How Accenture's disability inclusion program is empowering employees and creating a new crop of leaders

Now a member of Accenture’s Accessibility Centre of Excellence team, Kini imparts knowledge and provides training on accessibility, striving to make virtual and physical spaces accessible to all.

Kini is just one among many who have benefitted from the IT major’s robust policies towards disability inclusion.

“We are proud of the strides we have made towards disability inclusion. In December 2022, we received the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the President of India. It recognised our efforts towards hiring persons with disabilities and enabling their growth in a barrier-free work environment,” says Lakshmi C., Managing Director and Lead-Human Resources, Accenture in India.

Accenture has fostered an inclusive workplace by implementing flexible work arrangements for employees with disabilities and providing them with tailored technology and tools, such as assistive technologies and ergonomic adjustments.

Most importantly, as per the company, almost 90% of Accenture’s leadership in India actively champions disability inclusion, serving as influential advocates for these marginalised groups.

But how does Accenture foster this inclusive culture? As Lakshmi points out, the company, through its network of allies, works on this.Together they have come up with initiatives like the Sign Language Club, helping disability allies to learn and practice sign language, in order to amplify their support.

“In the past two years, we have introduced three new employee resource groups for disability inclusion—for our people with locomotor disabilities, those with visual impairment, and our neurodivergent people. These are self-help groups that help our people voice their experiences, lean on each other, find solutions to shared challenges, and build camaraderie,” says Lakshmi.

Then, Accenture has its India’s Abilities Unleashed programme. Through this initiative, the company works towards developing both foundational and advanced leadership skills among individuals with disabilities, and also offers a specialised learning curriculum.

This focus of Accenture in providing growth and learning opportunities for its employees with disabilities is one of the key reasons for the company being among the top firms in the BT-Taggd survey of The Best Companies to Work For in India in recent years.

In fact, globally, in FY23, it invested $1.1 billion and 40 million hours in the training and development of its employees to make them future-ready.

“We have an accessibility-first mindset, which is the belief that every solution and application should be built accessible by design. This is vital to creating a genuinely barrier-free environment—for our people, our clients, and the broader community,” says Lakshmi.

What Lakshmi says finds resonance in the achievements of employees like Anandi Thyagarajan, who is a leader in the company’s Intelligent Operations Centre (AIOC). Thyagarajan has set an example for others by being open about her immunological disorder and the challenges she has to undergo. She believes that speaking up about disabilities is important and is needed to break the stigma associated with it. Moreover, it enables inclusion. Because of the support she has received at Accenture, she is now helping people realise that disabilities come in many different forms—including those that are not apparently visible.

As Lakshmi points out, the work culture at Accenture has always been oriented towards removing barriers to employability.

“Our people regularly volunteer their time and experiences to build skills and remove barriers to employability in our local communities for underrepresented talent who have traditionally lacked access to digital skills,” she says. 

@imnavneetdubey