The Schools’ Business Partnership is delighted to announce that Firstsource, a global, award winning provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services recently concluded its second successful year of the Skills @ Work programme for students of Moville Community College. This initiative provides firsthand insight into the business world to senior cycle students from Moville Community College and is part of the Schools’ Business Partnership programme run by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI).
During the programme, Firstsource employees provided a number of talks on, ‘A Day in the Life of..’ describing what it is like to work in Firstsource. The young visitors were also brought on two site visits to the Firstsource offices in Springtown, Derry/Londonderry and shown how Firstsource provide first-class business process outsourcing (BPO) services. They ran workshops on customer services training, how to build a comprehensive CV and helped the students develop good interview skills by providing Mock Interviews.
To conclude the programme, students worked with their teachers to prepare the final ‘Wrap Up’ Session with Firstsource to review and celebrate what they had learned. The programme with Firstsource gave the students an inspiring insight into the various career opportunities that exist locally and globally in the business process outsourcing sector.
“The impact that this initiative has on the students is visible right from day one, it generates an interest and motivation for the students to succeed and to continue to work hard on their studies. The partnership has been invaluable to the school.” said Sue Donaghy, LCA / LCVP Coordinator, Moville Community College.
“Firstsource is delighted to be continuing our partnership with Moville Community College. The commitment from our employees to the programme has been outstanding. It is an invaluable experience for them and they have developed team-building, interpersonal and communication skills but above all a sense of pride, value and satisfaction in their work.” said Laura Hourican, General Manager for Human Resources in the UK & Ireland,
“BITCI recognises the ongoing support shown by Firstsource to the programme, the school and the wider community in Donegal. Firstsource has successfully completed its second year of partnership with Moville Community College and its commitment in supporting and advancing the skills and ideas of the students, to help them prepare for a work life that they will enjoy and be good at, is exemplary. This commitment and engagement not only benefits the school but has far-reaching impacts on the local community. It is a wonderful demonstration of an organisation’s corporate responsibility.” Elaine McFadden, Regional Coordinator – Donegal, BITCI.
The Schools’ Business Partnership is funded by participating businesses with matching funds provided by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Education and Skills under the National Development Plan (NDP).
For further information, please contact:
Further information available from Germaine Noonan, Programme Manager, The Schools Business Partnership, 32 Lower O Connell Street, Dublin 1. Tel 01 874 73813 Mobile 086 8160448 email gnoonan@bitc.ie
Or
Further information available from Elaine McFadden, The Schools’ Business Partnership, Business in the Community Ireland, 32 Lower O Connell Street, Dublin 1. Mobile 086 170 5954 email: emcfadden@bitc.ie; web www.bitc.ie
Notes to editors:
- Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), founded in 2000, is a unique movement of companies committed to Corporate Responsibility practices. Our purpose is to inspire, challenge and support business in continually improving its positive impact on society in the community, environment, marketplace and workplace.
- Established in 2001, The Schools’ Business Partnership (SBP) is a flagship programme managed by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI). It is conducted in association with Marks & Spencer and supported by Cornmarket Group Financial Services Ltd. and the ESB Generation Fund.
SBP Programmes offered include:
(a) The Skills @ Work programme involves employees from local businesses talking to students about real-life skills required in the workplace. The students attend site visits, ‘day in the life’ talks, interview preparation and CV writing. They also benefit from mock interviews. 25, 000 students have participated to date in this popular programme.
(b) The Student Mentoring Programme encourages students who are at risk of leaving school early to continue with their studies with the advice of a mentor at a local business. The students meet their mentors at their workplace for an hour every 3 weeks for the final two years of their post primary schooling. Mentors provide support in terms of discussing career options, networking on their behalf, researching college choices, etc. 2, 769 students have been mentored to date.
(c) The Management Excellence for Principals programme sponsored by Cornmarket Group Financial Services Ltd. facilitates skills sharing between business and school leaders. 715 Principals have participated, which represents just over 70% of all post primary principals in Ireland. Companies whose senior executives deliver these seminars to small groups of principals include: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Donegal Investment Group, LYIT, KPMG, Coillte, Diageo, élan, Allergan, RTE, Pramerica, ESB, Cornmarket, Intel, Musgraves, IMI, IBM and Laya Healthcare.
(d) The Management Excellence for Teachers programme receives funding from the Department of Education & Skills and the business contribution is expertise and time. Business leaders provide workshop/seminars to whole teaching staffs on topics identified by the teachers such as: teamwork, communication skills, flexibility skills; PR; time management skills; ICT and education; etc.
(f) The “Time to Read” programme sponsored by the ESB is signalling considerable impacts & success in the area of childhood literacy. Employees from companies provide reading support to a child with the aim of increasing the enjoyment and confidence of reading and encourage self-discovery. Officially launched in December 2013 by the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, the programme is a powerful tool for increasing employee engagement
(g) STEM Seeing is Believing events for science & technology teachers. This initiative commenced in 2013 and has taken place in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Athlone, Donegal and Kerry. It provides teachers with an insight into cutting edge companies in their locality who are in strong growth phases of businesses. The teachers have found it informs them of the jobs & opportunities available to their students if they pursue a career in STEM.
About Firstsource Solutions
Firstsource Solutions Limited, a RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company (NSE: FSL, BSE: 532809, Reuters: FISO.BO, Bloomberg: FSOL@IN), is a leading global provider of customized Business Process Management (BPM) services to the Healthcare, Telecom & Media and Banking & Financial Services industries. The company’s clients include Fortune 500, FTSE 100 & Nifty 50 companies. Firstsource has a “rightshore” delivery model with operations in India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, UK and U.S. (www.firstsource.com).
