IBM is a company so broad and diverse, that it comes as no surprise a commitment to corporate social responsibility has taken such a precedent for the firm.
IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC), created through their corporate social responsibility division, aims to expose high performance IBM employees to the 21st century context for doing business – emerging markets, global teaming, diverse cultures, working outside the traditional office, and increased societal expectations for more responsible and sustainable business practices.
In an exclusive interview with Meettheboss.tv, Stan Litow, IBM’s vice president for corporate citizenship and corporate affairs and president of the IBM International Foundation, explained the benefits that the CSC brings to IBM.
“The CSC really marked the beginning of a transformation for IBM,” he explains. “We went from what I would characterize as ‘checkbook philanthropy’, which is writing checks to solve problems, into a more substantive and meaningful contribution, which is helping people solve their problems.
“The result in the community, and the result for the company, is much more fundamental and much more connected to your business strategy and your mission.” He also commented that an engaged and connected social contribution is more likely to survive during difficult times compared to a ‘spare change’ approach: “If you don’t have spare change, you can’t give it away,” explained Litow.
IBM’s version of The Peace Corps
The project brings together 500 people working in groups of eight to 10 from countries all over the world to help developing areas with social issues. “I see the CSC as not only being a model in how IBM develops its next generation of global leaders, but we’re increasingly seeing other companies wanting to emulate that model.”
Stan describes the Corporate Service Corps as a corporate version of the Peace Corps, saying the entire program is “fundamentally about leadership and leadership development.”
Because employees taking part in this program spend time preparing, living, and then following up with the people they work with, there are three main benefits that are experienced from this process, says Litow: the individual benefits, the benefits in the community and the benefits to the company.
But how does smarter planet initiative shape the future of learning? Stan believes that a smarter planet is directly connected to the corporate citizenship and corporate social responsibility and that as the planet becomes smarter through the use of technology to influence transportation, energy, healthcare and education, we need to be aware of other factors that influence a smarter planet.
“The planet isn’t going to be smarter just on the basis of technology or innovation,” Stan told Meettheboss.tv’s Editor-in-Chief Adam Burns. “What it is going to involve local action and local activity and the CSC brings these to the local level and translates the need to local leaders, giving them the tools to manage these issues once the IBMers leave.”
Because there is such a large number of IBM employees applying for this, the criteria for who gets accepted is quite high and Stanley compares it to being more difficult than getting accepted to some of the best schools in the US.
“Due to the critical skills that are required to do the jobs, top performers in every job position and skill provided by IBM compete for these positions,” he explains.
“An independent evaluation is done by the Harvard Business School, and 100 percent of the participants in the CSC indicated that participation in this program increased their likelihood of completing their career at IBM, so obviously the benefits to the business are huge.”
From an HR standpoint, the ability to retain top performers who have been with the company for 10 or so years is highly beneficial from a corporate standpoint. “It’s not only been a way of training your best leaders but retaining your best too.”
To see the interview in full go to MeetTheBoss.tv
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