Employer of the year

It is supposed to be a coveted award among top local companies and multinationals. For some strange reason, they asked me to join a five-man panel of judges composed of former and current CEOs, an academician and an experienced personnel management professional. They made the job easier for us by pre-screening the dozen or so nominated companies for Employer of the Year so that we only had to choose from among three finalists: Toyota Motor Philippines, Nestle Philippines and IBM Philippines. It was still a lot of hard work.

We were given a set of criteria by which to rate the finalists. I thought it was an amalgam of motherhood statements for which HR folks are notorious. But, I must confess, the HR professionals we dealt with in the course of doing our duties as panel members earned my grudging respect with their ability to speak a language that won’t drive common folks to sleep if you ask them the right questions. I am particularly impressed with the HR folks who handle rank and file workers at the manufacturing floor. They seem to have a less urgent need to impress anyone with their HR credentials, something that likely developed out of the need to speak simply and sincerely to reach out to rank and file workers.

The time I spent as a panel member became worthwhile after learning about how the finalists in the Employer of the Year Award have made their workers true partners in the business. This is Michael Porter’s principle of creating shared value in action. I guess they realized they could create economic value by addressing the needs and challenges of their employees and their communities. It was totally heartwarming for me that two of the finalists, Toyota Philippines and Nestle Philippines were once upon a time troubled units of multinational companies.

Both were plagued by strikes, pretty serious strikes which in the case of Nestle, led to the death of five people. Yet, here are these two companies now, apparently fully rehabilitated from the HR point of view. Best of all, they are even good enough to beat a dozen others to become finalists in the search for Employer of the Year. I think their labor leaders should be made part of any mission abroad to invite investors to our country. They would be able to credibly testify that a new era reigns in labor-management relations.

We did plant visits as part of our task of evaluating the finalists. We talked to workers on the shop floor and given their past, I was amazed at the transformation. Toyota is a good example of how Japanese technology, discipline and penchant for excellence have been, it seems, well embraced by the Filipino work force. There were just a sprinkling of Japanese managers but they were manufacturing Innovas and Vioses as they would manufacture these models in Japan or anywhere in the Toyota network.

Simple safety rules like stopping at corners and looking in all directions and making a hand signal before proceeding is so Japanese yet some workers told us, they instinctively do it even outside their Sta. Rosa plant facilities. While the Japanese insist on their tried and tested procedures, they are also open to suggestions from Filipino workers. A number of their suggestions have in fact been adopted in other Toyota facilities worldwide.

The word that describes the feeling of Toyota workers on the shop floor is empowerment. Toyota managers admit they have learned their lessons from the acrimonious start they had in the 90s when it was strictly top down management. They are listening to their workers more now, something the workers on the shop floor confirmed. There are computers at the shop floor that any worker can use to get the latest news from management or communicate with company officials.

The smooth relationship between labor and management in Toyota was tested when their supply chain was broken as a result of the tsunami/earthquake/nuclear meltdown tragedies. They were not getting enough parts to keep the factory running and under normal conditions, they should shut down. But after management appraised their workers of the problem and discussed alternative courses of action, they agreed to keep all the permanent employees on the payroll for the duration of the slowdown, fixing machinery or doing CSR work in the community.

The workers at Nestle are just as proud of being part of the company as the workers at Toyota are. They also affirm a dramatic change in attitude by both labor and management such that when Nestle was looking for a plant to work on specialty dietetics for the international market, there was no hesitation to choose the Biñan plant. It may sound trite to say that management and labor appear to realize they are in a partnership, but that’s exactly the impression they gave us.

The labor union leaders talked about the importance of industrial peace and how they feel they were misled by leftist labor leaders who had a broader agenda. They express appreciation that before anything important affecting them are decided, they are now consulted. Unlike Toyota where the Japaneseness is strong, the Swiss company appears to allow more Filipino cultural norms to predominate in the corporate milieu. It is difficult to believe five people died there not too long ago in a horrible labor dispute that must have scared potential investors from locating here for years. Or may have encourage companies like Colgate to move to Bangkok.

IBM Philippines is different from Toyota and Nestle in the sense that IBM is involved in what is often called the sunshine industry of business and knowledge processes outsourcing. This is the industry that is absorbing a lion’s share of our college educated young people today. Unlike Toyota and Nestle that are both in manufacturing operations, IBM is in the service sector, said to be the potential savior of the Philippine economy.

Managing ambitious college educated youth with strong personalities is a totally different ball of wax from managing workers on the shop floor. It is often more difficult to keep workers in a company like IBM satisfied. Apparently, this is something IBM handles rather well. Outside of their call center operations with its characteristic high turnover rates, it seems the IBMers working in other areas stay on for good.

What got my attention at IBM was the way the company allows their workers to develop their potentials. They have manpower development programs that a well motivated and capable IBMer can manage at his or her own pace. They seem to have a strong culture that rewards accomplishments.

I also appreciated IBM’s sense of responsibility for the country despite its multinational identity. It is managed at the top by Filipinos. One program they are about to launch targets Filipinos working abroad who want to go back home. They plan to hire OFW professionals with multilingual skills gained from overseas employment. They need people with international experience to work here servicing foreign clients.

IBM also has this program that helps nurture budding Filipino technology entrepreneurs. Their office at the Ayala Technopark in UP Diliman handles this idea incubation program. I also like another program they have that will introduce the use of computers in teaching children at the pre school level. In other words, they are constantly looking for ways to use their technology to advance development in this country.

In the end, it was tough to select the Employer of the Year. All three had outstanding stories that prove our business environment is not the black hole many think it is. I am not at liberty to announce in this column who won the award since that will be done in the PMAP convention in Cagayan de Oro this week. But if you ask me, all three are winners… all three are Employers of the Year and since I don’t work in HR, this is no HR- type BS. –Boo Chanco (The Philippine Star)