities. In five regions across the United States, regional one-and-a-half day Super Week Leadership Summits offer an opportunity for our people to come together to invest in themselves, their development and their networks. The Summits cultivate leadership potential at all levels, facilitate retention and growth and connect employee resource groups between offices. Cross-cultural Diversity A diverse workforce brings with it a broader skill base, creativity and innovation. Accenture aims to provide our people with the resources and training to work effectively across cultures—both virtually and face to face. Bridging cultural divides can be exceptionally challenging within a workplace environment, especially in an organization comprising approximately 442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Today, people seem more divided than ever on issues spanning race, religion and politics, and a growing number of corporate leaders are recognizing that societal tension and discrimination can have a significantly negative impact on employees. We believe that taking risks can enhance an inclusive culture. Specifically, when people dare to take on tough topics and risk inviting tough conversations, the results can help enhance diversity and increase cultural sensitivity. With that in mind, in fiscal 2016, we launched a webcast called Building Bridges, a town hall on race, with more than 4,000 of our people participating in the initial webcast. 27 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 30. Since then, Building Bridges has grown organically, with more than 15 subsequent installments over the past year across the United States. Topic areas have expanded to address subjects such as faith—spurred by recent attacks on mosques and temples—sexual identity and being your authentic self in the workplace. One Building Bridges session in our New York office focused on the topic of religion because we understand the importance of fostering cross- faith and multicultural understanding and respect. It helps us recognize and appreciate the religious observances of our colleagues and deepen connections among our people. By encouraging these conversations, we are building trust, strengthening teams and supporting compassion so that all feel more included. “It was definitely refreshing to see the highest level of our senior leadership sponsoring a [Building Bridges] conversation. Once that happened, I felt empowered.” Rah Thomas Managing Director – Accenture Operations Using AI to Help Improve How Visually Impaired People Live and Work A new AI-powered solution helps visually impaired people improve the way they experience the world around them and enhance their productivity in the workplace. The solution, called Drishti, which means “vision” in Sanskrit, empowers a visually impaired person by providing image recognition. For example, Drishti can tell the user the number of people in the room, their ages and emotions along with other environment-scanning capabilities using AI technologies powered by a smartphone assistance program. Initially developed by Accenture Labs and tested with visually impaired professionals through a collaboration with the National Association for the Blind in India, we plan to introduce Drishti to more than 100 visually impaired employees in India. We are currently piloting the solution at Accenture in South Africa, and testing a Spanish language version with Accenture people in Argentina. WATCHAVIDEO 28 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 31. CREATING TRULY HUMAN EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCES In today’s “always on” digital world, it is our people—their personal connection with clients and colleagues, delivering solutions with a uniquely human touch—who distinguish Accenture in the marketplace. Yet, working in a digital age at times can mean that we are not our whole or best selves because we are connected to work 24/7, and are more disconnected from family and friends as well as our own self-care. At Accenture, we are committed to fostering an environment where our people can be their most- authentic selves every day. We want our people to be at their best—mentally focused, physically energized and filled with a sense of purpose and belonging. Fostering a “truly human” environment is not simply a process but a mindset shift we are encouraging our people to embrace. Worldwide, we are embedding new ways of working and thinking into our existing programs, processes, policies and more, so that these new ways become a natural part of who we are as a company. Then regionally, we know each location has its own recipe for success that is steeped in local beliefs and ways of working. We are proud to be a culture of cultures where our people are making an impact in a variety of ways through a variety of locally relevant approaches. It is through our culture of cultures we have seen truly human come to life in special ways for our people around the world. For instance, we have seen individuals and groups come together to create grassroots change in their offices. In Africa, a young leader is driving the development of a new office that incorporates paths for walking, running and cycling, and new innovative work spaces driven by the region’s office feedback and collaboration. In the United States, a few individuals spent a weekend transforming a conference room into a mindfulness meditation space for their colleagues. As we continue to grow our business, we are evolving our culture in a truly human way. This is about owning personal and professional success—and inspiring others to do the same. When we are open and transparent, we establish trust, making it easier to talk about the important and very human situations we all experience in our lives—and helping our people thrive both inside and outside of Accenture. Fostering Employee Well-being We are committed to providing our people with programs that enable them to take care of themselves and their families—and that fit with their lifestyles. It is important to our people that they are healthy and that their work and life are in sync, which is why we introduced an Employee Well-being Council in India to focus on mental and physical health. Similarly, we developed the Accenture Mindfulness Program in partnership with Potential Project, a global leader in corporate mindfulness. This program incorporates insights from neuroscience, meditation techniques and exercises. Participants learn how to train their mind to become more mentally focused—increasing their ability to prioritize, improve performance, be more resilient, and reduce distractedness, stress and emotional exhaustion. Learning modules include topics on “mindful e-mails” and “mindful meetings.” Our people extend their yoga practice to an office-based wellness event. 29 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 32. In the United States, during Mental Health Awareness Month in May 2017, we launched the “Mental Health Allies” program—modeled after existing programs in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Mental Health Allies consist of a trained group of ambassadors and advocates who help our people access the support they need, such as our Employee Assistance Program, policies and emergency help. We have trained more than 1,700 allies since the program launched, and programs in Canada and China are in development. In Greater China, the myClub program continued to engage and build healthy communities among our people with common interests in exercise activities, including badminton and yoga. As of fiscal 2017, the program drew more than 3,000 participants. In Latin America, our people participate in a variety of company-sponsored events such as Kids Day, Diversity Week, Mother’s Visit and appearances by various speakers. More than 500 of our people opened their hearts and minds to their colleagues by sharing personal testimonials based on their experiences. In Argentina, we invited our people to bring their children to work for a half day in August 2017. More than 600 people took part in activities and games designed especially for families and aligned with new themes: body, heart, mind and soul. In Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, we launched a digital platform that helps our people be more focused on their nutrition, sleep, physical activity and stress. Additionally, in Western Europe, several of the countries where our people work and live have participated in Team Award Health Challenges where more than 230 people took part in a “Think Healthy” campaign. Looking ahead, our new Employee Experience Innovation Space at The Dock in Dublin explores how design can improve our peoples’ lives. Experiments engage people with technology and trials such as Accenture Fit, a Fitbit-based tool testing wearables’ impact on mental and physical well-being. WATCHAVIDEO Creating a Safe Workplace Part of empowering our people to be at their best is helping to ensure rigorous health and safety programs for employees and guests in our offices as well as the thousands of Accenture people delivering services on site for our clients. Workplace safety is one of the tenets of our Code of Business Ethics—to provide a safe, secure and non-threatening work environment. In our offices, we have developed global internal standards for safety and security, while also maintaining our OHSAS 18001:2007 certification—a standard for occupational health and safety—in Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and our largest site in Bangalore, India. Our Global Asset Protection (GAP) team is responsible for providing business continuity and security in the form of emergency assistance as needed during our peoples’ work or business travel. GAP maintains a 24x7 Global Watch program to assist our people with security risks and health advice, and promotes awareness among our people traveling to high-risk locations. In recent years, we added technical tracking resources to enhance our response and focus on the safety of our people during crises. Beyond physical safety, we help ensure our people treat each other and those we interact with in work- related situations—whether in person or online— with respect and professional courtesy. We do not tolerate harassment of any kind, and we publicize the channels (such as their supervisor, a trusted mentor or the Accenture Business Ethics Helpline) for our employees to report incidents free from fear of retaliation. 30 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 33. CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE When Goldcorp, a leading gold production company, acquired the mineral rights to a mine in Argentina, the company knew it could embrace technology to improve the efficiency and safety of working conditions for underground workers on site. OUR SOLUTION We collaborated with Goldcorp to implement an entirely new communications and data infrastructure. This system integrates the company’s existing Wi-Fi network with location-based technologies and gas detectors to remotely monitor equipment and air quality in the underground mine, ensuring the protection and well-being of Goldcorp’s workers. THE RESULT Goldcorp is armed with a better understanding of up-to-the- minute mine conditions, as well as the precise locations of workers and assets. Now a “connected mine,” the company can respond rapidly to safety incidents and has improved its operational performance through enhanced communications between mine locations. The ability to analyze real-time data is generating insights on how to further improve workforce safety, productivity and utilization. IMPROVINGEMPLOYEE SAFETYWITHTHE CONNECTEDMINE Working with Accenture, Goldcorp is leveraging the connected mine concept to improve safe working conditions through a real-time people tracking and gas monitoring solution that alerts miners and dispatchers when approaching an unsafe area. CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 LEARNMORE 31 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 OUR PEOPLE 31
  • 34. Listening to and Co-creating with Our People At Accenture, it is a leadership priority to lead by example with open, honest dialogue and active listening. We are at our best when the ideas, thoughts and feelings of our people are heard. In India, we asked more than 10,000 Accenture people what they need to be at their best. For instance, we found that 72 percent feel a sense of purpose when they are involved with creative, innovative work, learn continuously and create positive results with their teams, clients or communities. We have used this information to encourage micro actions—such as setting clear priorities, implementing “walk and talk meetings” and encouraging regular time off—to co-create a more truly human environment. In Ireland and the United States, we held an Employee Experience Big Ideathon in July 2017. To revolutionize our employee experience and ensure we continue to attract and retain the best talent, this design thinking event was created to generate more ideas and direct feedback to support and enable our people. Accenture people from all disciplines and levels joined the live collaboration. Several winning ideas will be taken forward as we continue to evolve Human Resources at Accenture. We will be scaling this program and running it several times per year in Accenture cities across the globe. Finally, in fiscal 2017, we launched our first Talent Innovation Studio in Accenture’s India Learning Center. It is a space to conduct research and innovate talent practices across three areas— human performance, learning and recruitment—all while involving our learners in the process. The studio currently is conducting experiments with chatbots and AI for learning guidance, as well as brain science and virtual and augmented reality for learning. Virtual environments can be created to accommodate various learning needs. For example, learners can give presentations to a virtual audience and gain instant feedback on their performances. The team is working on challenges ranging from gender bias to integrating heart, body, mind and soul into the learning experience. A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Providing the resources and support for people to have the relevant skills to be successful. • Enhancing our commitment to inclusion and diversity. • Expanding our truly human employee experience— including an expanded focus on mental health. • Reimaging recruiting to be more digital and to harness new sources of talent through apprenticeships. 32 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 32 OUR PEOPLE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 35. As the digital era presents immense opportunities and unforeseen risks, we are finding new ways to apply technology to create positive and lasting impact. Together with our partners, clients and communities, we aim to solve complex problems, including closing employment gaps through Skills to Succeed. By combining human ingenuity with groundbreaking technologies, we can deliver innovation that fosters a more equal and inclusive society. COMMUNITY IMPACT HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “My colleagues and I help the homeless through mock interviews and resume building, bringing the best of Accenture to the community.” Sean McLaughlin Senior Manager $74M+invested in Corporate Citizenship efforts in fiscal 2017 of our Skills to Succeed beneficiaries are women 52% in a row on FORTUNE’s Change the World list 2YEARS 2.2M+ people equipped with Skills to Succeed toward our goal of 3M+ by 2020 COMMUNITY IMPACT
  • 36. OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH We are living in a volatile era, with the pace of change disrupting society faster than communities can adapt. Technology is a driver of some of these ongoing changes—but it can also be part of the solution. Our approach focuses on leveraging the power of people and technology to improve business performance and benefit society, making the world a better place to live. Together with our partners, and with the energy and ideas of our people, we are developing solutions that address a wide range of complex societal challenges. For example, through our corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, we are closing skills and employment gaps for marginalized people around the world. And through our Accenture Labs’ Tech4Good projects, we are addressing everything from accessibility and inclusion to health and the environment. In fiscal 2017, we invested more than US$74 million in corporate citizenship efforts, as well as in-kind support such as pro bono and paid volunteering from our people. Building on this momentum, we are continually evolving our corporate citizenship programs to meet the priorities of today and to anticipate the needs of tomorrow. When we launched Skills to Succeed in 2010, the global economy was emerging from a recession characterized by high unemployment rates in many countries, particularly among youth. However, as we look at the world today and five to 10 years into the future, we see a different picture. We see the combination of human ingenuity with intelligent technology unlocking increased business value and personal work satisfaction. As technological changes fundamentally alter the way we work, we recognize the urgency in evolving our programs to anticipcate the needs of the future workforce. For many nonprofit organizations focused on solving societal issues, it can be challenging to keep up with the pace of technology while continuing to address the needs of a range of beneficiaries. Our aim is to continously collaborate with our nonprofit partners, and, along the way, involve new partners to support new initiatives and reach vulnerable populations. SKILLS TO SUCCEED The rapid pace and scale of technological change, combined with the movement of different generations in and out of the workforce, is disrupting labor markets and fundamentally altering the future of work. While these shifts may create economic growth, new jobs and flexible work, they may also have other social consequences, including the loss of roles and jobs due to automation. Anticipating and preparing for the impact of digital technologies on the workforce is an urgent issue. For example, nearly one in 10 jobs are at risk of automation across the 35 countries that are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Skills to Succeed aims to help address these needs by advancing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for individuals around the globe, leveraging digital innovation to help close employment gaps at scale. We are also one of the proud partners for Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE), a global coalition aimed at mobilizing efforts aimed at increasing the number of young people engaged in productive work by 2030. S4YE seeks to develop and enable innovative solutions at scale through practical research and engagement with governments, businesses and civil society. Together with our network of nonprofit organizations and other ecosystem partners, we have equipped more than 2.2 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business. We aim to equip more than 3 million people by the end of fiscal 2020. Additionally, we work together to promote equality and inclusiveness, and to ensure that our beneficiaries reflect diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences. In fiscal 2017, women represented 52 percent of our beneficiaries around the world. We are continuously evolving Skills to Succeed to address urgent workforce needs around the world and equip individuals to thrive in the digital economy. people equipped with the skills to get a job or build a business goal by 2020 34 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 37. Preparing the Workforce of Today To keep up with the rapid pace of technological change, workers must continually reinvent themselves and embrace lifelong learning to stay relevant. Accenture’s global reach and breadth of experience allows us to understand local market requirements and develop targeted programs that align the currently available talent supply with employer demand. In each region, our local corporate citizenship teams tailor skilling programs that help transition people to locally in-demand jobs. Our teams use their training and technology expertise to create innovative digital learning solutions that extend the reach and impact of our initiatives across multiple geographies. These assets, such as our Skills to Succeed Academy and Emplea+ digital learning platforms, will allow us to engage hundreds of thousands of job seekers around the world over the next four years. We are also using technology to improve employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for people ready to enter the job market or pursue their next career opportunity. Our skilling programs are designed with job placement and long-term career agility in mind. We team with our strategic partners to offer job-readiness training, mentoring, vocational and technical training, and new career programs. We measure the impact of our programs through key outcomes including obtaining a new job, building sustainable businesses and enterprises, and creating employment opportunities for others. Over the past five years, new Global Giving grants from our Accenture Foundations—which represent some of our most strategic investments—have helped skill more than 315,000 people, more than half of whom have gone on to secure a job or build a business. Some of these initiatives focus on entrepreneurs who in turn create jobs, and these entrepreneurs reported hiring an additional 3,200 people. Examples include: AI-POWERED PLATFORM CONNECTS YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS WITH NEEDED SUPPORT Youth Business International (YBI) helps motivated young entrepreneurs who face significant barriers to business ownership start and grow their own businesses and ultimately, create jobs. In the United States, to better meet the needs of thousands of young entrepreneurs seeking support, Accenture helped YBI affiliate Youth Business USA (YBUSA) develop the skysthelimit.org platform. The platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to help connect budding entrepreneurs with the resources, skills, training and mentoring they need to achieve their goals. Mentors provide in-person and virtual support, networking connections and help on topics ranging from accounting to web design. Since the launch of the platform in 2017, more than 3,500 young entrepreneurs and volunteers have registered online, including Accenture people. YBUSA has built businesses such as a cake-decorating company, a clothing brand and a consultancy that brings custom justice training to organizations. BENEFICIARY STORY: TAKING A LEAP TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE When nonprofit staffers Tiffany and Tyrone decided to launch their own business, in response to prejudice and discrimination they had experienced in the workplace, it was a leap of faith. “It was really scary when we decided to go off on our own,” said Tyrone. “We didn’t have much support, but both of us had this desire to make a difference.” YBUSA mentors helped them with every aspect of launching their business, from creating a business model to leveraging technology solutions to hiring and training employees. Tiffany and Tyrone are now the proud founders of CircleUp Education, an Oakland, California-based social enterprise that designs and implements custom workplace trainings on diversity and inclusion, restorative justice and communication skills. Business partners Tyrone and Tiffany got the skills they needed to build their business through Accenture Skills to Succeed partner Youth Business USA. 35 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 38. WORKPLACE INCLUSION MODEL HELPS PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES THRIVE In Italy, 82 percent of persons with disabilities are unemployed, making this one of the country’s major social challenges. Job Stations helps people with mental disabilities join—or rejoin—the job market by providing a smooth reintegration process while rebuilding their self-confidence. To date, the Job Stations model has been implemented in three locations. Each of these smart, inclusive and non-threatening environments hosts 50 workers with mental disabilities. They provide services to a network of 10 companies, including Accenture—approximately half of “Job Stationers” are providing services to our corporate and business functions. BENEFICIARY STORY: A NEW START AFTER DEPRESSION After losing his father, his job and his relationship of 10 years, Cristiano fell into a major depression and avoided human interaction. Job Stations offered a welcoming, accessible and inclusive environment to help him rejoin the job market. Cristiano worked with an Accenture tutor and received on-the-job training to function at a new level of professionalism. Being part of a team of co-workers who also face mental health struggles helped Cristiano feel safe and increased his sense of community. Since starting work at Job Stations, Cristiano has reconnected with his teenage son and begun a new relationship. He spends weekends exploring his native Italy, and says, “Every day I do my best to give meaning to my existence. What really helps me is going to work and doing something I’m passionate about.” Job Stations enabled Christiano to re-enter the workforce in a supportive environment. TRAINING INITIATIVE HELPS MILITARY VETERANS TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN JOBS In the United States, finding sustainable employment is a challenging part the transition from military to civilian life. Recent surveys by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Center for a New American Security, and Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University indicate on average 50 percent of veterans left their first post-military jobs within a year. Accenture is helping IVMF expand its Onward to Opportunity- Veteran Career Transition Program, which provides comprehensive training, certification and transitional employment support to veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses. By the end of fiscal 2017, the program had placed more than 1,000 participants into meaningful employment opportunities—including at Accenture. With funding from the Accenture Foundation and pro bono services, IVMF will expand its initiative to eight additional US military installations, reaching approximately 23,000 participants, with more than half expected to advance their current careers or secure employment. WATCHAVIDEO VIRTUAL REALITY AIDS FIRST-TIME JOBSEEKERS In Argentina, Accenture has created Job Interview 360, a virtual reality experience that allows young people looking for their first job to immerse themselves in an interactive job interview experience. Based on guidance from our Recruiting team, the six-minute experience takes the user from first contact with the recruiter through the interview, providing feedback on their performance. Currently in use by six nonprofit partners, Job Interview 360 has helped more than 50 job seekers prepare for success. Preparing the Workforce of the Future Technological innovation, including the rise of AI, has far-reaching implications for tomorrow’s workforce. Skills to Succeed aims to provide the next generation of workers, particularly those five to 10 years from entering the workforce, with the marketable skills required to prepare for and thrive 36 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 39. in the digital economy of the future. This includes addressing the glaring gap between the demand for STEM skills and the availability of qualified talent. As highlighted in our New Skills Now: Inclusion in the Digital Economy research, early exposure to computer science along with the integration of critical employability skills is crucial to helping prepare the next generation of workers for careers in technology. Our youth-facing programs aim to educate students early on, especially young women and minorities, by encouraging and inspiring them to learn digital skills. Immediate action in developing employability skills—such as leadership, analytical thinking, creativity and emotional intelligence—are necessary steps for adding critical value to the evolving digital market. Examples include: TECHNO NINJAS RISE FROM THE CODERDOJO CoderDojo is where Accenture people teach young “ninjas” to code and work on computer science projects. We currently have 15 volunteer teaching locations globally and plan to expand to more than 20 locations. Volunteering at our CoderDojos is a great way for Accenture people to impart career advice and inspire the next generation of coders. For example, a group of ninjas at Accenture’s The Dock location in Dublin recently gained skills in artificial intelligence, building a chatbot using Scratch software. “A personal highlight for me was chatting with one of the parents at our last session before summer break,” said Maria, an Agile coach at The Dock. “She told me about the change she has seen in her daughter since she joined the Dojo. Her daughter has become much more confident and developed so many new skills. The mother was full of praise for our Dojo and the impact it has made on their lives.” In Recife, Brazil, our volunteers introduced approximately 20 young women to the world of programming and creating applications at the CoderDojo Workshop for Women. For Jessica Veridiana, the CoderDojo experience convinced her to change her college major from medicine to technology. She is now developing a prototype nutrition-focused smartphone app. WATCHAVIDEO Creating Inclusion in the Digital Economy In 2017, we created the research project New Skills Now: Inclusion in the Digital Economy to provide insight for nonprofit organizations and funders around how to future-proof workforce development—especially for vulnerable and marginalized populations. The research synthesizes our learnings from Skills to Succeed and will inform how we evolve our corporate citizenship programs. A few of the key insights include: Reaching individuals earlier at a broad age range to develop skills and build habits and mindsets. Providing upskilling and reskilling opportunities to give individuals adaptability in the changing workforce environment. Broadening skill sets to include universal skills such as technology know-how, problem solving and interpersonal skills, coupled with relevant specialized skills to address local priorities and market-specific needs. 37 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 40. BENEFICIARY STORY: IGNITING A PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY Before joining CoderDojo at The Dock in Dublin, nine-year-olds Ruby and Zara had little exposure to computers beyond YouTube and playing Internet games. In late 2017, thanks to their new skills in coding and technology—including robotics—they won their age category for the European Digital Girl of the Year Award. Zara never misses a robotics session at the Dojo, and has an insatiable passion for technology and learning. Ruby is an inspiration to other girls and her professors, always keen to support her friends in understanding technology. Said Zara, “CoderDojo has changed my life—I look at something and think how it works and how can it be made simpler and quicker. I want to study robotics and link it with my passion of becoming a scientist.” Young coding ninjas from our Dublin CoderDojo program are the future of the digital world—they were named Digital Girls of the Year for Europe in 2017. ELEMENTARY STUDENTS DISCOVER ROBOTICS A public elementary school’s curriculum in Yokohama City, Japan, involves a robot programming workshop called Robo*C, where Accenture volunteers teach children the fundamentals of robot technology and the state of new technology in society. Students from a local technical vocational school are also involved in the program as teaching assistants and coaches. Besides learning the basics and discovering the joy of creating something with programming, students learn problem-solving and communication skills. Trial and error and learning from failure are encouraged. Activities include discussions and presentations to think and talk logically, and making robot kits. To date, more than 700 children have learned about technology through Robo*C, developed with nonprofit partner Canvas. Accenture as a Skills to Succeed Employer We are committed to providing skilled individuals with sustainable jobs both inside and outside Accenture. Through Skills to Succeed, we equip individuals with job-readiness and market-relevant skills. This approach expands our talent pools to include new groups of high-potential individuals, and supports our ambition to establish Accenture as the most inclusive and diverse organization in the world. Our approach also provides individuals from diverse backgrounds unique opportunities to advance in our organization, as well as to advance economically and socially. According to our joint research with Grads of Life and Harvard Business School, two-thirds of companies believe that requiring a four-year degree excludes qualified candidates from consideration. We are challenging these assumptions with our apprenticeships and other programs that hire Skills to Succeed beneficiaries. 38 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 41. Examples include: SAN ANTONIO APPRENTICESHIPS BRING DIGITAL SKILLS TO A HIGH POVERTY AREA Accenture Federal Services (AFS) has launched an innovative public-private partnership with the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas and nine nonprofit partners targeting the Eastside Promise Zone, a local high-poverty community. In fiscal 2017, more than 30 apprentices took part in the pilot—just over half possessing only a high school diploma or technical training. After completion of the apprenticeship, AFS offered full-time employment to 10 participants, and all participants had gained training and skills needed for entry-level jobs. For fiscal 2018, we have expanded the scope of the program to 75 apprentices. The ultimate objective is to expand into a comprehensive year-round program in which students and adults can gain hands-on experience to better position themselves for entry-level jobs for careers in the digital economy. WILBUR WRIGHT COLLEGE APPRENTICESHIPS Apprenticeship programs play an important role in closing the skills gap. Our program at Chicago’s Wilbur Wright College provides students pursuing their associates degree or making a mid-career change with technology and job-ready skills. The program has driven a talented pipeline of candidates and enabled us to have a positive impact in the community. Shortly after the first apprenticeship class, Accenture committed to bring on 25 apprentices each year. Also, we launched a Chicago Apprentice Network aimed at bringing more corporations on board. Innovating with Save the Children In our partnership with Save the Children, we seek to apply innovation and technology to scale employment and entrepreneurship outcomes across the world. Fiscal 2017 highlights include: • Hosted an innovation workshop with Save the Children’s leaders at Accenture Labs in Silicon Valley to help explore emerging technologies to help children survive, learn and be protected worldwide. • Developed a digital strategy and road map for their Skills to Succeed-related programs with three innovation opportunities shortlisted for prototyping. • In Indonesia, launched the Dooit mobile app, which helps girls develop financial literacy, good savings habits and positive goal-setting skills. 39 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 42. CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE Saga Prefecture’s emergency dispatch system was based on manual methods, with dispatchers and first responders relying on local knowledge and gut instinct to decide on the fastest route from emergency to clinic. OUR SOLUTION Leveraging talent from the United States and Japan, we analyzed 150,000 cases of transport data collected from iPads installed in emergency vehicles. Using AI technology and machine learning, we found new opportunities to improve coordination between the government, hospitals and emergency agencies. That meant we could optimize the end-to-end emergency dispatch process—reducing 40 percent of the cases where hospitals have difficulty accepting patients and cutting average transportation time by 1.3 minutes. THE RESULT This data is now helping doctors, emergency responders and Saga Prefecture officers work in unison toward improving the lives of citizens by enabling emergency responders to operate with the certainty that only a data-powered approach can deliver. In this case, analytics has proved that it’s more than a game-changer; it’s a life saver too. SAVINGLIVES WITHHEALTHCARE ANALYTICS By applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to data, Accenture discovered that we could optimize the end-to-end emergency dispatch process for the rural municipality Saga Prefecture in Japan. LEARNMORE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017 40 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 43. INNOVATION FOR SOCIETY In addition to innovating to design workforce solutions as part of Skills to Succeed, we are using the power of new technologies such as AI, blockchain and extended reality to positively impact people’s lives and help address a variety of complex societal challenges. Collaboration is critical to our ideation. We bring together ecosystem partners such as clients, nonprofits, universities and social enterprises to test and prototype innovative solutions. IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DIGITAL IDENTITY More than 1 billion people—about one-sixth of the world’s population—are largely excluded from society and the economy because they lack documented proof of their identity. Without it, they are deprived of access to the basics we take for granted, such as banking, education, health care, housing and voting rights. To address this problem, Microsoft and Accenture are working together to support ID2020, a digital project using blockchain and biometric technologies to allow individuals to access and share their data electronically. This will not only make it easier to employ and be employed, it will support people’s broader welfare and economic growth. DELIVERING MORE MEALS WITH DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES Rooted in a vision to eliminate child hunger, the “Million Meals” project uses disruptive technologies to address challenges in mass meal production and delivery. Accenture Labs, the research and development arm of Accenture, executed a six- month project in the Bengaluru kitchen of Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest nongovernmental organization-run mid-day meal program. The program had potential to improve efficiency by 20 percent, and our project moved the organization from manual collection of feedback to a more-efficient technology-based solution using blockchain, sensor-enabled devices and AI to predict the next day’s meal requirements. The team also used Internet of Things sensors to monitor and sequence the cooking process to ensure optimum energy consumption and consistent food quality. WATCHAVIDEO CREATING AN INCLUSIVE THEATER EXPERIENCE USING AUGMENTED REALITY Through a collaboration with Accenture Digital, London’s renowned National Theatre is transforming and personalizing the theater experience for hard-of-hearing patrons. The Accenture Digital Open Access Smart Capture pilot program has combined smart captioning and the power of augmented reality to create a personalized theater experience. Through the latest Epson Smart Glasses, users can see customized captions perfectly synced with the actors’ performances right in front of their eyes, from any seat in the auditorium. Accenture Digital teams hope to have fully functioning, always-on augmented reality captioning systems in all three of the National Theatre’s auditoriums by late 2018, opening the door to transformative innovation across the arts and other industries in the future. WATCHAVIDEO USING MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TO DELIVER HEALTH CARE AT SCALE In India, Accenture Labs is teaming with MAYA, a nongovernmental organization that delivers health care to marginalized people at scale. Together we developed a self-sustaining, cost-effective entrepreneurial opportunity for health navigators to help individuals overcome barriers to quality care, delivering preventive and informational services to rural and semi-urban communities related to diabetes, hypertension, hygiene, nutrition and vision care. 41 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 44. In 2017, a pilot program and platform served 700 patients, and in fiscal 2018, Accenture Labs is researching the use of mobile phone cameras as a basic diagnostic tool for anemia and eye care using video processing and AI to bring more health care services onto the platform, resulting in higher-quality care at the patients’ doorsteps and increased revenue for the health navigator. The platform has applicability across multiple geographies, particularly for underserved populations, and supports creation of new services and products in preventive health care. ENABLING FUTURE LEADERS WITH A MOBILE COMMERCE APP In the United States, Accenture has enabled Girl Scouts of America to teach modern entreprenurial skills by helping them digitize the Girl Scout cookie program with a mobile commerce app. The Digital Cookie platform allows Girl Scouts to set up their own personal Digital Cookie sites, and to track and manage orders, in a safe and easy manner. About 200,000 girls are now learning valuable, real-life lessons about digital commerce, social networking, leadership and financial literacy. WATCHAVIDEO POWERED BY OUR PEOPLE Accenture’s approximately 442,000 people around the world live out our vision of improving the way the world works and lives. Their dedication and passion for driving change is evident in their daily client work—including their support of our community-impact efforts. We help our people maximize their impact by providing a variety of opportunities to make a difference through volunteering, pro bono work and giving. Volunteering and Pro Bono Work Volunteering is one of the many ways our people are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work. It is a meaningful way for them to connect with their communities while growing their careers. In turn, pro bono work enables our people to use their skills while leveraging disruptive technologies to solve some of society’s greatest challenges. Using AI, blockchain, Internet of Things and robotics, among others, our people act as a positive force for organizations that work for the greater good of society. Joining the Partnership on AI Accenture joined the Partnership on AI, an alliance of businesses, researchers, academics and policy makers dedicated to advancing the understanding of AI technology. We will actively contribute insights, research and capabilities in areas including Responsible AI, and will dedicate people and resources to collaborate with Partnership on AI members to help address important global challenges such as food, diversity, inclusion, health, education and economic opportunity. “It’s up to us to ensure AI can truly be a force for public good,” said Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology innovation officer. “Our experience and research demonstrates that AI’s true potential can only be achieved by adopting a ‘people first’ approach that reflects what we call Responsible AI— being fair, accountable, honest, transparent and human-centric in how we apply AI. We are proud to join the Partnership on AI to contribute in these areas and help define a successful and impactful future for AI.” 42 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 45. In fiscal 2017, our people contributed more than 726,000 hours to company-sponsored corporate citizenship activities during work hours, including pro bono consulting projects, as well as more than 185,000 hours of their own time through Accenture-facilitated volunteer events— totaling more than 911,000 hours giving back to the communities where we work and live. In the spirit of continuous improvement and a commitment to reflecting our people’s evolving priorities and interests, in fiscal 2018, we are launching a new, dynamic, digital employee volunteering platform. We are adding more volunteering options to the mix and celebrating our people’s personal volunteer passions as well as company-sponsored activities. By broadening the volunteering experience, we aim to recognize all the ways our people are making a difference. Along with providing updates to the volunteering platform, we are looking for ways to improve global participation, redefine what participation can mean, track involvement and ensure volunteerism is a thread throughout the employee experience. Examples include: #AI4GOOD HACKATHON Our second annual global Artificial Intelligence Hackathon brought together Accenture developers, strategists and designers from around the globe to shape the future of how AI can be used to support students, job seekers and entrepreneurs building the skills to thrive in the digital economy. Approximately 480 Accenture people across more than 90 teams developed concepts including: using an AI assistant on kiosks to help people experiencing homelessness in New York City find food, shelter and health care, and a digital learning advisor that uses AI to create a personalized learning profile and recommendations for employment. 1,600+ VOLUNTEER EVENTS IN INDIA As the volunteer coordinator for our locations across India, Anna Lopez, an associate manager in Program Operations, has made volunteering accessible and fun for thousands of her colleagues across India. In fiscal 2017, Anna helped organize more than 1,600 volunteer opportunities from Skills to Succeed events focused on work readiness and basic computer knowledge to Eco-watch programs and helping at local animal shelters. Outside of work, Anna is also making a difference by volunteering at Rehabilitation Aids Workshop, a group exclusively staffed by women with disabilities supplying high-quality, affordable rehabilitation aids to a wide client base of low-income people, especially women and children, in Bengaluru. “Seeing the gratitude of the beneficiaries is truly overwhelming and inspiring, said Anna. “Their smiles and warmth are everything to me. It is also inspiring when a volunteer comes back to share a positive experience and how it has changed their life for the better.” HOUR OF CODE We partner with Code.org to help children around the globe gain exposure to computer science through Hour of Code. As part of our commitment to preparing young people for the digital economy, Accenture people participated in Hour of Code in 204 cities across 56 countries, completing more than 14,000 hours of coding. Through a large increase in the number of local volunteer teaching events in 2017, we doubled our outreach to more than 200,000 students around the world. In 2017, Accenture Technology developed a coding tutorial designed to help students understand AI, which teaches computers to think and act like humans. We launched the tutorial during Hour of Code 2017, introducing the concepts of AI to thousands of young people, while engaging Accenture volunteers to teach these students. Accenture volunteers, including Omar Boulos (back row, third from right), regional managing director – Middle East and Turkey, delivered an Hour of Code in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Our volunteers taught coding to students at a local girls’ school the following day. 43 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 46. In addition, in 2017 Accenture’s Hour of Code volunteering expanded to new locations across the Middle East region—including, for the first time, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Accenture volunteers delivered an Hour of Code to approximately 50 boys in grades 5–9 at Bayan Gardens School in Al Khobar, and then the next day, to 30 girls at the Al Azizyah School, also in Al Khobar. “My fellow Accenture volunteers and I are extremely proud and privileged to have been part of the first Accenture Hour of Code initiative in Saudi Arabia, allowing us for the first time to give young girls an invaluable insight into coding,” said Renate Verheul, management consulting senior manager – Health Public Service. “By inspiring these girls and seeing their eagerness to learn, we continue to pave the way for the future female workforce in this region.” WATCHAVIDEO Accenture Development Partnerships Accenture Development Partnerships brings Accenture capabilities and experience to help the international development sector address the most complex social, economic and environmental issues of our time. Our teams have delivered more than 1,250 engagements spanning more than 70 countries since 2003. Eligible Accenture people can apply for six-month assignments with the program, which undertakes projects within the nonprofit sector in the developed and developing world, providing access to our highly skilled talent at significantly reduced rates. These projects are also an investment in high- performing people, offering them the opportunity to stretch their proven skills and experience in a unique working environment. In fiscal 2017, approximately 400 Accenture people contributed to the greater good through Accenture Development Partnerships. Said New York-based manager Stephanie Loh, “Taking part in Accenture Development Partnerships has been a life-changing experience for me. It opened my eyes to the tremendous social impact that businesses can have—and that I can have. My first project took me to Tanzania to help upskill clinicians in public hospitals, and it was so innovative and meaningful that I thought—yes, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It makes me proud to work at Accenture—they actually pay me to make a difference in the world!” Examples include: PLAN INTERNATIONAL When Plan International was preparing to launch an ambitious global strategy to transform the lives of 100 million girls, it recognized the need to enable innovation. Accenture Development Partnerships, using the Accenture Innovation Architecture, supported the development of the strategy that embeds innovation at the core of the organization. This approach combined our innovation hub offerings with counsel from a network of innovation champions and varied partners to nurture and support creative ideas in an environment where experimentation is encouraged and failure is a part of the learning process. The initial strategic priorities include maximizing the value of data, helping girls into meaningful employment and entrepreneurship, and reimagining the future of child sponsorship. For example, to help the organization improve sponsor engagement while increasing staff efficiencies, we developed an intelligent photo analyzer prototype using digital recognition technology with AI to help ensure the quality and appropriateness of photos of sponsored children. UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSION ON REFUGEES With the United Nations High Commission Refugees (UNHCR), we conducted a global analysis of refugee mobile and Internet access and usage trends across 100 countries. With this insight, UNHCR launched pilot connectivity programs in six countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, with a plan to launch more. The programs focus on building cross-sector partnerships to enable connectivity, promoting the delivery of humanitarian solutions through digital platforms and empowering refugees with digital solutions. 44 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 47. Employee Giving Our people’s generous donations have made a measurable difference in many lives, including improving their education, health and the environment. To make it easy to give back, we provide a variety of ways for our people to make charitable donations to their causes of choice. During fiscal year 2017, Accenture people donated more than US$8.8 million to charitable causes through company-sponsored channels. RESPONDING TO HURRICANES IN NORTH AMERICA The human response to a series of destructive hurricanes that struck in 2017 brought out the best of Accenture. Our people in the directly affected cities of Houston, Miami and Tampa, worked together to collect supplies and get them to people in need both locally and other areas affected by the storms. Accenture people from other locations contributed as well, donating to United Way hurricane- relief funds and the Accenture Charitable Trust (ACT). The ACT provides short-term financial assistance to US-based Accenture employees experiencing severe financial hardship because of an immediate, unforeseen and extraordinary emergency or catastrophic disaster. Accenture matched these funds, dollar for dollar, for a total of more than US$850,000 contributed to hurricane-relief efforts. The Trust granted more than US$652,000 to approximately 170 employees across Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas, Said one of our ACT grantees, “When my family lost our house, possessions and cars during Hurricane Harvey we needed to act quickly, but just as quickly ran into cash flow problems. The process to apply for an ACT grant was extremely efficient and painless. I had the funds in about a day, and it made a real difference for my family.” A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Integrating the findings from our New Skills Now research into our Skills to Succeed offerings to help future-proof workforce development— especially for vulnerable and marginalized populations. • Expanding our focus on upskilling and reskilling to help people thrive in the changing environment. • Exploring more ways to bring innovation and new technologies to the nonprofit sector for greater social impact. • Reimagining the volunteer experience at Accenture, leveraging new digital tools and feedback from our people to create opportunities that are meaningful, accessible and engaging. 45 COMMUNITY IMPACT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 48. At Accenture, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and to fostering sustainable growth for our company and our clients. By improving the efficiency of our operations, harnessing the ingenuity of our people and supporting the sustainability efforts of our stakeholders, we aim to accelerate the global shift to a low-carbon economy and to lessen the effects of climate change. ENVIRONMENT 52% reduction in per-employee carbon emissions, achieving our goal ahead of schedule 200,OOO METRICTONS reduction of CO2 emissions from office electricity usage improvement in energy efficiency over fiscal 2016 8% of our energy came from renewable sources 21% HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “I am supporting a water and sewage project for a client that provides drinkable tap water to small cities.” Giovanna Saito Analyst ENVIRONMENT
  • 49. OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH As part of our ongoing quest to lessen our environmental impact, we continue to cultivate a green culture at Accenture. Our environmental strategy focuses on three areas: running efficient operations to reduce emissions and other impacts; enabling client sustainability; and engaging our people, leaders, partners and other stakeholders. Accountability for our environmental strategy starts with our Chairman CEO and cascades to the governance bodies that oversee our environmental policy and corporate objective of fostering environmentally sustainable growth. Reducing our environmental impact is ingrained in our Code of Business Ethics and our core values, specifically Stewardship. These inform our Environmental Responsibility Policy, which our Environment Steering Group established in 2007 and reviews annually. Assessing and Disclosing Climate-related Risk In fiscal 2017, alongside other members of the World Economic Forum’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, Accenture expressed support for the recommendations of the industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), urging companies to evaluate and disclose their climate-related financial risks. Timely implementation of these recommendations is a crucial step toward delivering on the commitments of the Paris Agreement and keeping global warming well below 2°C. Enhanced disclosure will allow us to better assess the financial impact of climate change and to support an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy. Every year since 2007, Accenture has reported our environmental performance to CDP, including our environmental risks, opportunities and methodologies on climate change mitigation and adaptation. In 2017, in accordance with TCFD guidelines, we updated our financial filings to include the fiscal impact of these and associated risks: • As a global company, we are more susceptible to certain risks, including the increasing frequency and severity of adverse weather conditions. • These events pose significant risks to our people, facilities and operations around the world, as well as to those of our alliance partners and clients. • By disrupting communications, travel and access to talent, these events could make it difficult for us to deliver our services and solutions. RUNNING EFFICIENT OPERATIONS As a professional services company, our environmental footprint consists primarily of the carbon emissions we generate through travel and electricity use in our locations. As such, we are continually exploring new ways to make our operations more efficient by putting technology to use for direct energy savings, increasing renewable energy sources and establishing a culture of digital collaboration that lessens the need for travel. Since setting our initial carbon target in fiscal 2008, we have reduced our per-employee carbon emissions by more than 52 percent against our fiscal 2007 baseline—surpassing our 2020 goal of 50 percent ahead of schedule. This is especially notable as our headcount increased by more than 10 percent during fiscal 2017 alone. We achieved this target, in part, due to significant progress in energy efficiency. Last year we realized a reduction of approximately 20,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions from office electricity usage, thanks to our ongoing commitment to energy efficiency and increased investments in renewable energy. For example, in India, approximately 40 percent of our real estate portfolio runs on green energy, and more than 85 percent of our Bengaluru real estate operates on green power. We also continue to address travel intensity and realized an approximately 4 percent reduction in per-person travel-related CO2 emissions over fiscal 2016. This sizable achievement is a testament to the quality of our environmental iniatives and to the ingenuity and dedication of our people—who are truly a force for change at Accenture. Having achieved our goal early, Accenture is now working with key stakeholders, including the Science Based Targets initiative, to define the 47 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 50. next chapter of our environmental strategy—and related targets. We are committed to doing our part to keep global warming well below 2 (degree sign) C, in line with the recommendations from the Paris Agreement, and we look forward to sharing more information over the next year. Leveraging New Technologies for Energy Management We continue to make energy efficiency advances across our real estate portfolio, seeing improvements every year since fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2017, we achieved a more than 8 percent improvement in energy efficiency over the previous year. These improvements have accumulated over time, helping us save more than 1.2 million megawatt hours of electricity and more than 700,000 metric tons of CO2 since 2007. They also generated more than US$160 million in energy savings over the same period, benefited our company and our clients. Examples include: INCREASING AIR HANDLING UNIT EFFICIENCY In fiscal 2017, to optimize the energy used by fans that control office air flow, we piloted electronically commutated fans in our locations in Bengaluru. Driving both environmental and economic sustainability, the pilot showed that offices could reduce annual energy consumption and recoup their investment in less than a year. In fiscal 2018, we will begin to bring this technology to scale across our India offices in multiple cities, with anticipated annual savings of over US$1 million in energy costs, more than 7,400 megawatt hours of electricity and 6,100 metric tons of CO2 . ENERGY-MANAGEMENT PLATFORM In fiscal 2017, we unveiled a new energy- management platform, based on smart metering, that displays energy efficiency and performance information in real time, helping our building operators and our people monitor and reduce energy consumption. Users can compare efficiency across buildings and floors, and over time, identify opportunities for long-term energy-waste reduction. We used this capability to collect and present information on our own energy consumption, and Accenture Operations uses the platform to help clients improve their own energy efficiency initiatives. By the end of fiscal 2017, we had installed more than 650 smart meters in 38 buildings across 14 countries. In addition, we teamed with sustainability students from the University of Illinois to develop new energy dashboards that display energy performance in a simple, impactful way. The students combined internal and external market research to generate a range of ideas and dashboard types that could be incorporated into our global energy platform. Increasing Renewable Energy Sources Our renewable energy initiative—part of our supply chain sustainability strategy—aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy costs and our per-person carbon footprint. In fiscal 2017, 21 percent of our energy came from renewable sources, allowing us to avoid more than 63,000 metric tons of CO2 across our global operations. This represents a savings increase of approximately 18 percent from 2016. Also, we reviewed hundreds of Accenture offices to identify opportunities to purchase renewable energy instead of non-renewable grid energy. Our principal focus areas are China, India, North America, the Philippines, and key markets in the European Union and South America. Through an operational pilot in the United Kingdom, we have optimized how we source renewable energy at a significant cost savings compared to previous years. We have also developed renewable energy buying guidelines to help ensure the environmental impact of our approach. of our energy came from renewable sources21% 48 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 51. Our challenge is that we do not own our office buildings, which limits our ability to self-generate renewable energy or establish contractual agreements with local renewable energy suppliers on our own. We continue to actively encourage our landlords to pursue cost-feasible, locally available renewable options for tenants or to allow us to pursue them ourselves. To see which of our locations are currently using renewable energy, visit our Environment Impact Map. Saving Carbon by Reducing Travel Intensity In fiscal 2017, our continued investment in virtual collaboration technology—along with our promotion of energy-efficient behaviors— sustained our multi-year success in reducing travel-related CO2 intensity. As a result, we reduced our air travel carbon emissions per employee by approximately 4 percent from fiscal 2016. Widespread use of collaboration technologies, continuing operational rigor in our delivery model, and an increased focus on virtual and regionalized training helped us avoid an additional 14,000 metric tons of CO2 and save US$97 million compared to fiscal 2016, while simultaneously enabling people around the world to spend more time in their home locations. We continue to look for new ways to decrease our travel intensity, such as: Using Analytics to Reduce Environmental Impact Accenture’s Smart Spending program began as a review of employee spending in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ultimately, this review led to the creation of an Accenture data lake that allowed the business to evaluate employee expenses more effectively. We have since used this approach to drive efficiencies across key client teams and global projects, and today, we are applying this same methodology to help clients reduce travel costs and environmental impact. Promoting Energy-efficient Transportation in India Accenture is engaging with our supply chain to promote more environmentally friendly methods of transportation for our people. For example, in India, we are encouraging shuttle vendors to decarbonize their fleets by replacing vehicles with natural gas or electricity-powered alternatives. In 2017, we introduced a fleet of 50 electric cabs across two of our Bengaluru locations. The vehicles, which run on 100 percent green power, covered 2.1 million kilometers in fiscal 2017, approximately 1 percent of the total mileage covered by our non-electric vehicles during the same period. Transportation enabled by natural gas accounted for more than 65 million kilometers, approximately 20 percent of the total distance covered by Accenture-provided vehicles servicing these offices during 2017. Through our use of these vehicles, we avoided approximately 3,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions last year. Collaboration at Hyperscale: Technologies Contribute to Emissions Reductions Our internal IT organization plays a major role in helping to mitigate our environmental impact. We use digital technology to collaborate, learn and connect with our teams and clients, increasing our engagement while reducing the cost, time and carbon emissions associated with travel. Accenture Broadcast produced 3,000 live-stream events in fiscal 2017, including all-employee broadcasts, Telepresence conferences and external events. With 19 fully equipped pop-in studio locations globally, we make recording video communications accessible to our people across key Accenture offices, reducing the need for travel. Chief Information Officer Andrew Wilson prepares for a broadcast at Studio 34, Accenture’s flagship broadcast studio. Broadcasts keep employees informed, reduce travel and benefit our planet. 49 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 52. Accenture is one of the largest global users of Skype for Business®. In 2017, we used Skype for Business at hyperscale, averaging more than 300 million audio and 36 million video minutes per month across multiple collaboration tools. More than 800 of our clients communicate with Accenture people easily and securely over various platforms. Collaboration technology helps reduce our need for travel, yet also poses its own challenge: technology upgrades that necessitate disposal of obsolete electronic waste (e-waste). In fiscal 2017, we maintained strong results for responsible disposal of e-waste. More than 99 percent of our total disposed equipment—more than 73,000 laptop and desktop computers weighing more than 300 metric tons—was disposed of by methods avoiding landfill, primarily through supplier reclamation and responsible disposal vendors. Ongoing Efforts to Assess and Reduce Environmental Impact Accenture is ISO® 14001 Environmental Management System-certified globally. ISO® 14001 is an international standard for organizations to minimize their environmental impact. It is a key credential for many of our clients and tangible evidence of our commitment to integrate robust environmental practices into our operations. Additionally, our ISO® 14001 certification sites serve as incubators for innovations that can be shared with other Accenture locations worldwide, such as installing smart meters in our facilities and piloting people-focused initiatives like our Travel Smart Challenge. To see our ISO®- certified locations and locations that use smart metering, visit our Environment Impact Map. Responsible Water Management Accenture is not a water-intensive company—our water use comes almost exclusively from office- based operations—but we are not immune to the impact of climate change-driven water scarcity. We are seeing the impact of this scarcity in locations such Cape Town, South Africa, which is in the midst of a multi-year drought impacting daily life for millions of residents, including our people. We manage our water consumption closely with a special focus on regions of water scarcity, particularly as such regions have grown in recent years and are projected to expand in the future. In fiscal 2018, we plan to evaluate our office portfolio for which locations are most impacted or may be impacted by water scarcity in the future. Accessing fresh water can be a challenge for our locations in India, due to water scarcity and a large demand-supply gap. By implementing stricter controls around water usage and promoting awareness among our people in fiscal 2017, we reduced per-employee water consumption in our largest offices by more than 8 percent from fiscal 2016. Water sustainability initiatives included installing water tap sensors and bio taps across locations and using recycled water from sewage treatment plants in toilets. These types of risks represent tangible examples of why we support the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures and continue to seek ways to mitigate the impact of climate change through emissions-reduction activities. As an extension of that support, we are beginning to incorporate water-scarcity issues into our enterprise risk- management process, particularly when evaluating new site locations. In areas not affected by drought or water shortages, we still monitor our water consumption to identify opportunities for efficiency improvement. For example, after identifying a significant increase in water consumption within our São Paulo location in Brazil, we installed an expansion tank system to help prevent water overfill at the cooling towers. During 2017, the office reduced water consumption by 23 percent and water costs by 37 percent, saving approximately 2.5 million liters of water. 50 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 53. CASE STUDY CLIENT CHALLENGE As a retail chain with a large and diverse portfolio of stores, our client faced rising utility expenses and the constraints of a small, internal energy management team. OUR SOLUTION We found great disparities in energy use across the client’s stores, even between stores in the same city. Performance models showed many stores consumed 30 percent more energy than expected. By focusing on the 15 percent of stores that used the most energy, we helped the client achieve a 4 percent total energy budget reduction. THE RESULT Armed with this information and by employing a data management tool, the client has improved its access to energy data and now uses advanced analytics to prioritize corrective actions, measure results and drive down energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By focusing resources on only a small fraction of the total portfolio, we identified savings of more than 7 percent, resulting in millions of dollars of savings. DRIVINGENERGY EFFICIENCY WITHAI Accenture is helping a large North American retail chain realize cost savings and advance its sustainability agenda using artificial intelligence and advanced analytics solutions. 51 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 54. ENABLING CLIENT SUSTAINABILITY At Accenture, we have the power to effect change not only through our internal policies but also by supporting clients during their environmental journeys. Tracking and understanding the impact of our client-facing sustainabilty initatives allows us to make improvements over time. Our Client Carbon Savings program is a critical component of our environmental strategy and one of the primary ways we help our clients meet their economic and sustainability goals. In fact, we track the impact of our carbon-reduction activities on clients and other stakeholders, alongside key project deliverables. The program vision is to: • Help clients realize the potential positive environmental impact of the work Accenture delivers. • Lay the foundation for Accenture to achieve its fiscal 2020 environmental target of measuring and reporting the impact of our work with clients in key areas of sustainability. • Support our development and project teams in deploying new strategies and tools to capture, measure and report carbon savings. In fiscal 2017, we identified potential savings for our clients of more than 1.25 million metric tons of CO2 and US$43 million, and implemented strategies to help them save a cumulative 430,000 metric tons of CO2 and US$14.8 million. We also expanded the program to include a renewable energy assessment, allowing clients to identify and realize savings stemming from renewable energy sources. Helping Clients Improve Business and Environmental Performance Companies are beginning to recognize that sustainable practices can be a major source of growth and innovation when they are designed and led well. At the same time, digital technologies are making sustainability easier to achieve, allowing organizations to embrace new, resource-efficient business models and ways of engaging with customers. When our clients put sustainability at the heart of their business strategy, they are able to pursue large-scale transformations and drive meaningful results. In fiscal 2017, our clients achieved significant carbon reduction and unlocked new business value as a result of sustainability initiatives. ACCENTURE ENERGY MANAGEMENT AS A SERVICE Through our corporate greenhouse gas reporting services, Accenture is helping our clients to measure, reduce and disclose their GHG emissions to shareholders, consumers and the general public. Our strategic renewable energy assessments allow our clients to set corporate sustainability goals and to tactically assess where they can invest in onsite and offsite renewable energy. As a result, they realized approximately 430,000 metric tons of CO2 savings in 2017 and identified more than 1.25 million metric tons of potential savings. Accenture is also harnessing the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics to help our clients reduce energy consumption and costs while also delivering new insights into their business operations, with realized cost reductions of 8 percent. Connected facilities are changing how clients view energy management and is now being leveraged to fuel larger digital and IoT transformations. Driving lower costs and reducing consumption means delivering financial savings of more than US$6 million— alongside environmental benefits of decreased emissions—for our retail and utilities customers. Convening Partners and Clients for Climate Solutions As Accenture strives to advance the global environmental and climate agenda, a key role we play is helping our clients and industry become responsible stewards of digital transformation. As a collaborator, convener and thought leader, we invest in research and development to help create business strategies and technology solutions that allow our clients, partners and suppliers to improve their sustainability performance. 52 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 55. Highlights from 2017 include: • World Business Council for Sustainable Development: In collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Accenture Strategy developed the “CEO Guide to the Circular Economy,” a blueprint for business leaders on how to leverage circular innovation to capture significant benefits, boost the global economy’s resilience, support people and communities around the world, and help fulfill the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. • CDP: Accenture Strategy and CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) released new research that examines the link between environmental and financial performance in the consumer goods and the telecommunications industries. Based on more than three years of data and interviews with consumer goods and telecommunications executives, the research revealed that many businesses are failing to capture or disclose financial value from environmental performance. The reports outline practical steps to drive stronger financial outcomes through progressive environmental performance. • Business in the Community: Accenture Strategy partnered with Business in the Community to explore opportunities and challenges associated with the digital revolution in the United Kingdom. The resulting report, “Priorities for responsible business in a digital age,” identifies four digital priorities that define the areas businesses need to immediately focus on, in order to manage the unintended consequences of the digital revolution. • econsense: Forum for Sustainable Development of German Business: Accenture Strategy partnered with econsense to develop a blueprint for companies looking to adopt more sustainable business practices. The resulting report, “A Practical Guide to Create Positive Impact That Makes Business Sense,” aims to help private-sector leaders drive positive change in ways that align with their business objectives. Supporting World Economic Forum Initiatives Through our pro bono work, Accenture supports the World Economic Forum’s global project to design and deliver public-private partnerships that aim to produce tangible climate results through 2020 and beyond. Our Chairman CEO Pierre Nanterme is also a member of the World Economic Forum-facilitated CEO Climate Initiative Leadership Group, which represents approximately 80 CEOs of global companies. The World Economic Forum Climate Initiative helps to raise ambition and spur faster climate action, and supports efforts by private and public stakeholders to accelerate transition. It also leverages opportunities provided by the Fourth Industrial Revolution to realize new business models and technologies. Accenture participates in The Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE)—a global public-private platform of more than 40 global leaders from business, government and international organizations. PACE kick-starts and scales-up circular economy projects by enabling and brokering partnerships, addresses cross-cutting policy barriers, and links networks and knowledge across existing institutions. In collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Accelerating Sustainable Production (ASaP) project, Accenture co-authored a white paper, “Driving the Sustainability of Production Systems with Fourth Industrial Revolution.” The report is a guide for optimizing the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in production, helping countries and businesses achieve sustainable growth and contribute toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Climate Initiative, PACE and ASaP are part of the World Economic Forum’s Shaping the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security System Initiative. We are also a part of the World Economic Forum’s Digital Transformation Initiative (DTI), which aims to maximize opportunities for business and society—including environmental sustainability— stemming from digital technologies. The initiative’s research supports collaboration between the public and private sectors focused on ensuring that digitalization unlocks new levels of prosperity. 53 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 56. The Circulars 2018 We celebrated The Circulars 2018, an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders. In its fourth year, the award program recognizes individuals and organizations from across the globe that are making notable contributions to the circular economy in the private sector, public sector and society. The annual awards are hosted at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. ENGAGING OUR PEOPLE Much of our progress in the environment space is driven by our people, particularly our awareness- building and behavior-change initiatives. Our Environment, Workplace, IT and Procurement teams bring our environmental strategy to life on a daily basis. These creative initiatives help Accenture people around the world foster positive sustainability attitudes and habits. Our Eco Champions develop innovative, environmentally conscious work practices and market-relevant engagement campaigns to drive their adoption. Volunteers participate in eco-volunteering activities, including a mix of digitally enabled events and challenges, as well as in-person eco initiatives. Examples of global activities include: USING TECHNOLOGY TO HELP AMAZON WILDLIFE As part of Zooniverse’s AmazonCam Tambopata project, Accenture people around the globe are using technology to peer deep inside the rainforest of southeastern Peru. The project relies on volunteers and a network of video cameras to measure the distribution of wildlife along the Amazon River. During Accenture’s 2017 World Environment Day celebrations, approximately 220 employees from 22 countries classified more than 10,200 wildlife images in just one week— all from the comfort of their own computers. Researchers rely on Zooniverse volunteers and the “wisdom of crowds” to produce reliable and accurate data. By participating in the largest- known permanent camera trap monitoring program in South America, we are contributing to conservationist research that otherwise would not be possible on such a scale. Said Chicago-based strategic programs and operations manager April LaCroix, “It is so much fun to see a family of tapirs just out on a stroll in the Amazon. It’s great to be exposed to such a unique and beautiful part of the world while making a difference.” TRAVEL SMART CHALLENGE We held our sixth annual Travel Smart Challenge in fiscal 2017, a six-week competition that encourages our people to reduce their travel-related carbon footprint by thinking creatively about how they can minimize air and road travel. Over the past six years, participants from around the world have avoided approximately 18,700 flights, saving more than US$13.8 million in travel costs. Additionally, our people avoided more than 3.1 million ground transportation miles, contributing to an estimated overall reduction of more than 9,700 metric tons of CO2 . Examples of local activities include: MANAGING WET WASTE Accenture generates approximately 2,000 metric tons of wet waste each year in India. To prevent sending this waste to landfills, we worked with vendors to process and convert it into organic fertilizer and biogas. The initiative, which has been rolled out at Accenture offices in Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune, will redirect up to 1,800 metric tons of wet waste annually, resulting in an estimated 3,000 metric tons of CO2 savings. 54 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 57. PRESERVING GALVESTON BAY As a member of the Houston Eco team, Business and Integration Architecture Senior Manager Laurinda Lin regularly volunteers with the Galveston Bay Foundation, planting marsh grass to help preserve the bay’s coastline and picking up waste in the local bayous and waterways. She also raises awareness through fundraising. Says Laurinda, “We get so much from our Earth and often take it for granted— we should do what we can to help preserve it.” Read more eco volunteering stories on our Environment Impact Map. Read more eco volunteering stories on our Environment Impact Map. Houston Eco team member Laurinda Lin plants marsh grass in Galveston Bay wetlands with her sister. A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Developing our next round of environmental goals, with a focus on delivering on the commitments of the Paris Agreement and keeping global warming well below 2°C. • Expanding our client carbon- savings programs and continuing to measure the carbon-reduction benefits our clients gain as a result of our solutions and services. • Adopting and scaling use of technology—such as increased use of smart meters powered by new energy dashboards—to continue making our operations more efficient, and to help our people work and travel “greener.” • Collaborating with clients, suppliers and thought leaders to turn policy into actions that deliver concrete climate solutions and sustainable outcomes. 55 ENVIRONMENT CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 58. We are committed to promoting inclusive, ethical and sustainable procurement practices that create long-term value for our clients, our suppliers and our communities. With a multi-billion-dollar supply chain, we have the opportunity to leverage our purchasing power to drive positive change on a global scale and to create a more-inclusive digital world. SUPPLYCHAIN HOW ARE YOU MAKING A DIFFERENCE? “I am helping my client create and maintain a sustainable supply chain and adhere to international guidelines regarding production of their products.” Benny Lamprecht Consultant 76% of our key suppliers disclosed emissions-reduction actions and 72% disclosed targets 130+ small, medium and diverse suppliers developed by end of fiscal 2017 10 on Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s Top Corporations list YEARS spending commitment to women-owned businesses $100M SUPPLY CHAIN
  • 59. OUR STRATEGY AND APPROACH At Accenture, we view our supply chain both as a critical enabler of our business and as a catalyst for innovation. By infusing inclusion, diversity and sustainability into our procurement practices and ensuring our suppliers share our values, we are helping to create a more socially and environmentally responsible world. Across our six main purchasing categories— contractors; HR and professional services; IT and telecom; marketing and communications; travel and mobility; and workplace and facilities—we apply three strategic priorities for responsible supply chain management: • Adhering to our Supplier Standards of Conduct • Driving supplier sustainability • Advancing supplier inclusion and diversity At a basic level, working with Accenture means adhering to our high standards of conduct, which are fundamental to any partnership. However, we go beyond strong compliance procedures, leveraging our global reach and scale to maximize value for our clients and to drive meaningful change across our ecosystem. We believe that working with suppliers from diverse backgrounds and perspectives allows us to remain agile, disruptive and ahead of the market. This is particularly true of our professional services suppliers and contractors, who make up the vast majority of our procurement spend. These suppliers provide us with valuable insights and IT expertise that enable us—and our clients—to leverage cutting-edge technologies and business models, while driving economic growth in communities around the globe. Accountability for our procurement strategy starts with our Chief Operating Officer Jo Deblaere who leads Accenture’s business operations globally and is responsible for ensuring operational excellence across our supply chain. This cascades to our Chief Procurement Officer Kai Nowosel and to our local and regional Procurement teams who manage the day-to-day activities of Accenture’s supply chain. HUMAN RIGHTS AND OUR SUPPLY CHAIN Accenture’s core values, including our commitment to doing business ethically and legally, are the foundation of our company’s culture. Central to this is the fulfillment of our long- standing commitment to support and respect internationally proclaimed human rights, which requires the full participation and support of our suppliers. As described in Ethics Governance and our Code of Business Ethics, Accenture adheres to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which includes the elimination of slavery and human trafficking in supply chains and business operations. In early 2017, Accenture published our first UK Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement explaining some of the key steps we took in the previous fiscal year to support the elimination of slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains. The statement was updated in February 2018 to reflect more recent actions and initiatives. We also created a supplier-awareness animation that we are socializing with our Procurement and Environment teams, as well as with select supplier personnel in the United Kingdom and beyond. The animation outlines our long-standing commitment to the United Nations Global Compact principles around environment, social and governance factors, and underscores both the human rights and high labor standards we require of our global network of suppliers. Evolving Our Supplier Standards of Conduct Our leaders, people, clients and partners want to know that we manage our procurement process responsibly, including where and how we create or source our goods and services. We set high standards for the way we conduct business, and we require suppliers across all procurement categories and stages to adhere to our Supplier Standards of Conduct or to make an equivalent commitment. 57 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 60. As with our Code of Business Ethics, our Supplier Standards of Conduct reflect our core values and our commitment to the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact to advance human and labor rights. Published in 20 languages, these Standards specify the labor criteria to which our external suppliers must adhere, and require compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. In fiscal 2017, we enhanced our Standards to provide more clarity around our expectations for suppliers in areas such as human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labor and child labor. For example, we updated our Standards to reference the International Bill of Human Rights and International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We also added specific requirements regarding how to define human trafficking, as well as new language regarding child labor and at-will termination of employment. We also expanded our supplier onboarding process to be more rigorous about the information we require suppliers to disclose, helping us to make more-informed decisions about the suppliers with whom we engage. DRIVING SUPPLIER SUSTAINABILITY We expect our suppliers to provide updates around their environmental initiatives, goals and impact, and we encourage local and regional teams to discuss sustainable procurement during their regular supplier meetings. By educating our suppliers on the benefits of sustainable business practices, we are increasing the number that monitor, measure and communicate their environmental impact. Our geographic Procurement teams continue to include the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of prospective suppliers as factors for our purchasing decisions beyond the categories with the largest sustainability impact: IT and telecom, travel and mobility, workplace and facilities. We are continuing to refine and improve these processes across geographies by recommending best practices and standard ESG questions to be used in requests for proposals. For instance, we are exploring how we can engage with suppliers to act on sustainability performance either through a supplier reward program, supplier inclusion and sustainability events, or peer-to-peer discussions. Our Procurement team is also a driving force behind our use of renewable energy. In 2017, our Procurement and Energy Management As-a-Service teams combined their deep knowledge of the global renewable electricity market together with their experience working with global clients to identify creative and cost-effective ways to purchase renewable electricity for our office portfolio. We are also working with our Environment teams to clearly define our path toward achieving Accenture’s renewable electricity and greenhouse gas reduction goals. In 2017, Accenture established new standards for the purchase of renewable energy, including hydropower and solar, wind, geothermal, ocean and biomass power. Our aim is to ensure that we only work with providers that source energy with integrity, transparency and accountability, taking into consideration their impact on local ecosystems and communities. Supplier Standards of Conduct published in 20LANGUAGES 58 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 61. CDP Supply Chain Program As a corporate member of CDP’s Supply Chain program, we use CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) tools to promote engagement, transparency and sustainable business practices with our suppliers. Beginning in 2010, we have invited a select group of suppliers to respond to CDP’s Supply Chain self-assessment questionnaire each year. Gathering information in a standardized way helps us gain a better understanding of each supplier’s environmental practices. It also supports Accenture’s 2020 goal to measure and report the impact of our sustainability initiatives with clients and suppliers, and formalizes our efforts to advance supplier emissions disclosure. Over the years, Accenture has significantly increased the number of suppliers we ask to participate in CDP’s reporting program. In 2017, 103 of our suppliers publicly disclosed their responses, compared to 28 in 2013. Additionally, our suppliers generally have been more engaged and receptive—in 2017, 74 percent of our suppliers participated, well above CDP’s global average of 58 percent. We also made progress toward our 2020 goal to have 75 percent of our key suppliers disclose their carbon-reduction targets and report on the actions they are taking to reduce emissions. In 2017, 72 percent of our suppliers disclosed their targets, and 76 percent disclosed the actions and initiatives they are taking toward emissions reduction. Our efforts are not going unnoticed: Of the more than 3,300 companies that partcipated in CDP’s supply chain program in 2017, Accenture was among the 2 percent that earned a spot on the Supplier Engagement Leader Board—an honor reserved for companies that are engaging with their suppliers to manage carbon emissions and address climate-related issues across their supply chains. disclo72% disclosed emissions-reduction actions of our key suppliers disclosed targets disclosed targets72% 76% 59 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 62. CLIENT CHALLENGE The global tea industry is often associated with poverty, low wages and worker exploitation. Malawi 2020—a public coalition of donors, nongovernmental organizations and commercial tea producers, buyers and retailers—sought a partner to develop an innovative, sustainable pricing and procurement framework to ensure a living wage for Malawian tea industry workers. OUR SOLUTION Through stakeholder engagement and extensive data collection, Accenture Development Partnerships created a pricing framework to help tea buyers with price discovery, so that they could see the impact of the prices they were paying CREATINGALIVING WAGETHROUGH SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT Accenture Development Partnerships is working with Malawi 2020 to develop a sustainable procurement framework to help ensure a living wage for more than 30,000 Malawian tea industry workers. and know they were sustainable. While the price reflects the cost of production, the amount paid also contributes toward a living wage. THE RESULT Currently available to the 12 tea buyers sourcing from Malawi that are represented in the coalition, the framework has the potential to alleviate poverty in one of the poorest countries in the world, introduce a motivated, productive workforce for the tea industry, and enable tea brands, packers and retailers to achieve positive social impact. CASE STUDY 60 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 63. ADVANCING SUPPLIER INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY Accenture promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment, and we strive to partner with businesses that embrace these values as well. We believe inclusive procurement practices create long-term value for our clients and our communities, while helping us remain agile, disruptive and ahead of the market. Our Supplier Inclusion Diversity Program, which reaches 17 countries, allows us to drive a more-inclusive and empowered marketplace. By incorporating diverse businesses into our supply chain, we gain access to innovative, responsive and cost-competitive supply solutions for our clients. At the same time, we help Accenture’s suppliers grow their representation and influence in their own markets. In fiscal 2017, DiversityInc recognized our efforts by ranking Accenture No. 3 on its Top Companies for Supplier Diversity list, marking our sixth consecutive year on the list and our second in this spot. As we continue to expand these programs, the proliferation of different national standards for diversity makes gauging the global effectiveness of our Supplier Inclusion Diversity Program a challenge. Similarly, reporting laws and regulations can make it difficult to identify which businesses qualify as diverse. We have been able to track our diverse procurement spend most consistently within the United States. In fiscal 2017, our total US procurement spend with diverse suppliers was more than 27 percent. While this is a decrease in percentage terms since fiscal 2016, it represents a year-over-year increase of more than US$3 million in actual spend with US diverse suppliers. We also track and externally verify our spend with black-owned businesses, black-women- owned businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises in South Africa (see Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act on page 63). Across geographies, we are exploring new technologies that will help centralize and standardize the management of these programs. We continue to look for opportunities to include more diverse suppliers and increase this spend, both in total and as a share of overall spend, in ways that support our procurement strategy. Diverse Supplier Development Program Accenture’s Diverse Supplier Development Program (DSDP) reflects our commitment to developing and expanding relationships with diverse businesses owned by ethnic minorities, women, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBT community, veterans and other entrepreneurs. The formal, 12- to 18-month program matches senior Accenture executive mentors with diverse supplier “protégé” companies to help them grow their businesses. Our goal is to pair DSDP protégés with Accenture executive mentors in their industry who can provide more-targeted, experience-based guidance. While finding appropriate matches can be challenging and time intensive, protégé feedback has shown such expertise is critical. We continue to seek ways to enhance this matching process. Not only does DSDP represent another sourcing option for Accenture and our clients, developing diverse suppliers strengthens communities by creating more businesses, jobs and economic growth. We are paying particular attention to vendors that have AI and other innovative and in-demand skills that we consider “in the New.” As of fiscal 2017, 133 diverse suppliers had graduated or were in the process of completing the program—23 in Canada, 24 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and 86 in the United States. Our goal is to graduate 170 diverse suppliers by fiscal 2020, and we have plans to graduate multiple classes in Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the United States in fiscal 2018. We are also strategically expanding DSDP to focus on geographies key to enabling our business and those of our clients. We currently offer DSDP in Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the United States. We 0 170 133 small, medium and diverse suppliers developed toward our goal 61 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 64. are planning to expand our mentoring program into India by 2019, and we are also investigating the feasibility of launching in Latin America. Many of our DSDP graduates have become Accenture suppliers. Among them is Nancy Williams and her then-business partner Roz Alford, who in 1989 founded the entity now known as ASAP Solutions Group LLC. A woman-owned business and technology consulting and IT staff augmentation firm that delivers business and technology solutions to FORTUNE 500 companies, ASAP was one of the first graduates of DSDP and remains one of our preferred Tier 1 suppliers, supporting several of our large clients. In 2016, Roz retired from ASAP Solutions Group, passing control to long-time business partner, Nancy. Under Nancy’s stewardship, ASAP has expanded branches in Bangalore and Hyderabad, India, and across the United States. Thanks to Accenture’s support and mentorship, graduates of our Enterprise Supplier Development Program (also referred to as ESDP, the name used for DSDP in South Africa), which focuses on innovative information computer technology (ICT) scale-ups, are better prepared to bring new capabilities to the South African economy. We not only develop, accelerate and partner with protégés, we also expose them to cutting-edge technologies. This year, ESDP beneficiaries experienced Accenture Liquid Studios, which help companies embrace new technologies, skills and ways of working. Celebrating Recognition for DSDP Protégés In 2017, VDart, Inc., a global digital staffing and solutions provider and Accenture DSDP graduate, was named Class IV Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The award recognizes minority businesses within the NMSDC network that have achieved exceptional growth and operational success and that give back to other minority businesses and to the community. “For a Minority Business Enterprise to win Supplier of the Year in Class IV category in a span of 10 years is a tremendous accomplishment, and we would not have achieved it without the support of Accenture,” says Sidd Ahmed, VDart president and CEO. “Accenture’s Diverse Supplier Development Program and consistent engagement with our suppliers has allowed us to grow and flourish on the national stage.” Ampcus, a DSDP program graduate and former Mentee of the Year, is a global business technology consulting and services firm headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia. For nearly 14 years, Ampcus has been providing innovative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions to FORTUNE 500 corporations around the globe, as well as to federal agencies on various mission-critical projects. In 2017, Ampcus received the NMSDC’s prestigious Supplier of the Year award, which recognizes US- based Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) that excel in five categories: Growth Development, Operations, MBE to MBE Purchases, Community Involvement and Regional Council Involvement. Ann Ramakumaran, Ampcus founder and CEO, had this to say about the program: “Our experience working with Accenture and participating in their DSDP helped prepare us to compete for the NMSDC Supplier of the Year award. It allowed us to examine our business with a different perspective, providing insights and guidance that have been beneficial as we develop our long-term growth strategy.” DSDP protégé VDART, Inc. was named Class IV Supplier of the Year by NMSDC. 62 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 65. Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act Accenture practices align with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act in South Africa, which aims to drive economic transformation and a more-inclusive marketplace. The Act requires organizations to undergo an annual verification process. Based on the outcome, organizations are ranked on a scale of 1 to 8, with 1 being the highest and 8 the lowest. In 2017, Accenture was audited based on new ICT Charter B-BBEE codes, which are more stringent than in the past, with higher requirements and increased targets including for diverse supplier development and spend. We achieved a level 2, and are continuing to explore new ways of improving our performance. Also in 2017, our procurement spend in South Africa with black-owned vendors was 40 percent against the new legal target of 40 percent; our spend with black-women-owned vendors was 32 percent against the new legal target of 12 percent; and our spend with small- and medium-sized enterprises was 41 percent against the new 30 percent target. Women-owned Businesses One of the most significant challenges we face as an organization is identifying women-owned businesses that have or want to develop the capacity to meet our procurement standards. To help address this issue, we connect women entrepreneurs with WEConnect International, which empowers women to succeed in global markets by providing training and certification opportunities. We co-founded and have representation on the Board of WEConnect International, and Accenture now collaborates with them in 13 countries across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. These programs aim to level the procurement field and integrate more women-owned enterprises into the supply chain. In September 2017, WEConnect International announced a US$400 million commitment from corporate members to buy more from women- owned businesses over the next three years. Accenture committed $100 million, with an additional pledge to direct $50 million of this spend to women in developing countries. In December, we repeated this commitment at the Women’s Economic Empowerment Global Summit in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, organized by the government of Sharjah and UN Women. In addition to our commitment through WEConnect International, our Chief Executive Officer – North America Julie Sweet joined with Helping Clients Forge Their Own Path Accenture has emerged as a pioneer and leader in supplier inclusion and diversity, and increasingly, we are supporting our clients as they develop their own supplier inclusion and diversity programs. In 2017, we participated in WEConnect International’s report on the “Business Case for Global Supplier Diversity and Inclusion: The Critical Contributions of Women and Other Underutilized Suppliers to Corporate Value Chains,” which cites how our work in this area has evolved and how it is often our clients that are demanding inclusive sourcing efforts on a global basis. We also continued our Chief Procurement Officer Circle events, which are monthly gatherings aimed at providing global procurement executives within our client network with a forum to discuss ideas and issues related to their supply chains. In 2017, Accenture’s Chief Procurement Officer Kai Nowosel and Strategy Sourcing Procurement Managing Director Kevin Doran—who co- host the Circle events—joined members to discuss a variety of critical topics, including supplier diversity and modern slavery. 63 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 66. other American and Canadian business leaders as co-chairs and signatories to the Canada- United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. This statement supporting the advancement of women in business was announced in February 2017 by the Canadian and US governments. The role of this council is to boost women’s economic engagement, inspire aspiring entrepreneurs, and provide a forum to share stories of progress and success. Its mandate is to develop recommendations that can reduce barriers that limit women’s participation in business, and to support their professional advancement and assist them in starting and scaling their businesses. The council will continue to release its recommendations, which will ultimately contribute to the increased economic growth, integration and competitiveness of the Canada-United States economy. Those with Distance to the Labor Market Accenture is proud to be a corporate leader in inclusive procurement practices, and we continue to explore new ways and opportunities to promote the inclusion of persons with distance (whether physical, social or cultural) to the labor market on a global scale. Accenture Procurement collaborates on local initiatives across our geographies, engaging entities and individuals who may experience distance from the labor market in recruitment and procurement opportunities. This includes minority-, ethnic- and women-owned businesses and persons with disabilities, visible or otherwise; veterans; refugees; people living away from economic centers; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. We support these groups not only through direct recruitment, but also through agreements with our facilities’ vendors and collaboration with for-profit and nonprofit organizations. In 2017, Accenture was selected as one of the NGLCC’s Best-of-the-Best Corporations for Inclusion, in recognition of our commitment to equality and our actions to incorporate diverse suppliers into our supply chain. We also served as the primary sponsor of NGLCC’s Global Entrepreneurship Week in Washington, DC, and became a corporate member of three NGLCC affiliates—the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Scandinavian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and Vienna- based East Meets West, which focuses on Eastern and Middle Europe. Our involvement with NGLCC, as well as with partner organizations, helps support its goal of creating a more-inclusive marketplace both within the United States and abroad. A LOOK AHEAD In fiscal 2018, we will continue to make progress toward our goals and address our challenges by: • Increasing client connections to help advance inclusion, diversity and sustainability in our ecosystem. • Adopting a new reporting tool to more accurately monitor investments, calculate return and report our global spend with diverse suppliers. 64 SUPPLY CHAIN CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 67. We are very proud to renew our commitment to the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which we signed in 2008. We continue to support the organization’s efforts to advance sustainability, gender equality and human rights. These efforts are well aligned with our commitment to ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility—and make Accenture an even better partner for all of our stakeholders. Pierre Nanterme Chairman CEO PERFORMANCE DATA “ ” 65 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 68. The following table quantifies our progress since fiscal 2013 on key non-financial indicators. Unless specified, all metrics are global in scope, reported on a fiscal year basis, consistent with previously reported figures and cover those of our consolidated entities. All data are consolidated from performance management systems across multiple Accenture teams and vetted through an internal controls process, which includes senior leadership, to ensure they provide an accurate representation of Accenture’s non-financial performance. Accenture at a Glance1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 US $ THOUSANDS Net Revenues2 $28,562,810 $30,002,394 $31,047,931 $32,882,723 $34,850,182 Operating Expenses Excluding Reimbursable Expenses 24,224,130 25,701,882 26,612,062 28,072,278 30,217,573 Operating Income $4,338,680 $4,300,512 $4,435,869 $4,810,445 $4,632,609 Global Headcount at Fiscal Year End (rounded) 275,000 305,000 358,000 384,000 425,000 Our People FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 Total Training Spend (US $ thousands) $878,108 $786,517 $841,440 $940,509 $935,200 Average Training Hours per Employee 50 45 46 46 45 Women in Workforce3, 4 36% 36% 38% 39% 41% Women New Hires3, 4 40% 37% 38% 44% 45% Women Executives3, 5 28% 28% 28% 28% 29% Women Managing Directors3, 6 17% 17% 18% 20% 21% CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP PERFORMANCE DATATABLE 66 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 69. Community Impact1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 People Equipped with Skills to Get a Job or Build a Business (cumulative, rounded) 512,000 815,000 1,243,000 1,720,000 2,230,000 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS BY REGION US $ THOUSANDS North America $8,848 $11,207 $11,009 $12,394 $12,484 Europe 18,813 19,698 17,192 17,439 18,619 Growth Markets 8,760 9,999 15,636 14,903 16,080 Global 10,728 12,355 14,934 14,733 14,436 Total Accenture Contributions $47,148 $53,259 $58,771 $59,468 $61,619 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS BY TYPE US $ THOUSANDS Cash $13,917 $14,833 $20,452 $19,081 $19,638 In-Kind (Accenture Development Partnerships and Pro Bono Consulting) 30,616 35,203 35,562 37,129 38,408 Time (Paid Volunteering) 2,615 3,223 2,757 3,258 3,573 Total Accenture Contributions $47,148 $53,259 $58,771 $59,468 $61,619 Accenture Foundations Contributions7 $12,911 $15,907 $16,509 $9,591 $12,521 Total Accenture and Accenture Foundations Contributions $60,059 $69,166 $75,281 $69,060 $74,140 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS: PERCENTAGE BY REGION PERCENT OF TOTAL North America 19% 21% 19% 21% 20% Europe 40 37 29 29 30 Growth Markets 18 19 27 25 26 Global 23 23 25 25 24 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 67 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 70. Community Impact1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 ACCENTURE CONTRIBUTIONS: PERCENTAGE BY TYPE PERCENT OF TOTAL Cash 29% 28% 35% 32% 32% In-Kind (Accenture Development Partnerships and Pro Bono Consulting) 65 66 60 62 62 Time (Paid Volunteering) 6 6 5 6 6 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Hours of Participation in Accenture-Sponsored “Time Skills” Programs8 518,202 591,800 629,734 700,502 726,303 Employees Participating in Accenture-Sponsored “Time Skills” Programs8 4,618 6,751 5,292 6,422 7,349 Employee Donations (US $ thousands) $6,957 $7,783 $8,781 $9,110 $8,804 Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 Total Carbon Emissions per Employee (metric tons of CO2 )9 2.58 2.28 2.14 2.13 1.96 Reduction in Carbon Emissions per Employee Compared to FY07 Baseline 36% 44% 47% 47% 52% CARBON EMISSIONS BY SOURCE9 METRIC TONS OF CO2 Air Travel 351,328 333,664 372,594 373,316 389,098 Other Business Travel 91,282 100,400 99,694 157,701 157,471 Office Electricity10 232,988 224,211 232,953 259,540 240,008 Other Energy (Natural Gas, Diesel) 8,153 7,136 7,528 6,537 4,436 Total Carbon Emissions 683,751 665,411 712,769 797,094 791,013 68 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 71. Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 CARBON EMISSIONS BY REGION9 METRIC TONS OF CO2 North America 216,403 219,455 231,177 230,897 234,746 Europe 125,255 122,384 130,426 144,307 147,815 Growth Markets 340,882 323,464 351,166 421,890 408,451 Global 1,211 107 0 0 0 Total Carbon Emissions 683,751 665,411 712,769 797,094 791,013 CARBON EMISSIONS BY SCOPE9, 11 METRIC TONS OF CO2 Scope 1 32,155 29,767 26,290 27,203 24,095 Scope 210 232,988 228,030 237,239 263,050 243,773 Scope 3 418,608 407,615 449,240 506,841 523,145 Total Carbon Emissions 683,751 665,411 712,769 797,094 791,013 CARBON EMISSIONS: PERCENTAGE BY SOURCE PERCENT OF TOTAL Air Travel 52% 50% 52% 47% 49% Other Business Travel 13 15 14 20 20 Office Electricity 34 34 33 32 30 Other Energy (Natural Gas, Diesel) 1 1 1 1 1 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 69 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 72. Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 CARBON EMISSIONS: PERCENTAGE BY REGION PERCENT OF TOTAL North America 32% 33% 33% 29% 30% Europe 18 18 18 18 19 Growth Markets 50 49 49 53 51 Global 1 1 0 0 0 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% CARBON EMISSIONS: PERCENTAGE BY SCOPE11 PERCENT OF TOTAL Scope 1 5% 5% 4% 3% 3% Scope 2 34 34 33 33 31 Scope 3 61 61 63 64 66 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Office Electricity Efficiency (kWh / square meter) 213 206 201 196 179 % Improvement in Electricity Efficiency Compared to FY07 Baseline 25% 27% 29% 31% 37% % Electricity from Renewable Sources 12% 16% 20% 18% 21% ENERGY USAGE BY SOURCE9 MWh Electricity 377,377 404,334 435,168 482,869 478,338 Natural Gas 16,684 18,034 21,092 17,166 15,485 Diesel 19,243 13,948 13,047 12,255 5,225 Total Energy Usage 413,304 436,317 469,306 512,290 499,047 70 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 73. Environment1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 ENERGY USAGE: PERCENTAGE BY SOURCE PERCENT OF TOTAL Electricity 91% 93% 93% 94% 96% Natural Gas 4 4 4 3 3 Diesel 5 3 3 3 1 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Total Amount of Electronic Waste Disposed by Accenture (metric tons)12 254 266 180 360 302 Electronic Waste Disposed by Accenture that Avoided Landfill12 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% Total Water Consumption (cubic meters)13 1,934,000 2,191,000 2,179,000 Water Consumption per Employee (cubic meters) 5.81 5.85 5.39 Supply Chain1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 DIVERSE PROCUREMENT SPEND BY TYPE (US ONLY) US $ THOUSANDS Minority-Owned Business $235,200 $255,792 $327,811 $351,468 $355,519 Women-Owned Business 143,214 114,939 117,448 104,948 100,620 Small Business 104,963 75,807 76,573 74,965 81,963 Other Type Business14 38,089 3,571 5,646 9,129 5,649 Total Diverse Procurement Spend (US Only) $521,466 $450,110 $527,479 $540,510 $543,751 71 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 74. Supply Chain1 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 DIVERSE PROCUREMENT SPEND: PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL PROCUREMENT SPEND BY TYPE (US ONLY) PERCENT OF TOTAL PROCUREMENT SPEND Minority-Owned Business 12% 15% 18% 19% 18% Women-Owned Business 8 7 7 6 5 Small Business 6 5 4 4 4 Other Type Business14 2 1 1 1 1 Total (US Only) 27% 27% 30% 29% 27% 1 Some detail numbers may not sum exactly to total number due to rounding. 2 Net revenues excludes reimbursements (for example, travel and out-of-pocket expenses and third-party costs, such as the cost of hardware and software resales). 3 Values reflect our workforce as of December 31 of that year and do not include information from Avanade, a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft that is majority-owned by Accenture. 4 Values for “Women in Workforce” and “Women New Hires” prior to 2015 reflect our workforce as of August 31. 5 “Women Executives” comprises our women managers, senior managers, managing directors, senior managing directors and members of our Global Management Committee. 6 “Women Managing Directors” comprises our women managing directors, senior managing directors and members of our Global Management Committee. 7 Accenture Foundations refers to independent charitable organizations that bear the Accenture name. 8 “Accenture-sponsored ‘Time Skills’ Programs” comprise Accenture Development Partnerships, pro bono consulting and paid volunteering projects. 9 Detailed methodology for carbon emissions and energy usage calculations is available in Accenture’s CDP Climate Change response; 100% of Accenture’s fiscal 2017 Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, as well as a small subset of Scope 3 emissions received a positive statement for a limited assurance review by an independent third party. 10 CO2 emissions related to Scope 2 Office Electricity reflect a market-based accounting approach as defined by the GHG Protocol Scope 2 guidance. In line with the guidance, market-based emissions for office electricity in fiscal 2017 include renewable electricity impacts as well as 3,365 tons of residual non- renewable emissions in Europe. Also in line with the guidance, we report CO2 emissions using a location-based approach, which for fiscal 2017 would be 300,233 tons for Office Electricity and 303,998 tons for Scope 2. 11 Starting in fiscal 2014, we classified Natural Gas usage as Scope 2 emissions from the Scope 1 emissions they had been classified previously. 12 Electronic Waste (e-waste) is the most significant environmental aspect in our waste stream and includes laptops and workstations with disposal method tracked in Accenture’s global asset management system. Other waste streams result primarily from our office-based activities, many of which include recycling services that are both inside and outside our operational control, and overall are not considered to have a significant environmental impact. 13 Fiscal 2017 Total Water Consumption is derived from 65% measured data and estimating the remainder based on average per-workstation consumption from measured locations. 14 “Other Type Business” consists of the following subcategories: Service-Disabled Veteran, Veteran, Historically Underutilized Business Zone, and LGBT. 72 PERFORMANCE DATA CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP REPORT 2017
  • 75. ABOUT ACCENTURE Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 442,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. We welcome your feedback. Copyright ©2018 All rights reserved.