IBM's leadership programme goes global

Singapore - Encouraging global interaction can help employees become better leaders.

As IBM aims to build successful leaders who are able to operate in a global environment, the IT company plans to give its high potential employees the opportunity to build networks with people they might never interact with on a regular basis.

In its new Corporate Service Corps programme, twelve teams of employees from 33 countries will be sent to Romania, Turkey, Vietnam, the Philippines, Ghana, and Tanzania in 2008 to work on projects that intersect economic development with information technology.

Employees will perform tasks with different perspectives and expertise to problem-solving, as well as encourage social interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds and tradition.

Michael Levett, president of the Citizens Development Corps said IBM volunteers will discover how business is done in these countries and the cultural aspect, as well as self-discovery and how to challenge themselves.

He added: "The difference that I've seen with this corporate programme is that it's more than sending a handful of employees every year to a country. It's making a real commitment to send hundreds of employees, year over year, to the same country. I think that you have an ability to make much more of an impact with such focus."

Upon completing the programme, employees will share their experience with the company and in their home communities.