In The Digital Age, A Company's Most Important Source Of Competitive Advantage Is Its People -CHRO, Accenture

Ellyn Shook, the Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer of Accenture, in an exclusive interaction with People Matters, takes us through her journey of 30 years in the HR domain while sharing insights on how Accenture transformed its business and culture – and in turn, elevated their people.

- Mastufa Ahmed

Ellyn Shook is the Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer at Accenture. She is responsible for helping the nearly 500,000 people of Accenture succeed both professionally and personally. Her global team of HR leaders and experts is reimagining leadership and talent practices to create the most truly human work environment in the digital age, fueling Accenture’s differentiation in the market and ability to improve the way the world works and lives.

A member of Accenture’s Global Management Committee and Investment Committee, Ellyn is a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity, and Accenture has been widely recognized externally as an employer of choice and for its diversity efforts.

Ellyn serves on the board of trustees at Harvey Mudd College, the Women's Leadership Board of the Women and Public Policy program at Harvard's Kennedy School, and the steering committee of Paradigm for Parity. She is active in Women in America and Ellevate Women’s Network, and is also a member of the HR50 division of World50. A 2015 article in Forbes.com named Ellyn one of the top 10 CHROs.

Here are the excerpts from the interview.

You have been in the industry for over 30 years serving as an HR leader. How did you get into HR and what have you learned so far being at the helm of an organization like Accenture?

I started my career outside of HR at Marriott and then joined the Accenture HR team in our New York office. I’ve held a variety of roles within HR in the past 30 years and many of them focused on transformational change. The people I’ve worked with have been extraordinary and taught me so much, however, one thing that stands out is – the key to success is lifelong learning.