BUSINESS TECH | Accenture launches free online training to improve employability skills

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Accenture launched Skills to Succeed Academy in the Philippines offering free online learning courses on soft skills and confidence building to help young Filipinos gain definite advantages in landing a job.

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Accenture and Tesda execs: (from left) Elmer Talavera, executive director, National Institute for Technical Education and Skills Development; Nescel Asuncion, managing director of Accenture Advanced Technology Centers in the Philippines; Maria Susan Dela Rama,  Executive Director and project manager for eTESDA; and Lito Tayag, Accenture country managing director for the Philippines.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — They’re called soft skills—work ethics, attitude as a team player, and communications skills, and Accenture believes they’re just as important as technical competence in successfully getting employed.

Recently, Accenture launched Skills to Succeed Academy in the Philippines offering free online learning courses on soft skills and confidence building to help young Filipinos gain definite advantages in landing a job.

The rollout of the Skills to Succeed Academy is a collaboration between Accenture, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It comes at a time when the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) has highlighted the need for the 1.2 million new entrants to the workforce to brush up on their soft skills in the face of stiff competition in the labor market.

Designed and developed by Accenture for jobseekers aged 16 to 24, the Skills to Succeed Academy uses technology to run an online training program consisting of three major courses with a total 36 interactive learning modules. The three main courses cover choosing a career, securing a job and success at work.

“The Skills to Succeed Academy is part of our continuing commitment to build and up-skill Filipino talent. It’s a technology-enabled employment readiness tool focuses on soft skills,” said Lito Tayag, Accenture’s country managing director for the Philippines and Corporate Citizenship lead for the ASEAN region. “The future of the workforce is being framed by the digital revolution. What is needed now in the digital economy encompasses a whole range, holistic, very integrated set of skills. These skills become very important as technology continues disrupting business and changing how the world works.”

To reach and engage thousands of young jobseekers, the Academy uses different learning technologies, gaming techniques, role-based simulations, videos, quizzes and other interactive exercises.

Jobseekers will have the option to take the modules either via self-study or within facilitator-led study groups through a blended curriculum of online and offline materials

“We think our target demographics are at a disadvantage when they face their prospective employer. They don’t know how to handle an interview. They don’t know how to sell themselves. It’s not something taught in school,” said Nescel Asuncion, managing director, Accenture Advanced Technology Centers in the Philippines. “Our technology-enabled tool is focused on soft skills that are also equally important as technical capabilities. The platform provides an assessment so a jobseeker will see what’s needed to have a higher probability of getting hired.”

The rollout of Skills to Succeed Academy in the Philippines is the result of a collaboration between Accenture, TESDA, Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development, Inc. (FIT-ED), and Bayan Academy for Social Entrepreneurship and Human Resource Development (Bayan Academy).

TESDA will identify Academy participants through its e-TESDA and In-Center Trainings, while the NGOs and Accenture will support the implementation of the online learning courses.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Accenture and the other NGO partners in the Skills to Succeed Academy which aims to enhance employability skills,” said Guiling Mamondiong, director general, TESDA. “This online learning initiative demonstrates the importance of collaboration between the private and public sectors in making education and training accessible to more Filipinos, especially the youth.”
 
The Skills to Succeed Academy is part of Skills to Succeed (S2S), Accenture’s global initiative to advance employment and entrepreneurship opportunities worldwide. It provides people with the right capabilities to help them get a job or build a business. By the end of 2017, Accenture had equipped 2.2 million people with these skills — well on the way to its goal of equipping 3 million people by 2020.

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