Breakthroughs Issue no. 1 2019 by IBPAP

THE BUSI NESS J OURNAL O F T H E IT- B P M INDU ST RY

BREAKTHROUGHS

VOL. 1, 2019

BUILDING FOR THE

FUTURE

COLLABORATION IN LEGISLATION: The Power of Industry-Government Partnerships

ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY How ADEC Innovationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jim Donovan helps organizations around the world achieve sustainability

ENHANCING DIVERSION, FOSTERING INCLUSION Companies share their programs for inclusion in their organizations

IT-BPM INDUSTRY: POISED FOR GROWTH Take a peek at what lies ahead

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IB PA P U PD ATES

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT IBPAP BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Dear Members,

2018 was a challenging yet productive year for our industry. It is no secret that we faced several headwinds that slowed down our growth in comparison to our Roadmap 2022 targets. However, despite the challenges we faced, we take pride in the industry’s contributions to the Philippine economy. We remain to be among the largest creators of jobs, driving growth and economic progress in the metro cities as well as in the countryside. Before 2018 ended, we went through several workshops with key stakeholders to identify the evolving priorities for IBPAP. From those discussions, it became clearer that the following areas need our sustained and renewed focus:

l Policy Shaping: This will continue to be a key pillar for IBPAP. It has been resoundingly acknowledged that as the industry voice, we are in a unique position to help shape and influence key policies that will help in achieving sustainable growth for the industry. This year, we shall endeavor to be in front of key conversations as we forge and promote stronger partnerships with key government agencies. l Talent Development: As we continue to embrace digital transformation, it is imperative for us to also change the way we think about our talent. There will always be new emerging technologies and we need to help promote a shift from STEM to STEAM and cultivate a culture of lifelong learning in order for our workforce to be able to adapt to these changes and help enable our shift to mid to high complexity jobs. l Country Branding: India, China and other markets are making significant strides to be strong contributors to the global IT-BPM market and we need to remain relevant and retain our global competitiveness. l Innovation: As an industry, we will continue to promote a culture of innovation by harvesting and sharing of best practices. l Membership Engagement: This year, we will continue to encourage active participation of our members in various committees, promote knowledge and insights exchange and leverage more formal partnerships with other business associations and organizations. We’ve got big plans for 2019 and we know that we have our work cut out for us. More than ever, now is the time for us to continue to work together as an industry in order to achieve our key objectives: repositioning the Philippines in the digital global economy by highlighting our unique country brand proposition and empowering our workforce by providing them opportunities to reskill and upskill to support our necessary pivot to high-value jobs and services. We can achieve this through cooperation and collaboration with the government, academe and other partner industries. Working hand in hand, we shall strive to successfully pivot to higher-value jobs and services and maintain our competitiveness as a preferred country of destination for IT-BPM.

Rey Untal, President & CEO IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines

Industry Representatives Ayhee Campos, Country Head, Infosys BPM Limited – Philippine Branch Celeste Ilagan, Senior Vice President – Marketing and External Affairs, SPi Global Holdings, Inc. Nico Jose Nolledo, Chair & CEO, Xurpas, Inc. Lito Tayag, Country Managing Director, Accenture Philippines Raoul Teh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Global Service Center – Philippines Non-Industry Representatives Juan Victor Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Head, PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups David Leechiu, Co-Founder and CEO, Leechiu Property Consultants, Inc. Peter Maquera, Senior Vice President, Globe Business, Globe Telecom, Inc. Partner Associations Juan Miguel Del Rosario, President, Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. Benedict Hernandez, Chair, Contact Center Association of the Philippines Alvin Juban, President, Game Developers Association of the Philippines Elaine Kunkle, Chair, Global In-house Centers Council Maria Cristina “Beng” G. Coronel, President, Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines Jonathan De Luzuriaga, President, Philippine Software Industry Association Corporate Secretary Bob Guinto, NMGRA Law Offices Executive Team Rey Untal, President & CEO Nicki Agcaoili, Executive Director for External and Industry Affairs Jopat Lelay, Chief of Staff

STAFF BOX Breakthroughs is published by MediaFocus Management Services, Inc. IBPAP Team: Kathy Calilao, Marketing and Communications Manager OJ Serrano, Marketing Officer Indu Badlani-Bhavnani, Senior Membership Manager Editorial Team: Armie Duarte; Jing Lejano; Bubbles Salvador; Twinnie Ramos For advertising opportunities, please email Twinnie Ramos at twinnie@mediafocus.com. ph

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F E AT UR E

COLLABORATION IN LEGISLATION:

THE POWER OF INDUSTRY-GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIPS harmonized industry position on TRABAHO with key policy makers, legislators and government agencies. The association also partnered with a number of business associations such as Joint Foreign Chambers and Makati Business Club in various campaigns to clearly convey the industry’s point-of-view. SUPPORTING FLEXIBLE WORKING MODELS Another policy that has gained the attention and support from the IT-BPM industry is the Telecommuting Act which allows for work-fromhome arrangements between employers and employees in the private sector.

by: IBPAP

As the IT-BPM industry’s voice, the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) considers policy shaping as a key focus area as sound and fair legislation, not only sustains the growth of the industry, but more importantly, maintains the industry’s global competitiveness. IBPAP, and its Legislative Committee, continue to forge partnerships with key government agencies as well as legislative branches in order to keep the communication channels open and ensure discussions take place especially on policies that affect the industry. MAINTAINING GLOBAL RELEVANCE AND COMPETITIVENESS The Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher Quality Opportunities or better known as the TRABAHO Bill remained to be the most controversial policy in 2018 in light of the potential impact, not only to the IT-BPM industry, but also to the semiconductor, manufacturing and other big industries. According to BMI (Business Monitor International) Research, “Despite the proposed corporate income tax cut, the Philippines will still be one of the highest and least competitive in the region, and repealing of tax incentives will likely make it worse. This comes at a time when other neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam are offering more tax incentives to attract more foreign investments.” Fiscal incentives sustain the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Philippines as a preferred IT-BPM destination and uncertainties over it influence investment decisions to retain or locate operations in the country. This was proven to be true when the IT-BPM industry revealed its slower-than-anticipated growth in terms of revenue and headcount which was largely due to the “wait-and-see” attitude of investors due to the TRABAHO Bill. Leading the entire sector, IBPAP shared the

Closely monitored by IBPAP, the association together with the sub sectors and in partnership with the Legislative Committee, closely coordinated with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to be at the forefront in the discussions of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). With the new bill, companies across all industries need to revisit employee policies and benefits such as designated work and rest hours, transportation and meal allowances and overtime pay. In addition, the bill must consider data protection policies for companies, employees, and the clients they serve. “I don’t expect that the Telecommuting Act will have a big impact on the IT-BPM sector as the industry already has existing work-from-home models in place. There are however aspects of the law that need to be clarified but it’s important that the government does not over-regulate. I also don’t see any issues in implementing the new law from a legal perspective but the challenge will be in developing and maintaining the infrastructure needed to support the telecommuting work arrangement,” said Atty. Kenneth Chua, Partner, Quisumbing Torres Law Offices. PRESERVING HEALTH, PROTECTING TALENT The IT-BPM sector embraces the importance of taking care of its most valuable resource: its talented workforce. This is why extra measures are taken to ensure that the health benefits offered to IT-BPM employees and their immediate family members are given utmost consideration. In mid-2018, RMC 50-2018 was issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as clarification to Revenue Regulations Nos. 08-2018 and 11-2018. Essentially, a new tax treatment was prescribed for premiums on health cards paid by the employers for their employees, potentially impacting employees’ income and overall cost of doing business.

50-2018, IBPAP together with its sub sectors and Legislative Committee partnered with different business groups including JFC and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies’ Regional Headquarters Inc. (PAMURI) in conveying a joint position on the policy which ultimately led to the BIR amending the provision on tax implementation on health card premiums and declaring status quo. “We are grateful to the BIR for listening to the point-of-view of the different industries and businesses in relation to RMC 50-2018. Collectively, the IT-BPM industry’s objectives are to continue to fuel the Philippine economy and to generate jobs for Filipinos nationwide. Partnering with government in shaping policies that affect business sectors have allowed us to achieve these goals,” shared Nicki Agcaoili, IBPAP Executive Director for External Affairs and Investor Relations. PROMOTING THE WELFARE OF THE INDUSTRY’S WORKFORCE In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11058 “Occupational Safety and Health Standards Act” an act ensuring employers, contractors and sub-contractors comply with occupational safety and health standards and provide working conditions that are safe from death, illness, or physical harm. Maintaining labor safety and health standards is not a new regulation. It has been covered in current laws including the Philippine Labor Code. The new law just reiterates the importance of strengthening compliance and highlights the penalties for violations. To show its support for the bill, IBPAP, together with its member companies and sub sectors, actively formulated and reviewed the implementing rules and regulations of RA 11058 as part of the IRR committee. To kick start the year, the association organized a government-industry briefing to discuss these implementing rules and regulations to ensure the industry’s awareness and understanding. Director Teresita Cucueco from the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) of the DOLE led the discussion and Q&A attended by several IBPAP members. “The government will not ever prioritize penalties, we will always prioritize compliance. We are here to help companies comply. There are many laws on safety and health and not just from the labor department. There’s one from DENR, DOE, even aviation and transportation. The law does not invalidate the different government agencies’ and industries’ current standards. It still maintains that their regulations are to be followed as well,” explained Director Tes Cucueco, Bureau of Working Conditions from the Department of Labor and Employment.

To redress the potential impact of RMC

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

P HO T O BY : ZH IP E NG YA O N U NSP L AS H

TA L E N T D EV E LOP MEN T

EMPOWERING FILIPINOS THROUGH IMPACTFUL CAREERS by: IBPAP

With this, IBPAP has developed several programs focused on attracting new talent and developing the current workforce through upskilling and reskilling to ensure that they can adapt to the ongoing digital transformation. These programs aim to educate Filipinos on the rewarding opportunities the industry offers and help them embrace new technologies and develop new skills to aid the industry’s pivot to higher value jobs and services. PROVIDING REWARDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FILIPINOS In late 2018, IBPAP launched It Starts Here, a career marketing campaign that supports the Talent Acquisition Ecosystem and highlights the importance of attracting and sustaining the right talent in the industry. As part of the program, a Career Portal was also introduced to strengthen the industry’s digital footprint and become present where the talent is: online.

This also allows the industry to reach a wider audience including the skilled Filipino workforce in the countryside. The portal, itstartshere.ph, provides Filipinos with information on the various career options, skill requirements, and growth opportunities in the IT-BPM industry. It features career guides that help local talent understand what it takes to pursue a career in the six subsectors of the industry. It also includes career and skills mapping and access to training institutions that will educate users about the upskilling required for career progression. CREATING A DIGITALLY-ENABLED WORKFORCE To address the urgency to reskill and upskill the current workforce, IBPAP also partnered with CloudSwyft Global Systems, Inc., one of Asia’s leading Learning-as-a-Service Microsoft partner, to launch the IBPAP Learning Switch portal. This online learning site provides open access to hundreds of Microsoft’s in-demand workplace technology courses in eight learning tracks such as Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, DevOps, Cloud Administration, and more. It also has built-in automated environments that serve as virtual playgrounds and offer course-based assessments, practical exercises, modular quizzes, and hands-on lab activities anywhere and anytime. Users also have the option to get globally-recognized certificates, issued and verified by Microsoft directly at the end of the courses, or gain a full Microsoft Professional Program Master Certificate once a full track is completed. These two features are available to IBPAP members and affiliates at a discounted price.

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

P HO T O BY: L E I F I NGE F OSE N O N UNS P L AS H

With over one million Filipinos employed in the IT-BPM industry, human capital is one of the key priorities the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) has identified in the Philippines IT-BPM Roadmap 2022. It is one of the enabling conditions that will fuel the industry’s growth trajectory in the next few years.

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Learn more at taskus.com

D I G I TA L C IT IE S

ATTRACTING INVESTORS to new IT-BPM hubs by: IBPAP

The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) launched the digitalcitiesPH™ Portal. The online portal is a platform that provides a comprehensive overview of a city’s or municipality’s investment landscape, offering strategic insights for current and prospective investors and locators. Each profile provides key information on talent, infrastructure, cost, digital transformation, innovation ecosystem, and business environment. “The digitalcitiesPH™ portal harnesses the power of technology and information to link different regional cities to various stakeholders and investors on a global scale,” said IBPAP President & CEO, Rey Untal. For investors and locators, the portal provides access to key information about the cities and sees what specific sectors, products, or services they can invest in. As

a result, business and investment hubs can be grown on a regional scale and foster inclusive growth for the country. However, there is a need to foster localized development and support for the countryside that caters to the diverse and evolving needs of prospective locators. “We have ICT Councils present in most provincial cities and municipalities and they can be leveraged to facilitate local ICT growth and development but they also have varying levels of maturity and strategies in attracting, growing, and sustaining investments,” explained NICP President, Antonio Del Carmen. To address this, the IBPAP, DICT, and the NICP devised the digitalcitiesPH™ Playbook: A Guide to Developing and Promoting ICT-enabled Locations. The Playbook aims to give ICT Councils and other local entities a guide to help them provide real-time and relevant information to locators and investors, which will be crucial in developing investor promotion materials and local ICT development plans. Moreover, the

Playbook enables them to strategize, market their locations, and provide quality and seamless services to locators and investors. “Through the Playbook, we hope to develop a deeper knowledge and better appreciation of locations outside NCR, bringing in more investments, job generation, and fostering inclusive growth for the country,” said DICT Undersecretary Monchito Ibrahim. The digitalcitiesPHT™ platform and the Playbook are part of the key initiatives of the digitalcitiesPH™ program which focuses on the development of ICT-enabled hubs that will serve as business and innovation centers and investment destinations outside Metro Manila.

“THE DIGITALCITIESPH PORTAL HARNESSES THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION TO LINK DIFFERENT REGIONAL CITIES TO VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS AND INVESTORS ON A GLOBAL SCALE.”

TRANSFORMING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT is Key to Success In the changing world of customer service, the winners will be those who see the need for high quality talent.

Digital innovation is revolutionizing customer service by providing self-care channels, automation of simple functions, and increased efficiency in the workplace. This has made customers demand higher levels of convenience and effortless care. Classic contact center measures which only focus on efficiently and effectively resolving issues when they occur no longer meet customer expectations. Success is measured by being better at service recovery, and eliminating the cause of friction. Let’s take two companies in the same industry targeting the same market. Company A

Company B

First Call Resolution

75%

70%

Net Promoter Score

64%

60%

Average Handle Time

8 minutes

10 minutes

By traditional measures, Company A must deliver the better customer experience. However, it is important to measure the number of times a year customers call needing some form of problem resolution. Traditional measures say Company A is better. But from a customer perspective, Company B delivers the better experience as there is less effort and friction in doing business with it.

programme is knowing how to attract, support, and develop talent to deliver a holistic customer experience, measure outcomes, and recognize the talent that leads the way. This highly skilled and developed talent is a significant differentiator of our customer experience offering. By investing in talent, TeleTech is able to leverage front-line employees to participate in collaborative cross-functional working sessions to analyze the customer journey. This helps to understand customer friction points and recommend solutions with a return on investment in the range of 5-7% net savings per annum. Coupled with TeleTech’s digital solutions, a typical contact center partnership of three years would result in spend reduction of 30-40%. This savings can enable further investment in employees through increased wages and investment in the workplace environment and culture. In the changing world of customer service, the winners will be those who recognize the need to attract and retain high quality talent not only to resolve issues when they occur but also to prevent those issues from occurring on a wider scale. By transitioning the focus of contact center personnel, brands can address consumer demands for friction-less experiences. Those who develop energized brand ambassadors focused on holistic customer experience improvement will be the new market leaders.

TeleTech is breaking the mold by implementing a fundamental shift to this thinking. The core of the 2020

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

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C E O P R O FILE C E O P RO FILE

ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF

HISTORY

How JIM DONOVAN is using his expertise in data management to help organizations around the world achieve sustainability

by Breakthroughs Team

With the world’s leading climate scientists warning that we only have a dozen or so years to limit climate change catastrophe, people have to be making much better decisions soon.

“We provide the business intelligence that helps the makers of those jeans not use illegal dyes,” says Donovan. “We’re very proud of the work we’ve done with Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) to help get illegal dyes out of the supply chain.”

“We were all brought up at a time when the linear business model was used. You make something. You use it. You throw it away,” Jim says. “We have to dramatically turn the world towards a circular society where we’re going to have to reuse, recycle, and refit the way we do things… The world is going to have to adjust its business models and our small part in that is to provide data to help them hopefully make smarter decisions.”

An initiative by the world’s largest global apparel and footwear brands to ensure sustainable and environment-friendly supply chains, ZDHC is dedicated to eliminating harmful substances in the value chain, which cause havoc on the environment.

“THE MOST IMPORTANT REWARD IS THE TRUST OF THE PEOPLE WHO COME TO WORK WITH YOU. AWARDS ARE NICE FOR THE SHELVES. BUT THE REALITY IS THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO TRUST IN YOUR VISION …AND YOU HAVE TO EARN THAT AWARD EVERY DAY!” THE CALL FOR SUSTAINABILITY

THE SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR

Sustainability has always been a driving force for Donovan, both in his work and his advocacy. ADEC Innovations, of which he is the founder, has been developing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) solutions for a wide variety of enterprises for more than two decades now. Among other things too, he is one of the authors of the United Nations Environment Programme’s 6th edition of the Global Environment Outlook 6.

Jim Donovan likes to call himself a serial entrepreneur. In 1998, he founded American Exchange Data Corporation, along with Carol Esguerra, and he hasn’t looked back ever since. Today, the ADEC Group of Companies is a global provider of onshore managed services and offshore outsourcing solutions for governments and businesses worldwide.

Explaining his passion, he says, “We have 7.5 billion people on the planet. We are using an Earth and a half of resources. The math doesn’t work out. We looked at that, and said this is a big trend. Some people would call it sustainability, some would call it resource management. We saw it as an opportunity to redirect our services with big data to help people make better decisions.”

Playing on his strength in data management, Jim has lent his expertise on a wide variety of initiatives. ADEC Innovations, for example, is the scoring partner of the Carbon Disclosure Project. He says, “About 4,000 companies send their information to us on carbon disclosure. We work with non-government organizations, and we provide them the software and scoring that allows them to do their work.”

For the United Nations and its member states, Jim is involved in developing software which would help them collect and manage information. He adds, “In the Philippines, we are in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to focus on biodiversity. We have projects all over the world.” At 55 years old, Jim has indeed accomplished much, but he believes there is still much to be done. He says, “My bucket list is what I get to do every day, use my entrepreneurial skills in a way that helps the company and hopefully provide our customers a way forward. I’m happy doing what we’re doing, and I hope we get to do more of it.” In the same manner, Jim believes there is still much to be done, and much to hope for, in the Philippine IT-BPM industry. “I am a natural optimist. In the next five years, we would want to see more technologyenabled solutions with humans in the loop. We should be providing more analytics, more training, more high value services. That’s where the market is going and the Philippines needs to recraft its position. Our human resource being the original value proposition, while still relevant, should be recrafted and polished for 2020 and beyond.” DEFINING SUCCESS Jim’s passion and persistence in his call for sustainable practices has not gone unnoticed; he has received countless awards and accolades from different institutions and organizations. At the end of the day, however, Jim says, “The most important reward is the trust of the people who come to work with you. Awards are nice for the shelves. But the reality is that people have to trust in your vision …and you have to earn that award every day!” He says, “My personal and professional idea of success is making a difference. For sustainability and the environment, we want to be on the right side of history. The world is living in an unsustainable way, and we want to succeed in delivering solutions to help people make better decisions.”

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

P H O TO BY : A L EX KOT L IA R S K Y I O N U NSP L AS H

If you own a pair of denim jeans in your closet, then it’s very likely that you have benefited from the groundbreaking initiatives of Jim Donovan and his group, ADEC Innovations.

D I V E R SIT Y & IN C LU SION

Embracing Diversity, Fostering Inclusion INDUSTRY STALWARTS ARE REDESIGNING THE WORKPLACE CULTURE WITH GAME-CHANGING INITIATIVES

have the potential to succeed, the right attitude, and the right skill,” concludes Labesores. PROUDLY INCLUSIVE ANZ started the LGBTIQ+ Pride Network in its Australia office more than a decade ago. In 2011, it was adopted in the Philippines, where employees helped to strengthen the network’s presence in Manila. Today, ANZ Manila Service Centre is a proud member of Philippine Financial Industry Pride (PFIP), a collaborative community that aims to foster an industry that is safe and inclusive for LGBTIQ+. “Respect is one of ANZ’s core values and we believe that all employees should be able to bring their whole authentic selves to work regardless of their age, religion, race, or sexual orientation,” says Onil Villacorta, PFIP Chair and Manila Service Centre Head of Markets Transaction Management.

by Breakthroughs Team

As employers continue to embrace diversity and foster inclusion across genders and people with disabilities, the IT-BPM industry is becoming even more amazing to be part of.

ANZ is one of the first organizations in the Philippines to roll out an HMO coverage program for domestic same sex partnership. It also initiated information campaigns, volunteer activities, and a speaker series aimed at increasing the level of understanding of the LGBTIQ+ acronym. Another highlight is the roll-out of the LGBT 101 Awareness Program for ANZ’s support teams composed of housekeeping, security, and administrative personnel.

The company’s partnership with The Project Red Ribbon’s Duyan Foundation has likewise OPENING THE DOOR FOR PWDS empowered families living with HIV. ANZ not Diversity and inclusion has always been part of Henkel only provided start-up business capital, but also introduced the concept of financial literacy Asia Pacific Centre’s company culture. While others look at diversity and inclusion in terms of gender alone, through its flagship corporate sustainability program called “Money Minded.” Henkel focuses on the “diverse in diversity.” Human Resources Manager Tess Labesores says, “We have a working group that is focused on coming up with a roadmap specific to diversity and inclusion, and we want to ensure this espouses inclusivity.” Having a diversity and inclusion roadmap gives employees an idea what to expect, what programs are in the pipeline, and what the company hopes to achieve. Irish Ortiz, who is herself a PWD, leads the diversity and inclusion committee. She says, “One of our major objectives in 2019 is to increase our PWD hires. We’ll also be having disability equality training for people managers and also for all the employees.” Henkel employs a well-thought-out strategy for including PWDs in the hiring process, and involving the whole organization in the conversation once the PWDs are onboard as employees. Taking it a step further, Henkel launched an awareness campaign among its employees, starting with a talk by a representative from the National Council on Disability Affairs. “We also did sensitivity training for employees who work with PWDs,” Labesores adds. It’s not surprising that Henkel has become a resource for best practices on the hiring of PWDs within and outside the IT-BPM industry. Ortiz was a guest speaker last year at the Workability Inclusion Network Summit hosted by Willis Towers Watson. Henkel was also invited to share their experience with Accenture India and other Henkel sites across the globe. In addition to PWDs, Henkel also has initiatives that support gender equality and age diversity. There is absolutely no discrimination when it comes to hiring. “In our recruitment activity, we are not expressing preference for gender or age. We really value what this person can bring to this organization, as long as you

These initiatives were led by highly engaged employees. Villacorta says, “We credit our driven and motivated ANZ Pride Network Leaders, as well as ANZ’s most senior executives both in our headquarters and the Philippines operations for their massive support.” More importantly, these programs are supplemented by regular focus group discussions to ensure that the voices of employees are constantly heard and taken into consideration when the ANZ Pride Network Leaders draft initiatives which benefit its members as well as the entire employee population. According to Villacorta, having a strong diversity and inclusion agenda in the workplace yields higher employee engagement, increased productivity, and reduced turnover rate. He says, “Not only does it make good business sense, but it is the right thing to do.” PRIDE IN THE WORKPLACE At Chevron Holdings Inc. (CHI), a diverse and inclusive workplace is a precondition for sustained success. Committing to diversity and inclusion (D&I) not only creates a more cohesive and collaborative environment, it also promotes talent attraction and retention In the case of CHI, there is the PRIDE Network group, which began as an informal initiative in 2008 and was later recognized as an official employee network group. Today, it has some 150 members and is one of the pillars of diversity and inclusion in the company In 2017, the PRIDE Network began conducting regular learning sessions with resource persons who shared strategies and insights in succeeding at work. Through PRIDE’s work and internal advocacy, CHI established

Gender Neutral Restrooms in its facilities at RCBC Plaza and granted Domestic Partner Benefits to partners of its LGBTIQ+ employees. These initiatives were accomplished by benchmarking with other Chevron offices globally and with the Philippine Financial Industry Pride (PFIP). Likewise, the company collaborated with its Health and Medical Group to promote HIV awareness and provide HIV screening on site. The success of Chevron Holdings Philippines’ D&I programs may be attributed to the strong support of the management team, its partnership with other employee network groups and business units, and volunteerism among CHI employees. If there is anything that Chevron has learned from its journey towards diversity and inclusivity, it is that one does not need large numbers to make a difference. It only takes one brave soul to accept the challenges in shifting to a more inclusive workplace. WOMEN IN THE CIRCLE As the largest private employer in the country, Concentrix considers gender equality a business imperative. “Our workforce is over 50 percent female, and 80 to 85 percent millennials - a lot of the things that used to be uncommon are becoming part of the norm. If we are not going to be focused on diversity and if we’re not going to be inclusive, I think we’re going to fail in this market,” says Larah Sta. Maria, Senior Director for Learning and Development. Apart from Concentrix’s size at 80,000 staff in-country, the realities of a competitive market sees Concentrix’s recruiting machinery operating constantly. Concentrix processes over 200,000 applicants every year for frontline positions, and promotes over 3,000 people into new careers. All this creates a need to ensure the work environment is one where people feel safe and accepted, with absolutely zero tolerance for exclusion and harassment. Further, as a founding member of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) whose aim is to advance the cause of women and gender equality in the workplace, one of Concentrix’s focus is the retention of mothers returning from their maternity leave. “The ideal is that at least 80 percent of new mothers stay employed within a year of giving birth, but in our case, the average for four years was only 70 percent,” says Concentrix Human Resources Director Mena Pulumbarit. “Apart from the physical and emotional change that one goes through, there are also the social demands that new moms feel they need to meet. With all these pressures, the idea of a flourishing career can fall by the wayside. We would like to help them strategize by pairing them up with other mothers in the workplace who have made it past this interesting and stressful time. This is driven by our belief that once a new mother figures out how to make things work with the first child, she is in a much better place with her next children,” she says. “We commissioned an assessment through an independent third party that gave us the insight into what we were missing and gave us the opportunity to address the feedback and the gaps. This whole women and empowerment program is now being put into place,” Sta. Maria adds. Concentrix is also the only BPO company that has a registered Lean In Circle, the initiative inspired by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s bestselling book and is currently led by Sta. Maria. “Circles are structured with only 10 to 12 members in order to foster real dialogue. If you have each of those women form a circle, then you grow exponentially. Everybody becomes part of that whole network,” she says. These initiatives have proven to be good for business. “We don’t discriminate, we open our doors, and that solidifies our alignment,” ends Sta. Maria BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

P HO T O B Y : M I MI TH IA N O N U N S PL A SH

START- U PS A N D S M ES

SMALL VENTURES Big Possibilities HOW STARTUPS AND SMES ARE CHANGING THE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE by Breakthroughs Team

P HO T O BY : ( C I TY SC AP E A T NI G HT ) E U G E NE PA S TOA L O N U NS PL A SH ; C O L L EA G U ES C O M PA NY C O O P RAT I O N FR O M P I XA BA Y . C O M

One needs only look at the success of Facebook or Uber to realize the massive potential of startups. This may be why every other technopreneur worth his bitcoin is on the lookout for the next winning idea. While the startup phenomenon is fairly new in the Philippines, Dann Angelo De Guzman, founder and CEO of CloudSwyft Global Systems, Inc., says it quickly drew the interest of venture capitalists, regional investors, and big conglomerates. Legislators have responded as well by drafting the proposed Innovative Startup Act of the Philippines seeking the elimination of unnecessary constraints to startups and the adoption of international best practices to the local startup community. Startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent the future of the Philippine economy. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, some 99.6 percent of all registered businesses in the country are SMEs, and they employ 62.9 percent of the working population. Because of their strength and potential, De Guzman says, “Partnerships forged by startups, SMEs, and IT-BPM companies would be powerful enough in terms of driving synergies to make things happen and execute plans forward.” Startups and SMEs could work closely with the IT-BPM industry to address specific problems that could have a meaningful impact. Cloudswyft, for instance, has been working with the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) on the issue of upskilling. Indeed, the future lies with small ventures which could move swiftly to adapt to the changing business and technological landscape. However, access to capital is still a major hurdle, says De Guzman, as it hinders the ability of startups and SMEs to scale fast enough to grow their market. WWW.IBPAP.ORG

What startups and SMEs need are more opportunities — the opportunity to prove their skill and expertise to large corporations, the opportunity to pitch their ideas to local, regional, and global investors, and the opportunity to bid on public projects through a separate category. It is the hope of De Guzman that government could provide investment grants and funding sources to startups on an annual application process basis. The continued support of the IT-BPM sector would also help startups and SMEs in their journey. De Guzman, who has been a tech entrepreneur since he was 22 years old, continues to be optimistic about startups and SMEs, seeing great potential in the areas of healthtech, edtech, upskilling, artificial intelligence, and HRbenefits solutions. It is his vision for CloudSwyft to change the way organizations develop and evaluate future-ready technology skills by providing innovative platforms and tools. In the long term, De Guzman sees CloudSwyft as “the premiere platform of choice for delivering on-demand future-ready technology upskilling to address IT workforce employability shortcomings across the Asia Pacific region.” Entrepreneurship is the future, but it isn’t for everyone. De Guzman says, “Being an entrepreneur is a painful but an influential, instrumental journey in life. It is all about grit and hard work. If you’re passionate about a problem you wanted to solve, just go ahead and do it. No excuses. Learn from mistakes. Do not call it out as a failure, charge it to priceless experience. Find a mentor that you’ll be comfortable with. Be in a room full of people smarter than you. Embrace uncertainty, improve, and iterate. It gets better every single day.” *Reference: Philippine Statistics Authority

“IT IS HIS VISION FOR CLOUDSWYFT TO CHANGE THE WAY ORGANIZATIONS DEVELOP AND EVALUATE FUTURE-READY TECHNOLOGY SKILLS BY PROVIDING INNOVATIVE PLATFORMS AND TOOLS.”

NEWS

IBPAP WELCOMES NEW BOARD OF TRUSTEES by: IBPAP

IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), the umbrella association that enables the entire Philippine IT and business process management (IT-BPM) industry, recently announced its new set of Board of Trustees. Their task is to lead the association in continuously promoting industry growth and attracting more investors to expand and set up shop in the country. Aside from being industry stalwarts from various IT-BPM sub-sectors such as animation, contact center, game development, global in-house center, healthcare information management, and software development, the newly-elected members share a wealth of experience and expertise in corporate social responsibility, customer service operations, country investment promotions, technology disruption, global banking, property, and telecommunications. Part of the new Board of Trustees are: for industry, Ayhee Campos of Infosys BPM Ltd., Celeste Ilagan of SPi Global, Nix Nolledo of Xurpas Enterprise, Inc., Lito Tayag of Accenture Philippines, and Raoul Teh of JP Morgan Chase Bank; for non-industry, Jovy Hernandez of PLDT, David Leechiu of Leechiu Property Consultants, and Peter Maquera of Globe Telecom; for partner associations, Miguel Del Rosario of Animation Council of the Philippines, Benedict Hernandez of Contact Center Association of the Philippines, Alvin Juban of Game Developers Association of the Philippines, Elaine Kunkle of Global In-house Centers Council, Beng Coronel of Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines, and Jonathan De Luzuriaga of Philippine Software Industry Association. IBPAP President and CEO Rey Untal is also a member of the Board of Trustees with Tayag re-elected as Board Chairman, and Campos and Del Rosario elected as Vice-Chairman and Treasurer, respectively.

INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES

Ayhee Campos Country Head Infosys BPM Limited – Philippine Branch

Lito Tayag Country Managing Director Accenture Philippines

Nico Jose Nolledo Chair & CEO Xurpas, Inc.

NON - INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES

Juan Victor Hernandez Senior Vice President and Head PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups

Celeste Ilagan Senior Vice President – Marketing and External Affairs SPi Global Holdings, Inc.

Raoul Teh Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Global Service Center – Philippines

CORPORATE SECRETARY

David Leechiu Co-Founder and CEO Leechiu Property Consultants, Inc.

Peter Maquera Senior Vice President, Globe Business Globe Telecom, Inc

Bob Guinto NMGRA Law Offices

IBPAP

Rey Untal President & CEO

PARTNER ASSOCIATIONS

Juan Miguel Del Rosario President Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc.

Benedict Hernandez Chair Contact Center Association of the Philippines

Alvin Juban President Game Developers Association of the Philippines

Maria Cristina “Beng” G. Coronel President Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines

Elaine Kunkle Chair Global In-house Centers Council

Jonathan De Luzuriaga President Philippine Software Industry Association

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

F EATU R E

DRIVING INDUSTRY GROWTH

multiple organizations and resource groups that help promote inclusion and diversity, such as Spectrum Philippines (our LGBTQA+ resource group), Connections - the TELUS Women’s Network (our women leaders resource group), and over a dozen special interest groups like the TELUS International Philippines outdoors club, dance club, gaming club and more.

by Breakthroughs Team

Interview with RAJIV M. DHAND, Regional Vice-President and General Manager for Operations, TELUS International Philippines

And our caring culture extends beyond our office walls and trickles to our communities through our corporate social responsibility programs and the TELUS International Philippines Community Board. Giving back to the communities where we live, work and serve is another core element in who we are as an organization. In 2018 alone, the TELUS International Philippines Community Board gave out US$100,000 as grants for grassroot foundations and charities. Our amazing team members also made it possible for us to impact almost 8,000 beneficiaries through 49 corporate social responsibility activities where they shared over 31,000 volunteer hours.

1. When you first started, what factors made TELUS decide to locate a contact center in the Philippines? What do you think are the advantages of the Philippines vs. other neighboring countries/regions? TELUS International was created to enable TELUS, our parent company, a leading Canadian telecommunications company. TELUS was looking to have a different kind of relationship with their provider - they wanted a true partner who could protect and enhance the TELUS brand by providing exceptional customer service, as well as embody a caring culture (for both its team members and the broader communities where its team members live and work) and ramp operations quickly and effectively. In 2005, after completing an exhaustive international search, they decided to invest in Ambergris Solutions in Metro Manila because of the shared commitment to high team member engagement to drive impressive customer experiences, as well as to giving back to the community. As an industry leader with a focus on team member engagement and a belief in the sustainment of the brand experience, this strategic investment, built on the enablement of our parent company’s philosophy to put customers first, was the beginning of TELUS International. The Philippines was and remains to be at the forefront of BPO destinations because of a number of factors including: l Its large English speaking population over 92% of the population speaks English either as a first or secondary language. Aside from English proficiency and fluency, Filipinos are also accent neutral which many companies in need of voice support look for l It is conducive to the outsourcing industry - the government shows its support for the BPO industry in various ways (everything from creating courses in line with BPO sector requirements via the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority [TESDA], to laws like the Data Security Act and the Special Economic Zone Act) and is very open to foreign business investors

l There is a rich talent pool made up of a diverse mix of fresh graduates from the IT, marketing, administrative and business fields, as well as seasoned team leaders, project managers and executives. The country also has a higher literacy rate at 95%, and produces almost half a million new graduates yearly. 2. How many jobs has TELUS created since it opened its doors in the Philippines? TELUS International Philippines currently employs over 14,500 team members in six offices in Metro Manila, growing from 1,500 in 2005. We’re proud to say a large percentage of our team members have been with us for years, and we enjoy one of the industry’s lowest attrition rates, 50% lower than industry standards. 3. Which areas in the Philippines are you expanding to and why did you choose them? This year, we are excited to open a new site at Vertis North Corporate Center in Quezon City. It is a well-established commercial and business district which allows access to great amenities and is conveniently connected to transport hubs and major highways. It will be our sixth site in Metro Manila, in addition to our sites in Ortigas Center, Makati, BGC and Araneta Center. We are always on the lookout for emerging opportunities in the Philippines, and these opportunities will drive our expansion plans in the future. 4. What factors have contributed to its continuing growth in the Philippines?

l The culture is hospitable and the people are very warm, making those characteristic traits very easy to translate to the service industry

Our company culture is hands down our main differentiator and one of the main drivers of our success. Last year, the company received record-breaking engagement score of 90% according to a yearly employee survey conducted by global HR solutions provider Aon.

l There’s also a high affinity for the North American culture because of the country’s long history with Western countries

Caring is at the heart of our culture, and that starts by surrounding our team members with the things that are important to them. We have

WWW.IBPAP.ORG

Based on repeated experiences, we’ve proven time and again that having a highly engaged workforce is a competitive advantage that directly translates to benefits for our customers and our top and bottom line growth. That’s why we do our best to create an inclusive working environment can grow, be recognized, and feel valued.” When our team members are engaged and inspired, they strive to deliver beyond what is expected of them, they say great things about the company to their friends and family, they grow with us and stay longer with the company. These all lead to better retention of talent, amazing customer service, and world-class customer experience. 5. What are its plans for the next five years? For the next ten years? The next couple of years are pivotal for us as we incorporate the edge which next-gen digital solutions like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science can inject in the work that we do, to benefit both our team members and our customers. Artificial intelligence for instance, opens a number of opportunities for the Filipino workforce to elevate their skills, capacity and roles. Businesses will benefit from the higher efficiency and productivity brought by any AI technology. This helps jobs become less routine, more meaningful, and purposeful. We see the value in working with the aid of artificial intelligence to complement human intervention. Human intervention is invaluable while AI will act to support customer service. The future of work in the BPO industry is heavily dynamic and fluid and will require more skills like critical analysis, problem solving, time management, creative thinking, agility, empathy and the ability to work in a team regardless of job title. Alongside exploring these new technologies, we are and will continue to invest a lot in training our team members to ensure that they move up the value chain and that they are ready to work with these new technologies. We see a very bright future ahead, for our company, for our team members, and for the Philippines.

Teleperformance Philippines gets certiﬁed as Great Place to Work® for the second year in a row

eleperformance, the global leader in outsourced omnichannel customer experience management, announced that Teleperformance in the Philippines has once again received certification as a Great Place to Work® by the Great Place to Work® Institute. Teleperformance Philippines is now the first company in the Philippines to achieve back-to-back certification as a Great Place to Work®.

The Great Place to Work® Institute is a global research and consulting company that provides benchmarks, standards, and executive advisory to enable organizations to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. Companies are assessed and certified through surveys and focus group discussions with employees and leaders. The certification was earned through an organization-wide survey that asked the employees for their opinions. Over 26,000 employees across Teleperformance’s existing sites in the Philippines responded and participated in a confidential online survey that rated the company in terms of culture, teamwork, growth and learning opportunities, leadership communication and support, sense of pride, work environment, among others. This comprehensive survey was independently conducted by the Great Place to Work® Institute.

Teleperformance Philippines Chief Operating Officer Mike Lytle, together with the Senior Leadership Team, receives the official Great Place to Work® certification from Jose Carlos Bezanilla, CEO of Great Place to Work® Institute of Greater China.

As the company grew its headcount and launched new business sites, the stronger results of this year’s survey indicate that positive strides have been made in employee engagement. “The Great Place to Work® certification is a recognition of the hard work, the quality of programs, and the consistent application of our values that was executed by the entire Philippine team,” said Mike Lytle, Chief Operating Officer of Teleperformance Philippines. “We are deeply encouraged by this result because it shows that we are able to deliver on our promise of making each interaction matter -not just for our external customers, but for our employees as well. And this is very important to us, especially now as we prepare to further push our innovation agenda and transform our employee experience to sustain our growth momentum in the long-term,” said Lytle. “The Trust Index survey results are the voice of our people, and it communicates that we are on the right path. It is heartening to know that we are moving forward together, so we are invigorated and energized to keep innovating and to keep strengthening our culture that is anchored on our values of Innovation, Respect, Professionalism, Integrity and Commitment,” said Jeffrey Johnson, Senior Vice President for Human Capital Resource Management.

Teleperformance new COO Mike Lytle, innovation advocate, drives company’s push to sustain market leadership

s the new Teleperformance Philippines Chief Operating Officer Mike Lytle took centerstage to keynote the company’s digital revolution conference held last March in Makati, the audience was watching him intently, keen to get a first-hand missive on the how to sustain wins and market leadership of the 23-year old company.

“We are focused on delivering a signature High-Tech, High-Touch service that differentiates Teleperformance Philippines from the rest of the market. That’s why we listen and learn, study the markets, understand the pain points, and see the areas where growth will come from. Our customized digital solutions will be efficient, effective and truly relevant responses to our clients’ real need for sustainable growth in the new digital economy,” he said.

Mike Lytle, Teleperformance Philippines Chief Operating Oﬃcer, delivers his keynote speech at the Leap into the Future and Transform (LIFT) innovation summit held in Makati City

Mike looked completely in his element as he exhorted people to embrace the digital future with agility, resilience and drive for innovation. Not surprising for those who know him because he has been gung-ho since he began a productive career of over two decades as a contact center agent in the U.S. subsidiary. Driven to make a difference, Mike sought to develop his competencies in operations, learning and development, client services, and quality assurance. He kept rocketing up the ladder, earning well-deserved promotions before his assignment as Director of Operations at Teleperformance Philippines in 2007. Mik Mike’s expertise in client relations and talent development across multiple verticals and geographies enabled him to mobilize the launch of a key Teleperformance Philippines client in 2009. He was eventually promoted as Vice President of Operations in 2011 and, within a few years, grew his account to support multiple lines of business across four Teleperformance sites in Metro Manila and Cebu City. Mike’s keen business and people management skills have also significantly contributed to the growth and achievement in the Teleperformance ANZ, Philippines and UK businesses leading to his promotion to Executive Vice President in 2014. In 2017, Mike was once again promoted as Chief Customer Officer for Teleperformance Asia Pacific where he helped grow the capabilities of business operations in China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. After his successful stint in this region, he has returned to the Philippines to share his expertise and welcome new opportunities to take the Philippine operations to the next level of market leadership. “The Philippines oﬀers so much in terms of talent, expertise and experience. Our people can compete head-on with all the other geographies. It will be our attitude towards the future that will make us winners, because we are committed to innovation and becoming better than ever. We will never stop and that is why we will prevail,” Mike asserts.

“We are committed to innovation and becoming better than ever.” -Mike Lytle

Celebrating our People’s Commitment and Trust At Teleperformance Philippines, we celebrate our empowered people who make us a Great Place to Work® for all!

Teleperformance Philippines is the first company in the country to achieve back-to-back certification as a Great Place to Work®. More than our humble acknowledgement of this feather in our cap, it is a recognition of our people’s hard work, the quality execution of our programs, and the enduring display of our corporate values. This achievement continues to inspire us to deliver on our promise to make each interaction matter – for our customers, our stakeholders, and all the communities we serve.

tp_philippines

www.teleperformance.ph

teleperformancephilippines

Philippine IT-BPM Industry:

The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines has recently released an update on where the Philippine IT-BPM industry stands in terms of revenue and job creation targets. Following a challenging year in 2017 due to various geopolitical issues, the industry shows signs of recovery in 2018 by slowly gaining back its positive momentum. With industry investors and locators regaining confidence in the Philippines, numerous incumbents proceeded with their expansions, particularly in the countryside. A study conducted by IBPAP indicates that the industry grew by 5.1% in headcount to record a yearend direct employment of 1.23 million employees while overall revenue targets also increased from USD 23.4B in 2017 to USD 24.7B in 2018. “Though still slower than our initial projections, we remain optimistic and equally grateful for the continued support we receive as we have clearly seen a direct and pivotal link between government support and investment growth,” explains IBPAP President & CEO Rey Untal. “The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) formula consistently attracted and successfully retained investors here in the Philippines and, more importantly, was key to creating more jobs across multiple industries,” Untal adds. “Also, the seamless collaboration with the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in providing support to both existing and potential investors continues to be critical in ensuring that we continue to see growth in foreign direct investments.”

HIGHLIGHTS

1.23M

“We cannot be more thankful to the Department of Information Communications and Technology (DICT) for continuing to push for innovation and digitalization. Also, we are pleased by our strengthened partnerships with the Department of Education (DepED), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as we work towards upskilling and reskilling the current workforce. Lastly and equally critical is the support of our policymakers and lawmakers to ensure our industry remains globally competitive as we move up the value chain.”

EXPANSION

plans, particularly in the countryside.

EMPLOYEES in 2018, growing 5% in year end employment with a revenue of

$24.7B

new locators delivering a wider range of services, from customer service to e-commerce, supply chain management and IT infrastructure support, among others.

INDUSTRY FIGURES

$24.7B

1.23M FTE headcount growth

1.17M

2017 2018

$23.4B

revenues reached

2017 2018

Albeit lower than the CAGR target of Roadmap 2022, the industry is REGAINING ITS MOMENTUM AFTER A CHALLENGING 2017.

The stronger performance in 2018 was a result of new locators offering a wider range of highly technical services, shifting from general customer service to e-commerce, supply chain management, IT infrastructure support and analytics. The IBPAP President & CEO maintains a positive outlook and acknowledges the importance of collaboration with government partners as the industry aims to pivot to higher value jobs and services.

industry investors

PEZA INVESTMENTS AND OFFICE REAL ESTATE TAKE-UP Current trends in IT investments and office take-up show signs that the Philippine IT-BPM is recovering. Committed IT investments in Billion (PhP)

Php 20.6B 431.5SQ M

Php 15.6B 2017 2018 Metro Manila Office Take-up

358.0SQ M

2017 2018

P H OTO BY: AL BE RTO FR I AS ON UNS P LA SH

POISED FOR GROWTH

While the industry has a strong base of voice skills, it is rapidly increasing scale of non-voice services and next-generation technology-enabled solutions to deliver a seamless and consistent omnichannel experience.

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Accounting

Clinical Data Analytics

Animation

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Mobile

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E V E N TS

DXC Technology Establishes Digital Transformation Center by: DXC Technology

“THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MANILA DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION CENTER IS THE LATEST MILESTONE IN DXC’S RICH 16-YEAR HERITAGE IN THE IT-BPM SERVICES INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES.”

DXC Technology, the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, has named Manila as a strategic location for one of its six Digital Transformation Centers. With global enterprises making the shift to digital technology to produce better business outcomes, DXC has invested in building Digital Transformation Centers that enable clients to observe and engage in the development and delivery of end-to-end digital transformation. Manila, along with the other Digital Transformation Centers (located in Adelaide, Australia; Bangalore, India; New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States; Newcastle, United Kingdom; and Sofia, Bulgaria), provides a rich environment for DXC and its clients to co-develop digital strategies, test ideas, and deliver early business benefits. With a focus on next-generation digital services and solutions, the Manila Digital Transformation Center leverages: • DXC Bionix™, DXC’s approach to intelligent automation at scale, by using its data-driven continuous improvement approach of implementing lean processes and intelligent automation throughout the product life cycle. •Design thinking and agile methodologies in the development and deployment of business solutions and in ongoing digital operations.

•DXC’s global experience and its independent partner network to showcase innovative and evolving approaches. “The establishment of the Manila Digital Transformation Center is the latest milestone in DXC’s rich 16-year heritage in the IT/BPM services industry in the Philippines,” says Peter Ramolete, DXC Philippines Global Delivery Center and Manila Digital Transformation Center leader. “We are extremely excited about this, not only because this further strengthens our ability to serve our clients, but also because it provides new opportunities for world-class Filipino digital talent.” The opening of the Digital Transformation Center is just one of the recent key developments for DXC in the Philippines. The company previously announced the creation of its third DXC Analytics Modernization and Migration Factory in Manila. The migration factory provides clients with an efficient, endto-end experience to accelerate the migration of data and analytics environments to the cloud. With more advancements planned this year and beyond, DXC Philippines is positioned for growth.

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DYNAQUEST: Breaking New Grounds with Blockchain by: DynaQuest Technology Services Inc (DQTSI)

Decades are often defined by the technology that has transformed businesses and commerce. The 90s saw the growth of portable technology and the explosion of the internet. While the 00s brought us the age of social media, the 10s gave us the power of mobile technology. As we look ahead at the 20s decade, we can already see another landmark of innovation and disruption, with Blockchain being one of the foundational technologies that will power business, commerce and systems of governance for that decade.

powered by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), information cycles are able to self-execute based on read-process-store-retrieve functions. The traditional processes on waiting for human verification will give away to Blockchain’s automated and self-governing capacity.

Randy Knutson, CEO of DynaQuest Technology Services Inc (DQTSI), has worked with information systems and enterprise technologies as a former CIO of a fortune 500 company. He has seen several technologies adopted, replaced and how these platforms transform the biggest businesses on the planet.

With Randy having seen it all in terms of tech migration, he channels that expertise and experience with DynaQuest as the firm has been successful when it comes to guiding businesses throughout their Blockchain journey. From consultation, business case planning, training IT staff with Blockchain and planning resources within the start of the journey, businesses are assured of a cost-effective roadmap in the Blockchain project. As a specialized firm, DynaQuest also provides continuous support and maintenance to companies who have successfully migrated to Blockchain.

In attaining business efficiency with both process and information cycles, the next challenge is always about how to further optimize these benchmarks. Business processes are still prone to inefficiencies due to the dependencies on the wait times in-between human verification over a chain of upcoming transactions. This is where enterprises are taking a pivot with Blockchain and it will replace the existing business information systems. Blockchain allows self-completing processes that were once dependent on human verification roles over information processing. With Blockchain being

“I see Blockchain as a journey and not simply as a destination,” Randy Knutson said. “In working with Blockchain across the industries of accounting, health information and insurance, maintaining Blockchain’s continued operations -- to further pioneer its capabilities is another stage of the whole journey,” said Randy Knutson. As Blockchain is further gaining steam and is projected to be mass adopted by the early 2020, companies who are able to break new ground with Blockchain today are looking to further pioneer it by exploring its advanced possibilities and we’ve just scratched the surface of its potential.

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

P HOT O BY : LYC S A RCH I T ECT U RE ON UN S PL A SH

“Enterprise technology are considered indispensable platforms as operations across department and adjacent verticals are running through them – that is until they reach the end of their lifecycles where a successor technology will ultimately replace them.”

As the world’s largest businesses are in the process of embedding Blockchain into their core and extended operations, CEO Randy Knutson stated that the new wave of disruption is now focused on the SME market. “From the last two years, the SME market has been a ‘Wait & See’ group, but now, they are the ‘Right Here and Now’ group that are actively planning their Blockchain move.”

E V E N TS

14 new members took oath at the Annual Membership Meeting last March

EVENTS

2019

CEO Series speaker, Yongzheng Yang of the International Monetary Fund, discussing the APAC economic outlook and its implications on the Philippine economic growth

Recently concluded IBPAP events 2019

IBPAP President & CEO, Rey Untal, providing policy updates at the Q2 IBPAP GMM

IBPAP President & CEO Rey Untal presenting to the members the 2018 Recap and 2019 Priorities

Attendees of the PEZA Forum with IBPAP President & CEO Rey Untal, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza and members of the IBPAP Board, Ayhee Campos and Celeste Ilagan

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

EVEN TS

C-level executives listening to updates and insights from the speakers at the IBPAP 2nd CEO series

The IBPAP Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) Committee together with the speakers of the IBPAP Industry Briefing on the DOLE prescribed Safety and Health Programs & Mandatory 8-hour Safety and Health (MESH) Training for Workers

Ramon Casiple discussing political assessment and analysis for the IT-BPM Industry at the CEO Series

The newly elected IBPAP Board of Trustees

DOLE’s Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Bureau of Working Conditions Director Tess Cucueco led the discussion on the implementing rules and regulations of RA1108 “Occupational Safety and Health Standards Act at the IBPAP Industry Briefing

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Induction of 11 new members at the Q2 IBPAP General Membership Meeting last June

PA RT N E R U P D ATE

Animation du Monde in

A groundbreaking event happened in Manila last February 2019, when Animation du Monde came to the Philippines to bring young animators opportunities to learn about best practices and trends as well as acquire funding and co-production deals.

MANILA

Animation du Monde, a pitching-mentoring initiative established by Marché International du Film d’Animation in Annecy, France, was brought to Manila, was brought to Manila through the efforts of the Embassy of France in Manila in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI).

by: Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI)

Seven animated short film and feature film projects-in-development from the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia were previously selected for Animation du Monde, and their authors underwent training and mentoring sessions during the event. These authors were Cris Dumlao and Avid Llongoren from the Philippines, Irwan Junaidy and Maizura Abas from Malaysia, Diandra Pramestisari Pololessy from Indonesia, and Ervin Tan, Jerrold Chong, and Mark Wee from Singapore. Géraldine Baché, head of education at Annecy, Claire Fouquet, story doctor at Annecy, and Ron Dyens, producer of Sacrebleu Productions, were the mentors. The Art of Charlie Chan by Chong and Wee of Singapore was eventually selected to participate in the upcoming Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France scheduled for June 2019. There were also lectures including “Creation Processes: How to Grow a Simple Idea Into a Short Animated Film” by Fouquet and “Producer Insight for Short Films” by Dyens as well as discussions on pitching best practices and production processes, among others. The event was organized by ACPI President Miguel del Rosario and Executive Director René B. Misa; the French Embassy in Manila with Ambassador Nicolas Galey, Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs, Jean-Jacques Forte, Audio/Visual Attaché Martin Macalintal, and Press Attaché Camille Conde; FDCP Chairman Liza Diño-Seguerra and Executive Director Wilfredo Manalang; DTI-Export Marketing Bureau Assistant Director Anthony Rivera; DICT-ICT Industry Development Bureau Director Emmy Lou Verzosa-Delfin, and Alliance Francaise de Manille Director JeanPierre Dumont and Deputy Director Stéphanie Davidson.

The Impact of the New Industrial Revolution to the IT-BPM Industry by Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP)

A new wave of industrial revolution is shaking up the IT-business process management (IT-BPM) industry, ushering in challenges that must be overcome collectively. “A shift in the priority for professionals’ level of skills required to perform tasks will have an impact to the Philippine ITBPM industry, particularly to the contact center sub-sector,” said Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) President Jojo Uligan. The contact center segment of the industry accounts for an annual revenue of $14.6bn (PHP759.2bn) and employs more than 890,000 call center professionals. With the changing requirements of the global IT-BPM industry, a shift from lowlevel-skill tasks into mid-skill and high-skill tasks is inevitable.

According to consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan, tasks that require basic skills in the BPO landscape is projected to decline by 29% by 2022. Mid-skill jobs are expected to rise by 12%, while positions that require higher skills are projected to jump by 19%. “We have taken a proactive approach to this change. We have been implementing changes in job tasks and descriptions to cope with the evolving requirements,” said Uligan. From the traditional customer services delivery, the Philippines is now geared towards an emerging priority - customer experience (CX) delivery. During the recent Contact Islands summit organized by CCAP, the evolving customer expectations were identified.

Local contact center firms now prioritize quick and accurate resolution,personalized interactions, demand for self-service option, interaction in customers’ preferred channel, and seamless/consistent experience. Disruptive technologies also point to automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence to meet delivery of CX delivery. Based on an internal research by CCAP, mid- and high-skilled jobs in the contact center sector account for 85% of positions. This is ahead of Frost & Sullivan’s projections that about 73% of the global IT-BPM industry will be covering mid- and high-skilled jobs by 2022. The Philippine contact center sector is taking steps to manage these challenges. Uligan said, “The industry is investing heavily in training for both entry level and tenured positions.” CCAP regularly facilitates specialized programs to further equip agents amid an aggressive shift in job priorities. It has also spearheaded breakthrough programs like collaboration with the academic sector to promote industry-relevant curriculum, teacher trainings, and student immersive activities.

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

N EW S

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PA RT N E R U P D ATE

GICC Leadership Bootcamp by Global In-House Center Council Philippines (GICC)

The Global In-house Center Council (GICC) Philippines hosted its first Leadership Bootcamp last January in BGC. Aiming to equip leaders with the skills to improve our competitiveness in the global arena, the Leadership Bootcamp featured the research study, “The Global Asian Leader: From Local Star to Global CXO” by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). The bootcamp also hosted a number of workshops focusing on skills that will make participants future-ready including Data Analytics, Leadership, and Innovation.

“AS AN EMPLOYEE OF A GLOBAL COMPANY, IT MADE ME APPRECIATE THE INFRASTRUCTURE CURRENTLY IN PLACE TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH LEADERSHIP ASPIRATIONS PARTICULARLY THE MINORITY.” - Wesley Anne Ng of ANZ

Wesley Anne Ng of ANZ, one of the bootcamp participants, shared, “What struck me the most is that aspiration is key in being a Global Asian Leader. We Asians need to dream big for ourselves and we need to have aspirations. It has been an eye opener for me specifically as I never dreamed of anything else other than where I am now. It made me realize the possibilities.” She added, “As an employee of a global company, it made me appreciate the infrastructure currently in place to support people with leadership aspirations particularly the minority.” More importantly, she shared what she had learned from the bootcamp to her colleagues. GICC hopes to continue hosting these types of events and activities for members in the future. If you have ideas on what topic to talk about next, do send us an email at info@giccphilippines.com

by Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP)

The Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) is currently working with the CG Arts Society of Japan to localize the latter’s CG Creator Certification Exam for the Filipino Computer Graphic Artist. As part of GDAP’s push for capacity development, the association has reached to the Japanese certification-giving body to bring the exam to the Philippines to help out local artists reach the minimum level of knowledge that is deemed acceptable in countries like Japan, where computer graphics education is more established. “The CG Creator Certification Exam will not only help establish a consistent baseline for our local digital artists to reach to be world-class,” says Alvin Juban, President of GDAP, “But also open opportunities for our artists and studios to get international work. With our artists certified, countries like Japan would be more at ease to send us work and hire Filipinos into their companies.” The localization project, however, goes far beyond just translating the test. It comes in three phases: the book translation phase, the training phase, and the testing phase. In the book translation phase, GDAP will translate and print the official textbook that CG Society uses as its official reference, so that this can be used by students and artists in the country. In the second phase, GDAP will send teachers to Japan to be trained as Teacher Trainers, then pass on the knowledge locally. And in the third testing phase, GDAP will work with schools to have as many digital arts students and artists take the certification exam. GDAP’s aim is to have 2,000 test takers in the first localized test in July 2020. “It’s ambitious,” Juban admits. “But that’s what our industry is all about.” The CG Creator Certification Exam is designed for students, animators, game artists, and visual effects artists to test their knowledge in basic computer graphics concepts, 3D modeling, and animation. For more information about the project, please contact the GDAP Secretariat.

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

P H OTO BY: SE AN D O ON UN S PL A SH

GDAP Localizes Japanese Computer Graphics Certification Exam

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Championing IT-BPM Talent in Next-Gen Technologies by: WNS

The fourth industrial revolution is set to change all aspects of business with its technological, demographic, and socio-economic disruptions. According to the Philippine government, IT-BPM revenues are estimated to touch USD 38.9 Billion in 2022. This kind of growth creates challenges as effectively as it creates optimism. Three major trends are expected to impact the IT-BPM sector in the Philippines. The first is the emphasis on process automation. BPM companies will need to innovate and automate more processes with domain and industry understanding to improve productivity.

FUTURE-READY TALENT IS THE PASSWORD As the industry evolves, BPM companies need to upskill and re-skill their workforce. It’s also imperative for upgraded skills and competencies to develop faster to meet the global demand. BPM stakeholders are working together to ensure that the next generation workforce is adequately equipped to provide upgraded services. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has committed itself to the IT-BPM roadmap through the creation of highquality capacity-building programs. For instance, DICT has collaborated with the University of the Philippines-National Engineering Center (UP NEC) and the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) to roll out the Business Analytics for Information Technology - Business Process Management (IT-BPM) ICT Training Program. The first batch of 22 analytics specialists graduated in August 2018.

The third is the adoption of cloud technologies for BPM work. BPM companies should look at improved business collaboration of standardized systems with their clients.

BPM companies are also developing industry domain knowledge and digital skills to transform their employees into value-added specialists. Customer interaction centers provide both training and on-the-job experience to rapidly gain experience and mastery in emerging technologies. Contact centers now work with chatbots, implement analytics in back-end processes, and use AI-fueled insights to improve the customer experience.

As BPM moves into its version 4.0, platforms are being embedded with sophisticated next generation digital technologies designed and delivered by industry domain experts.

As human-technology collaborations grow, BPM employees will emerge with an optimal mix of technical and domain skills to be future-ready and well-positioned to build careers in the digital economy.

The second is an increasing conviction that social media is a game-changer. In 2019, companies will make more focused efforts to invest in new technologies, tools, and teams for better social media management of customers.

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The Consumerization of Rewards By: AON

One of the key levers helping organizations drive and manage growth is human capital. A recent survey posed a question to the CEOs on what they believe are the top 3 concerns in their organization. Interestingly, rising salary costs figured in the list. This, coupled with increasing diversity of the workforce and greater need for differentiation for top and critical talent, has forced HR teams to rethink their rewards value proposition. In this regard, we identified trends in employees’ perception of their organization’s rewards programs: • Less than 65% of employees believe the rewards programs caters to their personal needs • Less than 60% believe they are paid fairly • Less than 60% believe they receive appropriate recognition for their efforts • Less than 70% believe their performance impacts their pay Given the amount of time and energy that we spend on designing fair and competitive rewards and employee-centric programs, the above statistics are quite alarming. Also, the HR teams have had to contend with lower budgets in the past few years, forcing them to leverage other factors like benefits and accelerated career growth to engage their employees. But the same research also highlights the following: • Less than 50% of employees understand all benefits available to them; outside of health insurance benefits, the utilization rates are significantly lower • Only 47% of employees understand all career opportunities available to them.

“Only

47%

of employees understand all career opportunities available to them” THE HR TEAMS ARE RESPONDING IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

Increasing flexibility: Organizations are providing employees a menu of benefits to choose from to help design a benefits package customized to their needs.

Digitization: They are embracing technology to help educate and engage their employees in new and different ways. HR systems are now being automated with on-demand services provided to employees.

Increased transparency and career builder: Employees are provided with detailed insights into available roles, required competencies, and learning tools to help in their journey.

HR teams need to realize that they aren’t immune to the global wave of changing consumer face: as employees are carrying the same expectations when they come into work every day. HR Teams need to take a feather from the cap of marketing teams and spend significant time and resources into understanding their customer, the employee, and design programs which cater to their personal needs and requirements.

A CASE STUDY:

Manila as a Strong Hub for Multilingual Customer Care By: Eastvantage

It’s 10pm in Manila. Rika, an Italian Learning Specialist, calls the VP for a food corporation based in Milan. With the rise and fall of her “THE KEY TO Italian, she reminds the person on the other MAKING line about the proper OFFSHORE channels by which he STAFFING WORK could access the most IS PUTTING useful modules for his training. STRONG

OPERATIONAL When the sun rises, her teammate SUPPORT IN Ronald talks with a PLACE.” manufacturing manager in Shanghai. He speaks Mandarin, trying to draw out insights as to what the learner’s main goals are, whether it’s to improve speech or written English. Rika and Ronald are Filipinos born abroad to expat parents. Like many Filipinos, they can switch between English and Tagalog fluidly, but with an added third language fluency drawn from their family background. “I realized there was such a demand for bilingual EnglishMandarin Chinese speakers that I decided to try my luck in the outsourcing industry. This was way back in 2013,” Ronald says. The next shifts will see 15 more multilingual customer support agents coming in. At its busiest time, the floor hears a cacophony of languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, German, Spanish, French and Portuguese. The team profiles range from education support to back-office specialists in HR and finance. With a 24/6 shift, it is responsible for delivering support to different regions all over the globe. With such a diverse group, the key to making offshore staffing work is in putting strong operational support in place. Charlie, a seasoned team manager, has been tasked this role since the client partnered with Eastvantage in 2018. “The most critical part is in making the onshore client feel as if they’re within the same office as their offshore team. We need to remove the natural uncertainty our clients feel by having a highly visible operational support layer,” Charlie says. This includes implementing standards across the key metrics of workforce management, attendance, performance, quality, and employee retention. Ninety-five percent of the pioneer team members from the first quarter of operations are still with the team close to a year later. With such specialized multilingual profiles, it is important to keep the team involved through employee engagement activities and retention programs. “Happy employees produce happy customers,” as one of our leaders say. BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

P HOT O BY : M ATT W IC BO RE ON UNS P L AS H

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CONDUENT LAUNCHES TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS Powered by Microsoft Azure

THE NEW SUITE OF PLATFORMS INCLUDE:

by: Conduent

Conduent Incorporated, a digital interactions company, is launching five enterprise platforms to elevate its ability to provide individualized, immediate, and intelligent experiences to its customers. Conduent’s industry experts will develop and enhance its platforms, creating new, updated sets of cloud-based enterprise technology, powered by Microsoft Azure. Conduent will integrate Microsoft Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS), Azure Blockchain Workbench, Azure Cognitive Services, and Azure Machine Learning service (AzureML) throughout its client portfolio, delivering them on Azure. “Microsoft Azure promotes our mission of elevating every interaction by automating and increasing the reliability of routine tasks,” said Rahul Gupta, Chief Technology

and Product Officer, Conduent. “This strategic alignment expands Conduent’s platform options to provide seamless enterprise cloud solutions running on Azure.” Jean-Philippe Courtois, President and EVP, Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, Microsoft Corporation said, “Together with Conduent, we will deliver technology solutions using blockchain and virtual agents across their five new enterprise platforms, all run on our scalable cloud.” Conduent is making significant investments – including $200 million for platform modernization through 2020 – to become a key partner that helps its clients accelerate their digital journeys. Of the five new enterprise platforms, two have pilot-ready applications in place.

Teleperformance supports industry-academe linkages, sponsors PUP-IBPAP study on senior high school students by: Teleperformance

AI CONVERSATION PLATFORM: This is a virtual agent platform that assists in the completion of routine tasks through voice, webchat, SMS and other digital interaction methods, resulting in a better, more personalized customer experience.

ANALYTICS PLATFORM: This supports intelligence and analytics capabilities to improve business outcomes. It harnesses structured and unstructured data from multiple sources, and extracts and integrates descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics.

BLOCKCHAIN PLATFORM: This is an open, modular platform designed to support industry-specific blockchain-based ecosystems. It connects multiple organizations to enable immediate, seamless, secure information sharing backed by a ledger that cannot be altered.

AUTOMATION PLATFORM: This supports the transition from simple procedural automation to more advanced cognitive automation for items that normally require thinking, decision-making, and planning.

#5 Teleperformance Philippines Communications and Marketing team with partners from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) and IT-Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP)

P HOT O BY : ( AN AL Y SI S BANKI NG) P I XABAY . COM

Teleperformance, the global leader in outsourced omnichannel customer experience management, bolstered its support for the Philippine outsourcing industry and academe linkages as the company sponsored a study on senior high school students’ readiness for Business Process Outsourcing careers. The research initiative was conducted by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) College of Business Administration, in partnership with the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

sustain the growth momentum of one of the Philippine economy’s largest contributors.

The research initiative looked into the factors that influence graduating students’ desire to enter the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) workforce and was conducted under the supervision of PUP academic leaders Raquel G. Ramos, DBA, Marcial Mojica, DBA, Cindy Fetalvero-Soliman, DBA, Mecmack Nartea, MMBM, and Roy Angelo Pobre, MBA, together with IBPAP Industry-Academe Linkages Lead Zoe Diaz De Rivera.

“We are honored to have partnered with PUP and IBPAP in this initiative, which provides valuable insights on student talent capability. The needs of the IT-BPM industry are changing, and understanding the behaviors and choices of our senior high school students through this study will help organizations support their learning and development journey,” said Marilyn Ventenilla, Teleperformance Philippines Senior Director for Communications and Marketing.

In support of the government’s drive to provide quality employment to Filipinos, Teleperformance works with IBPAP and other industry associations to determine potential sources of human capital for available jobs, as well as ascertain training needs and engagement platforms that would

“Teleperformance is one of the biggest industry players in the country, and we value their strong support in identifying career prospects and talent development opportunities for the youth,” Zoe Diaz De Rivera of IBPAP added.

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“As an industry leader, we believe it is important for us to support academic research because this gives us robust data from where we can base our strategies to continue enabling the workforce of the future,” said Jeffrey Johnson, Teleperformance Philippines Senior Vice President for Human Capital Resource Management.

MOBILITY PLATFORM: This is a platform that will help deliver applications faster with a consistent look and feel, pre-coded digital widgets, common mobile operating system services, and universal gateways to interface with partner APIs across all applications.

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Is Your Employee Education Strategy Outdated?

Wells Fargo Reaffirms Support for Women’s Team Member Network

by: Alorica

by: Wells Fargo Enterprise Global Services

TRAINING FOR THE DIGITAL AGE:

Wells Fargo Enterprise Global Services affirms it commitment to the principles of diversity and inclusion by giving its full support for the Women’s Team Member Network (WTMN). WTMN closely partners with The Haven Center for Women and Marillac Center for Children - temporary shelters that offer rehabilitation and protective custody to young girls and women who have been victims of sexual crimes, domestic abuse, and the like. “As part of WTMN’s advocacy to empower women, we deliver talks on Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act (Anti-VAWC). This initiative, in partnership with a volunteer group called the Women’s Inter Industry Network, provides assistance to Wells Fargo team members and nearby communities in learning more about the Anti-VAWC Act and referring domestic violence cases,” said Maria Galia, Women’s Team Member Network Chair. In the past decade, the average attention span has been reduced to a measly eight seconds. We live in a digital age, and as a result, we’ve become accustomed to gaining knowledge through quick, searchable content that we can find in a matter of seconds. In light of this, the way businesses train employees has drastically changed. If your company isn’t already waving goodbye to lengthy classroom-style sessions, it should be. This is where microlearning comes in - a new way of teaching that has proven to produce rapid results in training employees. In place of PowerPoint presentations and daylong seminars (a traditional method), microlearning delivers only the most important information employees need in concise and comprehensible segments. The secret to microlearning is simple. Training consists of short, animated videos – usually 5-15 minutes – that focuses on one specific learning objective at a time, making information digestible and easily-retained. The typical employee spends more than 40 hours in training each year, but only retains 10% of the information shared. With microlearning, the quick burst of information can be immediately applied when it’s actually needed. Microlearning increases employee performance by as much as 62% and eliminates more than 100 hours of training.

This year, WTMN Philippines is launching the New Mother’s Connect Program which aims to promote a smooth transition before, during, and after pregnancy. The program will provide guidance to expecting mothers and their direct managers on statutory benefits, inclusive workplace arrangements and psychological and emotional support systems. It is not surprising then that WTMN was awarded as the 2018 Enterprise Diversity & Inclusion Group Champion and earned a USD1000 grant for livelihood projects of women in the Habitat for Humanity resettlement area in Cebu. Galia said, “It is truly an honor to receive this award as it signifies WTMN’s passion on Diversity and Inclusion advocacies while collaborating across different groups and Wells Fargo Team Member Networks (TMNs) such as Pride, Diverse Abilities TMN, Runners and Riders Club and Green Team. I’m sharing this recognition with all the empowered women of Wells Fargo as we celebrate International Women’s Day and WTMN Philippines’ third year.”

At Alorica, a global leader in customer experience solutions with 19 locations and 38,000 employees throughout the Philippines, we’ve implemented this new teaching system, helping agents quickly retain information, while achieving proficiency faster. Microlearning was a vital tool used to support a major retail pharmacy provider, that began experiencing some slipping in prescription fulfillment compliance. In search of an effective learning strategy to mitigate the issue, Alorica implemented microlearning, where agents could watch a customized, 10-minute video detailing necessary program fixes in an easyto-retain format. Results showed this way of teaching worked: • Process compliance hit 96% to goal 60 days after training,. • Agents retained up to 20% more information using microlearning compared to traditional training methods. • The approach reduced retraining time by 80% per fulltime employee. Companies must change along with their evolving workforce, and that means finding new ways to keep employees engaged as they learn to do their job.

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

PH OT O BY :(W O MA N B I TI NG P E NCI L ) P I XA B A Y . CO M; (A S I A N WO ME N ME E TI NG ) M I M I TH I AN O N U NS P L AS H E D

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DIVERSITY as a Business Priority

“When we welcome diverse voices and experiences, we make room for collaboration and innovative thinking.”

by: Northern Trust

Embracing diversity is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. Global firms now leverage diversity as a business strategy woven into every facet of the employee life cycle. A study from Forbes found workforce diversity to be a driver of innovation. Another study from McKinsey found that diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform competitors. Northern Trust is one of the organizations that has evolved into a workplace that not only welcomes but thrives on diversity. We believe that true diversity can only exist in an inclusive work environment. Genuine commitment to D&I means going beyond tolerating – it’s celebrating and elevating each individual. To yield impactful results, D&I needs to be driven both from a top-to-bottom and a bottom-up approach. Northern Trust does this by holding leaders accountable for championing D&I while engaging with diverse employees to identify creative solutions in driving D&I forward. Our commitment to D&I is evident in our non-discriminatory practices such as recognizing common law and domestic partners as beneficiaries regardless of gender; gender-neutral bathrooms, facilities, and dress code; and employee-led business resource councils focusing on LGBTQI+, women in leadership, and persons with disability, among others.

Diversity is broader than gender and race. It is multifaceted, including age, perspective, and background, among others. When we welcome diverse voices and experiences, we make room for collaboration and innovative thinking. Hence, D&I has been one of Northern Trust’s bastions for productivity and innovation, helping us better identify opportunities and create more cutting-edge solutions for clients. D&I is also an important factor in attracting and retaining a millennial workforce, recognizing the study which found that millennials will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025, and that 47% of millennials consider D&I when looking for a new job. Our trailblazing efforts on D&I have been cited in the 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. Northern Trust was also named by Forbes as The Best Employer for Diversity in 2017. Internally, the Northern Trust Manila team was presented the Chairman’s Award, the most prestigious award in the organization, for fostering genuine inclusion and laying the foundation for robust and focused D&I practices. With firm leadership support and a strategic approach to D&I, a better working atmosphere can truly be achieved – one where everyone is respected, celebrated, and supported to become nothing short of their best selves.

Realizing Operational Excellence By PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Services Philippines Co. Ltd.

No amount of investment in technology can replace the investment in developing the right behaviors in an organization’s most valuable asset, its people. Business process reengineering is only as effective as the people who manage the new process. Transformation cannot take place without also transforming the way your people work and think.

PH OT O BY :FR IT Z GAB R IE L C ARI L LO ON UN SP L AS H ED

As such, people development is not just an HR topic to address but also an operational issue to solve. An effective Operational Excellence (OE) program must focus on how to change the way operations are managed while adapting to business trends. It must employ a peoplebased approach, which is designed to meet the urgent demands of the digital age customer while aligning with the expectations of a modern workforce. PERFORM is PwC’s globally proven OE program, which drives new behaviors to achieve operational effectiveness and efficiency. It optimizes what managers do, how they do it, and the tools they use. PERFORM is not simply about driving down cost, but also about improving productivity. It accelerates cost reduction and capacity release, averaging around 15% to 28% in additional savings from continuous improvements. Within a short time of 12-14 week, the cycle of productivity improvement is accelerated as the system builds leadership and management capabilities. PERFORM re-prioritizes leaders’ time, enabling them to spend more time coaching employees, a welcome improvement to the average 11% of time spent on this activity pre-PERFORM. This allows leaders

to gain better insights on problem areas and helps them to develop a culture of celebrating success, creating an energized environment and a committed workforce. Furthermore, it improves staff engagement by elevating the capabilities of teams and empowering staff with positive routines and habits. PERFORM primarily focuses on 10 elements that are proven as the basis for strong operational management within an organization. Embedding these 10 elements will assist the organization in envisioning the changes necessary to enhance capacity while enforcing global best practices and leading industry standards. It creates a culture of support and coaching that aligns mindset to the continuous improvement agenda. In conclusion, PwC’s PERFORM methodology helps bring the organization’s focus towards enhancing process standardization and efficiency, leading to improved customer experience, service levels and output quality. When you put an engaged and empowered workforce at the core of a business transformation initiative, you will see the magic of a workforce that realizes the anticipated benefits, delivers the results, and drives the continuous improvement culture.

This article was originally published in BusinessWorld Online on May 30, 2018. For more information on Perform, you can connect with Victor Ona, Senior Manager, victor.gabriel.ona@pwc.com or Benjamin Azada, Managing Principal, Benjamin.azada@pwc.com

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Why Your Recruitment Chatbot Needs a Personality In the age of big data, some recruiters have turned to chatbots to handle the overwhelming volume of candidates coming in from all channels. Once taught how to behave, a chatbot can be the perfect digital assistant to handle highvolume, low-value tasks. In a recent study, 58 percent of candidates said they are comfortable interacting with a chatbot during the initial stages of the application process. Today, it is estimated that there are 300,000 chatbots on Messenger alone. In fact, the chatbot market size is set to exceed USD 1.34 billion by 2024. Chatbots are here to stay, which begs the question: How can your chatbot stand out from the competition? Every chatbot has a voice — and therefore, should have a personality. As the Product Manager for conversational interfaces at Talkpush, my job is to make sure our growing army of recruitment chatbots are not only functional, but also in line with our customer’s brand and personality. To adapt to our customers’ brands, we offer them a series of “persona bots” designed with a particular set of personality traits. Through machine learning, we train our persona bots to respond in a unique way, depending on their personality.

percent. Today, after continuous training, Transcom’s Ces bot automatically responds to 98.5 percent of all inquiries received. Ces’ distinct personality not only engaged candidates, but also encouraged them to complete an interview faster. From a mere 20 percent of all candidates who started an automated interview on Messenger, today an average of 90 percent complete an interview in less than 5 minutes. By personalizing chatbots, employers can provide candidates with what feels like an organic, authentic conversation. Chatbots won’t ever replace the one-on-one experience of your recruitment team. Recruitment is still a social activity. What chatbots can do is help humans throughout the hiring process. There’s nothing artificial about that.

58% of candidates said they are comfortable interacting with a chatbot during the initial stages of the application process

From our experience, the best bot experiences are the ones with a strong brand voice and serve as an extension of current marketing campaigns. For example, Transcom, a leading customer service solution provider, has done an outstanding job of revamping their generic recruitment chatbot and introducing a fully-customized personality. Transcom already had a recognized mascot in place, called Ces, so it was only natural to digitize that into a personality when redesigning their recruitment chatbot. After Ces 2.0 rolled out, Transcom saw their average interview completion rate rise from 51.6 percent to 70.7

Why Indoor Air Quality Matters? By Air and Odor Management (AOM) Philippines

People spend most of their time indoors. However, most are not aware that indoor air quality has an effect to their health and well-being. From a positive perspective, here are the benefits of clean indoor air and why clean indoor air matters to everyone. • Easy breathing – fewer air pollutants put less strain on the lungs, heart, and body. Higher intake of clean air can make a person be more energetic, productive, and lessen the risk of respiratory issues over time. • Controlled moisture – the growth of molds and bacteria if not prevented, can lead to skin irritation, nosebleeds and stuffiness. • Elimination of allergens – allergic rhinitis also known as hay fever – with sneezing, congestion, itchy throat, and irritated eyes as symptoms is caused by airborne particles that a person may be allergic to. • Reduced odors – bad odors can make someone grumpy and uncomfortable. Bad smells have a strong effect on mood, thoughts, behaviors, and dreams. Meanwhile, good smells like chamomile, flower, and/ or citrus can improve mood, lower heart rate, and reduce stress. Spraying air freshener only masks the bad odor but will not stop the unpleasant smell that is caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Lower energy cost – keeping your office healthy shouldn’t be expensive. Make sure that your HVAC system is functioning properly and remember that efficiency reduce costs. • Controlled humidity – excessive moisture can lead to the growth of molds and bacteria, can increase dust mites, and attracts pests. Humidifiers or dehumidifiers, air conditioning, and ventilation help balance air humidity to give a better health, comfortable living, and improved breathing. Air and Odor Management (AOM) Philippines is an integrated air and odor solutions company that promotes all aspects of clean air living, which also include indoor air quality assessment and odor control, air purifying, mold inspection and remediation and ambient scenting. AOM Philippines’ team include indoor environment specialists, chemical and mechanical engineers, expert technicians and consultants from Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore with decades of experience in indoor air, odor control and indoor environment management. Our sales team measures and process clients’ sites samples and provide a detailed assessment of their offices’ requirement and verifiable information on the quality and characteristics of their indoor environment. For more information, visit www.aom.ph or call 355-6489.

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019

PH OTO BY :( HAN D ON CE L L P HON E) R OB I N WO R ALL ON UN SP L AS H ; C IT YS CAP E IN SMOKE ) H OLG E R LI NK O N U NS P L A S H

by: Talkpush

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Santos Knight Frank wins “Best Leasing Agency” in Asia Pacific By: Santos Knight Frank

The Santos Knight Frank team won the Best Leasing Agency in Asia Pacific and the Best Real Estate Agency, Best Leasing Agency and Best Property Consultancy in the Philippines

and Best Leasing Agency of the Philippines categories in May 2018 during the Asia Pacific Property Awards.

The Philippines’ largest real estate service provider, Santos Knight Frank, was named the “Best Lettings Agency Asia Pacific 2018-2019” during the International Property Awards (IPA) at The Savoy Hotel, London on December 3rd. It is the fourth time Santos Knight Frank has won the title since 2012*.

P H OT O BY: (F AS T S TREE T L I GHT) H OL G ER L I NK ON UN SP L AS H ED ; (D IGI TA L ME E TI NG) S EAN H O ON UN S PL A SH E D

The recognition follows after the company won the Best Real Estate Agency, Best Property Consultancy

Santos Knight Frank is behind many of the country’s landmark sales and leasing deals. Most recently, Joey Radovan, Vice Chairman and Head of the Occupier Services & Commercial Agency (OSCA), and Francis Bautista, Executive Director of OSCA, closed a historic 70,000 sqm single office leasing transaction – the largest ever in the country by far. Rick Santos, Chairman & CEO at Santos Knight Frank, says: “We’re extremely happy to bring this honor to the Philippines as the only regional winner that is a Filipino real estate agency. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary next year, we are even more committed to continue our mission of generating jobs, growing the Filipino middle class and contributing to the growth and success of our country.”

*Santos Knight Frank was Best Lettings Agency Asia Pacific in 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2015-2016. It has also won other regional accolades between this period such as Best Property Consultancy Website, Best Property Consultancy Marketing and Best Real Estate Agency

Technical Scientific Services, a New Career Path in the Shared Service Industry By: By: QIAGEN Business Services Manila (QBS Manila)

In September 2017, QIAGEN Business Services Manila (QBS Manila) began hiring molecular biologists, biochemists, and medical technologists to work closely together with other scientists – in the lab, research institutes, or academe – by providing remote support for these scientists’ tests and experiments. To become part of QBS Manila’s TSS team, such professional must have worked in a research laboratory such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) or the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). He or she must also possess a masters or doctoral degree in molecular biology, biochemistry, or medical technology. The TSS team provides high-value impact to the company, because it promptly addresses concerns from users of the instruments and consumables that QIAGEN provides. The immediate assistance of a technical service scientist is crucial to the preservation of the integrity of the samples that a scientist or medical technologist is working on, because tissue specimens can have very short expiration periods. By bringing molecular biologists, biochemists, and medical technologists into its shared service organization, QBS Manila has become a center of scientific knowledge in the country for molecular biology research and medical instrumentation. It enables clinical laboratories and research institutes to advance faster in the areas of health care, academic discovery, and disruptive innovation in the various fields of biology.

Technical scientific services (TSS), the latest of many emerging functions brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s (4IR) biotechnology, is now a career path offered by the shared service industry in the Philippines. One of the first companies to bring the TSS opportunity to Manila is QIAGEN, a provider of sample and assay technologies for molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academia and pharma.

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QBS Manila is the second business service center created by QIAGEN, an international biotechnology company with around 35 subsidiaries consolidated under the Dutch holding company QIAGEN NV. Their first business service center, QBS in Wrocław, Poland, was founded in 2012. The success of the QBS in Wrocław provided a template for the creation of QBS Manila.

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IBPAP NEW MEMBERS (January to June 2019)

BREAKTHROUGHS JUNE 2019