Teleperformance and De La Salle-CSB partners for deaf inclusion in the workplace

Teleperformance Philippines, the country’s largest Great Place to Work company, has partnered with De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Benilde Deaf School (BDS) to create a comprehensive program to train deaf interns and equip them with the necessary tools for their integration into the workforce. The partnership marks a groundbreaking step towards deaf inclusion in the workplace in the Philippines.

Marking a groundbreaking step towards deaf inclusion
in the workplace, Teleperformance (TP) in the Philippines and the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde have inked a
partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing at the TP Ayala site
recently.

The partnership with the Benilde Deaf School (BDS)
marks a pivotal moment in the journey of the first and largest Great Place to Work company towards advancing the organization’s diversity,
inclusion, and equity (DE&I) policies. The MOA includes a comprehensive
program to train Deaf interns and equip them with the necessary tools for their
integration into the workforce. 

Through the introduction and empowerment of Deaf
interns in the workplace, Teleperformance aims to hire more persons with
disabilities in full-time positions. 

Chief People Officer & Chief of Staff Jeffrey
Johnson, SHRM-SCP® said: “Teleperformance is geared towards hiring more
persons with disabilities in the coming years. This internship program
provides a safe and inclusive workplace, while ensuring that our Deaf interns
have the necessary resources they need to thrive in their respective careers.”

Over the years, TP has demonstrated a steadfast
commitment to deaf inclusion. Notable achievements include hiring PWD employees
and ensuring the presence of dedicated Filipino Sign Language (FSL)
interpreters in corporate events. 

 “Our Impact
Sourcing team has been operating for more than a year. With the appropriate
support, reasonable accommodations, fair policies, and a culture centered on
inclusivity, persons with disabilities can surely flourish in the IT-BPM
industry. The Deaf community at TP are proof that any PWD can succeed and
thrive if a workplace is committed to its inclusive policies and programs,”
said Aura Manalo, Impact Sourcing Supervisor and Lead of the TP Disability
Inclusion Employee Resource Group (ERG). 

“For 2024, we will be engaging self-identified
employees with disabilities with a series of empowerment sessions. We will also
set sensitivity training and exercise to properly educate our teams and create
a safe space for PWDs,” she added. 

Present at the MOA signing was the newest Chief
Executive Officer Rahul Jolly; joined by Chief People Officer Jeffrey Johnson,
and VP for Human Resources, Communications and Marketing, Rachel Cacabelos.
Among CSB’s representatives were Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Angelo
Marco Lacson, and OIC Dean of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies,
Ana Kristina Arce. 

This Press Release has also been published on VRITIMES