TRUST is a workplace “vaccine” that will ensure the productivity and efficiency of workers, according to two multinational service firms cited recently as among the top 5 workplaces by Great Place to Work Philippines.
Business-process outsourcing company Synchrony Global Services Philippines, a subsidiary of premier consumer financial services company Synchrony, immediately responded to the outbreak of the situation.
Michael Zolin, CEO of Synchrony Global Services Philippines, said the senior management swiftly went into action securing hotel rooms for employees in Manila and Cebu, within walking distance from their sites so that people could come to work. Moreover, financial stipends, transportation and daily meals were offered for employees.
The company also provided 1,000 work-at-home kits to Manila-based employees, while 500 were deployed in Cebu. These included computers, headsets, monitors, cables, and prepaid Internet router.
“This whole work-at-home thing has brought the best out in our people. We’ve accomplished more technologically in the last six weeks than we have in the last 16 years. People are moving at the speed of light to make things happen, and I think we’ve proven now that you can actually do call center work as a work-at-home option,” Zolin explained in a press statement.
Arturo Tolentino, the AVP for Human Resources of Synchrony Philippines, added that trust among employees and management bonded them during the crisis—even through the smallest of gestures. “A lot of our people started these text messages of support, thanking our people who were in the hotel that they are our heroes, and that we are also able to do work-at-home, they’re keeping the business running.”
Tolentino said trust also enabled the company to handle the mental pressures of a contagious disease bearing down on the work force.
“Being in quarantine, among the biggest issues was maintaining mental health. We were trying to figure out how we could minimize infecting one another. So we enforced zoning, not just physical distancing. We also made sure that we constantly sanitized specific areas in the office. Then we maintained an onsite clinic to ensure that our employees received proper medical support,” he cited.
Zolin added that peace of mind was achieved when management assured the employees their jobs were secured. “We made the decision that our people would continue to get paid even if they worked at home, and that we were not going to lay anybody off. We may be dealing with a deadly virus, but our people continue to work with smiles on their faces and songs in their hearts.”
For Ingram Micro Manila Global Business Services Center, the need of its 2,400 employees to be with their families was the top priority when the Philippine government announced the implementation of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine in mid-March.
Vigor Amador Jr., Ingram Micro executive director, said the management made it a priority to their employees to be with their families in these challenging times.
“We started with preparations for the business continuity plan as soon as the Covid-19 cases began escalating and impacting different countries. The intent was to send people home so that we didn’t expose our employees to any untoward risk. We made that conscious decision to say that they had to be with their families as we went through the community quarantine,” Amador said in a press statement.
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