| EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING PROGRAM OF THE YEAR |
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TCS-Maitree is the core central function within Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to lead, direct, and facilitate all activities related to Employee Engagement and Volunteering at workplace (for Internal Community - TCSers and their family members), for external community (underprivileged /differently abled communities) and for environment sustainability. |
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TCS-Maitree (the word means friendship) was started in February 2002, as an initiative of Tata Consultancy Services to cultivate and propagate volunteer-driven, meaningful activities for TCS associates & their families in the domain of Associate Engagement and community volunteering across the globe. Today, it represents the face of “Associate Volunteering ” at workplace and for Community & Environmental Initiatives in TCS.
The essence of TCS-Maitree is to bring associates together to care and share in the spirit of friendship in the TCS Community, and the n reach out with the same spirit to the less privileged communities and environment.
What is “Employee Volunteering ”?
Volunteering is an expression of distinct human characteristics that enable us on one hand to go beyond the quest for doing things only for ourselves, and on the other, it is that which prompts from within the need for self-action and initiative in the spirit of service to humanity. When this concept is deploye d by an organization through its employees as its behavioral philosophy, it’s called as “Employee Volunteering ”.
“We are not doing this for propaganda. We are not doing this for visibility. I think we should do it for the satisfaction of knowing that we have really achieved something worthwhile and given something to the community in which we are working…” – Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata group
For more details, write to corporate.maitree@tcs.com
TCS-Maitree’s range of activities:
a) Workplace: through Engagement Programmes for Internal Community:
Employee Engagement is an area where TCS-Maitree provides a platform for engaging TCS associates in meaningful activities which help create a holisitc TCSer. The major areas of the engagement are:
- Promoting Diversity through Associate-driven Clubs: TCS-Maitree offers avenues for various interest based clubs such as Music, Dance, Adventure, Ecology, Fight against HIV/AIDS, Yoga, Sports, public speaking, photography, etc. Through these clubs, associates involve themselves in meaningful activities of their own interest.
- Calendar Events: These are the activities that TCS-Maitree organizes through out the year. The activities are designed on the basis of feedback received from associates at various levels. Some the major activities are Family Day, Summer Camp for associate’s children, Celebrating Cultural Diversity, etc.
- Special Days: TCS being a global organization, it is very important for associates to understand and be able to relate with various international celebrations/causes. TCS-Maitree offers an avenue through which various associate engagement programs/campaigns are organized in this regard.
b) Community: through External Community Initiatives:
Both on its own and as part of the Tata organization, TCS has adopted this concept for its holistic development and actively implements programs and initiatives for the betterment of various communities by involving associates and their family members through the unique concept of “Volunteering ”. TCS-Maitree serves as the platform for this endeavor and has identified major focus areas as:
- Education / Skill Development that includes areas such as Conversational English, Maths and Science Education, Computer Literacy, Career Guidance, Adult Literacy, etc for Underprivileged children from various communities.
- Economic Empowerment that includes Women Empowerment Programmes, Rural
Development Initiatives and increasing employment for differently abled persons.
- Health Awareness which includes creating awareness on various Health related issues in
schools and colleges, organizing Health Camps, etc.
- Enabling Societies through Core Competency (IT) which includes Advanced Computer Training Center for Visually Impaired, Development & Maintenance of IT based systems for TCS-Maitree initiatives and other partnering organizations, development & maintenance of Computer Laboratories for underprivileged schools, etc..
c) Environment:
Through Environmental Sustainability Programmes, TCS-Maitree plays an active role in environment sustainability by organizing various programmes such as water conservation, tree plantation and adoption drives, beach and fort cleanup drives, deploying renewable energy sources (solar, wind, etc) and paper recycling plants, and conducting environmental awareness for employees, school children, teachers, and many such communities. |
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