EQUALITY = INNOVATION
Creating a culture that drives innovation through equality principles
EQUALITY = INNOVATION Getting to Equal 2019: Creating a culture that drives innovation
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The secret to innovation? Your workplace culture. Innovation equals survival. It’s well documented that in This means that building a culture of equality this age of widespread disruption, companies must (measured by the 40 specific workplace factors innovate continuously, creating new markets, Accenture research identified last year) is not just an experiences, products, services, content or processes. ethical imperative, but a business priority. So how can leaders encourage innovation? It’s more If organizations want to thrive, they have to “get to than recruiting the brightest minds. While having the equal.” best talent is clearly an asset, people need the right The power of a workplace culture of equality to drive culture to flourish. employees’ innovation mindset—or their willingness Accenture has found that a culture and ability to innovate—is strong. It has more impact of equality—the same kind of than age or gender and leads to an increase in workplace environment that helps innovation mindset in all industries and all countries. In fact, employees’ innovation mindset is six times everyone advance to higher higher in the most-equal cultures than in the least- positions—is a powerful multiplier of equal ones. innovation and growth. Innovation also equals economic potential. Among the more than 18,000 employees in 27 countries 2 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
surveyed, we found that people are more willing and able to innovate in faster-growing economies and in geographies with higher labor-productivity growth. And the stakes are enormous: Accenture calculates that global gross domestic product would increase by up to US$8 trillion by 2028 if innovation mindset in all countries were raised by 10 percent. No matter who or where they are, if people feel a sense of belonging and are valued by their employers for their unique contributions, perspectives and circumstances, they are empowered to innovate more. 3 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
What is a culture of equality? A culture of equality is one where most of the 40 factors that influence Empowering Bold Comprehensive advancement at work are present. Where more of these are present, Environment Leadership Action employees are more likely to advance and thrive. We’ve grouped these factors, which were identified One that trusts A diverse leadership Policies and practices in last year’s Getting to Equal employees, respects team that sets, that are family- research, When She Rises, We All Rise, into three pillars: individuals and offers shares and friendly, support all the freedom to be measures equality genders and are bias- creative and to train targets openly. free in attracting and and work flexibly. retaining people. SEE FULL LIST IN APPENDIX 4 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
What is an innovation mindset? Innovation mindset is a new way to measure an individual’s The six elements of an innovation mindset: ability and willingness to innovate. It is enabled by six key elements which are based on extensive sources, including academic and business research and Accenture-owned Purpose Resources Collaboration diagnostic tools and thought leadership. We surveyed employees about their experience with these six Alignment Having the tools, Working with elements in their workplaces, e.g., we asked about the extent to around and time and other which “I am encouraged to look for inspiration outside my support for the incentives departments or in organization” (Inspiration) or “The purpose of the organization purpose of the necessary to fluid, cross- makes me proud to work here” (Purpose). organization. innovate. function teams. The more strongly a person agreed that these elements apply, the higher their innovation mindset score. Autonomy Inspiration Experimentation Using an econometric model, we were then able to show how Tapping into Experimenting with an innovation mindset would change if people worked in Being shown a more-equal cultures: as culture improves, innovation mindset clear mandate for inspiration from new ideas quickly improves. For every 10 percent improvement in culture factors, change—and beyond the without fear of innovation mindset increases by 10.6 percent. The change is being trusted to organization. failure. underpinned by all three pillars of our workplace culture-of- follow through. equality factors, but it’s the empowerment factors that have the strongest impact. 5 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
A strong case for mixing business and culture. One example of a company committed to—and benefiting from—a culture of equality is Mastercard. Its stock soared over 35 percent last year, and the We’re in an industry where technology and company is growing rapidly here and abroad as it innovation flow around you all the time. If you focuses on ushering in a cashless society. Mastercard surround yourself with people who look like you, President and CEO Ajay Banga leads with a walk like you, talk like you, went to the same compelling metaphor: “I will create the feeling of my schools as you and had the same experiences, hand at your back, not in your face, and then you you’ll have the very same blind spots. You’ll miss should run with it. When you’re on a level playing field, the same trends, curves in the road and you can win what you’re capable of winning—and you opportunities.” deserve every single win that you get.” “Diversity is built into the core of what we do,” Ajay Banga, President and CEO, Banga says. Indeed, the company boasts twice the Mastercard number of women in leadership as other companies in the S&P 500. 6 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Banga cultivates a bright, diverse workforce, but he’s also looking for something he calls a high Innovation mindset is six times higher in D.Q.—Decency Quotient. the most-equal cultures than in the least- “We want a winning culture with decency at its equal ones. core.” For Banga, decency is about being there for employees and engendering trust between them. Trust, he says, breeds innovation: “If you want things to happen, everyone has got to be open and trusting.” Banga’s leadership philosophy is validated by the new Accenture research: When employees work in more-equal cultures, they’re much more likely to 6x have a stronger innovation mindset. In fact, in the most-equal cultures, employees’ innovation mindset is six times higher than in the least-equal ones. MOST EQUAL LEAST EQUAL 7 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
But even companies that have some, but not most, Employees in the most-equal cultures see of the culture-of-equality factors could gain a great deal from being more like the best: An innovation fewer barriers to innovating. mindset is twice as high in the most-equal companies than in typical ones. It’s a powerful Percent of respondents who answered “Nothing incentive for these organizations to take the leap stops me from innovating.” from “ok” to “truly equal.” What else do employees in most-equal cultures have in common with one another? For one thing, they see fewer barriers to innovating at work. And they’re also less afraid to fail. 40% 21% 7% Culture’s power to unleash innovation is blind to industry, country and various workforce demographics. Among those surveyed, people across all genders, sexual identities, ages and ethnicities show a stronger innovation mindset in MOST EQUAL TYPICAL LEAST EQUAL more-equal workplace cultures. Against every factor we tested, culture wins. 8 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Employees in the most-equal cultures are less afraid to fail. Percent of respondents who answered “agree” and “strongly agree.” I sometimes fail when I innovate I am not afraid to fail in the pursuit of innovation 75% 85% 56% 57% 41% 36% Most Equal Typical Least Equal 9 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
DIVERSITY IS A CRITICAL BUILDING BLOCK
A culture of equality is a multiplier. Organizations know that fostering diversity—the follows: a diverse leadership team as well as teams extent to which members of a company’s throughout the organization that are diverse across workforce, including the leadership team, differ gender, age, industry/organizational/cultural from each other in terms of age, ability, ethnicity, backgrounds. gender, gender identity or expression, religion or While companies might be hitting their “numbers” sexual orientation—is important. in terms of diversity, they might not be building a Diversity remains a critical building block to true culture of equality. A culture of equality, which unleashing innovation. However, a culture of offers an Empowering Environment, Bold equality is an essential multiplier to help maximize Leadership and Comprehensive Action, enables innovation. While the impact of diversity factors people from all backgrounds to succeed. alone on an innovation mindset is significant, it is That’s because in a culture of equality, people are much higher when combined with a culture of truly valued for their differences and free to be who equality. In the most-equal and diverse cultures, an they are. They’re not just there to check a box— innovation mindset is 11 times greater than in the they’re empowered to contribute. least-equal and diverse cultures. For the purpose of this research, we defined diversity factors as 11 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Diversity positively influences an innovation Equality drives innovation: Procter & Gamble mindset, and equality is the multiplier. One of Procter & Gamble’s priorities is creating a culture that empowers all employees to “perform at The combined effect of culture-of-equality and diversity their peak” to help lead the innovation, brand- factors on innovation mindset. building and digital transformation of their industry. To achieve this, company leadership has rolled out programs dedicated to achieving equal MOST-EQUAL representation of women at every level and arming AND DIVERSE employees with the skills and experiences they CULTURES 11X need to bring disruptive ideas to the table. These GREATER include their Women’s Accelerator Program and Athena in Action—initiatives that engage high- potential women at critical career points to prepare them for senior roles. Additionally, the company’s Intentionally Inclusive Leadership Training program teaches employees how to identify and overcome bias. As one of the world’s largest advertisers, P&G also leverages its voice in advertising and media to tackle bias, spark conversations and promote equality through campaigns such as Always LEAST-EQUAL #LikeAGirl, Ariel #ShareTheLoad and Gillette’s We AND DIVERSE Believe. CULTURES 12 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
A LEADER-EMPLOYEE INNOVATION DISCONNECT
Accenture research shows the strength of the innovation-culture connection. How are people Business leaders say they empower perceiving the link between workplace environment employees to innovate—but employees and innovation today? are less likely to agree. Nearly everyone wants—and needs—to innovate. Ninety-five percent of business leaders see innovation as vital to competitiveness and business viability, and 76% Business leaders who say they empower 91 percent of employees want to be innovative. employees to innovate But while 76 percent of leaders say they regularly empower employees to be innovative, only 42 percent of employees agree. Why such a disconnect? It seems that leaders mistakenly believe that some encourage innovation more than they actually do. For instance, they 42% Employees who feel empowered to overestimate financial rewards (which are nevertheless innovate still important) and underestimate purpose as a motivator to innovate. 14 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
In fact, the impact of improving culture on innovation When it comes to driving innovation, mindset is 42 times greater than the impact of increasing pay is considerably less effective increasing salary. than bolstering a more-equal culture. Leaders value prospective employees’ educational backgrounds, but it’s not enough to hire people Percent increase in innovation mindset of a 10% increase in with impressive résumés. pay vs. a 10% increase in workplace culture factors. Having employees with an advanced degree or who have studied a STEM subject at college has a less powerful impact on workers’ willingness and ability Workplace to innovate than culture factors do. Average pay culture factors Leaders should bridge the innovation gap by 0.25% 10.6% concentrating on a culture of equality. 15 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Equality drives innovation: Microsoft Over the past five years, Microsoft has set about reinventing monthly all-company Q&A with CEO Satya Nadella and his itself and is once again one of the most valuable companies in leadership team. Employees are encouraged to take an active the world today. This re-emergence has manifested in different role—working with their managers—to chart the career path ways, including a strategic shift toward cloud computing. But that is right for them, and managers in turn are given tools and this resurgence would not be occurring if it weren’t for the training that help them be better leaders for their teams. This strength of its evolving culture, which underpins everything the evolving culture can perhaps best be seen during Microsoft’s company is doing today. One Week event, when employees from around the world This culture evolution is grounded in the fundamental belief that come together each July for a week of collaboration, inclusion throughout the organization, from executives and partnership and learning opportunities. The event is highlighted managers to employees around the world, is table stakes for by a three-day Hackathon where thousands of employees work innovation. It means that every employee be their best self at on small teams creating new technology solutions and work and apply a growth mindset to help Microsoft be more products—many of which are designed for social good. responsive to the needs of both customers and employees. This Microsoft’s shift from a “know it all” culture to a “learn it all” can be seen in everything from the company’s “core priority” on culture has invited an entirely new world of potential for the inclusion for all employees; to posters and signage that company, producing game-changing innovations and a more encourage people to invite in new ideas and foster creativity; to empathetic workplace. From its augmented reality HoloLens to Microsoft’s “Outside In” program, in which luminaries and artificial intelligence for the visually impaired, Microsoft is thought leaders from all walks of life are invited to the making the world a better place. But it started with making company’s Redmond campus to meet with employees; to a Microsoft a better company first. 16 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
EQUALITY = EMPOWERMENT
A key innovation driver in a culture of equality. What is it about a culture of equality that matters most to innovation? Equality drives innovation: Faurecia Again, a culture of equality is anchored by three Faurecia understands that innovation is at the heart of the pillars: an Empowering Environment (one that trusts engine driving its leadership in an automotive technology employees, respects individuals and offers freedom space that’s changing rapidly. To stay on the cutting edge, to be creative and to train and work flexibly), Bold the company is fully invested in the growth and Leadership (a diverse leadership team that sets, development of its talented workforce. Faurecia Learning shares and measures equality targets openly), and Lab offers managers and professionals rich, advanced Comprehensive Action (policies and practices that programs using digital tools to build their skills and better prepare them for new challenges. Complementing the vast are family-friendly, support all genders and are bias- array of training options is the company’s coaching and free in attracting and retaining people). mentoring programs for helping younger, emerging leaders. It turns out that of those three, an Empowering In two years the Learning Lab has already helped train more Environment is by far the most important when it than 47,000 employees. As a result, Faurecia remains at the forefront of the industry, leading the way in creating the comes to enabling innovation. In fact, eight of the “Cockpit of the Future” by developing the innovations that 10 strongest factors underpinning innovation are will make vehicles more intuitive, connected and about empowerment. personalized. 18 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
The impact of the top 10 workplace culture factors on an innovation mindset. 8 of the 10 strongest drivers are about empowerment The organization provides training to keep its employees’ skills relevant Virtual/remote working is widely available and is common practice Company training times and formats are flexible Supervisors respond favorably to flexible working requests Employees have the freedom to be creative Empowering and innovative Enviroment Leaders set a positive example around work- Bold life balance Leadership The organization has made progress on building a Comprehensive workplace where no one feels excluded Action Participation in women’s network is open to men and women The organization respects employees’ needs to balance work with other commitments Leadership team is diverse 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Percent improvement in innovation mindset 19 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga’s “hand at the back” credo empowers his people. But he stresses that it’s a company-wide effort and If you wander around the corridors and ask shared sense of purpose that has helped people what excites them about this company, Mastercard thrive as a more-equal culture and as a you will hear them say our social messaging, our corporation. financial inclusion, decency quotient—you’ll get Mastercard is innovating in the area of financial all these answers in some form or other.” inclusion, helping to provide access and tools to 2 billion people in the world without a bank account. Ajay Banga, President and CEO, “We’ve reached 380 million people as of now. I Mastercard think we have a line of sight to 500 million,” Banga says. “The idea is to make it happen everywhere, When the right tone is set from the top and from Africa to Brazil to Eastern Europe.” everyone in an organization is empowered, trusted It’s a business priority that is perfectly aligned with, and armed with a mission, together they can unlock and driven by, Mastercard’s culture of equality. unprecedented opportunity. 20 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
A ROADMAP TO UNLEASHING INNOVATION
Ready to build a culture of equality where people can thrive and create? Companies should have an inclusion and diversity (I&D) strategy in place, one synchronized with the Empowering Environment CLICK overall business strategy. An I&D strategy will form a TO READ + Purpose + Autonomy MORE critical foundation on which leaders can take action and drive progress. Here we’ve identified complementary drivers of a Bold Leadership CLICK culture of equality and of an innovation mindset to TO READ help you focus your efforts. These three broad + Experimentation + Resources MORE recommendations reinforce each other in a virtuous circle, meaning that their impact as a whole is greater than the sum of their parts. Leaders should Comprehensive Action CLICK TO READ keep in mind that some actions have a particularly + Inspiration + Collaboration MORE strong effect on an innovation mindset. 22 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Empowering Environment Equality drives innovation: Marriott International + Purpose + Autonomy At Marriott International, unlocking innovation means empowering the future leaders of tomorrow. That’s why the company launched Training, greater flexibility and commitment to work-life balance the Voyage Global Leadership Development are the most powerful drivers of an innovation mindset. This area program—an award-winning program offering is where there is the greatest opportunity for impact, as it resources and support for future company accounts for 70 percent of innovation mindset gains. Employees leaders across Marriott International’s hotel are empowered by a shared sense of purpose paired with brands. Additionally, the company’s Emerging autonomy, which helps them reach their individual potential. Leaders program has rapidly accelerated the advancement of women and minorities to Get clear on purpose: Ensure that employees know the purpose senior leadership positions. Marriott of their organization and how their work aligns with it. International’s deep commitment to the professional development of its diverse Fiercely promote flexible working: Have the leadership team set a employee population has allowed it to put positive example around work-life balance. Use technology to enable innovation at the center of its growth strategy. people to have more say over where, when and how they work. It continues to reshape travel and leisure and attract the next generation of travelers by Train effectively: Offer employees engaging and flexible training launching new brands, creating tech-centric programs so they can acquire skills for the future. guest experiences and fostering unique Let people be themselves: Don’t ask employees to conform when partnerships, including one with Alibaba in China. it comes to appearance; encourage inclusion in every way. 23 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Bold Leadership Equality drives innovation: Duke Energy Building and enabling a diverse workforce is a critical element of Duke Energy’s commitment + Experimentation to delivering for its customers and its business. Central to these efforts are training and + Resources education to help employees unlock their full potential. Through grants awarded by the Duke Culture starts at the top. Setting and publishing diversity targets, Energy Foundation, the company is investing in workforce education and training programs holding the leadership team accountable and measuring progress that prepare future workers to develop are critical steps. Leaders must give employees the resources they innovative solutions for the energy industry’s need to innovate and the freedom to fail. most pressing challenges. Additionally, the company offers unconscious-bias training— Prioritize diversity and equality: Establish diversity, equal pay and already completed by the company’s top 500 advancement goals. leaders—which provides a step-by-step system Make leaders accountable: Track progress and make leaders for mitigating biases. Duke Energy’s deep accountable. commitment to building a culture rooted in equality and professional enrichment is Set up to innovate: Design-in the necessary time, space, resources empowering the company to introduce and technologies needed to innovate and continually encourage breakthrough technologies, from drone and reward innovation. technology and hydro plants to energy storage innovation, and helping it lead the way in Encourage risk-taking: Ensure that employees know they have the creating a cleaner, more reliable energy future. freedom to experiment, and help them learn from their failures. 24 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Comprehensive Action Equality drives innovation: Fast Retailing Fast Retailing believes it takes the bold thinking of an inclusive workforce to manufacture top- + Inspiration + Collaboration quality clothing. That’s why its Diversity and Inclusion Office has a mission to ensure the Forward-looking policies and practices are important, but they must hiring of more diverse individuals and also be evenly accessible to ensure that individuals or groups don’t encourage their advancement. The company is feel singled out or held back. When employees are inspired by those working to hire more women, eradicate inside and outside the organization, their commitment to living the discrimination in the workplace, and champion persons with disabilities—a commitment company’s core values, and for collaborating with one another, exemplified by its goal to hire at least one grows. person with a disability in each of its stores in Send a loud and broad signal: For example, encourage all new Japan. These comprehensive efforts, which parents, not just birth mothers, to take leave. started in its headquarters in Japan, are now spreading throughout the global organization. Cross-train and rearrange teams: Use work rotations, temporary In addition, the company’s new sustainability assignments or horizontal career moves to give people opportunities statement, “Unlocking the Power of Clothing,” to grow skills and to share knowledge across the organization. has challenged all employees to enrich people’s lives and society as a whole, in large Use networks: Encourage collaboration and support through part by producing built-to-last clothes with networks for your employees. digital technology that minimizes environmental impact. Look outward: Bring the outside in. Encourage people to develop external networks and partnerships and to attend events where they meet others and hear new ideas. 25 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
METHODOLOGY
The 40 factors that influence advancement and characterize a culture of equality. Bold Leadership Comprehensive Action • G ender diversity is a priority for management • Progress has been made in attracting, retaining • A diversity target or goal is shared outside the and progressing women organization • The company has a women’s network open only • The organization clearly states gender pay gap to women goals and ambitions • The company has a women’s network that is • P rogress on gender diversity is measured and open to both women and men shared with employees • Men are encouraged to take parental leave • L eaders are held accountable for improving • Employees trust that the organization pays gender diversity women and men equally for the same work • A diversity target or goal is shared inside the • The proportion of women in senior leadership organization has increased over the last five years • The leadership team is diverse 27 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
• The organization is fully committed to hiring, Empowering Environment progressing and retaining women • Employees have never been asked to change • P rogress has been made in improving gender their appearance to conform to company culture equality in senior leadership • Employees have the freedom to be creative and • There is a clear maternity policy in place innovative • Women are encouraged to take maternity leave • Virtual/remote working is widely available and is • There is a clear parental policy in place common practice • The organization hires people from a variety of • The organization provides training to keep its backgrounds employees’ skills relevant • Leaders take action to get more women into • Employees can avoid overseas or long-distance senior roles travel via virtual meetings • Employees can work from home on a day when they have a personal commitment • Employees are comfortable reporting sexual discrimination/harassment incident(s) to the company • Employees feel trusted and are given responsibility 28 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
• Employees have the freedom to be themselves at • Supervisors respond favorably to flexible working work requests • Leadership has a positive attitude toward failure • The organization respects employees’ needs to • Leaders set a positive example around work-life balance work with other commitments balance • The organization has made progress on building • Networking events with company leaders take a workplace where no one feels excluded place during office hours • Employees can decline a request to work late without negative consequences • Employees can decline a request to attend early- morning/late-evening meetings without negative consequences • S exual discrimination/harassment is not tolerated • The company has made progress in reducing tolerance of sex discrimination or gender-biased language • Company training times and formats are flexible 29 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
About the research The Accenture research program was built on three proprietary research initiatives: An established methodology for measuring the culture of the workplace, developed for our 2018 study, When She Rises, We All Rise. An online workforce survey of 18,200 professionals in 27 countries. Conducted in October 2018, the survey used quotas to ensure a good representation across companies of different sizes and across genders. A phone survey of 152 C-suite executives, conducted by phone in eight countries in November and December 2018. 30 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Measuring the relationship between culture and innovation mindset. We know that a more-equal workplace culture 01 Measure employees’ workplace culture enables everyone to thrive and advance at work. We began by measuring the workplace But does a more-equal workplace culture enable culture of employees using the approach we employees to be more innovative? We built on the developed for our 2018 study. We asked the research we conducted for When She Rises, We All 18,200 professionals in our survey about the Rise, using insights from a new employee survey 40 workplace culture factors that influence and econometric modelling to understand the their advancement. We identified those relationship between workplace cultures and working in the most-equal cultures (top 10 employees’ willingness and ability to be percent of score), the least equal (bottom 10 innovative—their innovation mindset. We did so in percent) and in typical workplace cultures. four steps. 31 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
02 Measure employees’ innovation mindset 04 Estimate the value of innovation mindset Next, we measured the innovation mindset of the Plotting the aggregated innovation mindset employees in our survey. Innovation mindset—the scores for each country against the GDP and willingness and ability of employees to be labor productivity growth rates for the same innovative at work—is a score, ranging from 0 to countries (using data from the World Bank, 100, derived from their answers to a series of 31 the International Labor Organization and questions. Oxford Economics) reveals a strong positive correlation between higher innovation mindset scores and growth. We used these relationship rates to estimate the impact on 03 Determine the relationship between workplace global GDP of improving innovation mindset culture and innovation mindset scores. We built an econometric regression model to identify the strength and statistical significance of the relationship between workplace culture and employees’ innovation mindset. As workplace culture improves, innovation mindset gets stronger. 32 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
In honor of his legacy, and with everlasting gratitude to our former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Pierre Nanterme. “We believe that the future workforce is an equal one, and our ambition is to be the most inclusive and diverse company in the world. We embrace our diversity as a source of innovation, creativity and competitive differentiation.” Pierre Nanterme 1959 – 2019 33 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Authors Ellyn Shook Julie Sweet Chief Leadership & Chief Executive Officer – Human Resources North America, Accenture Officer, Accenture Ellyn is responsible for helping the company’s 469,000 people succeed both Julie leads Accenture’s business in the United States—the company’s largest professionally and personally. Her global team of HR leaders and experts is market—and Canada. She is also a member of Accenture’s Global reimagining leadership and talent practices—including innovative uses of Management Committee. technology to unlock people’s potential—to create the most truly human A leader on issues including innovation, technology’s impact on business, work environment in the digital age. These help fuel the organization’s and inclusion and diversity, Julie serves on the board of the Business differentiation in the market and ability to improve the way the world works Roundtable and chairs its Technology Committee. She also serves on the and lives. She frequently advises clients who seek to learn from the large- Catalyst board of directors, is a member of the TechNet Executive Council, scale talent transformation she’s led within Accenture. and is co-chair of the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of A member of the company’s Global Management Committee and Investment Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. In 2018, she was named to Committee, Ellyn is a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity. She serves FORTUNE’s list of “Most Powerful Women” for the third consecutive year. on the board of trustees at Harvey Mudd College, the Women’s Leadership Prior to assuming her current position in 2015, Julie served as Accenture’s Board of the Women and Public Policy program at Harvard’s Kennedy School, general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer. Before joining and the steering committee of Paradigm for Parity. She is active in Women in Accenture in 2010, she was a partner in the Corporate department of the law America and Ellevate Women’s Network and is also a member of the HR50 firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. division of World50. A 2015 article in Forbes.com named Ellyn one of the top 10 CHROs. She is a Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts from Claremont McKenna College and a Juris recognized thought leader, author and frequent speaker on the topics of Doctor from Columbia Law School. She is married and has two daughters. future workforce and inclusion and diversity. Ellyn holds a Bachelor of Science from Purdue University. 34 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
Acknowledgments Project Leads Project Team Barbara Harvey Agata Dowbor [email protected] Helen Harrison Dominic King Annemarie Reed Haralds Robeznieks [email protected] Ana Ruiz Hernanz Joanna Syczewska Jonathan Thomas 35 GETTING TO EQUAL 2019: CREATING A CULTURE THAT DRIVES INNOVATION
About Accenture About Accenture Research Accenture is a leading global professional services company, Accenture Research shapes trends and creates data-driven providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, insights about the most pressing issues global organizations consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining face. Combining the power of innovative research techniques unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than with a deep understanding of our clients’ industries, our team of 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned by the 300 researchers and analysts spans 20 countries and publishes world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at the hundreds of reports, articles and points of view every year. Our intersection of business and technology to help clients improve thought-provoking research—supported by proprietary data and their performance and create sustainable value for their partnerships with leading organizations, such as MIT and stakeholders. With 469,000 people serving clients in more than Harvard—guides our innovations and allows us to transform 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way theories and fresh ideas into real-world solutions for our clients. the world works and lives. For more information, visit www.accenture.com/research Visit us at www.accenture.com Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All right reserved. Accenture and its logo are registered trademarks of Accenture. This document makes descriptive reference to trademarks that may be owned by others. The use of such trademarks herein is not an assertion of ownership of such trademarks by Accenture and is not intended to represent or imply the existence of an association between Accenture and the lawful owners of such trademarks.