埃森哲为员工设计元宇宙，完美复刻办公室
在虚拟现实游戏公司Roblox 2021年3月上市的同时，早在Facebook在2021年10月宣布更名为Meta之前，埃森哲（Accenture）人力资源主管就提出了公司元宇宙的理念。
在打造元宇宙的竞赛中，这家跨国IT服务与咨询公司似乎不太可能是最天然的领导者，但埃森哲全球人事主管艾利森·霍恩表示，这个理念的诞生源自公司希望在许多员工依旧远程办公的情况下，为团队协作和新员工入职培训寻找新的途径。作为《财富》2022年“美国最适宜工作的公司”（Best Companies to Work For）榜单排名第6的公司，埃森哲一直致力于为员工提供一流的工具和程序。
2021年3月，包括霍恩在内的团队向埃森哲首席领导力与人力资源官艾琳·舒克介绍了这个想法，他们提出创建一个公司元宇宙，用于新员工培训和加强全球超过600,000员工之间的数字协作。
霍恩对《财富》杂志表示，由于这是一个全新的领域，因此第一步需要解决的一个简单问题是将元宇宙技术引入企业领域到底意味着什么。霍恩表示，初期面临的一个障碍是硬件问题，真正广泛应用于企业用途的设备只有Oculus。她补充说，但该设备需要用户注册Facebook账户，而埃森哲的律师最初并不愿意接受。
他们还需要确保埃森哲的元宇宙可以通过台式机访问，因为并非所有员工都有虚拟现实头盔，而且他们希望保证虚拟办公室杜绝任何不平等现象。
到2021年夏，团队启动了所谓的“阿凡达项目”，员工可自愿选择参加该项目，访问埃森哲的公司元宇宙“The Nth Floor”。埃森哲购买了60,000套Oculus头盔，免费提供给有兴趣尝试这项技术的员工。
霍恩承认，向员工发放设备的工作仍在进行中，因为员工或新员工必须生活在特定国家，埃森哲才能给他们邮寄头盔。她表示：“目前这个空间仍处在初生期。”
埃森哲还将元宇宙融入入职培训，新员工在入职后的前两天需访问一个虚拟现实入职培训环境One Accenture Park。霍恩表示：“新员工在这里创建虚拟形象。通过合作玩学习游戏了解埃森哲。然后他们可以体验公司文化的不同部分。”他们在家中即可完成这一切操作。
埃森哲实际上是为新员工提供了一名向导，负责在新员工入职后的前几天，带领他们在Microsoft Teams视频会议和Nth Floor上的虚拟现实体验之间不断切换。
霍恩表示未来会扩大该项目的范围。埃森哲计划在新员工入职第一年，继续让他们通过One Accenture Park接受其他培训、了解信息和提供反馈等。
埃森哲也鼓励员工将虚拟现实头盔用于娱乐用途。霍恩表示：“配戴头盔的时间越长，就越能了解虚拟现实的可能性。”她还表示，除了打造埃森哲现有办公室的数字版让员工开会和协作以外，公司还购买了多款健身与健康应用的许可，使员工可以体验该平台的强大功能。
霍恩表示她最初将虚拟现实看作只是另外一台设备而已，“实话实说，在进入元宇宙空间之前我并不理解它的意义。”但她表示元宇宙给人一种截然不同的感觉。
她表示：“你会感觉自己正在与别人一起玩。这与面对面坐在餐桌前一起用餐的感受当然不同。但它远不止Teams视频通话那么简单。”
元宇宙技术开始在内部流行。2021年，埃森哲有11,000名员工访问了公司元宇宙。但公司预计到本财年年底前，这个数字将增加到150,000人。此外，埃森哲已经申请了600项元宇宙相关技术和体验的专利。
对于霍恩而言，这项技术带来的最大回报是同事的反馈。她表示：“我看到新员工纷纷在LinkedIn上发布自己的虚拟形象。”她表示新员工爱炫耀他们的元宇宙入职培训体验，喜欢发布在虚拟现实世界中拍摄的自拍照。
霍恩认为，公司才刚刚开始感受到这项技术的力量。她说道：“元宇宙对于未来工作有深远影响。”（财富中文网）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
在虚拟现实游戏公司Roblox 2021年3月上市的同时，早在Facebook在2021年10月宣布更名为Meta之前，埃森哲（Accenture）人力资源主管就提出了公司元宇宙的理念。
在打造元宇宙的竞赛中，这家跨国IT服务与咨询公司似乎不太可能是最天然的领导者，但埃森哲全球人事主管艾利森·霍恩表示，这个理念的诞生源自公司希望在许多员工依旧远程办公的情况下，为团队协作和新员工入职培训寻找新的途径。作为《财富》2022年“美国最适宜工作的公司”（Best Companies to Work For）榜单排名第6的公司，埃森哲一直致力于为员工提供一流的工具和程序。
2021年3月，包括霍恩在内的团队向埃森哲首席领导力与人力资源官艾琳·舒克介绍了这个想法，他们提出创建一个公司元宇宙，用于新员工培训和加强全球超过600,000员工之间的数字协作。
霍恩对《财富》杂志表示，由于这是一个全新的领域，因此第一步需要解决的一个简单问题是将元宇宙技术引入企业领域到底意味着什么。霍恩表示，初期面临的一个障碍是硬件问题，真正广泛应用于企业用途的设备只有Oculus。她补充说，但该设备需要用户注册Facebook账户，而埃森哲的律师最初并不愿意接受。
他们还需要确保埃森哲的元宇宙可以通过台式机访问，因为并非所有员工都有虚拟现实头盔，而且他们希望保证虚拟办公室杜绝任何不平等现象。
到2021年夏，团队启动了所谓的“阿凡达项目”，员工可自愿选择参加该项目，访问埃森哲的公司元宇宙“The Nth Floor”。埃森哲购买了60,000套Oculus头盔，免费提供给有兴趣尝试这项技术的员工。
霍恩承认，向员工发放设备的工作仍在进行中，因为员工或新员工必须生活在特定国家，埃森哲才能给他们邮寄头盔。她表示：“目前这个空间仍处在初生期。”
埃森哲还将元宇宙融入入职培训，新员工在入职后的前两天需访问一个虚拟现实入职培训环境One Accenture Park。霍恩表示：“新员工在这里创建虚拟形象。通过合作玩学习游戏了解埃森哲。然后他们可以体验公司文化的不同部分。”他们在家中即可完成这一切操作。
埃森哲实际上是为新员工提供了一名向导，负责在新员工入职后的前几天，带领他们在Microsoft Teams视频会议和Nth Floor上的虚拟现实体验之间不断切换。
霍恩表示未来会扩大该项目的范围。埃森哲计划在新员工入职第一年，继续让他们通过One Accenture Park接受其他培训、了解信息和提供反馈等。
埃森哲也鼓励员工将虚拟现实头盔用于娱乐用途。霍恩表示：“配戴头盔的时间越长，就越能了解虚拟现实的可能性。”她还表示，除了打造埃森哲现有办公室的数字版让员工开会和协作以外，公司还购买了多款健身与健康应用的许可，使员工可以体验该平台的强大功能。
霍恩表示她最初将虚拟现实看作只是另外一台设备而已，“实话实说，在进入元宇宙空间之前我并不理解它的意义。”但她表示元宇宙给人一种截然不同的感觉。
她表示：“你会感觉自己正在与别人一起玩。这与面对面坐在餐桌前一起用餐的感受当然不同。但它远不止Teams视频通话那么简单。”
元宇宙技术开始在内部流行。2021年，埃森哲有11,000名员工访问了公司元宇宙。但公司预计到本财年年底前，这个数字将增加到150,000人。此外，埃森哲已经申请了600项元宇宙相关技术和体验的专利。
对于霍恩而言，这项技术带来的最大回报是同事的反馈。她表示：“我看到新员工纷纷在LinkedIn上发布自己的虚拟形象。”她表示新员工爱炫耀他们的元宇宙入职培训体验，喜欢发布在虚拟现实世界中拍摄的自拍照。
霍恩认为，公司才刚刚开始感受到这项技术的力量。她说道：“元宇宙对于未来工作有深远影响。”（财富中文网）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
Just as virtual reality game company Roblox was going public in March 2021 and long before Facebook announced its name change to Meta in October, Accenture HR leaders pitched the idea of a corporate metaverse.
The global IT services and consulting firm may not seem like the most natural leader in the race to build out the metaverse, but Allison Horn, who leads global talent for Accenture, says the initial idea started when HR was looking for new ways to collaborate, and onboard new hires, while much of its workforce was still remote. As No. 6 on Fortune’s 2022 Best Companies to Work For, Accenture has a long history of providing best-in-class tools and programs to its employees.
In March 2021, a team including Horn approached Accenture’s chief leadership and human resources officer, Ellyn Shook, with the idea of building a corporate metaverse to both onboard new employees and increase digital collaboration between the company’s more than 600,000 workers globally.
Because the space was so new, the initial phase was simply figuring out what it really meant to bring this technology to enterprise scale, Horn tells Fortune. One of the early stumbling blocks, Horn says, was over hardware and the fact that the only real device that was widely available for corporate use was Oculus. That, however, requires users have a Facebook account, something Accenture’s lawyers weren’t initially happy to hear, she adds.
The team also needed to ensure that Accenture’s metaverse was accessible via desktop, because not all employees would have access to a headset, and they wanted to make sure there were no inequities in the virtual office.
By summer 2021, the team had rolled out what they called Project Avatar, an opt-in program in which employees could get access to Accenture’s enterprise metaverse, “The Nth Floor.” The company purchased 60,000 Oculus headsets and supplied them free of charge to employees who were interested in trying out the technology.
It’s been a work in progress to get the equipment to Accenture employees, Horn admits, since an employee or new hire has to live in a certain country in order for Accenture to be able to ship headsets. “That's just the nascency of this space right now,” she says.
Accenture also incorporated the metaverse into its onboarding, having new employees access One Accenture Park, a VR orientation environment, during their first two days. “They create avatars. They team up to play learning games to learn about Accenture. And then they get to go and experience parts of our culture,” Horn says—all from the comfort of their homes.
Accenture essentially provides a tour guide that is in charge of leading new hires through their first few days, toggling between sessions on Microsoft Teams and VR experiences on the Nth Floor.
And the program will be expanding, Horn says. Accenture plans to continue to bring back new employees to One Accenture Park throughout their first year for additional training, information, and feedback sessions.
Accenture also encourages employees to use their headsets for fun. “The more you’re in the headset, the more you're understanding the possibilities,” Horn says, adding that in addition to building digital versions of Accenture’s existing offices where employees can meet up and collaborate, the company has purchased various licenses for fitness and wellness apps so staff can start to understand the power of the platform.
“To be completely honest, I didn't understand those implications until I got into the space,” Horn says, adding that she initially viewed VR as just another device. But she says the metaverse actually feels different.
“You literally feel like you're hanging out with people. It's never going to be the same as actually sitting across a table sharing a meal together. But it is so much more than being on a Teams call,” Horn says.
The technology is starting to catch on internally. In 2021 Accenture had 11,000 employees accessing its enterprise metaverse. But the company expects that to grow to 150,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year. Additionally, Accenture has already filed 600 patents around metaverse-related technologies and experiences.
For Horn, perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the new technology is the feedback she’s hearing from her colleagues. “I am seeing LinkedIn flooded with new employees posting their avatars,” she says, adding that new hires like to brag about the metaverse onboarding experience and post selfies they took while in virtual reality.
And Horn believes that companies are only beginning to scratch the surface of the power of this technology. “There are huge implications for the future of work here,” Horn says.
