By Alicia Pereira Pimentel: Social Business Strategist, Allyson Gomez: HR Project Specialist, Chris Brown: Senior Principal IT Application Specialist, Claire Dean: Senior Director of Global Segment Marketing, Craig Chan: Senior Principal Price & License Spec, Kamal LaBreche: Commercial Sales Engineer, Marq Bauman: Senior Principal IT Business Analyst, and Prakash Pereppadan Pappachan: Manager Customer Support
In February 2014, we flew from the four corners of the world and landed in Arequipa, Peru with a common goal. The ten of us were selected among 200 applicants to be part of a unique pilot program called the Symantec Service Corps (SSC), where we worked together on international pro-bono assignments. Organized into different teams based on skill-set, we advised three Peruvian NGOs– Paz Peru, Descosur, and CIED (Center of Research, Education and Development) – on their various needs ranging from marketing to accounting and organizational structuring. Over the course of four weeks readers followed our journey as the projects developed and as we explored Peruvian food and culture.
The video below encapsulates this journey:
The program has made an impression not only within Symantec, but also externally, as it’s positioned Symantec as a leader in pro bono volunteer initiatives and employee engagement. Some time has passed since the project closed, and we’ve each returned to our respective homes and Symantec jobs. Returning home had some challenges – heavy workloads and a few still-unsettled stomachs. However, the experience continues to live vibrantly in our minds.
We each have our individual cultural memories, but the most noteworthy was the people. Teamwork, camaraderie, and shared experiences brought us together and created a one of a kind experience.
“I fondly remember and miss the phenomenal team that I had the opportunity to work with, both from within Symantec, and also at the NGO in country (DESCO in my case). Getting to know these people was one of the highlights of my trip,” reflects Kamal LaBrèche.
Each project consisted of delivering a meaningful and valuable solution to a complex problem in a tight timeframe. We each took home valuable skills and lessons to apply to our respective roles – project management, patience and flexibility, leadership development, and teamwork. Working with a tight timeframe enabled the whole team to really work on our project planning, development and management skill set. Patience was also an important skill emphasized on the trip, as having a translator was necessary for conversations.
“I’m applying some of the leadership skills I developed in Peru, what I called ‘leading from behind.’ In my current role as strategist, I have to lead cross-functionally through influence, not directly. It was a skill I also had to learn to use in our project work,” says Claire Dean.
“Everyone understood that we had some major work challenges ahead and not a lot of time to achieve results, so we dove right in,” said Craig Chan. “I left realizing how much teams can get done when they’re motivated, aligned, and realize they have a hard deadline.”
Valuable Lessons From Each of Us:
“Make a human connection first. At Paz Perú, the CEO was an incredibly busy woman who was running 7 different businesses that all served to finance the shelter for abandoned or abused young women. No matter how busy she was, she would come to our work group and ask about our families, what food we had tried, how Ashley was doing with the early stages of her pregnancy. That human connection is a core part of Peruvian culture. I tend to be very focused on the business at hand and fall right into the work, not asking first about the human being I am working with. I’ve made a conscious effort to be sure and connect with people on a human level first, and then tackle the business at hand.” ~ Claire Dean
“Be aware of your assumptions. A lot of time we ‘think’ we know what is best but really need to check in with the client on what their goals and objectives are. And to view the situation through their lens and current environment, not through our own personal lens or the resources we may have available back home.” ~ Craig Chan
“People are the same everywhere. We are all part of one world community and regardless of our location we are all trying to achieve the same thing: a better quality of life and happiness. Being able to serve a very marginalized group of people was highly influential on my view of the world, and really opened my eyes to the high level of skill that was available in a country working to solve some very fundamental problems.” ~ Kamal LaBrèche
“No action is too small. We were only there for a month. It seemed so little, how could WE make a difference? I realized that if you work hard at it, focus on one single goal surrounded by great minds, anything can happen. While still onsite, we saw people’s minds changing and opening to new ideas. We saw that the little advice and tweaks we made did make a huge difference. This to me was incredible!” ~ Alicia Pereira
“Talk less and listen more. Although I have practiced this in the past as a people manager, I have renewed my focus on this.” ~ Prakash Pereppadan Pappachan
“I knew the importance of meeting people, managing contacts and self-development beforehand, but the trip definitely made this very apparent. The Service Corps team was comprised of people from different branches of the company with promising careers, and we had the chance to meet with one of our executives while in Peru. ~ Chris Brown
“The most valuable experience was consulting in a foreign country. I learned more about organizational development in Peru and working cross-culturally to implement change. Looking back, I realized that I know a lot more than I thought I knew about implementing change and change management (I still have a lot to learn). I learned to sit at the table.” ~ Allyson Gomez
“I saw the Symantec Service Corps opportunity as a way to challenge myself in a new culture and skill set. The problems we were addressing with our NGO had only a small amount of technology issues but were more related to people and process areas. This meant that I had the opportunity to stretch beyond my core comfort area. The success of our work validated my ability to address a myriad of business challenges, not just IT issues like I do in my regular job. Having the opportunity to use my skills in a different area reminded me that I should be confident in my skills, even when the core tasks are vastly different from my recent work tasks.” ~ Marq Bauman
At Symantec, one of the primary focuses of our corporate responsibility strategy is Our People. On the surface, the Symantec Service Corp is about approaching real challenges within communities and applying our skills to create sustainable solutions. While that alone is reason enough to continue investing in programs like this, the program’s overall impact is much greater. Pro bono volunteering also provided skills-based learning and development for our own employees. It reinforces Symantec’s commitments to employee satisfaction and talent development, and also helps to develop cultural competencies as we travel to unfamiliar locations to work with local NGOs.
“The trip reminded me how important it is to learn from other cultures and their ways of looking at the world. Our differences make us stronger together because we get a chance to learn from each other. And if you are willing to try new things, or approach problems in a different manner, you learn that there is no one path to success, but that is always achievable,” says Marq Bauman.
Each of us is so grateful for this opportunity on personal level and as part of a team.
The second Symantec Service Corps will be deploying to Ankara, Turkey in February 2015! Team members will be announced the week of November 10th.