This week, I met Laura Nakano to discover more about Accenture’s Accent on Family support network and her role in taking the lead as the Expectant Parent Champion. During our immersive conversation, it was great to hear about the initiatives that Accenture are doing to support its employees and promote a culture of equality in the workplace.
Meet Laura
Laura is an Associate Manager delivering new Microsoft Technologies across Accenture. She has been with Accenture for ten years. As a part-time working mother of 2, Laura has been involved with Accent on Family since returning to work from her first maternity leave.
What made you want to become involved in the family support network?
When I returned to work after my maternity leave, Accent on Family wasn’t the force for good it is now. If it did exist, I hadn’t heard of it.
On my return to work, I was fortunate that my boss was a mother of 4 herself. She helped me navigate finding childcare, applying for childcare vouchers, looking for a flexible role, etc. She also ‘got it’ if I needed to take time off unexpectedly to look after a sick child.
I was well aware that not everyone was lucky enough to get this kind of support. I wanted to make the support I had more universal, so I became involved with Accent on Family to start improving that journey for others.
Can you tell me about Accent on Family?
Accenture is committed to accelerating equality for all by creating a work environment where all our people feel like they belong. Accent on Family is one stream promoting equality and support for all Accenture people with families. We run events, well-being sessions for kids, etc. Our network has grown exponentially over the six years I have been involved; we now have specific sub-support groups for those going through fertility treatment, single parents, adoptive parents, etc.. and expectant parents (the area I lead). But we do like to stress that although much of our support is for parents, we are an inclusive network. Our slogan is “AoF is a family network within Accenture providing support to all aspects of family life, including different ages and stages of caring, parenting, and cohabiting.”
I would love to know more about the expectant parent network
This is a fairly new initiative. After the first lockdown, we discovered a gap in support for expectant parents within our community. So we decided to set up a group, especially for those I have been leading. We aim to give expectant parents lots of practical hints and tips on preparing for a baby, plus a network (and friendships) with colleagues due at a similar time. Accenture is a big company, and our policies can be confusing at the best of times. This is one area we really try to help simplify.
We run one networking session per month. We encourage the cohort to mingle and make friends. Currently, this is online, but we hope to move some sessions face-to-face once the pandemic is over.
Every other month, we host a 3-hour informative workshop for colleagues to learn about Accenture’s HR and parental leave policies. We aim to empower individuals to take all they are entitled to.
We give parents a list of everything we found helpful for our own children, to help them prepare for their baby at every stage of their development.
The team is also trying to standardise the introduction of employees to their division’s Accent on Family Lead. The aim is to have a 1:1 session with their lead before departure and an individual welcome on their return.
How are returners supported when they are on parental leave – and when they return?
Many functions now run buddy schemes. Expectant parents are assigned a buddy before they go on parental leave. If the employee is happy with the arrangement, these buddies keep in touch with them while they are on leave.
They then guide them on their return so they settle back into work quickly and happily.
We also have a dedicated Returners Champion to ensure all employees can smoothly transition back to work.
Pre-COVID, we used to host returners’ breakfasts. These were informal get-togethers where recently returned parents could meet and make friends with other parents in a similar situation.
For more information on Accenture’s Accent on Family support network, please click here.
If you fancy a flexible or part-time job in consulting to fit around your family, then check out the latest flexible consulting jobs on the Investing in Women job board today.