New Accenture Technique Gauges Impact of Workforce Initiatives on Bottom Line

NEW YORK; June 3, 2004 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today introduced a new measurement technique to help organizations determine where to invest their human capital expenditures and identify the impact those investments have on their bottom-line results.

With the new approach, known as the Accenture Human Capital Development Framework, an organization can better assess its core human capital capabilities, such as leadership and talent management, and prioritize workforce investments that are likely to have the greatest impact on the company’s overall financial performance. The Accenture Human Capital Development Framework also allows companies to measure the strengths and weaknesses of workforce initiatives and benchmark their performance against other organizations on a recurring basis.

“Given that the success of most enterprises rests largely on the capabilities of their employees, the ‘people’ investment is usually the biggest single item on an organization’s balance sheet,” said Peter Cheese, managing partner of Accenture’s Human Performance service line. “Unfortunately, until now, most companies have been unable to measure the true effectiveness of that investment in a rigorous way. The Accenture Human Capital Development Framework provides executives with actionable, prescriptive insights to help guide their workforce investments.”

Nineteen organizations in a variety of industries across the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific participated in a beta test of the Accenture framework. The beta test, which was co-sponsored by SAP, demonstrated the link between seven critical human capital processes, including learning management and employee relations, and an organization’s business results. It also demonstrated how those processes supported an organization’s core human capital capabilities.

Developed in conjunction with the Accenture Institute for High Performance Business, the Accenture Human Capital Development Framework enables organizations to gather information from a broad range of their personnel, including human resources directors, senior executives and other employees.

“The Accenture framework validated the work we are doing in relation to our HR strategy,” said Harold Scott, vice president of Human Resources at Harley-Davidson, one of the beta test companies. “It was powerful how the Accenture framework linked to our business and related issues, providing an opportunity for us to calibrate where we are against other world-class companies and identifying the practical actions we can take to improve our HR function. We will use the results to fine-tune the work we currently have undertaken and set the pace for future actions.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With approximately 90,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$11.8 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2003. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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