Tuesday, 13 October, 2009
Since July last year, over one hundred IBM employees have found themselves travelling through Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and China to complete ABV assignments and contribute to the economic development of these countries. Selected from over 6000 applicants, the chosen few are the cream of the I.T. giant’s immense pool of talent.
In March 2008, IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC) expressed a desire to work in partnership with ABV to assist its mission and allow CSC participants to gain first hand experience helping build capacity in developing communities and contribute towards the UN Millennium Development Goals. Beyond the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aspect, an additional goal of the program is to allow IBM’s high potential employees develop their skills and leadership ability. As quoted in the French paper, Les Echos (2 Dec, 2008), “An international experience, in a difficult environment in terms of resources is a great opportunity for employee’s career evolution”, explains Céline Marie-Audras, who is in charge of patronage and sustainable development in IBM.
Given IBM’s long-term investment in education, training and community development, ABV created a flexible model to facilitate corporate volunteering. The aim of the model is to integrate IBM-CSC’s goals with ABV’s strong focus and history of capacity building through the transfer of skills.
Following a period of comprehensive pre-departure preparation, teams of CSC participants are placed with developing communities for a period of one month. During their time, they must each complete a set assignment, consistent with our mission to increase the skill base in various areas of these communities.
IBM-CSC teams comprise individuals who hail from different locations around the world. An important aspect of the program is therefore the inclusion of team building and cultural awareness activities. Each Team is also tasked with the challenge of designing and implementing a development project beyond the set assignment that makes a difference to their host community. ABV provides logistical support, participant liaison and matches each CSC participant’s skills and expertise to specific client needs.
Working with an array of private businesses and universities, the feedback has been wholly positive. According to the President of IBM’s International Foundation and Vice President of IBM’s Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, Stanley Litow, “What we as a company get is leaders with a broader range of skills that can function in a global context. What the individual participant gets is a unique set of leadership opportunities and development experiences. And what the communities get are IBM’s best problem solving skills. It’s a triple benefit”, says Litow.
ABV CEO Michael Lynch states “ABV is looking forward to continuing its relationship with IBM and using our Corporate Program to assist other organisations contribute towards international development and the alleviation of global poverty’.