This Best Practice was first published in the Gender Intelligence Report 2023.
At Accenture, we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential to our success. However, we acknowledge that we still have a long way to go when it comes to gender equality, particularly at senior levels. To address this challenge, we have introduced a returnship program called EMBARK. This program is designed to attract experienced women who are reentering the workforce after a career break. We understand that women may need to refresh their skills and rebuild their confidence after a break and EMBARK provides them with the necessary tools and support to do so.
As part of our commitment to unlocking the full potential of every Accenture employee, we proudly sponsored the artwork ‘Superpower Advancine‘ by Isabelle Friedmann for International Women’s Day 2023, organized by Advance – Gender Equality in Business. This inspiring sculpture symbolizes our belief in the extraordinary abilities and talents possessed by each individual. It serves as a reminder that, at Accenture, we are dedicated to unleashing these superpowers and empowering every employee to have a fulfilling career.
Our overall ambition with EMBARK is to contribute to our gender balance targets by finding top talent among women. We understand that at a certain stage in their careers, women are more likely to quit and are also harder to recruit, often because of family priorities. Returning to work afterwards can then be a real challenge, despite the ambition of women to do so. To address these challenges, EMBARK provides women with the confidence they need to re-enter the workforce smoothly. The program is composed of a specific recruitment process, followed by a three-month upskilling with work shadowing, training, and mentoring. Recruits are fully paid from day 1 and can choose to work part-time.
We launched a recruiting campaign on LinkedIn, which resonated very well. We received over 150 applications for open positions in Switzerland. Candidates spoke highly of the program, stating that they never thought Accenture would be interested in profiles like theirs. One candidate shared that “it is the first time that I have not tried to hide my career break and feel comfortable speaking about it in an interview.”
At Accenture, a career break is viewed as an enriching experience that contributes positively to an individual’s professional profile. We received applications from women with extensive experience, bringing skills and industry insights that would be of great value to our team.
We decided to start small to test and learn about the initiative, with three new recruits joining our Strategy and Consulting team based out of Geneva and Basel. They have now completed their upskilling journey and are fully part of our team.
Strategy & Consulting Manager, EMBARK Program Co-Lead at Accenture
We have learned that each recruit needs to have their own journey, which is why we appointed a tailored ‘EMBARK committee’ for each one of them.
This means they have an appointed mentor to guide them in their daily work, a career coach for career guidance, and other support as needed. We also made sure to staff them on projects that would fit their expectations and respect work-life balance and changed the assignments if it turned out not to be the case. Having support from senior leadership was also key, from recruitment to onboarding and now in the program scaling decisions.
We are committed to expanding the reach of EMBARK and plan to scale it across all Accenture services and extend it to other countries, beginning with Germany in 2023. We also hope to inspire other companies to launch similar programs as a key solution to address gender equality in the workplace, quickly and effectively. By collaborating and sharing best practices, we can make significant progress in bridging the gender gap at all levels. Strong leadership support is essential for shaping and implementing these programs. We also advise a test-and-learn approach by piloting the program in a few teams before scaling it across the organization, to foster buy-in by communicating the pilot results.
Our goal is to empower women to reach their full potential, normalize career breaks, and break the glass ceiling that often hinders women’s career advancement. We also believe in normalizing career breaks so that all genders are encouraged to take them, without fear of judgment or negative consequences.
If you’re interested in implementing a returnship program, we recommend reading the Returnship Guide ‘From Break to Breakthrough: Navigating Returnship Programs in Switzerland’, which features Accenture’s EMBARK initiative. This comprehensive guide provides valuable insights, including Accenture’s experiences and recommendations, along with other relevant case studies and strategies. Download the Returnship Guide to discover valuable insights that can help you successfully implement a returnship program.
Marine Poylo and Matthieu Nahed are happy to provide further information as well as share further learnings and tips on EMBARK. Please feel free to contact them at marine.poylo@accenture.com and matthieu.nahed@accenture.com.
Discover the EMBARK Program video:
This Best Practice was first published in the Gender Intelligence Report 2023.
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