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Workplace Survey
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| Consultant |
Working at a big consulting company like Accenture
provides a wide range of opportunities and experiences. You have
probably all heard the horror stories of ridiculously long hours
working unreasonable managers and difficult clients, and that
certainly does happen at Accenture as well. I have never personally
experienced such a situation, but most of my colleagues have a few
war stories to share over drinks. However, I believe that you can
stay out of situations like these if you want, partly through luck,
yes, but also by clearly expressing your preferences to the people
responsible for staffing you on projects. Initially this will be
your HR representative, but once you have a substantial project or
two under your belt, staffing becomes more related to who you have
worked with in the past and the relationships you form and maintain
with those people. In addition to finding the right roles, it is
also important to clearly set expectations. Many people will
acquiesce to unreasonable demands by poor managers who did not
adequately plan out a project. But if you have already planned
vacation or training activities, or if you are able to get your
work completed during the day, there is no reason to work long
hours or cancel vacation or training if you do not want to do so.
Of course there may be times when you should be accommodating and
willing to go the extra mile to help the team, but overall if you
stand firm and don't back down in the face of pressure, you will be
respected for it and your managers will not run all over you and
your free time. Also, while there is certainly some portion of the
workforce that is inconsiderate of others' personal life and plans,
the vast majority (>80%) of people have been in your situation
and are willing to work with you to find an acceptable solution.
Accenture has a strong committment to diversity. In the past two
years they created a new office of the Chief Diversity Officer.
This role was created to strengthen an existing collection of
networking groups in major offices across the US. Some of the
networking groups that have existed in the Houston office of
Accenture are the African American NG, Asian American NG, Women's
NG, Hispanic NG, Gay and Lesbian NG, and Experienced Joiner NG. The
networking groups formerly were controlled very much at a local
level, with an emphasis on both networking for the groups they
represent and also exposing all members of the office to the issues
faced by these different groups in the workplace. More recently,
there has been more of a push for national coordination of the
various networking groups. The Gay and Lesbian Networking group
(established in 2001 in 10 cities, initially) now conducts national
conference calls to discuss issues and is working to compile a
reference guide for professionals that are sent to work in a city
other than their home office. Dress code at Accenture follows the
dress code of your client. You are always expected to adhere to
your client's dress code, and sometimes even look a little bit
nicer (not difficult at some clients). In 3+ years I have never had
to wear a suit, and most often I wear business casual. At some
clients I have been allowed to wear jeans and polo shirts. In the
Accentue office, the dress code is business casual except Fridays
when jeans are allowed. There are two main career paths to follow
at Accenture if you are in the consulting side of the business. All
career paths (except experienced hires) follow the same path up to
a certain point. The progression is Analyst, Consultant, Manager,
Senior Manager. Senior Managers can get promoted to either
Associate Partners or Partners. Associate Partners should be seen
more as execution types. There are the people good at running
engagements or conducting studies and benchmarks. APs have some
emphasis on selling work (as do Senior Managers and even Managers
up for promotion), but the majority of the sales responsibility
falls on Partners. In lean times this job can sometimes be
comparable to a used car salesman - partners try to develop a
relationship with their clients and sell work off of that alone at
times. Additionally, when a new concept or offering is developed
and circulated around the firm, partners are responsible for trying
to sell it to their clients. This can be especially challenging
when the clients do not have the money or the inclination to hire
consultants. Of course the partners and their teams are responsible
for analyzing how these offerings could be applied for thier
clients, and they would (sometimes should) not even propose the
offering if they could not develop a strong business case. The
current timeframe for promotions is 2 years as an Analyst, 3-4
years as a Consultant, 3-5 years as a Manager, and another 2-4
years as a Senior Manager. So a very good employee could make
Partner in about 10 years (sometimes less, especially with previous
work experience), while it may take another individual closer to 15
years to make Partner or - more likely - AP. The keys to advancing
quickly and doing well at Accenture are quickly developing an area
of expertise, and developing a reputation for knowledge and ability
among the leaders in your client group, service line, and office
location. Ideally you can find someone who will be a strong
advocate for you throughout the ranking and promotions process. The
more influence this person has in the company, the better. Do not
hesitate to seek out someone at a high level and ask them to take
an active interest in your career. Having a partner pushing on your
behalf will likely accomplish more than having even a dedicated
Senior Manager as your advocate. In order for this person to feel
comfortable standing up for you, you need to develop a personal
relationship and also demonstrate exceptional performance and
knowledge. You can choose to specialize in an industry or in a
technology or particular skill (or it can sometimes choose you).
Accenture consulting was formerly broken down into four main
groups, Process, Technology, Operational and Human Performance, and
Strategy. Technology and OHP types will often focus on developing a
skill that can be applied at a number of different clients on many
different engagements. Strategy types (this group is still separate
at ACN) will do the same to some degree, but can also focus on
developing deep knowledge of a particular industry. Process types
can also either focus on a particular industry segment, or on
improving business processes for a variety of clients, such as
Supply Chain or CRM. |
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