Outlook Journal, January 2003
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Building a better organization in the midst of an economic downturn is a challenge, to say the least. But waiting for economic recovery is simply not an option in today's fiercely competitive environment. Leaders are being called upon to build from their organizations’ core strengths and improve efficiency in operations. They have to be focused on delivering results while inspiring their people—no easy task.
Success, therefore, requires smart and innovative thinking. Organizations need to evaluate every opportunity to create value and deliver on ideas. At the same time, they need to avoid the perils that often accompany downturns. This issue of Outlook explores some common pitfalls and practical approaches for getting around them.
One article looks at "brain drain"—the loss of critical knowledge resulting from staff reductions. At Accenture, we have always valued the talents and abilities of our people as our most important asset. Yet like many other companies, given the global economic downturn, we made personnel reductions last year as our normal attrition slowed. We also had to reduce training budgets and local networking activities.
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To balance these decisions—which were tough on everyone but also necessary to preserve our financial strength and continue providing the highest levels of client service—we created new ways to foster professional development and leadership skills. For example, we have used this down period to refocus our core training programs on creating value—for both our clients and our own organization—with a mix of onsite training and eLearning solutions. Additionally, we launched a new, intensive leadership development program and trained more than 1,000 of our most senior executives. These efforts will help us retain critical knowledge and skills, while creating future generations of leaders.
Another Outlook article emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive and integrated approach to risk management, including operational risks involving people and processes as well as financial, strategic and hazard risks. This is also a key area of focus for Accenture. In the past year, we created a new senior management position of corporate risk officer to develop an integrated approach for managing all risks, such as those related the security of our people, data, systems, intellectual property, our brand and other assets.
Our employees also play a role here. Through our code of business ethics and a broad ethics and compliance program, our people commit to upholding integrity, and acting in the best interests of our company, clients and shareholders. Last, we continue to work with our board of directors in shaping a corporate governance model based on the highest ethics and governance principles.
In closing, I hope this issue of Outlook is helpful as you lead your organizations through this downturn. We will, of course, see economic recovery eventually. In the meantime, I truly believe the best leaders will be those who consistently turn ideas into results today—in spite of the pressures and complexities that define the current environment. Doing so will make us all better leaders for any economic scenario.
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