MphasiS completes first phase of ‘Project Communicate’ Enabling people with disabilities – creating an inclusive workplace March 1, 2008

MphasiS - an EDS Company, today completed the first phase of its “Project Communicate”. The first batch of 19 people with disabilities, today successfully completed the two-month training course that has made them employable in the IT/ITes industry. 14 of them have already been offered employment in MphasiS in their ITes operation. Project Communicate, a training program for people with disability, was launched in October 2007, with an initial aim to train over 40 persons by June 2008. The program is jointly driven by Mphasis -an EDS company, Diversity & Equal Opportunity Centre (DEOC) and The Association of People with Disability (APD). Project Communicate, aims to train, skill & develop candidates to be “industry ready”. Designed by MphasiS and Diversity & Equal Opportunity Centre (DEOC), the curriculum provides participants with both technical and soft skills required for a successful career in ITES. This includes Effective Communication, Analytical Skills, Technical Skills and Personality Development. Speaking about the initiatives, Elango R, Head of Human Resources, said “Creating an inclusive workplace is key to our corporate mission. Employment of people with disabilities was not incidental - it is a key business driver and a conscious decision driven by the senior leadership. We have more than 120 people with disability working with us. These employees have distinguished themselves with their commitment to the organisation, and value they bring to our customers. With Project Communicate, we hope to invest in training & developing more such individuals and aim to add them to our diverse workforce.” Highlighting the rationale behind initiating the Project, Rama Chari, Director, DEOC said, “ One of the reasons for low employment rate of people with disabilities is the lack of accessible educational and training facilities in the country. Even those who have completed their senior secondary or graduation have mostly done so either in local medium schools or through correspondence. As a result, they are unable to clear the test and interview rounds. Therefore, we felt the need to focus on increasing employability through an intensive and structured pre employment training, which would enable them to compete on equal footing with other candidates. Post the two months training, employers who interviewed our trainees for jobs felt they were often more confident and prepared than the others.”