If a client wanted you to be on site for five days a week, that’s what you did. Until recently, the client dictated the rules. Achieving this requires a shift in mindset. With frictionless working you can take your laptop anywhere and continue with your tasks while enjoying the same opportunities and comfort you would have at the office. We are now all ready to embark on a new adventure, which I refer to as the ‘new new way of working’, or in Accenture terms: ‘frictionless future of work’.

Some of our clients weren’t as well equipped for these changes, and we helped many of them embrace flexibility throughout the pandemic. We were already used to a flexible work approach, so for the most part we were able to continue as before.

And I’m pleased to say that they were quite successful.ĬOVID-19 didn’t disrupt the way we work at Accenture as much as it did at many other companies. We launched several programs and initiatives aimed at preventing people from feeling disconnected, lonely, stressed or otherwise unhappy. Our key priority has always been ensuring everyone stays motivated, connected and healthy. All the challenges brought on by COVID-19 raised many interesting HR-related queries and concerns. From an HR perspective, it’s been an interesting year. Little did we know that Holland would be going into lockdown again only one month later. When I started in my new role in September, people had just started returning to the office and were under the impression that life was going back to ‘normal’. Thanks to COVID-19, the past year was obviously quite different from what I had anticipated. As sorry as I was to see my predecessor Judith (with whom I’m still very close) leave, I was also very ready to take on the challenge and start this new chapter in my career. Having achieved this goal certainly fills me with pride. I clearly remember being asked what my ultimate goal was during one of my first interviews, and my answer was that I hoped to be the HR director of a big company like Accenture one day. When I was approached for the position of HR Director, I was over the moon. And we’ve achieved this not only because we genuinely want to be inclusive, but also because we have witnessed for ourselves that diverse teams really are more creative and high-performing. Inclusiveness has always been high on our agenda, but I personally feel that we are now the open, welcoming company that we have aspired to be for a long time.

I’ve enjoyed watching the company evolve into a human-centered business that is truly open to anyone. I thought, ‘If I’m going to enter the corporate world, what better place to do it than Accenture?’ Well, I got what I was hoping for – and then some! I loved working in such a fast-paced environment where I was always surrounded by smart, ambitious people.Īll that said, Accenture is now very different to the company it was 15 years ago. I liked that the company was American, and its corporate character certainly appealed to me. I had just graduated with my master’s in sociology when a friend alerted me to a job vacancy at Accenture. That certainly applies to me joining Accenture nearly 15 years ago. I believe that some things happen for a reason and you find your way as it unfolds. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing or do anything in my life differently. I definitely don’t perceive this as something negative.

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