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ONE
hundred IBM employees from thirty-three countries were
selected to participate in IBM’s new Corporate Services
Corps program, part of the Global Citizen’s Portfolio
initiative announced by chief executive Sam Palmisano,
to develop leadership skills while addressing
socioeconomic challenges in emerging markets.
In a
statement, IBM said it “believes that this program can
significantly contribute to helping build and develop
local communities so that they can participate in the
global economy by aligning the core skills of the
company to solve real problems.”
Filipino
Thomas Veloso was selected to participate in this unique
IBM initiative and he will join other nine IBM employees
from the United States, Japan, China, India and UK as a
team assigned to go to Tanzania, Africa. Veloso is
currently the team leader for a large global account
doing Relocation and Expat Services under IBM’s HR
Delivery Services.
Twelve
teams of IBM employees will be sent to Romania, Turkey,
Vietnam, the Philippines, Ghana and Tanzania this year
to work on projects that “intersect economic development
and information technology,” IBM said in the statement,
with “assignments selected to use the skills IBM
employees possess.”
More
than 5,000 employees applied for inclusion in the
program, though only 100 were selected, “making this one
of the most competitive employee programs ever created
by the company,” according to IBM.
IBM will
select another 100 participants before the end of year
and has committed to enabling 600 of its emerging
leaders to participate in the program over the next
three years.
“It’s a
corporate version of the Peace Corps,” IBM country
manager for the Philippines James Velasquez said. “What
we as a company get are 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 communities get are IBM’s best problem-solving
skills. It’s a triple benefit. We congratulate Thomas
Veloso for qualifying in this prestigious IBM
globalization program and wish him all the best.”
The
program is part of IBM’s Global Citizen’s portfolio
launched in July 2007. This program is “a suite of
investments and programs to help IBM employees enhance
their skills and expertise in order to become global
leaders, professionals and empowered citizens in the
21st century workforce. It includes matching accounts
for lifelong learning and enhanced transition services
to create second career opportunities,” according to
press materials provided by IBM.
After a
competitive bid process involving 32 global
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused on
volunteer placement of private sector professionals, IBM
teamed selected three partners: The Citizen’s
Development Corp based in Washington D.C., the
Canada-based Digital Opportunity Trust and Australian
Business Ventures. “The NGO partners are a key part of
the programs success, helping to identify the right
projects and local organizations where IBM’s emerging
leaders, and the skills they currently possess, can have
the most impact,” IBM said in the statement. |
