Outsourcing company conducts advancement program for execs

ACCENTURE is proud of its relentless focus on people development.

“We are a pacesetter in training and development, investing nearly $800 million worldwide on training alone in fiscal year 2008. We continuously hone the skills and talents of our employees, especially our leaders,” said Yogesh Malhotra, Accenture senior executive and Delivery Center Network lead for BPO (business process outsourcing).

“A key component of Accenture’s holistic people development is its leadership development programs,” he added.

Each year, the Accenture Leadership Advancement Program (Leap Philippines) holds the Accenture Leaders’ Congress for its executives and team leads to learn leadership strategies and insights. This year’s Congress dwelt on legacy-building as one key goal of an Accenture leader.

Country Managing Director Beth Lui shared her recipe for this—developing oneself, honesty, humility, and willingness to change. “You can build legacies one small step at time and eventually create a lifetime of meaningful collages for future
generations to appreciate,” she said.

Respected leaders in other fields joined Lui and other Accenture senior executives, such as George Son Keng Po and Rita Cruz, in sharing their legacy-building insights.

Dr. Bernardo Villegas, an economist and senior vice-president of the University of Asia and the Pacific, stressed that a dose of benevolence or generosity is a must in any business or profession.

Stephen Misa, Cisco Systems country manager, urged Accenture executives to “make a positive difference in other people’s lives” and imparted succession planning, “courageous conversations,” and values as keys to effective legacy-building.

Meanwhile, Guillermo Luz, executive vice-president of the Ayala Foundation, brought to fore every leader’s responsibility to help ensure good governance by the country’s leaders.

The Accenture Executive Capability and Capacity Development (ECCD) Program focuses on developing leadership capabilities and capacity. The program is comprised of a series of customized leadership development initiatives like action learning through real life project assignments, focused coaching program by senior leaders, and continues learning through interactions with global & local Accenture leaders.

Dandel Ligaya, one of the participants, pointed out that “ECCD is a sustainable leadership program that lets you realize what it takes to get to the next level and how you can create your development plans to get there.”

Oliver San Juan, another ECCD participant, welcomed the team-based projects or the action learning as a real-life opportunity to focus on individual development and make an impact outside the sphere of influence. (PR)