We began by initiating the case management aspect of the app in November 2020 to document and track those exposed to COVID-19 once a case is reported. We customized the standard Work.com solution to introduce the use of case objects, such as service cloud, to support our business needs. Service cloud enabled us to take advantage of features such as case management, queues, email templates, activity tracking and follow-up processes to support the health and safety of our employees. The case management approach was rolled out in just 10 weeks across the majority of our offices worldwide.
By March 2021 we were using the solution for additional features including office visits, capacity planning and returning to the client in a limited number of geographies. We needed to take into account all the variables of running our global business—different languages, working styles, cultures, legal and data privacy variations.
Here’s some of the solution functionality and how it impacts the return to office process:
The capacity management module was the biggest deviation from the standard Work.com solution. Based on how we operate, we wanted a capacity-based approach so that employees could request a type of workspace for a given location, date and time. Once this has been initiated, we need to route these requests so that the location geography can review and approve the business needs while meeting local capacity guidelines for that particular office. In this way, we can better plan resource capacity to ensure the maximum capacity isn’t exceeded and spread out our workstations.
Employee wellness surveys are used throughout the process to support approvals of who can enter the Accenture offices. Every employee and visitor, subject to local guidelines, receives a health survey for every visit; this enables us to address health and safety issues and advise on our standards. We even integrate these surveys with our check-in kiosks to facilitate a smoother, touch-free check-in process. Many countries use the global survey but we are also able to customize the questions and responses at the country level to comply with legal, regulatory and policy specific needs.
We also introduced the experience cloud capability in Salesforce to create a central, customized landing page. This page enables Accenture people to make and edit a reservation request, upload vaccine records and test results and search for the status in the majority of Accenture office locations.
Our command center provides real-time dashboards to display and aggregate metrics and enable the Accenture leadership to make decisions that are quick and effective. Some of the metrics in the command center include the number of cases reported across regions and aggregated globally and office status (how many people are requesting entry to our facilities and which requests are approved). More recently, we’ve added vaccination and test tracking that indicates the number of vaccine records and antigen test results uploaded securely in line with country-specific guidelines and where required by local protocols.
How it works
To create a frictionless experience, Accenture built-in several ways to complete each step in the return to office process. Let’s imagine following employee Peter from Chicago, Illinois, United States. He initiates a return to office request which is automatically checked against open cases to ensure compliance, manage test results and vaccination records and is routed for approval and capacity management purposes. He is notified of the return approval and given an approval number.
Following the approval email, Peter can click on a link and is directed to an Accenture chat bot which has prepopulated information to make a room reservation. By integrating with Microsoft Teams, how Peter normally works, he’s able to easily make choices around his visit period, the floor and type of space. In locations where required, a wellness survey is sent prior to check-in to ensure compliance with health and safety.
Once Peter is within half a mile of the office, he checks in via a mobile app, by email, or using a QR code that is scanned at the office kiosk. Whichever method is selected, the check-in process is automated. The system lets the onsite workplace team know that Peter has checked in, helping to support office safety by confirming who is in the office and when.
