How Accenture achieves its social ESG goals with Move To Happiness

Accenture is a global services company that offers solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and outsourcing. It serves as a bridge between business and technology, helping its clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for stakeholders. Accenture operates in more than 120 countries and employs over 743,000 people. Thus, having a robust internal policy is essential to keeping all employees satisfied. 

The initial strategy and pain points 

Before partnering with Move To Happiness (MTH), Accenture was already implementing its own well-being and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) policies globally. These initiatives encouraged employees to lead healthier lives, provided training opportunities, and offered support for new hires. However, there were certain hiccups within Accenture's social policy. Issues arose when attempting to centralize and synchronize the various streams of activity (sport, mental health, diversity, sustainability, …). As Jasper Flachs, Co-Team Lead of the We Empower Move-Eat-Feel team at Accenture Belgium, explains: 

"We were essentially working in silos. Each team was focused on its own stream, but often we didn't know what others were doing. For instance, each team had its own mailing lists to share initiatives." 

This fragmented communication led to confusion among employees, who struggled to find relevant information. Previous collaborations with other partners only engaged a small subset of employees, limiting overall engagement. 

Choosing Move To Happiness 

Accenture discovered Move To Happiness through an external recommendation, and the alignment was evident from the start. The existing policy seamlessly integrated with the various programs and pillars developed by Move To Happiness within the Social aspect of ESG. Particularly MTH's focus on engagement was appealing to Accenture, as they wanted as many as possible employees to be involved. Jasper emphasizes: 

"Engagement is crucial for us. We want as many employees as possible to be involved in what we do. Move To Happiness emphasizes this aspect, which is highly appreciated." 

"We're always seeking innovation, and it was important for us to have a say in our collaboration. Move To Happiness allows us that flexibility. Together, we're building a platform for our employees. We've transitioned from individual workshops or events to a comprehensive approach. In addition to engagement, there's now a focus on communication and education, which are offerings we definitely want for our employees." 

Successful collaboration and satisfaction 

Since early 2023, Accenture has made significant progress with MTH.  

"With the introduction of Move To Happiness, we're breaking down the silos. Going forward, the focus will be on collaboration across streams, aiming to enhance understanding of each other's focus areas. This effort aims to make our policy much more visible throughout our organization. While not all challenges have been addressed, we're confident they'll gradually diminish." 

Move To Happiness has also facilitated practical aspects of events such as the Brussels 20 km run and the Antwerp 10 Miles. Accenture employees who participated received guidance from a running coach upon registration, while others could attend monthly yoga sessions for relaxation. Accenture is highly satisfied with the collaboration. 

Jasper adds, "Move To Happiness understood our internal dynamics from the outset. In addition, their team and platform offer tremendous flexibility, precisely what we sought in a partner. This includes 24/7 availability for any queries and their willingness to adapt their communication to our values and norms. They actively engage with us on all levels and strive to become our external partner in developing our ESG strategy in collaboration with our internal team. It's been a successful collaboration," concludes Jasper. 

Struggling to go to one integrated approach? 

Are you also struggling with different data silo's on your People and Sustainability initiatives? Do these silo's stop you from having the correct data and not being able to take the next steps? 

Book your consultation call with one of our advisors, or download our latest playbook about Data in People Sustainability initiatives.