New global research from Accenture, titled “The Path Forward,” has found that a greater number of women (40%) are satisfied with their current job and are not looking for new job opportunities as compared to men (28%). The research further reveals that 80% of the respondents in India stayed at their jobs longer than they may have otherwise because of a flexible work arrangement. Family responsibility is the most commonly cited reason to work a flexible work schedule. Accenture conducted its global research study, “The Path Forward” for release on International Women’s Day to gain insight into behaviours and attitudes regarding women’s careers. The research explores career satisfaction levels, aspirations and factors for career advancement. It examines the factors that may hold professionals back from progressing in their careers and seeks to better understand the support and programs companies provide that attract, develop and retain high-performing employees. “Companies across the globe are recognising employees’ need for work-life balance and are devising various policies like flexible work options and telecommuting to assist employees in better balancing their lives. Resonating this emerging trend, Accenture’s recent research study, “The Path forward”, reveals that 28% of the respondents in India felt they had work-life balance all the time, which was highest among all countries” said Rekha M. Menon, Executive Director - Geographic Services for Accenture in India and ASEAN. “We at Accenture recognize that people lead busy, full lives with a variety of time demands – and believe that each person finds a unique proportion of balance between their work and personal needs. We have a formal Flexible Working Arrangement (FWA) policy in place which enables our employees to take up Flex Time, Part Time and Telecommuting. We focus on outcomes and not hours to determine if an employee is productive and thus strongly believe that flexibility enhances productivity of the individuals and the organization by positively impacting engagement and retention as well as commitment of our people to strive and stay.“ Research methodologyIn November/December 2011, Accenture conducted an online survey of 3,900 business executives from medium to large organizations in 31 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. A minimum of 100 respondents from each country participated, with the exception of Norway/Sweden/Denmark/Finland, where the combined number of respondents totaled 200. Respondents were split evenly by gender and were balanced by age and level in their organizations. The margin of error for the total sample was approximately +/-2percent. A full report on the research, “The Path Forward,” is available at www.accenture.com/pathforward.
About Accenture: Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
About Accenture: Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
