Power of One is an employee volunteering and payroll giving program as well as the cornerstone of the HCLFoundation’s work for positive urban transformation. The power of One is based on the belief that a small contribution made by the employees or time spent in community service can make a significant difference in society. The funds collected through pay-roll giving are mapped to the My Scholar program which provides a scholarship to meritorious children belonging to HCL support staff.
My scholar: a holistic career development project fully funded by hclites
Launched in late 2016, My Scholar is a long-term scholarship programme to support the education of talented and hardworking children from low-income families. Eligible beneficiaries include children from HCLFoundation’s project areas, or from HCL support staff, including housekeeping, transport, security, and other such allied support services. Through mentoring and financial support, the annual scholarship programme facilitates both higher secondary as well as higher education for 100 deserving students. The goal is to support them to stay in school, continue their education and find rewarding employment.
The Rupee 1 contribution made by employees under Power of One is mapped to this initiative and is used to award scholarships and provide quality support to these deserving Scholars for higher secondary and professional courses along with Sports.
There are two ways in which HCLites can become part of the Power of One Initiative:
Volunteering
In keeping with the belief that each employee has the power to reach out to, engage, inspire and make a difference, HCLFoundation constantly seeks to create avenues where HCLites can volunteer some time to actually engage with the less privileged communities, understand their reality and contribute towards enriching their lives in any way possible. HCL employees are encouraged to devote just one hour, one day, one week or one year towards community service activities such as teaching, counseling, mentoring, leading sensitization and awareness drives, rehabilitation, experience sharing and delivering motivational speeches. Employees can choose to get associated with any cause of their choice which ranges across the thematic areas – education, health, livelihood, and environment. The dedicated group of HCL employees who become part of the volunteer initiatives in the communities is called the HCL Community Champions. Over the last 3 years, around 25,000 HCLites have participated in community service, clocking in close to 1,65,000 volunteer hours.
Payroll giving
Employees can choose to contribute a small amount of Re.1 per day towards the social initiatives of the HCLFoundation. In the US and UK, this a bi-monthly contribution of One Dollar and One Pound respectively. In keeping with the spirit of volunteerism that guides all Power of One activity, the contributions are also voluntary in nature. Employees are constantly updated about the impact of their contributions through mailers and campaigns and to encourage them to become a part of the voluntary Power of One (Po1) payroll giving program. At present, close to 38,000 HCLites in India are contributing Re. 1 daily under this program.
Case study
I am Anshu, an accounts student in the second year of college. My mother works with HCL in the housekeeping department. A single mother, she has worked really hard to get me a good education. Thanks to the power of one initiative, I started receiving the scholarship and mentoring support when I was in Grade 12. Today, because of the support extended to me by HCLFoundation, I am much closer to my dream of becoming a banker. It has been an amazing experience interacting with this talented cohort of scholars. Thank you HCL for this opportunity.
