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The Philippines'
Best Employers
By Michael Alan Hamlin
April 29, 2003
Last week, Hewitt Associates - the
global headhunting firm - announced the results of its second effort
to identify the Philippines' Best Employers. Hewitt does this in
eight different countries, and one of the highlights of the awards
this year was the announcement that the Philippines Best Employers
garnered the highest average engagement score (75% vs 58%) and alignment
score (73% vs 62%) in Asia.
Those scores have to do with employee
involvement in all aspects of an organization, and shared values
and goals.
According to Hewitt country manager
Susan Manalo, 84,000 employees from 305 organizations in 21 industry
sectors in Asia were involved in the regional study. In the Philippines,
over 11,700 employees from 40 organizations in 10 industry sectors
participated. The Philippines ranked fourth among the eight countries
in terms of number of participating organizations.
Ms. Manalo said the tough economic
climate prevalent in the Philippines, the region - and everywhere
else - was evident in the result of the study, but that "what
differentiates the best employers in Asia from everyone else is
their staying power in a fiercely challenging and competitive market.
The key word has to be sustainability. The study found that Asia's
Best Employers were companies that were able to sustain their customer
relationships, employee relationships, pipeline of leaders, levels
of knowledge creation and retention, and - last but not least -
their competitiveness."
Both studies also showed, Ms. Manalo
said, that Asia's and the Philippines' best employers believe that
people are, not unexpectedly, central to organizational success.
But perhaps reassuring about those findings was the fact that these
companies actually do well in identifying and responding to people
issues in a very active, and effective way, suggesting their acknowledgement
is more than lip service. "They make business decisions and
approach challenges with their people in mind," she told representatives
of the winning firms.
And it seems this works both ways.
"Employees of the best employers, in turn, do much to contribute
to the success of their organizations," she explained. "According
to the results of the study, employees feel strongly engaged in
their work with their organizations. They clearly understand the
direction the business is taking. And they behave in ways that are
clearly aligned to their organizations' business goals. So it's
a win-win situation for the employer and the employees."
This pays off in very tangible ways.
"This winning formula allows the Best Employers to produce
superior business results. The 2003 study shows that the compound
annual average revenue growth rate for the best employers in Asia
over the two-year period from 1999 to 2001 was almost 50 percent
higher than that of other companies participating in the study."
Ms. Manalo said that the study identified
six pretty much universal characteristics shared by Asia's best
employers. First, they possess a sharp focus and clarity of goals.
Second, they relentlessly develop the best talent and invest in
keeping them on the leading edge. Third, they avoid distractions
by focusing on most important matters so they don't get distracted
by things that don't matter very much.
The fourth attribute has to do with
holding people accountable for results but also enthusiastically
recognizing their achievements. Fifth, they inspire and maintain
a passion for outstanding achievement. And finally, Asia's best
employers harness the power of their culture to create a family-like
environment.
This year's winners in the Philippines
were, in last to first order, Federal Express Corporation, Mirant
Philippines, United Laboratories, William Gothong & Aboitiz,
Development Bank of the Philippines, Intel, Philippine Pizza (the
local Pizza Hut franchisee), Discovery Suites, Procter & Gamble,
and the number one Philippine best employer, Smart Communications.
When the list started out, I was
afraid that we were going to wind up with a list of multinational
corporations. While there are a number of very deserving multinationals
on the list, there is an impressive group of local corporations
as well, including a government development institution. I also
found it interesting that everyone I know who works for Smart works
about 19 hours a day, and apparently still loves the company.
Both United Laboratories and WG&A
are well established in the Philippine market as companies that
care deeply about their employees. In fact, the high principles
we see in their employee relationships are just as evident in their
daily business dealings. While there are many complaints about unprincipled
enterprise activity in the Philippines, these companies appear to
have managed to stay above all that, and to have succeeded despite
their upright values.
Both, of course, are market leaders.
And the fact that these companies'
employees apparently tuned into their employers better than any
other collective set of Asian employees is a remarkable finding.
And just one more example of the world-class good news this country
generates.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001), and he is
currently at work on High Visibility: The Making and Marketing
of Asian Professionals into Celebrities. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2003 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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