HUL - RIN Launches Rin Career Ready Academy Photos

 

 

Chennai, June 11^th, 2015: 84% of consumers surveyed across 29 markets, including India, believe brands have the ability to effect more positive change than governments according to a recent McCann World group study^[1]. Rin, a leading detergent brand in TN, is taking a step in that direction with the announcement of its new social initiative called Rin Career Ready Academy.   

Rin Career Ready Academy will skill youth from less privileged backgrounds in order to make them ready for front facing white collar jobs & increase their income potential. Employability Skills, unlike poverty or women’s safety, are not a top of mind issue in India, but one that is more easily addressable at an individual level. Rin, as a part of the initiative, will engage directly with each individual to make an impact and through the same bring about a larger social change, one individual at a time.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vipul Mathur, Category Head Core Laundry, HUL said, “Rin as a brand has always believed that everyone is talented and more often than not it is lack of opportunity or prejudices of others that stand in the way.  The Rin Career Ready Academy stems from the inherent belief that enabling the youth to acquire relevant livelihood skills can make a huge impact on the lives of deserving people who lack them, allowing them to fully express their talent and increase their income potential. This should help the youth not just to improve their own lives but also enrich the lives of those around them”

Rin Career Ready Academy aims to educate and equip youth in three critical corporate skills of English speaking, Office Dressing & Interview training. According to a recent report, authored by Dr. Abusaleh Shariff of the Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy, New Delhi and Amit Sharma, research analyst with the National Council for Applied Economic Research ^[2], those who speak English fluently earn up to 34% more than those who don't speak the language, confirming the link between knowledge of English language and income potential. This is a key reason why it has been identified as a key skill area of the Rin Career Ready Academy.

Another growing employability problem is that even educated youth are often not able to find jobs commensurate with their level of education, salary expectations or interests due to soft skill gaps. As Saket Mani, Children and Youth representative at the UN had recently commented, “It feels like the more educated you are in India, the less chance you have of finding a job. We must address the mismatch between the skills students acquire and the needs of the employers”. The Rin Career Ready Academy attempts to remedy this by training people in office dressing, interview training and other inter-personal skills.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rishi, the Tamil film and TV actor said, “It is great that Rin is launching this initiative that will benefit both the youth and the larger society. While talent and education have a role to play, I strongly believe that final touches need to be given to one’s personality to prepare one for corporate challenges. The three key pillars of Rin Career Ready Academy of English speaking, office dressing and interview training will go a long way in helping the youth achieve that.”

Mobile will be one of the key mediums that will be used in Rin Career Ready Academy to deliver the course to the participants, as it allows the brand to reach even parts of the state which would be unviable to reach through physical brick and mortar infrastructure and make a greater impact. This will be the first time in the industry that mobile is being used as a tool to drive social change instead of being used as a marketing or promotional tool. Mobile also offers the users the convenience to take the course anytime, anywhere, learn at a comfortable pace and requires no monetary or logistical outlay on the part of the consumer. The quality and rigor of the program have been ensured by collaborating with The British Council, the training and certification partner for Rin Career Ready Academy. The custom made content for the course contains 20 modules, each with 5 lessons, and should take users around 3 weeks to complete. The IVRS based course is interactive & allows users the ability to record and get feedback to enhance the learning experience. On successful completion of the course all participants will get certification from Rin and The British Council.

“The attempt is to pioneer a new way to educate deserving youth by innovating with mobile technology,” said Mr. Mathur, “It will ensure consistency and quality of content delivery, without sacrificing engagement and responsiveness. Voice based feedback and interaction will help the course connect with the recipients better.”

Deserving individuals will be put up for a more intensive face to face course, where they will be guided by expert trainers of British Council who will coach them for three weeks in all three pillars of English Speaking, Office Dressing and Interview Training.

Top candidates will also be given the chance to interview for jobs to kick-start their careers.

Registrations for Rin Career Ready Academy start from 15^th of June. The process to apply for the program is as simple as giving a missed call to 1800-121-4545 and answering a few questions to register. All call charges, platform & content development charges and course fees for all participants are being borne by Rin.