A seemingly short phrase that nonetheless captures the entirety of the Home Credit DNA & company culture – and no one can attest to it better than their 13,000 people nationwide.
Behind the country’s leading consumer finance technology company and one of the fastest growing digital financial service providers is its strong and diverse workforce. As a multinational company, their employees come from different age, educational background, and nationality – mostly working at back-office support units. On the other side of the spectrum, making up a majority of their count, are customer-facing employees spread across metropolitan and provincial areas in the country as part of their sales and collections team.
Interestingly, the population of Home Credit Philippines is comprised of about 64% millennials. This generation of purpose-driven go-getters is very keen on selecting a workplace that will allow them to synchronize work and life better so that both can co-exist and flourish together.
For Home Credit, its millennial workforce, and the rest of its people, it is certainly a perfect match — thanks to the company’s long-standing culture of fairness, transparency, and empowerment that lets them thrive and grow in their chosen career and personal life.
Headed by Chief Executive Officer David Minol, Home Credit Philippines has successfully built a strong foundation of trust and openness within the company. “By creating a healthy work environment centered on promoting and prioritizing work-life balance, we were able to maintain a healthier and more productive relationship with our employees.”
At the forefront of overseeing the efficient implementation of this endeavor is the Human Resource Department headed by their Chief People Officer Alpha Omega Aquino. “Evidently, we acknowledge that work-life balance might mean differently to everyone. Our new and better programs and initiatives are in response to this concern,” Alpha said.
COME HOME PROGRAM
According to Alpha, even before working from home became a thing of the pandemic, their employees already had the option to work remotely once a week while they report to the office for rest of the week. So, when the pandemic and lockdown happened, Home Credit Philippines was quick to adjust to flexible working arrangements. Everyone was provided with remote working tools so they can conveniently work from the safety of their homes.
“During the pandemic, there was obviously a challenge in accessing tools and learning programs. With this, we built Launchpad, an e-learning system to enhance learning development and HR Gateway, a microsite serving as a one-stop-shop for all HR-Employee needs. Both platforms were well-received by employees and reached about 85% and 56% respectively versus our total employee base,” she said.
When quarantine protocols started to ease up, Home Credit also initiated efforts to encourage people to start coming back to the office. “The COME Home Program, which means Connect Onsite and Meet Everyone, is a campaign to promote hybrid work arrangement. The goal is for employees to connect, collaborate, cooperate, conceptualize, and celebrate with their teams in the workplace to improve their overall mental health,” Alpha explained.
Flexible workweek is offered to employees where they will report at least once a week to the office and work from home for the rest of the week.
To make it easy for employees to finally decide, they began launching awareness content on the advantages of working from home or at the office through TikTok videos and such. Hybrid arrangement or setup in discussion with respective team leaders was also offered. To create a safer workplace for everyone when they come back, free COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots were made available to interested employees. They also ensure regular cleaning and disinfection of all the offices.
EMPLOYEE WELLNESS
Maintaining mental health and wellness in the workplace is also essential for Home Credit as they believe that it contributes to a more productive workforce. “We cultivate a supportive work environment that makes our employees feel more motivated and engaged,” David revealed.
Having a massive workforce is both a challenge and opportunity for Home Credit to ensure that all their people will enjoy and benefit from employee initiatives and programs
With the current working arrangements, keeping the overall wellness of their employees is also a challenge for them. Bearing this in mind, they launched new and improved perks and benefits as part of the wellness programs and initiatives. It includes, among others, mental health support through virtual activities and online talks. Home Credit also instituted wellness leaves of up to 30 days plus an additional day for a birthday leave.
“Our approach on this is holistic. We are looking at all aspects – physical, mental, spiritual, and financial wellness. But most of all, it is about empowering individuals to take control of their well-being, for their own good,” Alpha added.
PERSONAL LEADERSHIP
Personal leadership perfectly embodies Home Credit’s strong culture of empowerment. According to David, “In Home Credit, we believe that everyone is a leader. Regardless of your position, each person is at least a self-leader.” A part of this culture is holding people accountable through performance evaluations.
“We set goals, and we review and update them so that they remain relevant. Regular feedback and performance conversations are a must to keep ourselves and our team focused and motivated throughout the year. Then, we periodically stop to take stock of our results and our development.” Alpha disclosed.
To nurture their sense of philanthropy and camaraderie, employees are also encouraged to volunteer in corporate social responsibility efforts such as taking part in Home Credit’s Financial Literacy campaign by teaching basic financial concepts to communities and barangays all over the country. Newly onboarded employees are encouraged to be social media ambassadors to develop in them a sense of pride for being part of Home Credit.
“An effective leadership style magnifies the strengths and potential of a person, making their weaknesses insignificant. At Home Credit, we create a nourishing space for our people to thrive and grow, and at the same time, propagate an environment that lets others grow as well.” David affirmed.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
By recognizing the potential of every individual despite their age, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, or (dis)ability, Home Credit becomes a safe workplace embracing diversity and inclusion.
“Leading a diverse people means there’s no one size fits at all. We are all different. However, there is one thing that is common to all and that is everyone wants to be appreciated.” says David.
In the Philippines, Home Credit is one of the few finance companies with an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report. One of the major components of their ESG Policy is focused on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI).
With a rich and diverse mix of individuals, HCPH is home to talents from different parts of the country, generation, and social status. Across all levels in the company, there is a 50:50 ratio of men to women which is also reflected in the people management level where women are holding key positions in the company. For Home Credit, diversity goes beyond mere gender and nationality as it also looks closely at representation in terms of leadership and background of experiences.
Home Credit Philippines’ Executive Committee has more or less a 50:50 male to female ratio.
Alpha summed up a few of the most significant initiatives they did on DEI. “Some of our more concrete efforts on DEI include offering Same Sex Partner HMO to get coverage for LGBTQ+ partners. We also started revamping our company profile and jobs with diverse ways to communicate it to different local languages. Our webinars and talks centered on ethnicity and disability to raise awareness about equity and inclusion also resonated to a lot of employees.”
Essentially, work-life balance can easily be anything for any company or individual – it can focus on prioritizing personal wellness, empowering employees, championing and recognizing individual identity, and many other aspects – all of which Home Credit has been actively promoting in the course of their lifetime as an organization. “For us, work-life balance and employee happiness has always been embedded into our organizational structure and philosophy. It’s not just a line item in our budget or to dos – taking care of the well-being of our people is an integral part of the way we operate our business.” As David eloquently put it, “At Home Credit, we value our people. No small roles. Everyone is important.”