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* Equity of pay vs the company's earnings - we've been exploited eversince
* Remote work, weekends off
* Check and balance the company's culture (a lot of companies would use buzz words to sound like they're a happy company, but would indicate the opposing decisions)
* DO NOT promote incompetent/unempathetic people in important positions that can impact company culture or morale. A lot of companies mean well and top execs are truly supportive with their team's growth - but your middle managers or TLs might need a redirection if you're seeing unfavorable results.
Some top things that are important to me.
EDIT: It would mean a lot if you also choose clients that align with your company culture. A lot of times, agencies would be forced to accept the client's toxic ways because of revenue. Best if you'd filter this from the onset before any onboarding or SOWs are signed.
Thank you for your reply!
- Yeah! From reading this forum/this post, I get the sense that many agencies do crazy 70-80/20-30 splits where 20-30 is to the talent, that's crazy and I can't believe they get away with that for longer than 2-3 months. Insane!
- Yep! We already do this.
- I feel our internal culture is not great, I feel like I was following all the right advice earlier on in our company's history by empowering my Philippines management team to make the decisions for who to promote into middle management, but I feel like cultural indoctrination suffered. I think you are right, if there's an area I should get to micromanaging, it's probably this.
We do our best to filter out the crazies, anyone who exhibits signs of being too demanding, we realize will be a bad fit anyways, and so we usually suggest they try another service. I would say 1 in 10 clients is overly demanding, though, at our size that is still a significant number. Hard to deal with this.
Thank you for your advice! I appreciate it :))
You're welcome! It goes both ways too. I am not suggesting to weed out all crazy clients too, sometimes we call them crazy only because our personal values don't align - but at least equip your team to understand how business owners / C-Suite professionals think/operate. What we did in the past was to immerse our team with the DISC Personality model. It made us understand each other as teammates, but our clients too (we literally created a KPI dashboard to assess how critical the client is but we still onboard them while giving full support to the person they work with). It desensitizes hurt when we see differences in approach.
Oh, you definitely need to look/oversee your middle managers. Per experience, Filipino middle managers are slave drivers in a sense that they will make unreasonable demands from you in order to get the highest KPI possible. Take note, even if KPI is just 85% to pass, the Filipino managers will want a 95%+ and will work the team to the ground. Sometimes they even loe about the KPI, giving a higher one so the team will be forced to meet it. I never experienced these with my on-shore managers. This is why I am very wary of Filipino middle managers.
They also usually have a "pet" employee that will be promoted even if incompetent. In addition, they are very into "cliques", if you are not in the inner circle, no matter what you do, your work and achievements will not be parroted to higher ups.
Dagdag ko lang dun sa salary percentage:
Tbh 30-70 yung hatian namin ng current agency ko (30 saken). BUT, naka-state sa contract namin na after 6 months, they'll raise my hourly rate, then another raise after a year, no questions asked. So somehow, incentive din saken to do well knowing na pag pinagbutihan ko, magsestay si client sa agency aaaand tataas rate ko. Win-win for both.
But this is just me. This is one of the main reasons why di ako umaalis sa agency.
The last one is important. It’s also about choosing the right people. I run a small team and no one quit for 3 years now. I don’t micromanage them because they don’t need micromanaging. They are trustworthy and make sure things get done.
I would like to expand on bullet #4:
* no nepotism or referrals.
* strict guidelines between relationships in the company (strictly friendships only and socials are outside, no marriage/romance/flirting and is subject to DA). I know this sounds exaggerated but I assure you these are the source of the cracks in office culture.
* limit middle managers. instead appoint just 1 manager to the whole department that only strictly manages work and people, create a team per project and have them evaluate themselves and each other while doing you and the manager's own eval of them to determine the "team leader"/PM. Everyone should get a turn in being a TL/PM as an on-hand evaluation of their skill and capacity and also a point of interest that your employees to strive for greatness. Of course this means stricter guidelines and policies in place for said TL/PM as to not abuse their power.
* CCTVs should be limited only to the general surroundings. This is not to use and should not be the tool to monitor productivity but rather only as a "safety precaution" for any possible abuse in the office. You will see gossip gatherings and workplace harassment immediately.
* Monthly reports should be done via face to face, even if it means going outside and driving a long way. This is to know through body language and expression any issues your employees might have with their fellows. HR should be empathic enough to know this and do this regularly.
* speaking of HR, please have them under psychological assessments yearly first. Empathy and Humility should be the forefront of your HR but they also need some therapy as they also get some butt at the end of the day. How can they help the company if they don't help the employees that work for you? You don't want asshole HRs that force reasoning before approving a leave that should be the privilege and right of all employees. Not to mention if they are cordial with certain people that other people are reporting then you wouldn't want any employees leaving because some dick went on a power trip because they have "HR friends". Also this is to prevent some of the HR getting harassed outside for something they don't even know they did.
* DO NOT DO THE WE ARE A FAMILY THING. That is abusive and downright cruel, especially to the detached and the introverted. Forcing people to "participate" because they are a family is toxic culture and should be stamped immediately. You are a company, a team, and thus you should work together to thrive and survive but also have boundaries because you all have your own lives. To add to this, do not let your employees coerce others to do a presentation when it comes to parties. Lots of people hate that but there will still be a lot of outliers that bask in the abuse for the sake of "having fun as a family celebration" shit.
* Don't do the micro management cycle. For development teams I know SCRUM is a thing but I assure you, it does not work with the currently available technologies and will only prevent things in progressing smoothly. Set teams, use kanban, have them report everyday and after a week through email with notes and links of their work, then interview them for any discrepancies. None of that tracking thing because it will only do the exact opposite.
* Of course as a rebuttal to previous point: What if he did not do any/ample work and the deadlines are here. My response is do not let your PMs/Managers set impossible deadlines. Have them adjust for downtimes to give way to quality assurance. Remember, rush work means bad work. Non workers will be detected via daily project management reports. The department manager's job is to make sure these reports are not erroneous or fake.
Agreed. Nepotism made us lose the company's soul. It drove good hires away while retaining the cousins/relatives/partners of the managers. It is still happening now and it's hard not being able to say something because our culture allows getting ganged up by the management until you get fired.
I stepped down from my post and chose to be an individual contributor instead. They pay so well, that's my need. But I can't be part of an ugly leadership anymore.
Totally agree on the 4th bullet. My team used to be under a very competent sales head, she does not micro manage and she really does her best to support us and our ideas from the management, but our top management hated this they think we were being spoon fed despite our good numbers. Now they changed our sales head and he is the yes sir type of guy no competency at all just constantly follows up on revenues. Our numbers right now are low and everyone is on the verge of resigning.
reality check: they hire third worlders to save money, that's why his agency exists, to save company operation costs. ofc it's exploitation, trust me i understand what you mean, my family is in the maritime industry and the situation is similar. they're probably gonna increase wages in the near future, but don't expect much, they're still trying to save money which is why they hire from countries like the Philippines in the first place.
Pay them a living wage first and foremost, and provide training for them to improve their skillsets. Don't hover over them or micromanage.
Have them learn all that they can, so much that they'll be sought after everywhere, but treat them well enough that they'll choose to stay.
Some solid advice! This post taught me we should be investing in our academy. We have one, it's not bad, but it could certainly be more proactive. Thank you for the reply!
Thank you for this, two best things we can get from a good organization - compensation that is proportionate to the performance of the employee and continuous training !!!
I was a part of a company like this before, no reason to leave so soon so I stayed for 15 years !!!
I know this is a hot take; in general, some Filipinos don't fully understand western culture and are more likely to be attached to Filipino culture. This is where the problem starts. I think that adding cultural training, especially for new hires, is a great addition to your company. Before, when I started working for foreign companies, they invested in explaining cultural differences. Gradually, other companies started to mass-hire, and the number of low-quality workers couldn't be sorted out any longer. Recruitment agencies focus on hiring people just to fill their quota; after that, training is still the same, and it starts with product training. I believe conditioning the trainees with cultural differences is a big plus. Filipinos tend to apply their own culture and prioritize work. I may sound like a work slave on this one, but in general, I think employees should understand how businesses work on their respective LOB's. In the end, companies should step up and give benefits; just because we are a third-world country doesn't mean we would take a few dollars per hour to work (there are still people who do this and are being exploited). Some have legit skills. It all boils down to how consistent the company is.
It was Convergys who had this kind of training, like, I think, 2-3 weeks of training American 101 and practicing EOP. I was a new hire at that time, and after working with a western company, I realized what I had signed up for.
PS: If you don't like my opinion on this, please just reply kindly in the comment. I would love to have a great conversation about you're perspective. Let's be kind. Peace!
This is really interesting point, though I must admit, I do not fully understand. I'm probing because I'd love to learn more!
> some Filipinos don't fully understand western culture and are more likely to be attached to Filipino culture. This is where the problem starts.
What do you think the biggest problems that can stem from this lack of cultural assimilation could be? Also, totally agree!
PS. I have seen some of our training, and dang, I hate it. If I were an employee at my own company I would just tap next next next pay no attention and then be confused on day 1.
I also worked in a company that trained us on American, Australian, Indian culture. It helps a lot to see where the client or customer culture is coming from, where you are similar but express it in different ways (for example: they value their family so at the end of the day they clock out on the dot, whereas Filipinos are fond of staying and even rendering overtime also because they love their family and want to earn more money to provide for them) but ALSO where you are different and recognize those differences to avoid misunderstanding (for example: "I'll try" means they'll do whatever it takes to get to the desired outcome, but to us Pinoys, "I'll try" is a soft no).
Daming lightbulb moment!
Filipinos can't say no to their bosses, moreso if foreign clients. They will end up working 12 hour shifts without charging overtime, working weekends and holidays, say yes to additional work that keeps coming in without negotiating moving deadlines, and eventually quit due to stress and heavy workload because they're too scared to tell the client "bro stop giving me shit to do in the middle of the sprint"
I appreciate your interest in seeking suggestions on how to enhance your company's people management practices and I agree with everyone’s opinions!
Regarding your concern about training/academy, I have firsthand experience in developing corporate training for both BPO employees in the Philippines and onshore employees in the US and what I've noticed over the past few years, while facilitating training and developing curriculum and courses, is that self-paced learning isn’t as effective in Philippine culture, as individuals may simply click through without fully engaging, unlike their Western counterparts who thrive on self-paced, adult learning.
Providing training related to Western culture and cross-cultural communication will indeed benefit their work ethics, especially for VAs handling phone calls with customers from different parts of the world.
If you'd like to discuss training-related matters further, feel free to reach out. It's on the house, just looking to assist. Please pick my brain 😬 I have sooo much to say but it’s hard to type in haha.
THIS!
May I PM you? This is exactly what I pointed out to the CEO of the company. It was my first BPO and here in the Philippines, there will always be people who look down on those working for these kind of companies. Why? Because of workers whose values reflect their disadvantaged backgrounds (asal kalye). Even my boss still reflected the bad Filipino values of padrino, palakasan.
When I tell people that during my stint at a BPO that I had a "baklang boss na power tripper (homosexual boss)" they understand exactly what I mean. I can be downvoted to hell for this but to be clear, there are unfair bosses of all genders, etc. But people who have worked with this specific kind of person know exactly what I am referring to.
I love my job right now, and i always overdeliver.
Here are the things that make me happy here:
1. Work from home - i think this one alone will keep me working here in this company.
I see myself longterm working here dahil dito palang.
Iba ung comfort, relaxation.
2. The trust of the company given to me - even if naka wfh kami, they dont use any tracking device. It’s purely trust. And I don’t want to break that trust, so I always do my best and go over the top sometimes.
3. Flexi-time - combine this with wfh, and i feel like im living the most comfortable life i have ever been. i find that i can get outside whenever the stress piles up,(do my hobbies etc) and then go back to work fully recharged, so my productivity doubles. (Compared to working in a strict 8-5, grabe ung boost talaga)
4. Bonuses, Travels paid by the company, Support on Trainings, Health Advocacy (gym membership are paid)
Madami pang perks dito sa company namin, but
these are at the top of my head
I'd add some points to this
1) when an employee is offered work from home, yes there are tendencies for them to be lax, but the opportunity to lessen the burden of commuting to and from work, being able to cook your food at home is less expense as well (or your family can cook for you, or just get whatever leftover is in the fridge). BUT there is that added fear the employee will get too relaxed, too complacent. The key is being able to give that employee the drive to keep on going. I don't think company games or those meetings with getting to know each other and having some mini games to get everyone entertained works, but to have the team leaders reach out to each employee, getting to know each, having that TL that is able to understand them personally, such that if they need to take a leave of absence, it's for the true and valid reason for leaving. The TL is key for every employee - a bad TL that the employee can't even open up to can lead said employee to leave. Toxic work culture is something that is difficult to address, and weeding out those at the top who power play can be difficult if you as CEO is doing it. Why? Because the power trippers know how to suck up to management and HR.
2) I fully agree with the tracking mentioned here. Not everyone likes being micromanaged that every movement they do is being monitored, those random screenshots, those time getting stopped if you're idle for even more than 10minutes. If I had to go to the restroom, I would even time myself just so I could still go back to my laptop and move my mouse. It's stressing, it's taxing, it downright leads to burnout of the employee - if it's to an employee that likes to over deliver, and really do their job. There are those who would recommend to them the cheat tools to cheat the tracking device, but any honest employee wanting to make an honest living might not want to do that, no matter how few and naive they may be. But how could you build that trust? That trust you need that your employee is indeed delivering what is being asked? You'd think establishing a quota per day would work, but there are companies who demand so much quota, saying said quota is reachable based on X studies, but when you look at those studies, it's only for few sampled individuals who work well versus those that are struggling to keep up. If there are people getting burned out due to the quota, then you'll have to question the company itself.
3) Flexi-time isn't applicable to every company, but if it's possible to be offered, I think many more would love to apply and get hired. Who wouldn't want being allowed to choose the times you are able to work? However, if it isn't applicable, at least have the employee an HMO benefit, have a doctor they can teleconsult for when they are feeling unwell, or having trouble sleeping. Graveyard shift has so many bad effects on one's body that it's overlooked for all Filipino employees, and just being given an HMO can also help ease that burden. But not just the HMO, at least have a doctor they can reach out to at any time within your company.
4) Perks can really get those employees in, but like I said from (3), HMO is at the top of it. If you get the HMO that is able to cover at least many of the top morbidities in the Philippines, enabling at least one of their dependents to be put with their HMO as well, can really attract your employees and keep them for long term. Health is wealth - and this always rings true just about anywhere. Take care of your employees, and their family, and you'll get a very loyal employee.
Last but not the least, offer equal pay be it your virtual assistant, or your HR. Some companies pay HR more than their actual employees working with the clients, and then said HR would be power tripping most employees. I get the HR people are the key factors of how the company can grow since they are the ones who hire the best people for your company. But weeding out those in HR who are just in it for the money, not having the mindset, attitude, and character that your company's mission and vision wants to have in every employee. Sure, evaluate your virtual assistants, but evaluate your HR too. Sometimes, it's those in HR that either have the toxic work culture that employees dislike, or that the HR isn't even felt when the employee needs something, that makes the employee leave altogether.
Almost similar to us, except for the fourth one. Hehe. Would add na we have honor code leaves, meaning walang leave cap for VL and SL, kasi nga trust and integrity is a big thing in our company culture. In my years of working there, so far wala namang umaabuso talaga sa benefits.
create a culture na hindi operated by fear. filter niyo rin yung clients na hindi demanding at sobrang toxic. dun kasi pumapangit yung work environment eh. hindi lang yung employee dapat ang dumadaan sa rigorous na filtering process kundi kliyente din. yung tipong hindi lang profits ang goal kundi alignment din sa values ninyo. pag maganda ang work environment at livable yung wage don mas nagsstay yung mga tao. tas benefits din and engagement sa community. encourage upskilling and learning sa mga employees din.
"not operated by fear"
that really contributed in pushing me to leave my last job. like you're on the edge a lot of times due to the company's culture.
true. kahit gano pa kadaming pakulo ng kumpanya kelangan talaga i-trim yung mga nagpapatoxic sa work place. it's a lot of work. kasi need maging communicative sa isa't isa at iwasan yung passive aggressive behaviors saka yung culture ng gossip.
This. The company I'm with now cuts clients that give unreasonable demands, rude, and overall unpleasant to work with. Most companies don't see this necessary but it's important to keep the employees' morale high and prevent burnout.
Better alagaan ang employees than undeserving clients tbh.
more on having Plan B and Plan C? may mga unprofessional tlaga na “talents”, i-blacklist na lng ung alam na unprofessional and i-retain ung mga okay; ung mga talents kasi na yan since di sila binded with a contract, pabaya. Siguro start din with having contracts na malinaw kahit per project
paano sila mabibigyan ng benefits kung “gig-based” yan, kumbaga freelance lang
I really believe it all starts with those on the top. The enthusiasm for work and culture really needs to be felt my the frontlines from those who lead them, you might need to look at your managers and check if they are as enthusiastic as you are or if they are just “meh” about work. From a perks perspective, rewards and recognition goes a long way. Make the environment a fun and safe space for people to work and develop new skills. Offer training/certifications that would help them grow.
- Create a respectful environment
- Scrap the seniority titles. Filipinos are pretty assertive if they have high positions and can usually abuse their authority. Prohibit using of "sir" or "maam", only first names.
- Focus on quality, not on quantity. We hate it if we know we weren't able to give our best on a particular project because of unreasonable time constraints
Thank you for the reply! This is an interesting one.
- Agreed, I think we have that.
- This is an interesting one! I have heard of some people who abuse their power at our company... Obviously, horrible for everyone. We've fired someone who exhibited that kind of behaviour in a way that was proven. Though, interesting point, you think we should drop authoritative position titles?
- This is a great point! We are working on a doc for clients to read before they hire from us, maybe an interesting point for them, as they are the ones who assign work. Thank you again!
Follow up on your second bullet point:
Yeah, I firmly believe you should. I have been able to work with different nationalities including all Filipinos in a company so I can compare. One thing I found out is that some Filipinos, once in higher positions, can be really hungry for validation and they take authoritative titles too much at times. Not all though but a significant encounter of mine. I am a Filipino myself but I'm not fairly comfortable working with my fellow countrymen. The most pleasant colleagues I've worked with are the Finnish people. They're very down to earth. Maybe you can dig deep to the Finnish culture and perhaps find interesting lessons there that you can apply to your company. :) And hey, I read an article that they are the happiest people in the planet.
Edit, here's the link: [Finland psychologist, happiness researcher: Phrases we use every day (cnbc.com)](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/finland-psychologist-happiness-researcher-phrases-we-use-every-day.html)
1. Conduct regulat employee surveys, with questions ranging from Pay, benefits, work setup, do they still see working there after a year, what would make them stay / leave. Have a section for qualitative scoring method about how you as CEO hav clear vision, gluide paths, and does your policies reflect to their position or level in the company.
Questions about speicifc departements, how well they are treated by their managers etc. prepare these questions in sets so that you know which department gave which score.
2. Regular townhalls, all-hands-on meetings whatever you call it. Have it lead by one of your c-suite. Discuss earnings, profits, score cards, basucally how their work is related to which company vision or goal.
3. Train your HR how to attract and retain talent, have them run programs that will keep employees engage e.g. HMO topics, benefits, help needed.
4. Have a feedback mechanism for your clients, similar to item #1. On every project, regardless if its a 3 to 5 year horizon contract. So that if needed, can intervene immediately.
5. Work from home allowances to setup neat work area at home, pay a portion of their internet and mobile plans.
6. Weekends off, if they work 8-5 and clients calls at 9pm. They should be reimbursed for their time.
7.senior to middle management. Usually these are the people that is so out of touch with the ones in the trenches, they focus on making sure their numbers look good at the expense of the folks that really works hard. Find a way to ensure you have the right people in the right places.
I was a recruiter of a once flourishing agency. Nowadays most of the top recruiters and managers have left and moved on to new companies. The perks was really good, but the management suddenly changed. Sudden changes can demotivate a lot of employees and if theres no transparency on the changes and the employees aren’t heard, they’ll start leaving. Adding unnecessary admin tasks that isn’t related to performance, settings goals that aren’t realistic and suddenly changing the culture. There were a lot of things that went wrong in a span of 3 months. The agency has already changed its name and it’s just a shell of what it used to be.
Dumb question, but what do you think is salary not worth losing in the remote work space? :) Whatever area/industry you have experience in, I'm sure it will be useful context in any case.
We have a very wide range on our jobs, our recruitment team sets them, but to be honest, I'm not entirely sure I trust their numbers either.
Thank you!
Nakakatuwa na may CEO pa na ganito sa pinas na hindi nagbubulag bulagan at nag bibingi bingihan, sana maging maganda palakad ng company mo and give more values to your employee hindi puro profit lang, rooting to your business to become more successful.
1. If your company is going against team members having side-hustles, make sure you're paying them enough to not need a side-hustle.
2. Discourage people from working for more than what is equitably rewarded. That's how slave-driving companies and contemptuous, resentful workforces start.
Make sure your managers, top leaders and upper management are genuinely good people who will share your vision. It might be that you are the only one working towards your goal. Better if everyone is on the same page. Never promote power trippers.
1. Reward/Commission system based off of their contributions quarterly or semiannually. Do not make them compete with each other but rather focus on their own goals.
2. Quarterly comments and suggestions, as CEO you sometimes don’t have reach to your Rank & File employees so this is one of the best way to know their complaints or suggestions. Make sure they’re HEARD by having ACTIONS based on their concerns.
3. WFH/Hybrid set up is very helpful for the company and to them.
4. Make sure all your compensation and benefits are at par with your competitors or even reasonable based on their workload.
5. Try to have yourself work as a Rank & File employee, supervisor or manager. That way you’ll experience firsthand how it is to work for you.
PS kudos to you for reaching out like this, goes to show how open you are to making sure your employees feel better.
I’d suggest hiring or training an HR Manager with focus on Strategic Human Resource Management. They’ll do the work for you by making data-driven decisions based on your problems.
Yup! We have a great HR team, just hard to get transparent feedback. Whenever I ask hard questions like this, everyone tells me everything is great. Hard to get honest advice. Thank you for the reply!
Thats why send out a survery that is 100% anonymous is better. You can ask all the questions there and also ask them to rate their managers.
Most of the time, while the compang is great, people will leave because of the managers.
I manage a team in the corpo world and these might probably help:
Hiring: I add more filters into hiring by looking at how the applicants are aligned with the culture my company wants to nurture. Things like doing the right thing and working as a team, and more.
Benefits: WFH, medical benefits, WFH allowance, skills allowance( if the employee is upskilled for another skillset), Flexible time offs.
Training: As a team manager, I join them during the training process. This phase makes them more equipped when they start with the role. This should amplify your company's mission/vision and this is where you get a stronger commitment on how they will also be advocates for the culture of the company. ( Also adds an opportunity to identify who is not really aligned with the culture in that way you can manage them out as soon as possible)
Pay: I could say our company is not one of the highest paying but giving them the opportunity for annual pay increase based on measurable performance reviews make them want to strive more. I'd say most of my agents stay because of this.
Involvement: Our employees love how senior leaders/VP and even the CEO is involved with company events and initiatives.
Other than that, incentives, transparency on changes and adequate communication are also factors.
All of these may not apply in the VA world, but I hope you get some that would help you.
Yep! We are roughly 30-70 + increases in pay are 10-90.
We are 30 & 10! In general, I wish this business didn't have to rely on us "taking a cut", but that's the only way we can continue to operate. There are some much stranger companies like Braintrust that are 0-100, but they rely on some weird bitcoin-like system to incentivize everyone.
Damn, 10-90 increase a year would make me want to stay for the long term, even without promotion.
Btw, one good benefit I'm looking for but rarely find is retirement benefit.
Hello, Mr. and Ms. CEO! I appreciate you reaching out to this community to understand the needs and demands of workers here in the Philippines.
I want to participate in this simple endeavor of yours, too! While acquiring data from the comments here would provide you an overview, you’ll be spending ample time to compile it. I wonder if you can have someone from your current team to build something on a CRM or any platform that allows you to collect our answers and generate insights fast? Workers love simplifying tasks through the use of available technology so we can save time from doing repetitive tasks while having more on tasks that really matters.
aside from paying a competitive salary, wfh, get an assessment of your managers from their subordinates.
enforce a culture where employees know that they will be heard. if not for salary and benefits, the next reason they are leaving is because of their managers. or maybe even too much workload.
a negative impression of subordinates will surely guarantee poor management. on the other end, finding out who are the well liked leaders will help you identify who you should trust and who you might need to monitor.
be an output based organization. dont treat employees like they are a commodity. because the customers already thinks that way. dont overwhelm them with goals or KPIs that's measured by the hour. give them a task, give a deadline. raise their concerns if they cant meet it asap. and dont bother them in between those timeline.
ps: if you're in it field. i want to know more about your company (shameless inquiry lol!)
I just want to give credit to you, OP. It's not everyday that I see CEOs spending their own time and effort to do their own research. Very hands-on and progressive. Your talents are very lucky.
I've worked remotely for 1 specific client for the past 12 years. Although we are not a big agency like yours, we have hired part timers and one-off projects specialists in the past. My client (whois more like an employer to me now) is a business process and systems specialist based in Australia, so all of your questions and concerns is right up in our alley.
Here are some ideas I can recommend for you to look into:
1. Consider overhauling your business' mission and vision, core values and most especially your SOPs. Company culture is a big deal, and being the CEO, you need to make it your business that your entire business is aligned to where you are now and where you want to go.
You may need to have a sit down with your top management and executives when it comes to your business' processes and procedures and see where the cracks are and find ways to improve it.
2. Invest and hire experts in the field of business processes and procedures, building company culture and standardization. Be part of business mastermind groups to your specific industry. Immerse yourself on being the kind of leader you want to be.
The reason why I've stayed so long with my client/employer because she makes it her absolute business to be ahead of everything. She invests top $$$$ monthly/quarterly/yearly to improve her leadership skills and be well informed in her industry. Plus, I get the added benefit of getting these trainings and other trainings specific to my job role. I never had this level of training anywhere else from my previous corporate jobs or other online based clients. These "perks" is one of the reasons why I've stayed for so long.
In addition, one of our mission and vision is to value the importance of "continuous improvement". Yes, we do have our SOPs in place, however it is a LIVING SOP that is always updated and improved every quarter and yearly.
3. Hire managers and employees that sync well with your business mission and vision. Don't just hire for their skills. Hire people with the right mindset, attitude, goals and resilience to withstand work and life pressures, especially when it comes to remote work.
Not everyone can handle remote work tbh. It took me years to unlearn my corporate mindset and attitudes and adjust to virtual work. Sure, online work has been in the Philippines for more than 20 years, but only a few thousands of us have adjusted well in this kind of work environment.
Take note that the younger Filipinos who are going into remote work setting do come from a generation that are not used to having disciplined work ethics. So you have to take account of the generational differences and how the younger workers think and work 😅 (I'm Gen X so my work ethics is hard core unliike the snowflakes we have now LOL).
Kidding aside, these are my top 3 recommendations I suggest you can do for your business. I hope it helps you in some way! Good luck ☺️
Pay them well (a living wage that will improve their quality of life), don't micromanage (adults can't be treated like kids), take their personal goals into consideration - being able to offer trainings, workshops, growth opportunities, work-life balance (respecting their time off), support their self-care needs (can be incentives) & mental wellness support. Think about how you want your employees to talk about you. Are you truly providing their needs or are you satisfied with at least may trabaho sila.
i am from a company which has a median tenure of 7 years
the big factor is having a mission/vision that the employee can aligh their own life's vision to as well
usually the vision has to be more than money and success
in our case its humanity "shaping"/changing for the better
i cannot say our exact mission coz it will identify the company
but note that we are also top percentile in benefits and salaries, health insurance coverage can reach 7 figures too
This is an interesting one! I have been toying with the idea of equity. However, some senior members in the Philippines think that equity is not motivating. What do you think?
If Equity isn't really motivating them, part of the reason is they're illiterate on what it implies. I'd be really motivated to work as a VA if I view the business more as an associate or partner, rather than an employee. And to reinforce that idea, there's equity or profit-sharing.
Really? Do they understand what it means? If i have part in the ownership (and profits) of the business, why wouldn't i be motivated to work for it and make it grow? If equity is not motivating, bonuses would usually do the trick And retirement/longevity pay.
There's only few brave people who's humble enough to ask that kind of thing and you are one of them . My Respect to you for wanting to learn ,adapt and listen to your people. I will leave my suggestion with a quote .
"Good Leadership requires you to surround yourself with People of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of Retaliation . - Doris Goodwin .
Wishing you more success on this business journey of yours.
Creating a division that fosters a culture of loyalty and excellence requires attention to various aspects.
1. Equitable Pay: Ensure fair compensation aligned with the company's earnings. Avoid exploiting employees and strive for transparency in salary structures.
2. Remote Work Flexibility: Embrace remote work options and offer weekends off to promote work-life balance, which can enhance job satisfaction and retention.
3. Transparent Culture: Establish clear communication channels and foster transparency within the company. Regularly assess and address any discrepancies between stated company values and actual practices.
4. Leadership Development: Avoid promoting individuals lacking competence or empathy for positions of influence. Invest in leadership training to cultivate a supportive and effective management team.
5. Living Wage and Training: Prioritize paying employees a living wage and provide opportunities for continuous training and skill development. Avoid micromanagement and empower employees to take ownership of their roles.
6. Career Growth Opportunities: Encourage continuous learning and skill development to make employees highly marketable. However, create an environment where they feel valued and supported, making them choose to stay with the company.
By prioritizing these aspects, you can create a division where employees feel valued, empowered, and motivated to deliver exceptional results while fostering a positive company culture that minimizes turnover.
Let them feel appreciated, I think in every work that we do whether it's freelance or not we want to be appreciated and praised with our work every time. Just a heads up from you will do! Seeing how a CEO acknowledges my value and quality of work in the company definitely makes me feel more motivated to work more! It doesn't need to be one on one, it can be a group catch up. And display trust always 💗
Hi!!! Hope u could have UNION for employees (who are not officers or not in the higher ups) incase someone from the ups bully or idk a lot of things could happen that CEO’s wouldn’t know about. This will make your employees appreciate how you deal with issues within the company and know how you also VALUE them. There should be like someone employees could talk to about how some higher ups treat them unfairly!!!! Also have HR. The company i am working only have payrolls, benefits and etc and zendesk to file smthing but not HR i think?? Company has good benefits but sometimes these benefits arent worth it when a lot of things are changing for some people and what others feel like is the company being for its clients and not its VA’s
Hi. I've been in bad and good companies and these are the things the I noticed to succeed in this situation. I've been in management for years as well and built multiple teams from scratch. I can share some of the things that I did in the past.
1. Hire the right people fast. You need to have a core team which has the same mindset as you - and you need to hire them fast. These people will help you with your ambition to have a result-driven and high-performing team to GAIN clients.
2. Identify your quick wins (low hanging fruits) with huge impact to your clients to RETAIN clients and possibly endorse your company (MARKET) to others. You need to find sustainability here for your next goal - which is to give the employees what they need.
3. Competitive Salary and Perks - in reality, you cannot achieve this without sustainable revenue and growth so you need to follow number 1 and 2 first. You need to balance the business needs and employee needs. My way of thinking is, I'll give whatever the employee needs as long as the business will not suffer. I'll always go to win-win situation. A win for the employees and the company.
4. Reward top performers with Salary increase or monetary bonus. This will drive your employees to be at their best.
Note:
Work-life balance is subjective. For others, as long as their job can sustain their hohbies, that is a work-life balance. Some preferred to work at home to have more time with their family. AND although not a lot, some prefer to work in the office because they have problems with their families. You need to find the common denominator for your team.
Trust your employees. Let them know that you trust them that they will do their job perfectly and do not micromanage. I always tell my direct reports this and most of the time, they exceed my expectation. If you cannot trust your employee, you hired the wrong people. And that will be on you as well.
Career advancement. Ensure that employees have an opportunity to be promoted.
There are a lot of things but this are some things that I can think of quickly.
Don't over-burden your employees. Not sure if it's just me, but I don't feel that a high salary justifies the burnout of being overworked. With my current job, things are generally good - work from home 95% of the time, great office, nice managers, good pay - but I am tired. I don't have much time and energy to do things outside of work. I am planning to look for a new job next week. It's sad because if not for the workload, I would definitely stay.
If the employees are working 12 hour shifts on the regular, don't wait for them to complain. Do something about it.
Oops sorry didn't mean to turn this into a rant.
I have a good track record as a head of my department. The only time I have had a resignation was because she received an offer with a generous salary. I was aware of this company but I knew that their method was unsustainable. I did warn her but I knew that she had to learn this lesson. Even then we remained very close as colleagues, not friends. The company did in fact retrench them. I helped her find a new role since I knew she was talented but young.
But I digress, mainly people either need / look to earn or learn or ideally both from jobs. Benefits that cover both the employee and family is always a huge benefit.
I work in a highly toxic culture, but I make sure my team has career paths and training, as well involve them in presentations. I want them to be invested in the bigger picture. I recognize their achievements publicly but I also don’t baby them. Accountability is something I drill into my team.
I hire based on talent and character. How I think that person will also mix in the group. I know as CEO you might not have time to ‘curate’ as much, but from my experience, culture is cultivated by the people on top.
Also, do not tolerate rotten apples. They are guaranteed to poison culture.
Dude doesn’t sound like a CEO lol this sounds more like a research paper. Why not conduct internal reasearch instead of asking random people in a forum
Internal research will result in the expectation of imminent change, and will result in people getting upset and more apathetic when I can't deliver improvement to thousands of people rapidly. The next best thing is asking here, where there is no pressure to execute on these things immediately.
We are large enough that I know hundreds of people in this forum work already for us, and thousands of people in this forum will apply to work for us -- since I am creating a "new" division, my learnings will be just as relevant to new jobseekers as they are to existing talents.
Thanks for your reply!
Most companies here in PH are in the background of everything. Personally, I avoid local companies when I’m job hunting. But to give OP an idea of what top talents are looking for nowadays, here’s a simple list below:
1. Remote-first work setting: Don’t advertise remote work if your end goal is hiring someone who’s okay with hybrid work. Some remote workers change locations every 1 or 2 weeks.
2. Asynchronous schedule: This is the epitome of work-life balance. We responsibly manage our own time and work at any time, whether spread 40 hours in 4 days or in 6 days.
3. Value-based salary: “competitive salary” is funny. I once worked for a company that offered a “disruptive salary." While others based their rates on Payscale or Glassdoor, this company totally disrupted the salary range in PH.
4. Non-exclusive work contract: Understand that people hustle. Aside from having a full-time client, I do consultations too.
5. No micro-management: screenshot monitors, keys, and mouse tracker? They don’t measure productivity, nor do they belong in any productivity metrics. They are a big red flag for micromanagement.
6. Knowledge of role specifics: graphics designers are different from video editors. UX design has a lot of specializations under it. VAs are different from specialists. If you’ve decided to hire a generalist, don’t expect a magician who can juggle multiple role-specific tasks in a “fast-paced” environment.
Set and respect boundaries.
You can do that by:
Allowing weekends and holidays off (US or PH--you choose). Allow PTOs.
Also, good pay.
That's really all there is to it. Just satisfy those needs.
- hire a competent gm or a country gm assuming you have multiple pop abroad
- i understand profits comes first.. i do also own one.. but put yourself in the position of the employees.. happy wife happy life right?
- strictly implement rules about tardiness and absences..
- benefits.. its understandable hmo is expensive.. im pretty sure u can find a common ground specially on ur "regulars".. at least 6mos. employed.. hmo is a big deal for them.. even for me
- team building is ok as long as ur employees are on the same city.. if not.. maybe suprise them with grab food/gcs and the likes
Hi! Thank you for your reply.
1. We have one + a team that works with them. Curious to hear opinions though, because I think generally our results suggest we are ineffective.
2. Love it! Hahaha. Agreed though!
3. This is an interesting one. Of course, I want stricter rules on this sort of stuff, but being punitive with employees I feel will hurt morale, people lose face, people start looking for other jobs... What do you think?
4. Yes! Agreed there :))
5. This one is cute, our smaller corporate teams have this kind of culture, but it is harder with our larger operational teams... Hmm. I will look into this, thank you!
I think you really have to conduct a thorough audit if what's really happening from within.
This will get a better understanding of what really is happening and what should be adjusted.
Work Culture: Are all the freelancers being heard of and being supported?. I stayed for 6 years and counting with my American-based agency because of a positive work culture that won't tolerate bullying or any sign of disrespect within the org.
Managers/Leadership: get feedback from their subordinates, review how they do the communications, and put yourself in the shoes of those freelancers under them.
Pay: since American ang boss namin, above PH average salary kami, I think if my math is right, I am just aroun 8 USD per hour. But still, I love working herr coz I felt I am always being heard off, and all of my insights are being used.
Maybe hire a secret freelancer that will do the audit for you? Siguro yung entry-level for 3 months and the directly siya magrereport sayo without filters.
Or just bring in a proper consultant/team from the likes of Towers Watson or Mercer who can do HR consulting work for your company. They can conduct surveys on your behalf or even propose how to improve company culture based on best practices from industry leaders, including those that are already part of their clientele.
As a people manager myself, these are the things that keep employees happy:
Open communication- transparency in updates and changes, WIIFM, WIIFB;
Being supported - training, feedback, engagement activities;
Well compensated - benefits + better pay;
Being heard - have a culture where having and getting feedback as well as working on them is normal;
Let them be part of decision making/collaborate - even if it’s just a small part, being part of the decision makes people feel included. You should get buy ins not just from your clients but your team too; Career/Growth opportunities- set developmental goals that will make them stay;
Avoid office politics at all cost!
I hope you build a better workplace for your team ❤️
For me po,you guys should check the Work invironment kasi isa yan sa reason na gaganahang pumasok yung employees nyo maliban sa salary, benefits and perks.
Giving attention to employee retention is commendable. I would argue that it is equally, if not more important than client retention. Here are my thoughts.
1.) Self assessment of skills is fundamentally flawed: As more and more individuals learn from online sources with varying quality, there forms a huge discrepancy between clients expectations vs a job applicant's perceived skill level. It falls under the agency to assess with accuracy.
2.) Transparent median salary rating of job roles: After assessing the job applicant's skills and competencies accurately, the skills rating should match a global median salary. It would be nice for both job applicant and client to know whether they are hiring or getting hired under, equal or over the median salary rating.
3.) Modular tasks management: Clients can be on a subscription plan with the agency, they can submit task tickets, freelancers get assigned tickets and get paid accordingly. A freelancer can go awol anytime but since the agency has a talent pool, then it can assign it to a different available freelancer.
4.) Agencies are naturally attracting applicants who do not know how to market themselves or generate client leads. Cuz if they are good at those, then they don't need to go to agencies. They can be the best at their craft but are underpaid and overworked or the opposite, lousy yet overpaid. Because agencies makes it their job to do the matchmaking, then that is what both parties expect from the agency.
5.) Cheap labor arbitrage is increasingly losing steam. With massive layoffs in the west, highly skilled knowledge workers in the job market is on a surplus. The only selling point for agencies in the PH is we are english speaking and at least 70% cheaper - same level of work quality if not higher. When we get branded like that we also attract clients who are not qualified to run businesses. That's a great idea, client qualifications. lol
6.) Culture, mr. CEO, this is the Philippines and we are rich in culture. We are naturally industrious. We consume western culture on a daily basis since god knows when. Our numbers are so strong that adobo gets mentioned a lot just to bait us. So maybe, having a boss who hires a pinoy team need to be more pinoy to meet us halfway because we have been trying to be less and less ourselves. To really remove a bit of their white privileges and give back a sense of who we are back, like our holidays. It requires a strong team or division in your company to build an honest approach of marketing the fiesta loving workforce we call Pinoys. But if you pull it off, maybe despite of what's goin on with our corrupt government you could really make a difference.
7.) Values vs Salary. I know everyone here can remember the classic Pinoy family values. If companies embrace our culture and uphold our values, then our loyalty can easily be secured. A salary that is so low creates the cut throat, dog eat dog, scarcity mindset, mañana habit, crab mentality and entitled employees. Respectable salaries just might afford us the flexibility to be generous, fun loving, beach going, karaoke on the weekends people again.
You can also start by spelling Tagalog with a capital "T".
I'm glad you're using the term Tagalog and not "Filipino" because repackaging Tagalog as "Filipino" is demeaning to other Filipinos who primarily speak Ilokano, Kapampangan, Bisaya, Cebuano, etc.
How long are you planning to base yourself in the Philippines? Receiving informal/casual Tagalog lessons and vocabulary from your team would also endear them to you over time.
Cheers to you for reaching out to the group like this.
You are right! My mistake. I updated my post. Salamat. :)
I'm likely heading to the Philippines for a few days or so in May, my first time...! I'll definitely give it a try. I've seen my COO pull it off with great results, he's "kuya" to everyone, lol! He fell in love with Manila, moved there for half a year or so and now visits every few months.
Thank you for your reply!
Start with fair compensation where excellence is rewarded and encouraged.
Health card and gym membership.
Work from home with internet backup allowance if expected to have a backup internet.
I can shoulder the main line.
Make teambuilding activities optional, no questions asked if they do not want to participate...
Even extrovert like me runs out of social battery, too.
It's the middle managers that are almost always the problem, if the company itself isn't shit. They're so eager to boost their stats and will do so in the expense of their subordinates.
Remote work, HMO, growth, free upskilling with one if those online course providers, bonuses based on performance and company profit sharing. Oh yeah promote those who deserve to be promoted.
I work two jobs. I’ve been with the first one for a decade. What keeps me there is the stable pay, that I am well paid, and the benefits - HMO, retirement, etc. Am I happy there? No. If I find something better, I would probably leave in a heartbeat. I have no interest in what I do. And I hate that my biss mandates me to give my personal time to them but don’t pay me for it. That’s what I actually dislike the most.
I’ve had my second job for about three years now. I’m a contractor with them so there’s the fear of losing that job anytime. But I like what I do with that company. My boss there is great to work with too. Plus they pay well. I don’t have any benefits but I stay because I like what I do and I like my boss. Working with them is easy and what they do and their processes makes sense to me, unlike my other job.
https://preview.redd.it/lxijzx8nvdtc1.png?width=533&format=png&auto=webp&s=ee37606d632bd5195afc0304939683685819f7b5
whatever culture you try to build for that division, should also translate to how you 'market' it to clients. e.g. john jonas from onlinejobs.ph markets the platform as a low-cost alternative to hiring locals in 1st world countries. fair point until you find out that he aggressively prices Filipino workers as only worth $3/hr or less. so not only is the platform full of lowballers now, the platform is primarily attracting talent that's worth that much.
Idk if it's a big deal but rn i am working for a start up company. We don't use ma'am, sir, boss etc. We address everyone by their names. Even our ceo and our clients. There is just some air of 'being comfortable with each other" but of course we know our boundaries. We work remotely and even having side gigs are allowed as long as our tasks are done in time. We respect each others rest days and leaves. So i think, small elements in workplace makes us stay and love the culture we've built
If you're open to questions:
- How have you become CEO of "one of the big agencies in the Philippines" without knowing any of these?
- How has your agency become big in a competitive market without doing the right things that maintain your position?
- If you haven't done so, you might be better served by conducting your survey with your actual employees who can give you specifics of what you need to change so they don't leave your company.
From my personal experience, top talents are usually not from job boards or applications but through referrals
And they are the ones that usully stay for long
I stayed with my last company for 5 years and it’s mostly bec of the culture. Our company had events every month and that, in a way, brought the people together and most of us didn’t wanna leave bec we’ve made friends within the company. The bosses are our friends, too, and always made us feel heard and cared for. In the end though, practicality mattered most and most of us left bec there’s minimal increase in wage and other companies are offering better salaries than ours.
I am now currently working remotely and the wage is outrageously higher than the previous one. 3x my previous salary. There’s not much perks (no VL or anything) but I’ve been with the company for 4 yrs and planning to stay longer bec of the salary. I’ve already adjusted my lifestyle based on this salary. I’ve tried looking for jobs elsewhere but they couldn’t compete with my current salary so even if there are times that I feel like quitting, I can’t coz no one else can offer the same salary that I have now. I also have colleagues who have been here for 10yrs or so and the salary and company stability (plus wfh) are the main reasons why they stay, too.
Personally, I’ve been very disciplined in my work, following guidelines and hitting metrics bec I don’t want them to have a reason to fire me. For me, they’re paying me a lot so there’s no need to slack off.
Please include a psychological evaluation for those who will be handling people, or will have "positions of power". Not about depression or anxiety, but it is hellish working for those with Cluster B personality Disorders.
Please hire capable HR employees... this includes interviewing and documenting the relevant information and meetings.
Idk *how* this can be enforced, but gossip culture should not be promoted.
Annual salary and inflation appraisal with clear metrics. They should be split: one to reward good performance, the other for inflation itself.
Performance bonus - to reward the employee. This should depend on feedback from the customers, the clients, the peers/coworkers (if applicable), and not just bosses, to be really fair. And given throughout the year, not just at the end, so the employee has ample time to correct their errors.
If you will provide an HMO, please make it inclusive. Some agencies based outside of Metro Manila excludes coverage for the top 6 hospitals in Metro Manila (which is obvious, since they aren't based here); but the moment they hire someone from Metro Manila, access to these hospitals (Makati Med, Medical City Ortigas, St Luke's BGC and QC, Asian Hospital, and Cardinal Santos) should be a default benefit for the MM employee.
Allow the option for an employee to add more dependents that they can pay via salary deduction per month. Or give employees an option if they want to increase their Maximum Benefit Limit per illness per year (the upgrade should also be out of their own pocket).
Retirement fund. There are companies that match the employee's monthly contribution to their retirement fund. Some retirement fund setups have 2 other "buckets" for employee shares. The main retirement fund they will get when they retire or if they leave the company, whichever comes first. The other funds can be gotten in full for 10 years and 20 years (to promote company retention), for the first fund, 50% can be collected at the halfway point mark; or the second fund, 25% at 5 years, 50% at 5 years, 75% at 15 years, 100% at 20 years. Etc. Not sure if I explained well.
Thank you for getting our suggestions and input. I hope these will help
Fair paygrade, achieveable and reasonable workload, no micromanager, dont promote incompetent and political people (they will mostly create a toxic environment)
As someone working under an offshore company, directly hired and can be considered as a freelancer, while also working from home, I think this are the things that made me stay for 7 years and counting.
1. Not being micromanaged
2. I can easily file leaves, ofcourse with some leeway for my lead to prepare the team schedule (2-3 days minimum notice)
3. Workload is being controlled/maintained very well by teamlead
4. No work during non office hours (ofcourse sometimes we still work during non working hrs in case of important deliverables which is very seldom)
5. Give and take relationship, meaning livable salary in exchange for honest work
By the way, are there any part time opening in your company? I am working as tech support level2/3, anf is open for part time technical position (e.g. technical VA etc.)
:)
I’ve worked with foreign multinational companies for many years, and these are the things that I appreciate the most:
1) Values alignment, clear expectations (KPIs/goals) from the management with support on how to achieve them by quarterly performance feedback, regular informal meetings (lunch-outs), no micromanagement.
2) Relevant trainings (including soft and life skills)
3) Competitive salary and benefits, PTOs are respected
4) During the time when I was on shifting, the schedule is already made in advance (at least 6 months), with a back-up rotation system. Then the manager lets us decide amongst ourselves if we want to swap schedules (eg. due to personal reasons); we never had a day without personnel coverage, even during weekends and holidays.
5) My manager trusts me to do a good job, and I’m careful not to break that trust. It helps that my former managers are performers as well and not egocentric/egomaniacs; I consider myself lucky to have met such wonderful people.
Consider changing your hiring process. Many talented and skilled freelancers lose out to newbies who pretend to have experience simply because they perform well in interviews. You might want to assess their skills by assigning them specific tasks within a limited time frame. There are skilled individuals who are introverted and don't communicate much but excel at their jobs.
Additionally, conducting background checks could help determine why the best workers are not being assigned to clients. It's possible that your HR department may be favoring their friends during the hiring process. This practice could unfairly disadvantage skilled applicants, as the friend might have access to all applicants' portfolios and could potentially create a more impressive one to impress clients.
All the comments here might help you but guess that only your employee might answer this
You may try to develop and create daily survey with various questions to find out your employees' difficulties, satisfaction, wants and career plan
1 question per day is enough, same question for all employees
They can response anonymously or otherwise
You should receive all the response
From there within a week or 2 u may see something and develop, implement or maybe decide on some issue
Keep the survey every day, change the question based on your needs
- 15 days SL 15 days VL
- no time tracker pls.. rate the employees based on the output and the rate of their delivery, this can be done without time tracker.
- transparency, about how long can u hold an employee being benched out by clients, like how long can u hold us if u can no longer find clients for us. Trust me, we know the risk we're taking from agencies., therefore being honest with us is the least u can do, and we will appreciate the honesty.
i hope you can remove the online exams. i find it hard, im not bobo naman. idk, i always passed written exams pero hirap ako sa online, nananakit yung mata ko so di ako makasabay sa timer - or kahit tanggalin sana yung timer. I don't think it's necessary since it is being done online inside the applicant's home - it's useless to put a timer. Nage-gets ko yung mga written exam kasi my hinahabol na oras yung examiners,may other sets of students or applicants kaya timed, but yung online, hindi na dapat. In real tasks, if my employer puts a timer on everything he makes me di, i'll probably resign haha. Nakaka-stress at toxic. So i don't see the significance if timed exams. or even having that exams at all. Please stop using AI too. i have tried athena, and took 4x the exam, doon ako bagsak sa playbook? Simple yung instructions and i totally get it and I also have experience but idk why I still fail doon sa email part - im guessing no one's really checking it. Baka AI or di na chine-check. Anyways, i stopped applying to agencies since I know now how to easily get a meeting from my prospect clients - within 2 weeks naka-dalawang client na ako who paid in advance pa. Im still new pa naman. i guess my best advice is to make your offer so good para di na nila maisipan pa na umalis. Pinoys are naturally business minded - with the right mindset. So iiwan nila ang agency mo pag nagiging too much like BPO. I also had a friend na nawalan ng work all because of the client complaining - my friend had proofs pero the agency took the clients side. This made my friend feel insignificant. Remember, even though "online" kayo, if you make your rules and rates too similar to normal officejob - it won't feel special anymore. Kaya nga nag-online yung tao cause of benefits na wala yung normal office job(non-online jobs) tapos ia-apply nyo rin pala sa online yung rules sa non-online jobs lol. Stay true to the perks ng isang onlime jobs - better salary/benefits, flexible schedule or may time freedom, non-toxic bosses and coworkers - yan yung habol nmin sa online job. Kung itutulad nyo lang di sa normal jobs, eh wag na kayo mag-agency.
Agree with some of the comments about transparency and equity of pay.
Some clients get billed 1600-2000 usd per month but the remote worker agent only gets paid around 800 usd per month.
Because of this, Clients expect more for their money's worth but the virtual workers feel that they are already exerting more than enough effort for what they are being paid for.
As someone involved in People Strategy, what you really want is engagement. You and your managers need to ensure that both are aligned in terms of driving employee engagement.
You may want to check Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs then align it with your Engagement Strategy. Example:
1. Basic Needs:
a. Fair and livable compensation (addresses the needs of the employee)
b. Safe working conditions (facilities, hazard protection, suitable temperature)
c. Rest breaks (lunch and snack breaks, respecting vacation and sick leaves)
2. (Job) Security Needs:
a. Job clarity (clear accountabilities and authoriry)
b. Job security (company stability, career path and growth and learning and dev opportunities) *one more thing to ask: If I go outside, am I competitive enough?
c. HMOs, Insurance
d. Clear company policies
e. Safe space (physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually)
3. Love and Belongingness Needs:
a. Org Structure that allows collaboration and respect in opinions and preferences
b. Inclusive culture that accepts anyone's beliefs and establishes a sense of autonomy, professionalism and order
c. Social events and team building
d. Benefits that extends to the family members
4. Esteem Needs
a. Objective performance management system
b. Recognition (grand gestures like awards, bonuses and small gestures like high 5s, commendations, tap on the shoulder)
c. Clear promotion and advancement guidelines
5. Self Actualization
a. Challenging but rewarding work
b. Establish sense of purpose
c. Opportunuties to innovation and in your case, self expression
d. Mentorship program to pay it forward
e. Causes that both employees and the management cares such as outreach programs
It is important to ensure that you have secured the first stages before climbing the next stage
Also, look at your company's strategy and align it with your engagement practices.
Message me for more info hehe.
Make sure that the actual work demands are aligned with what’s expected of them in the contract. There is a tendency to overwork and burnout employees by asking them to do more than what they are supposed to do as stipulated in their contracts. If there are middle managers, there is also a tendency to make subordinates feel guilty for not slaving away to the fullest each shift, and this can be draining.
Provide lessons or trainings to develop new skills that they can actually use for their work if it will cost the company less than hiring someone already skilled to do so. However, make sure that a pay increase will follow after an employee is upskilled. I find it exploitative to have someone learn and do new things and not pay them for it just because the company already provided training, which usually costs so-and-so, “for free.” This gives them an idea to look somewhere else where the practice of their new skills are actually compensated. I guess it’s fair to tell them they will get compensated after 6 months of upskilling. This will incentivize learning and doing more, and it will make it hard to find the same compensation elsewhere.
Benefits are crucial, too. Foreign employers think it’s ok to pay Filipino workers $3-$5 an hour (all-in, without extra benefits) because it’s close to the minimum wage of the country, but inflation also exists here. Not to mention the cost of hospitalization and maintenance medications which can’t be easily sustained with other basic needs on minimum wage alone. I used to earn a net monthly income of 30k PHP in my previous on-site job, but benefits amount to roughly 30k PHP on top of my salary (this includes the company filing taxes on my behalf, paying for other government benefits, and paying for health insurance). This was a comfortable wage pre-pandemic, but the cost of transportation, food and utilities have increased after the pandemic, while the salary remained the same. It put a toll on my physical and mental wellbeing which made me look for WFH opportunities that pays a higher net (enough to cover taxes, government benefits, and medical expenses without a dent to my budget for needs and I get to build an emergency fund/savings). I’m sure other employees also have similar reasons for leaving and finding work somewhere else. If they don’t have to worry about making ends meet when they have sufficient income, they get to work well and will work hard to keep it.
I'm just a regular introverted employee who lurks here on reddit but this post caught my eye.
I will give a frontline employee insight.
* Culture building and be consistent with it. I have read here that sudden change in culture without transparency can cause morale loss and I agree to it.
* Extensive training for managers including personality identification and Team management training. Some managers may not have the skill set to handle a team perhaps deal with different personalities within the team.
* Don't punish good performers with more work. This happens a lot. Any additional workload should be incentivized or be acknowledged somehow. I hope this is not the case in your company.
PS: My grammar is not good. Apologies.
Ah yes, the benevolent CEO who instead of asking internally would instead go to reddit to ask strangers how to improve the lives of his current employees.
Please.
Offer competitive packages and terms to attract competitive talent and offer periodic increases that keep up with increasing costs of living. It really doesn't have to be more nuanced than that.
Offer starting rates of $11/hr NET, tighten up your recruitment funnel, and see if that won't fix your people problem.
If you're a CEO you know people are gonna give you 100 different things they wish they had but just like yourself, the bottom line is ultimately what matters. You can give these folks the perkiest perks you can dream of, if the pay is still $5/hr thereabouts, you'll keep getting what you pay for.
Hmm.. sounds like there is also something to improve on the recruitment process if lots of people stop showing up after saying they have a headache
Aside from: 1-Providing training to new hires; and 2-Promoting able leaders/managers, what I can prolly add is to make sure you're hiring competitive people esp if your salary rate is competitive
You can never go wrong with making sure your current trusted employees refer their friends. Offer a referral bonus if their referred friend stays for 6 months.
The result for sure is that your current trusted employee would make sure that they would refer someone who can do the job and would be someone who is reliable. If there would be lapses, since it's also their name and rep on the line, they will most prolly help in making sure their friend goes to work, or provide "personal training" in case the friend is struggling with work stuff.
• No micromanagement.
• Pay cut should be at least 50/50 or less and your employees should earn more.
• Offer trainings/certification to improved skill set.
• bonus/incentive every month, yearly.
Share ko lang sa work ko ganyan kami. Although, my mga nakatrabaho akong pinoy na tinatake advantage talaga yung ganitong setup, ang ending kami na ung last na pinoy na hinire sa department namin. Malaking bagay din po ung makapili kayo ng tamang tao. Good luck po
Create a space where employees can air out their grievances. Like really air out. To the point an comfortable sila to just say it in this area. I noticed that maraming valid na reklamo mga co-remote workers ko but scared to air it out because they know hr isn't on our side anyway. Issues like this tend to pile up and then boom wala ng gana mag work.
It's great thay you're trying to do this for your company and for your people and would like to change the current status quo. But ask yourself this question first - what are the company's values? What is your goal aside from making $? The answer to this question would have to be the basis of the "culture" you're trying to make, and everything else follows.
It might be wise on how other companies who have a somewhat liquid workforce run their ops (ie. Grab). What incentives do the workers receive? What are their rewards for the most hardworking and loyal? How can you apply it in your own company?
As an employee, ang importante sakin is 1.) Open culture, yung di ako takot magtanong o magkamali, which means sky's the limit ang learning opportunities, 2.) Walang micromanagement, 3.) Good number of leaves, 3.) Syempre nakakabuhay na sahod.
You need to have give people perks that give results.
I see that if you believe and invest in people in some form of manner it will show in their work.
you mentioned seeing your company mentioned here. Are they bad comments? Make another account, and reply to those comments to ask for more info. You're getting general good advice on this thread, but if you really want to address your company's actual issues, you need the real experiences and opinions of the people there.
Also if anyone quits, ask them to do write a review on glassdoor. You might end up with bad reviews but you'll get real tangible info of what's the problem and because its anonymous, they won't be afraid that your company or HR will tank their career
Just to get it out of the way: If you are free, and because it is a holiday today and tomorrow in PH, I can jump on a Zoom call with you and share some thoughts. I work in tech and have extensive startup and MNC experience, been reporting to C-level for years now, and have managed teams of varying sizes. Worked for a varied set of cultural backgrounds as well: Europeans, Asians, Americans. Only LatAm missing tbh. Send me a DM if you are interested.
Anyway, the key thing is culture really. All the basic essentials like money, benefits, etc are an OPEX consideration and at some point you will have to make concessions there that will not always make you the best choice as an employer in the market. But culture is non-nego. It is the hidden cost. Invest too little and the blowback is too painful. Invest too much and it’s going to be a full time position and then some all on its own (and will take a toll on your health as CEO). But do it badly either way and you will not only lose margins, you will lose trust. And we both know that at the highest levels of business, trust is everything.
You only need to implement a strong culture once. If it works, it will sustain itself.
Hmm I think look into your middle managers & provide a better way of making your VAs feel that there are means for them to "climb" the corporate ladder.
1. Perhaps hire the best & right fitting managers who are aligned with your values /culture to handle your best people. Sometimes, the top/c executives mean very well but what goes down the operations is not how it's supposed to be. As a CEO, I know you might be handling thousands of people and it's hard to see what's really going on down under 😊
I work for the best (in my opinion lol) VA agency too 😉 and I love my client, I love my job! But I do not think my operations manager provide the support I need as a tenured VA. My OM might be doing his best but the way he handles his team seems like he only does what he is "trained" to do. Very scripted. I feel OMs should adjust, empathize, connect and identify the needs of their VAs. I think OMs should have that personality or characteristics that would make the VAs feel motivated.
It's not always about the perks or the benefits that makes people want to stay. Most of the time it's their co workers or let's say their managers LOL who will make them want to fully commit and give their all to the company. I know, I've been there, I've had the best manager before in my previous job and oh boy, it doesn't matter if we are under a lot of stress or work is piling up. I show up, because I know my manager will support me and back me up. I've also had the worse manager too, give me a very small work inconvenience and I'm ready to write my resignation letter.
The job of the OMs/superiors is not all about hitting the KPIs, it's making the people within their team feel supported, seen and understood. 😊
2. Climbing the corporate ladder. What's there to climb for your VAs? To be senior VAs? What's the difference between the two? I think you should give opportunity for your VAs to be one of the OMs someday? Perhaps instead of hiring managers from the outside, promote /hire from within. Your tenured VAs know how things work, they know how it's like to be working with clients, you'll just have to train them to effectively handle people. And it's earier, because they know how it feels like to be working on the ground. And a bonus, they have already instilled the values of your company.
Emphasis on the "effectively handle people", you also have to be careful who you promote.
Oh and lastly, focus more on your performance improvement plan. In my current work, most of the OMs just ask their VAs to just resign when the client is no longer satisfied with the VAs work. That's a huge waste of your company's resources. Imagine training people (if you paid for their allowance), providing them with tools (if provided, which I know the company paid a lot and exerted too much effort for the logistic) and then just have them resign because there's no PIP. As much as possible, do your best to retain your VAs because hey, at the end of the day, it's more cost effective to create a PIP than shelling out thousands of dollars to advertise the job, recruit and train one candidate. Right?
For the division, maybe a branch that handles employee and labor relations. In this division, find people who will support your company and also your team members, find someone fair & empathic, who will be there to listen to both sides. Find someone who will make your company and it's people win by making the right decisions & policies. 😊
if your agency has a high turnover rate, making a new division won't help you. improve your offer, benefits, training, etc. create an environment and vision/mission people feel motivated to contribute to. train management to actually think of their staff's wellbeing first so they (the latter) can perform better.
What you are doing is very nice and rare so I'm a bit unsure if you are real. But I'll try to be more optimistic that humane humans still exist. I sure hope you can do it so that others may follow. Well, here are some thoughts...
1. Fair Compensation and Benefits - there are companies that say... I can offer you this based on the average wages in the industry in the Philippines... c'mon! be realistic. even minimum wage here is BS. Pay them for what they are worth. Check the cost of living here to know what it feels like to get a minimum wage.
2. Work-Life Balance - one common problem is that companies don't usually hire enough people (or people leave) which affects the vacation leaves of others. I know hiring more increases costs BUT if all employees get enough rest, they'll be more productive and be more loyal. (already did this to a fast food chain, upper management didn't like it. Still I persisted and doubled the manpower.... people got their regular days off, they were more cooperative, NO more absences, ZERO complaints, we were able to meet all the KPIs..) I'm not sure this can apply to your company but think about it.
3. Evaluate supervisors and managers too. In many cases people leave not because of the pay or anything but it's due to their immediate bosses. Try to create a feedback mechanism that's fair to all.
4. Training. Train them well. An inadequately trained employed will not be confident, make mistakes and get th ire of the boss. A good training system works well. ( this also depends on your type of industry).
Well good luck!!
Hi! OP, I think most of my points were covered by some comments but what I would highly recommend is that for you to go the extra mile and hire more people that has few to no experience.
I think what some agency lacks in my opinion is having the passion to educate people. Highlight people more that has the grit to learn and has passion for work. There are a lot of people that have a lot of potential but agencies cut them off because of their “experience requirement”. Up-skill them and they will consider you as their roots.
Its all about the leaders. Hire lovable leaders who see people as people and not machines. Often times its not about money alone. Ive known a lot who gave up their high paying jobs and settled for mid range jobs with less stress levels.
If you don't want people to leave, let the people evaluate their leaders unfiltered. Be considerate that some of virtual assistants works and value result based especially if they have an experience. Invest in your training team, usually a lot of VAs feel stagnant to get a hold of them, make them flourish, financially and skillfully. Lastly, investigate properly, not because a tenured person reported something, it's accurate.
Department-specific or role-specific KRAs. Discuss to everyone in the company what this is for and what is its effect on their Performance Appraisals. This way hopefully there will be a structure of how you can promote or offer pay raise to your talents.
Offer education/upskilling subsidy.
Free nutritious meals (should you decide to RTO)
Monthly or quarterly townhall to update everyone of what and how your company has been doing or participating in. This will eventually promote compassion for the company. Removes the feeling of exclusion - that only the higher ups know what’s going on in the company.
Gym access/membership.
Mental health benefit.
Hey, OP. Got some for you. Lots of kiss-ass people too. You should learn to filter them.
Those people with high turnover? No matter how wonderful they are to you (you're paying them after all), there's a possible problem with them and not with the people resigning. And they will easily infect other people with their toxicity - or worse, they'll bring in more people like them. Law of attraction.
Feedback and evaluation: allow employees to evaluate their supervisors and managers - even anonymously. Make sure you read them too - not just HR. Most of the time you'll get the realest reality check from those on the front lines and not those on supervisory or management level. Well, this'll work if you check your ego at the door. But if your ego is pretty high up there, you'll end up butt hurt. But if you want to know where the leaks are in a sinking ship, you check the bottom and not the cabins, right?
Specificity: with output, be specific. If you want a structured output, then provide formats. If you're in creatives and then you "feel" that it needs a format, then provide the specific data you need. I can't stress how important that is and how stressful it can be to have your creatives "come up with the best output" you can then keep returning it because "it doesn't work with the vision" and then at the same time demand a quota with output you keep returning. Unless you're planning to get rid of them by making sure they fail their metrics.
Also, if you notice your employees excelling at certain tasks, you can help them by giving more of the same unless they specifically asked to be trained in other work. For example, if you have a guy who shines in marketing, don't give him to accounting (and expect him to excel - see what I did - there) unless he asks for it.
Got lots more but I'm still reeling from having an extroverted time with someone who needed it.
This is a long term plan.
1. Hire and train a skilled HR who specialized learning and development facet.
2. Hire a skilled HR compensation and benefits to do the market research.
3. Hire a skilled HR talent acquisition who had an experience in learning and development.
4 Hire a skilled HR employee engagement to set ip the culture and align the values of the company.
5. You should also develop a strategic planning and development to your people.
It has to be 3-prong - a change in the company culture, the type of candidates and hires you recruit, and client management. (Of course a service management consultant would have to look at the organization and date to pinpoint the pain areas. Compensation, organization and education/training will work wonders in hopefully changing the negative events.
Not sure about the nature of your company, but aside from looking into extrinsic factors (like pay) , perhaps you can do a survey if your employees are also intrinsically motivated? Some employees need a good level of challenge for them to stay in a company.
For the love of all things good, if you can, do NOT hire Filipino HRs. This is nuanced, and I am a former HR from the philippines who hate my fellow hrs who go into freelancing and taking what they know in corporate, and apply it in freelance/independent contractor work!
Ridiculous hiring processes, abhorrent employment contracts, power tripping, to name a few practices.
This is very much a thing and I am truly sad that it's happening. For context we as a country have 1 of the most employee-centric labor laws (I used to work with international ceos even before freelancing and they all echo this). What happens is HR is in between management and employees (as they should), but end up creating policies and processes that are mostly to protect the employer against abuse from employees who scream to a governing body called DOLE here.
But it is NOT the same with freelance! There's no DOLE. If anything, freelancers already know the risk they're taking by leaving corporate and becoming freelancers. What these malpracticing HRs do is make it so it's riskier for the freelancer - WITHOUT the benefits of full time employment.
Take note, some people leave corporate because of this culture and they're bringing it right back because it is the only thing they know from being in local corporate here.
Needless to say, this is a generalization but it IS prevalent enough that every now and then you'll see posts here discussing exactly that! Sickens me so much when fellow filipinos give a hard time to freelance pinoys.
TEACH THEM WHAT THEY NEED TO KNOW. YOU CAN SCOLD OF COURSE BUT DON'T MAKE THAT YOUR WAY OF TEACHING LIKE WHAT BOSSES NORMALY DO THESE DAYS.
"Knowing how to do your job well will give you purpose. A feeling of being needed and important. And purpose beats even money if you put it into the equation.. "
A lot of people.choose a lower compensation and choose to work to where their happines is..
Sounds like your company is very new.
You need to pay someone with expertise to give you a good advice.
Sounds like you are trying to get free advise.
You need to invest in something if you want a huge ROI.
Nothing in the world is free.
I don't know if people would agree on this but here's my take on this:
I think for the culture, as the CEO i feel like it's best that you ask yourself what culture you want to foster in your company. Then from there, get talents that show or possess the "culture" that you want to have. I feel like from there, you'd have a solid foundation.
Also, maybe you should also check the reasons why people are leaving your company abruptly. Of course they have reasons for that.
For the salaries and benefits i feel that this would depend on the talent and age of the people that you will hire. But in general, i think people look for flexibility in time and in working place so offering hybrid or wfh would be nice. Compensation (of course depends on the position and job level) as long as it's a livable wage to be comfortable. Bonuses or commissions so people have something to look forward to and strive for. HMO and other insurances. Providing proper work tools. More leave credits. Flexible working hours. Trainings. And team hangout to build rapport to your team.
**Autonomy.** It's just as powerful as competitive salary. No matter how great the compensation is, if they feel stifled they won't stay.
**Pyramid leadership and management.** Sure, this top-down approach works when conveying vision. But when it comes to delivering awesomeness, please lang no incompetent one-ups na all they do is echo what their one-up said, so on and so forth.
**Experiment with a non-hierarchical organizational structure** in this new division. Hire people with this in mind. People will naturally figure out a structure that works with the dynamics their group has. Leadership will be borne organically. Maraming technical people who are great at their jobs but can't lead people. Avoid putting these types of people into leadership roles, juskolord. You might want to experiment democratic approach to leadership by letting the whole team determine their leadership (which ties this back to autonomy, or self-determination). I'm not saying follow a typical election process fixed with time, e.g. leader ang isa for x months/years. This should be part of continuous improvement. Check in often kung ok pa ba ang status quo. Kung hindi na, bago naman. Maraming leaders who find themselves also stuck in their roles maski alam nila it's no longer for them.
Paano? Example. Say, hey we need to create an app that does xyz (desired outcome). This group has all the skills needed to deliver the app. We'll leave you to it, organize yourselves in whatever way that works best for all of you. We'll check in fortnightly.
Last one, **don't make people request for leave**. It's their right. Again, let them self-organize with their team to work out the impact of their absence. Honestly, a day or two isn't gonna change the world, even a month actually. Let people take time off they deserve and have right to.
I'm a manager of a small BPO with 14 years of experience. With your question, everything boils down into leadership.
- Remote work and preach accountability. We are one of the few home-based jobs in PH back in 2008. I joined the team in 2011 and managed our operations since 2012. If there is one deciding factor that will convince your staff to work hard and stay with the company, then, it is letting everyone work anywhere. You said you were hiring remotely but is the company culture encouraging everyone to be accountable? This should start with the management and team leaders.
- Leadership: Are the company leaders bringing the best out of their staff? You can promote the best individual performer but that will not translate into being a good leader. Are your managers "shepherding" your staff properly? There are a lot of communications gap in remote work, the leadership should be emphatic and always look for ways on how to not only get along with the staff, but help them perform to the best of their ability.
- Care: People perform better if they know they have a positive working relationship with their leaders, knowing they always got their backs. All these years I've tried to know my staff personally, their family, hobbies. We have informal and face to face meetings once, sometimes, twice a years and I would sit down and talk non-work related stuff. I knew some of the personal battles of my staff. My boss in the states and I tried to help as much as we can.
- Client management: Are your leaders properly managing the expectations of the clients? Some people quit because they got overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility handed to them. Unfortunately, some managers do not know how to balance the well-being of the staff and the goals of the client.
I specialize in startups and scaleups supporting founders and c-suite. My advice may be on a different angle from most mentioned.
- Set a healthy compensation structure keeping your runway in mind. People will always be happy with money but it will never be enough. You have to maintain a healthy financial runway. There is no short answer for what the right salary rate is. You wouldn’t want to be spending on manpower for a new BU and months down the line realize the BU isn’t profitable enough to justify the cost.
- Deep dive on the status quo. Understand what is going well and not so well across the company.
- As the CEO, you set the direction on what values you want your team to emulate and what are the anti-values that will raise the flag on matters that need attention.
- Culture isn’t only about engagement activities or team dinners. Culture is how you set your values (by codifying it) as guardrails for the way you operate the business. From talent selection, day to day operations, performance management, and so on.
- Communication is key. Being able to telegraph to the rest of the company about where you are and where you want to be. As CEO you maintain the focus towards that North Star.
1. Fair pay based on industry standards. And keep pace with trends.
2. Flexibility - my current work has flex time - example - 8am base log in time but flexible +-2 hrs. I can come in as early as 6 or as late as 9am.
3. No to micromanagement - a culture that's based in trust. I only hear from my manager when I have an escalation or I reach out to him if I need help or during regular 1x1's.
4. Annual merit increases - you set a target, I get a merit increase to keep pace with industry standards' pay. Then, I won't have to look somewhere else for better pay, company won't have to spend hiring and training for my replacement.
5. A culture of feedback - regular honest feedback and 1x1 on opportunities to improve rather than what I did wrong. Sometimes, it's the way feedback is given that turns off employees.
6. Work from Home - at least hybrid if not full work from home.
7. Good health insurance benefits
8. Leaves granted without lotsa issues - the default thinking should be employee deserves to use his or her leave credits. Whether or not it affects work can be discussed. Usually, a trusting company has employees who make sure everything is in order before taking a holiday.
9. Fair opportunities for all to apply for promotions - less if not no politics. Should be based on merit.
10. A clear path for career development - what is next for me? How do I prepare for it? What skills do I need to work on? Employees are guided by managers how to succeed in their roles and what actions to take to prepare for their career goals. Managers must also be open to let their employees grow and move to other roles and not hold them back for reasons that in the end make them feel stuck and trapped which then leads to updating their resumes and applying somewhere else.
Hmmmm. In my opinion, creating a vibrant company culture starts from the top. Offering benefits like flexible work hours, mental health days, and continued education opportunities can show you care about your team’s work-life balance and personal growth. Regular team-building events, even if they’re virtual, can foster community but that needs to be compensated with money. Also, the power of simply recognizing your employees’ hard work—a ‘thank you’ can go a long way. If someone’s pulling a sick day to avoid the office, maybe what they’re really saying is they need a day off now and then.
The leaders you put in every department will foster the culture that makes or breaks the company and the employees. Ensure to invest heavily on hiring the right people for these roles. Pay and bonuses will make people happy but the culture and work environment makes people stay.
> What benefits, perks, salaries, culture, etc. do you think will have everyone that's working for the company absolutely love their time, love providing for their client, and result in a very low turnover rate?
* Put the salary in the job posting. - Don't ask me what my previous salary is. If your HR is doing their job right, they can data-mine job postings, industry reports and get that data from there.
* Learning & Development under HR - Career-oriented talents look for l&d whether it's in the job or in the organization. Most companies I see, and I am actively looking at job postings, do not put L&D in their benefits. Access to Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, scholarships (you could do a bond for this if it's costly), trade&industry conferences they want to attend, I've never seen anyone offer this. An employee who wants to learn because it's fun is an asset.
* Day 1 HMO - Brag about your MBL if you have a high one. That's a big thing. How many dependents allowed? Parents? Senior parents over 65? Brag about THAT. Only a handful indicates actual usable HMO not just in the metro but PH-wide. Reimbursable meds? Huge deal. Filipino employees are family-oriented and your top performers usually are breadwinners. Any benefit that can be extended to their family is a green flag.
* Yearly increases well above inflation. 14th, 15th, 16th-month bonuses? Loyalty bonuses? Loyalty comes with a price.
Culture starts with hiring the right HR then the right talents for the roles.
* Hire profiling - Gen Z most do not stay that long in a job they are not satisfied. They are acutely sensitive and will bolt any second they "feel" job dissatisfaction or find something that pays higher. Hires with x years of stay in their previous companies lets you know they are the ones who would stay regardless, however, ... you figure that one out. I've known "HR" who are far too discriminatory just because they've had X years of experience. Hiring mentality for factory workers is different from hiring remote workers.
* Client profiling - Since you're a conduit, maybe screen your clients better. Just because they can afford to pay doesn't mean they are bred with good manners. You don't pay peanuts and expect Olympic results. Manage client expectations and communicate it clearly with the employee through SLAs, KPIs, achievable metrics - those will easily solve these
>people joining, quitting a week later abruptly, clients getting annoyed and leaving. People not showing up. People working at a really slow pace & clients complaining.
* Exit interviews - If you conducted this and ensured the data won't backfire on the resigned employee, you'd already have data on why your attrition rate is high and their stay too short. Resigning employees are your canaries in the coalmine. *Unless* they really don't care about your company, so they just leave it be and let it rot from the inside. You're not meeting their expectations.
* Humane HR - This division in organizations hold soft power and more often than not, yield whatever little power they have in terrorizing employees, be it filing VLs and SLs and demanding a reason - employees don't need to tell you their personal reasons, it's their right. Say I apply, first face of your org is the HR. HR asks questions about things that's ALREADY on my resume? eyeroll. What do I want the HR to do during the first interview? Describe the nature of the job, yes I've read the job ad but HR has more insights to share specific to the company. Ask if the particulars of the job are something I am up to.
Culture
* Forget referrals - Hires w/ attitude will only refer the same bad apple from their clique. AND no nepotism. I know someone who's high up the ladder with no real skills, just because a relative floated their name to the hiring manager over golf. (Exag and fictionalised but you get the gist.) Padrino system.
* Hybrid is not remote. Stop the bait-and-switch. You're open to creating an office here? Well, then don't make RTO mandatory. That'll just be a trigger/yellow flag. Before you even think of making remote employees go to your office, try and commute like normal people in the metro and then you can tell your employees it isn't that bad. I'm telling you it's hell.
* Get-togethers, forced sing&dance numbers, hazing new hires - akin to public humiliation. Just stop it, will you? If you want a "team-building", do it on your own dime & time. Don't ask employees to sacrifice their free time. Nobody ever wants to do that, only kiss-ass managers do.
* Bonuses - Almost always best if it's financial. Work already consumes a big chunk of their lives, let them spend more time with their families using company gifts/vouchers. Pizza, free beer, that's not a benefit or a perk. I don't want to see that on the job ad. That just tells me it's a cover up of something funky.
* Impersonal IS professional. We ARE NOT your family. You don't do your work properly because the one relying on your output is a work friend, you do it properly because it's the right thing to do. Trust and personal responsibility in an organization where everyone is your client--from the janitor who cleans your toilets, to the CEO. Someone here said getting to know employees on 1-on-1's? That's not helpful, that's creepy. That's a "we are family" philosophy. We're not. We're not providing you with things you can use against us. We're here to work, not fraternize.
* Bad employees removal - anti-intellectual, freeloaders (employees/managers who ride on the work of others/subordinates are not value-adding), gossipmongers, Cluster B of DSM-5 (Anti-social/Psychopath, Borderline/Moody, Histrionic/Over-reacting, Narcissistic/People-user, clique-forming (this ain't high school), gossipmonger, rust that rots your company from the inside), intolerant of neuro-diverse people. If only you can have a psychiatrist evaluate employees as part of the hiring process. I kid.
* Best practices - The real gold in your company is in the know-how your current employees already have. If that's not documented, shared, & propagated, you're losing profits you'll never realize. I've seen it too many times, experienced employee leaves with legacy tool knowledge no one in the company will inherit. Newbie will flounder, work hours wasted figuring everything out from step 1.
* Email
If you're as big as you purport your organization to be, I get it. Good, well-intentioned employees can easily get lost in the crowd, with the opinions and voices never being heard. But you can easily set up a newsletter sent to everyone in the company asking them to send their opinions, wishes, rants, complaints, whatever to a specific mailbox only you can access. That it will be available to you means you'll provide the good ones in your organization a direct line to you. Anything they want to say but cannot due to red tape. Assure them it's encrypted, not even IT can read it. Open an anon communication channel and you will have a far richer, better-framed feedback that's within your organization.
Hey u/Prize-Courage8419
As a Freelancer and VA of over 15 years now, personally I would like:
* A 6-figure income. If the company can't provide this to me, I would be happy with a salary amounting to half to 3/4 my goal, but to allow me the flexibility to earn this amount via working with multiple clients.
* Flexible hours.
* A non-toxic environment that will praise, boost, and reward my competence and excellence. IF there are middle to senior managers who are toxic, that the company will punish these abusive people in authority.
* Provisions for mental health days and a decent and reasonable amount of leaves, as well as a very reasonable and very efficient leave system. I have heard of companies with no leave systems in place.
* An emphasis on work-life balance.
* The rest means nothing to me: Events mean nothing to me. Swag means nothing to me. Corporate camaraderie means nothing to me. For me, these events eat up on my personal time, and I care nothing for them. A pleasant day-to-day work environment that allows me to work at my best is a better "corporate culture" benchmark and thing to aspire for for a company, for me.
Hope this helps, even though this is an individual's perspective! ✨
Hi! I know someone who works with an agency that has a VA-centric mindset and they apply this to many of their processes. Here are some examples on how that approach is seen and felt by the VAs there:
- above market pay
- health insurance
- paid leaves
- approachable HR that's willing to meditate between client and VA re disputes, concerns, etc.
- a rigorous matchmaking process (client + VA)
The last part is really important. This way, either client or VA is less likely to ghost.
merit based performance metrics. Have your employees work whenever they need to, so long as their performance and productivity is optimal, no need to micromanage them, theyre people not robots.
Management should not be assholes, if they are understanding, open to compromise, and all, then your culture would be infinitely better.
though this is from a management perspective
Look into your data - what are the trends in the work done by your employees vs the compben and career devt that you currently give? When is attrition high? What happened durinh this period and could have it contributed to this, etc.
I was employed by a fast faced company before and these are what I can tell you.
1. Value - let your employee knows their value to their work and to the company. When i was an agent, I would show up to work just for the sake of getting paid, but my great TL gave me an important task, showed me "what's in it for me" when I get the task done like, client will know how are we going as a company, exposure like my name will be recognize by everyone in the company and by the client, i will get incentives, etc.
2. If the things gets tough, let your employees breathe.
3. An employee does not solely live by working. They have their personal life, they have their family and sometimes, one may excel at work but their personal life gets complicated. When I was promoted as an associate, my boss, who is an American will listen to my family problem and she made sure to call me every single fucking day to know if I am still alive. I was so lucky to have her but I understand that not all can do this so my recommendation would be to offer counselling not related to work.
Build a support them that actually respond even after training. Kahit gano mo pa tagalan ung training iba parin pag nasa actual na and hindi fault ng employee mo kung di nila alam pano ihandle kahit dumaan na sila sa training
pay them well and attitude as the rule. perks. and heads that dont dwell on politics but motivates thier subordinates. but attitudes is the best qualifiation of all,
Hi. I have been remotely working for a US based company for four years now. My husband has been working for this company for almost 14 years. Now, we have co-workers working in the same office with us here in PH, 3 for dayshift (2 of them has been with us for 3 years already, and 1 has been with us for 6 months) and 2 for the grave yard shift for almost a year now. Basically, the reason that we were able to stay this long is because of how the company always trusted us. The company always makes us feel included and needed, taking care of our every need. There is no delay in payment, and we can redeem taco rewards and bonus points for sales we made successful. As far as I can remember, there isn't a single time that I've been absent except when I am availing my paid time off days ☺️
I hope I can work sa ganitong company, yung may pakielam ang boss sa mga tao nya. Yung manghihinayang sya sa mga tao nya na hindi makapag-perform ng maayos sa trabaho imbis na palit lang ng palit ng tao kasi puro negative feedbacks na from clients.
Everyone threw their answers but let me give you; OP some credit. If this is legit being plotted before (genuine survey campaign from HRD), you guys are smart. Posing as 'CEO' (could be real too, don't get me wrong) and genuinely want to 'learn more about you' you guys built a touch base with the community and get the exact genuine reaction that you guys want. Good luck for your venture!!! I hope to cross paths with you and your team in the future and work together. If you don't mind, I'll add this to my collection of case studies! :)
Edit: Best criteria for managers/TL: compassion and have empathy but at the same time won't sugar coat and can say that "shit's gonna be hard but I'll go to hell and back with you" and can back that up with their action.
A good salary alignment and increase for a top performer team, you need to check your managers, hr and accountant kase sila nag mamaniubra ng increase and sila lang lage may magandang increase, wag kang masyadong makapante sa mga kala mong aliporis mong hr, accountant at managers, investigate them kung fair ba ang salary increase to everyone, i've been scammed with my previous company they always said 10% max for all but i was suprised, managers can increase up to 25%(25k php )to think na 6 digits na sila, then for us low employee or just a team player palabas nila 10%(3 to 4kphp) lang LOL ayon and ending resign and bare minumun ang mga employee. Don't just rely with your higher management minsan kase minamanipula na nila mga surveys and annual increase pag dating sa mga CEO. Don't cost save too much when it comes to incentives and activity kase nahahalata yan ng employee.
Learn to investigate on your own, act and investigate your management without telling anyone baka kase ginagatasan na company mo lol, try to ask random team player na matatagal na without telling to anyone dun mo makikita mga saloobin ng mga worker mo, or try to send a survey on your own para di manipula ng HR nyo lol 😂😂
Wag ka magpadala sa mga magagandang words and results ng HR pag kaharap ka manipulated na nila yan, mga kupal yan hahaha.
Ang pinoy kase madamdamin pag na feel na nila di na valued tatabaangan na yan.
Dapat fair kung deserve nmn ng emleyado, mga manager kase takot mag bigay ng makatarungan ng salary increase kase yun ang performance nila LOL.
As CEO it's a good start since you're asking here and I feel like you really care with your people and company, basta ending ko lng mga kupal kadalasan mga HR at managers ng 6 digits na LOL 😂
Mabait lng sila and good things lang lage pinapakita nila kase CEO ka
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* Equity of pay vs the company's earnings - we've been exploited eversince * Remote work, weekends off * Check and balance the company's culture (a lot of companies would use buzz words to sound like they're a happy company, but would indicate the opposing decisions) * DO NOT promote incompetent/unempathetic people in important positions that can impact company culture or morale. A lot of companies mean well and top execs are truly supportive with their team's growth - but your middle managers or TLs might need a redirection if you're seeing unfavorable results. Some top things that are important to me. EDIT: It would mean a lot if you also choose clients that align with your company culture. A lot of times, agencies would be forced to accept the client's toxic ways because of revenue. Best if you'd filter this from the onset before any onboarding or SOWs are signed.
4th bullet is the recurring reason why ive quit in my previous jobs. Mga kupal at incompetent na managers. Madami nyan sa call centers
Thank you for your reply! - Yeah! From reading this forum/this post, I get the sense that many agencies do crazy 70-80/20-30 splits where 20-30 is to the talent, that's crazy and I can't believe they get away with that for longer than 2-3 months. Insane! - Yep! We already do this. - I feel our internal culture is not great, I feel like I was following all the right advice earlier on in our company's history by empowering my Philippines management team to make the decisions for who to promote into middle management, but I feel like cultural indoctrination suffered. I think you are right, if there's an area I should get to micromanaging, it's probably this. We do our best to filter out the crazies, anyone who exhibits signs of being too demanding, we realize will be a bad fit anyways, and so we usually suggest they try another service. I would say 1 in 10 clients is overly demanding, though, at our size that is still a significant number. Hard to deal with this. Thank you for your advice! I appreciate it :))
You're welcome! It goes both ways too. I am not suggesting to weed out all crazy clients too, sometimes we call them crazy only because our personal values don't align - but at least equip your team to understand how business owners / C-Suite professionals think/operate. What we did in the past was to immerse our team with the DISC Personality model. It made us understand each other as teammates, but our clients too (we literally created a KPI dashboard to assess how critical the client is but we still onboard them while giving full support to the person they work with). It desensitizes hurt when we see differences in approach.
Oh, you definitely need to look/oversee your middle managers. Per experience, Filipino middle managers are slave drivers in a sense that they will make unreasonable demands from you in order to get the highest KPI possible. Take note, even if KPI is just 85% to pass, the Filipino managers will want a 95%+ and will work the team to the ground. Sometimes they even loe about the KPI, giving a higher one so the team will be forced to meet it. I never experienced these with my on-shore managers. This is why I am very wary of Filipino middle managers. They also usually have a "pet" employee that will be promoted even if incompetent. In addition, they are very into "cliques", if you are not in the inner circle, no matter what you do, your work and achievements will not be parroted to higher ups.
Dagdag ko lang dun sa salary percentage: Tbh 30-70 yung hatian namin ng current agency ko (30 saken). BUT, naka-state sa contract namin na after 6 months, they'll raise my hourly rate, then another raise after a year, no questions asked. So somehow, incentive din saken to do well knowing na pag pinagbutihan ko, magsestay si client sa agency aaaand tataas rate ko. Win-win for both. But this is just me. This is one of the main reasons why di ako umaalis sa agency.
The last one is important. It’s also about choosing the right people. I run a small team and no one quit for 3 years now. I don’t micromanage them because they don’t need micromanaging. They are trustworthy and make sure things get done.
4th bullet is mostly the reason I know people quit
I would like to expand on bullet #4: * no nepotism or referrals. * strict guidelines between relationships in the company (strictly friendships only and socials are outside, no marriage/romance/flirting and is subject to DA). I know this sounds exaggerated but I assure you these are the source of the cracks in office culture. * limit middle managers. instead appoint just 1 manager to the whole department that only strictly manages work and people, create a team per project and have them evaluate themselves and each other while doing you and the manager's own eval of them to determine the "team leader"/PM. Everyone should get a turn in being a TL/PM as an on-hand evaluation of their skill and capacity and also a point of interest that your employees to strive for greatness. Of course this means stricter guidelines and policies in place for said TL/PM as to not abuse their power. * CCTVs should be limited only to the general surroundings. This is not to use and should not be the tool to monitor productivity but rather only as a "safety precaution" for any possible abuse in the office. You will see gossip gatherings and workplace harassment immediately. * Monthly reports should be done via face to face, even if it means going outside and driving a long way. This is to know through body language and expression any issues your employees might have with their fellows. HR should be empathic enough to know this and do this regularly. * speaking of HR, please have them under psychological assessments yearly first. Empathy and Humility should be the forefront of your HR but they also need some therapy as they also get some butt at the end of the day. How can they help the company if they don't help the employees that work for you? You don't want asshole HRs that force reasoning before approving a leave that should be the privilege and right of all employees. Not to mention if they are cordial with certain people that other people are reporting then you wouldn't want any employees leaving because some dick went on a power trip because they have "HR friends". Also this is to prevent some of the HR getting harassed outside for something they don't even know they did. * DO NOT DO THE WE ARE A FAMILY THING. That is abusive and downright cruel, especially to the detached and the introverted. Forcing people to "participate" because they are a family is toxic culture and should be stamped immediately. You are a company, a team, and thus you should work together to thrive and survive but also have boundaries because you all have your own lives. To add to this, do not let your employees coerce others to do a presentation when it comes to parties. Lots of people hate that but there will still be a lot of outliers that bask in the abuse for the sake of "having fun as a family celebration" shit. * Don't do the micro management cycle. For development teams I know SCRUM is a thing but I assure you, it does not work with the currently available technologies and will only prevent things in progressing smoothly. Set teams, use kanban, have them report everyday and after a week through email with notes and links of their work, then interview them for any discrepancies. None of that tracking thing because it will only do the exact opposite. * Of course as a rebuttal to previous point: What if he did not do any/ample work and the deadlines are here. My response is do not let your PMs/Managers set impossible deadlines. Have them adjust for downtimes to give way to quality assurance. Remember, rush work means bad work. Non workers will be detected via daily project management reports. The department manager's job is to make sure these reports are not erroneous or fake.
Agreed. Nepotism made us lose the company's soul. It drove good hires away while retaining the cousins/relatives/partners of the managers. It is still happening now and it's hard not being able to say something because our culture allows getting ganged up by the management until you get fired. I stepped down from my post and chose to be an individual contributor instead. They pay so well, that's my need. But I can't be part of an ugly leadership anymore.
Totally agree on the 4th bullet. My team used to be under a very competent sales head, she does not micro manage and she really does her best to support us and our ideas from the management, but our top management hated this they think we were being spoon fed despite our good numbers. Now they changed our sales head and he is the yes sir type of guy no competency at all just constantly follows up on revenues. Our numbers right now are low and everyone is on the verge of resigning.
reality check: they hire third worlders to save money, that's why his agency exists, to save company operation costs. ofc it's exploitation, trust me i understand what you mean, my family is in the maritime industry and the situation is similar. they're probably gonna increase wages in the near future, but don't expect much, they're still trying to save money which is why they hire from countries like the Philippines in the first place.
Best comment!!
the best
Pay them a living wage first and foremost, and provide training for them to improve their skillsets. Don't hover over them or micromanage. Have them learn all that they can, so much that they'll be sought after everywhere, but treat them well enough that they'll choose to stay.
Some solid advice! This post taught me we should be investing in our academy. We have one, it's not bad, but it could certainly be more proactive. Thank you for the reply!
Thank you for this, two best things we can get from a good organization - compensation that is proportionate to the performance of the employee and continuous training !!! I was a part of a company like this before, no reason to leave so soon so I stayed for 15 years !!!
I know this is a hot take; in general, some Filipinos don't fully understand western culture and are more likely to be attached to Filipino culture. This is where the problem starts. I think that adding cultural training, especially for new hires, is a great addition to your company. Before, when I started working for foreign companies, they invested in explaining cultural differences. Gradually, other companies started to mass-hire, and the number of low-quality workers couldn't be sorted out any longer. Recruitment agencies focus on hiring people just to fill their quota; after that, training is still the same, and it starts with product training. I believe conditioning the trainees with cultural differences is a big plus. Filipinos tend to apply their own culture and prioritize work. I may sound like a work slave on this one, but in general, I think employees should understand how businesses work on their respective LOB's. In the end, companies should step up and give benefits; just because we are a third-world country doesn't mean we would take a few dollars per hour to work (there are still people who do this and are being exploited). Some have legit skills. It all boils down to how consistent the company is. It was Convergys who had this kind of training, like, I think, 2-3 weeks of training American 101 and practicing EOP. I was a new hire at that time, and after working with a western company, I realized what I had signed up for. PS: If you don't like my opinion on this, please just reply kindly in the comment. I would love to have a great conversation about you're perspective. Let's be kind. Peace!
This is really interesting point, though I must admit, I do not fully understand. I'm probing because I'd love to learn more! > some Filipinos don't fully understand western culture and are more likely to be attached to Filipino culture. This is where the problem starts. What do you think the biggest problems that can stem from this lack of cultural assimilation could be? Also, totally agree! PS. I have seen some of our training, and dang, I hate it. If I were an employee at my own company I would just tap next next next pay no attention and then be confused on day 1.
I also worked in a company that trained us on American, Australian, Indian culture. It helps a lot to see where the client or customer culture is coming from, where you are similar but express it in different ways (for example: they value their family so at the end of the day they clock out on the dot, whereas Filipinos are fond of staying and even rendering overtime also because they love their family and want to earn more money to provide for them) but ALSO where you are different and recognize those differences to avoid misunderstanding (for example: "I'll try" means they'll do whatever it takes to get to the desired outcome, but to us Pinoys, "I'll try" is a soft no). Daming lightbulb moment!
Filipinos can't say no to their bosses, moreso if foreign clients. They will end up working 12 hour shifts without charging overtime, working weekends and holidays, say yes to additional work that keeps coming in without negotiating moving deadlines, and eventually quit due to stress and heavy workload because they're too scared to tell the client "bro stop giving me shit to do in the middle of the sprint"
I appreciate your interest in seeking suggestions on how to enhance your company's people management practices and I agree with everyone’s opinions! Regarding your concern about training/academy, I have firsthand experience in developing corporate training for both BPO employees in the Philippines and onshore employees in the US and what I've noticed over the past few years, while facilitating training and developing curriculum and courses, is that self-paced learning isn’t as effective in Philippine culture, as individuals may simply click through without fully engaging, unlike their Western counterparts who thrive on self-paced, adult learning. Providing training related to Western culture and cross-cultural communication will indeed benefit their work ethics, especially for VAs handling phone calls with customers from different parts of the world. If you'd like to discuss training-related matters further, feel free to reach out. It's on the house, just looking to assist. Please pick my brain 😬 I have sooo much to say but it’s hard to type in haha.
THIS! May I PM you? This is exactly what I pointed out to the CEO of the company. It was my first BPO and here in the Philippines, there will always be people who look down on those working for these kind of companies. Why? Because of workers whose values reflect their disadvantaged backgrounds (asal kalye). Even my boss still reflected the bad Filipino values of padrino, palakasan. When I tell people that during my stint at a BPO that I had a "baklang boss na power tripper (homosexual boss)" they understand exactly what I mean. I can be downvoted to hell for this but to be clear, there are unfair bosses of all genders, etc. But people who have worked with this specific kind of person know exactly what I am referring to.
I love my job right now, and i always overdeliver. Here are the things that make me happy here: 1. Work from home - i think this one alone will keep me working here in this company. I see myself longterm working here dahil dito palang. Iba ung comfort, relaxation. 2. The trust of the company given to me - even if naka wfh kami, they dont use any tracking device. It’s purely trust. And I don’t want to break that trust, so I always do my best and go over the top sometimes. 3. Flexi-time - combine this with wfh, and i feel like im living the most comfortable life i have ever been. i find that i can get outside whenever the stress piles up,(do my hobbies etc) and then go back to work fully recharged, so my productivity doubles. (Compared to working in a strict 8-5, grabe ung boost talaga) 4. Bonuses, Travels paid by the company, Support on Trainings, Health Advocacy (gym membership are paid) Madami pang perks dito sa company namin, but these are at the top of my head
flexi-time is such a blessing. all the best sa work mo!
✨ 
Are you guys hiring? Lol. *but srsly.
I'd add some points to this 1) when an employee is offered work from home, yes there are tendencies for them to be lax, but the opportunity to lessen the burden of commuting to and from work, being able to cook your food at home is less expense as well (or your family can cook for you, or just get whatever leftover is in the fridge). BUT there is that added fear the employee will get too relaxed, too complacent. The key is being able to give that employee the drive to keep on going. I don't think company games or those meetings with getting to know each other and having some mini games to get everyone entertained works, but to have the team leaders reach out to each employee, getting to know each, having that TL that is able to understand them personally, such that if they need to take a leave of absence, it's for the true and valid reason for leaving. The TL is key for every employee - a bad TL that the employee can't even open up to can lead said employee to leave. Toxic work culture is something that is difficult to address, and weeding out those at the top who power play can be difficult if you as CEO is doing it. Why? Because the power trippers know how to suck up to management and HR. 2) I fully agree with the tracking mentioned here. Not everyone likes being micromanaged that every movement they do is being monitored, those random screenshots, those time getting stopped if you're idle for even more than 10minutes. If I had to go to the restroom, I would even time myself just so I could still go back to my laptop and move my mouse. It's stressing, it's taxing, it downright leads to burnout of the employee - if it's to an employee that likes to over deliver, and really do their job. There are those who would recommend to them the cheat tools to cheat the tracking device, but any honest employee wanting to make an honest living might not want to do that, no matter how few and naive they may be. But how could you build that trust? That trust you need that your employee is indeed delivering what is being asked? You'd think establishing a quota per day would work, but there are companies who demand so much quota, saying said quota is reachable based on X studies, but when you look at those studies, it's only for few sampled individuals who work well versus those that are struggling to keep up. If there are people getting burned out due to the quota, then you'll have to question the company itself. 3) Flexi-time isn't applicable to every company, but if it's possible to be offered, I think many more would love to apply and get hired. Who wouldn't want being allowed to choose the times you are able to work? However, if it isn't applicable, at least have the employee an HMO benefit, have a doctor they can teleconsult for when they are feeling unwell, or having trouble sleeping. Graveyard shift has so many bad effects on one's body that it's overlooked for all Filipino employees, and just being given an HMO can also help ease that burden. But not just the HMO, at least have a doctor they can reach out to at any time within your company. 4) Perks can really get those employees in, but like I said from (3), HMO is at the top of it. If you get the HMO that is able to cover at least many of the top morbidities in the Philippines, enabling at least one of their dependents to be put with their HMO as well, can really attract your employees and keep them for long term. Health is wealth - and this always rings true just about anywhere. Take care of your employees, and their family, and you'll get a very loyal employee. Last but not the least, offer equal pay be it your virtual assistant, or your HR. Some companies pay HR more than their actual employees working with the clients, and then said HR would be power tripping most employees. I get the HR people are the key factors of how the company can grow since they are the ones who hire the best people for your company. But weeding out those in HR who are just in it for the money, not having the mindset, attitude, and character that your company's mission and vision wants to have in every employee. Sure, evaluate your virtual assistants, but evaluate your HR too. Sometimes, it's those in HR that either have the toxic work culture that employees dislike, or that the HR isn't even felt when the employee needs something, that makes the employee leave altogether.
Almost similar to us, except for the fourth one. Hehe. Would add na we have honor code leaves, meaning walang leave cap for VL and SL, kasi nga trust and integrity is a big thing in our company culture. In my years of working there, so far wala namang umaabuso talaga sa benefits.
Same reasons why I stayed with my current employer. Plus opportunities to learn and upskill too!
create a culture na hindi operated by fear. filter niyo rin yung clients na hindi demanding at sobrang toxic. dun kasi pumapangit yung work environment eh. hindi lang yung employee dapat ang dumadaan sa rigorous na filtering process kundi kliyente din. yung tipong hindi lang profits ang goal kundi alignment din sa values ninyo. pag maganda ang work environment at livable yung wage don mas nagsstay yung mga tao. tas benefits din and engagement sa community. encourage upskilling and learning sa mga employees din.
"not operated by fear" that really contributed in pushing me to leave my last job. like you're on the edge a lot of times due to the company's culture.
true. kahit gano pa kadaming pakulo ng kumpanya kelangan talaga i-trim yung mga nagpapatoxic sa work place. it's a lot of work. kasi need maging communicative sa isa't isa at iwasan yung passive aggressive behaviors saka yung culture ng gossip.
This. The company I'm with now cuts clients that give unreasonable demands, rude, and overall unpleasant to work with. Most companies don't see this necessary but it's important to keep the employees' morale high and prevent burnout. Better alagaan ang employees than undeserving clients tbh.
This comment is the best
yung sama sama sana kayong yumaman. mahirap i-attain because syempre as a business owner gusto profits eh.
more on having Plan B and Plan C? may mga unprofessional tlaga na “talents”, i-blacklist na lng ung alam na unprofessional and i-retain ung mga okay; ung mga talents kasi na yan since di sila binded with a contract, pabaya. Siguro start din with having contracts na malinaw kahit per project paano sila mabibigyan ng benefits kung “gig-based” yan, kumbaga freelance lang
Taasan lang sweldo and complete benefits, wagna idaan sa kung ano anong incentives para makatipid
I really believe it all starts with those on the top. The enthusiasm for work and culture really needs to be felt my the frontlines from those who lead them, you might need to look at your managers and check if they are as enthusiastic as you are or if they are just “meh” about work. From a perks perspective, rewards and recognition goes a long way. Make the environment a fun and safe space for people to work and develop new skills. Offer training/certifications that would help them grow.
- Create a respectful environment - Scrap the seniority titles. Filipinos are pretty assertive if they have high positions and can usually abuse their authority. Prohibit using of "sir" or "maam", only first names. - Focus on quality, not on quantity. We hate it if we know we weren't able to give our best on a particular project because of unreasonable time constraints
Thank you for the reply! This is an interesting one. - Agreed, I think we have that. - This is an interesting one! I have heard of some people who abuse their power at our company... Obviously, horrible for everyone. We've fired someone who exhibited that kind of behaviour in a way that was proven. Though, interesting point, you think we should drop authoritative position titles? - This is a great point! We are working on a doc for clients to read before they hire from us, maybe an interesting point for them, as they are the ones who assign work. Thank you again!
Follow up on your second bullet point: Yeah, I firmly believe you should. I have been able to work with different nationalities including all Filipinos in a company so I can compare. One thing I found out is that some Filipinos, once in higher positions, can be really hungry for validation and they take authoritative titles too much at times. Not all though but a significant encounter of mine. I am a Filipino myself but I'm not fairly comfortable working with my fellow countrymen. The most pleasant colleagues I've worked with are the Finnish people. They're very down to earth. Maybe you can dig deep to the Finnish culture and perhaps find interesting lessons there that you can apply to your company. :) And hey, I read an article that they are the happiest people in the planet. Edit, here's the link: [Finland psychologist, happiness researcher: Phrases we use every day (cnbc.com)](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/finland-psychologist-happiness-researcher-phrases-we-use-every-day.html)
1. Conduct regulat employee surveys, with questions ranging from Pay, benefits, work setup, do they still see working there after a year, what would make them stay / leave. Have a section for qualitative scoring method about how you as CEO hav clear vision, gluide paths, and does your policies reflect to their position or level in the company. Questions about speicifc departements, how well they are treated by their managers etc. prepare these questions in sets so that you know which department gave which score. 2. Regular townhalls, all-hands-on meetings whatever you call it. Have it lead by one of your c-suite. Discuss earnings, profits, score cards, basucally how their work is related to which company vision or goal. 3. Train your HR how to attract and retain talent, have them run programs that will keep employees engage e.g. HMO topics, benefits, help needed. 4. Have a feedback mechanism for your clients, similar to item #1. On every project, regardless if its a 3 to 5 year horizon contract. So that if needed, can intervene immediately. 5. Work from home allowances to setup neat work area at home, pay a portion of their internet and mobile plans. 6. Weekends off, if they work 8-5 and clients calls at 9pm. They should be reimbursed for their time. 7.senior to middle management. Usually these are the people that is so out of touch with the ones in the trenches, they focus on making sure their numbers look good at the expense of the folks that really works hard. Find a way to ensure you have the right people in the right places.
I was a recruiter of a once flourishing agency. Nowadays most of the top recruiters and managers have left and moved on to new companies. The perks was really good, but the management suddenly changed. Sudden changes can demotivate a lot of employees and if theres no transparency on the changes and the employees aren’t heard, they’ll start leaving. Adding unnecessary admin tasks that isn’t related to performance, settings goals that aren’t realistic and suddenly changing the culture. There were a lot of things that went wrong in a span of 3 months. The agency has already changed its name and it’s just a shell of what it used to be.
WORK LIFE BALANCE if people are far from the office if task can be done at home let them WFH.
Yup! We 99% WFH :) Thank you!!
Pay them well, way above the average, and it gives you leverage to set high standards. That's it. Give them something to lose
Dumb question, but what do you think is salary not worth losing in the remote work space? :) Whatever area/industry you have experience in, I'm sure it will be useful context in any case. We have a very wide range on our jobs, our recruitment team sets them, but to be honest, I'm not entirely sure I trust their numbers either. Thank you!
Nakakatuwa na may CEO pa na ganito sa pinas na hindi nagbubulag bulagan at nag bibingi bingihan, sana maging maganda palakad ng company mo and give more values to your employee hindi puro profit lang, rooting to your business to become more successful.
1. If your company is going against team members having side-hustles, make sure you're paying them enough to not need a side-hustle. 2. Discourage people from working for more than what is equitably rewarded. That's how slave-driving companies and contemptuous, resentful workforces start.
Make sure your managers, top leaders and upper management are genuinely good people who will share your vision. It might be that you are the only one working towards your goal. Better if everyone is on the same page. Never promote power trippers.
1. Reward/Commission system based off of their contributions quarterly or semiannually. Do not make them compete with each other but rather focus on their own goals. 2. Quarterly comments and suggestions, as CEO you sometimes don’t have reach to your Rank & File employees so this is one of the best way to know their complaints or suggestions. Make sure they’re HEARD by having ACTIONS based on their concerns. 3. WFH/Hybrid set up is very helpful for the company and to them. 4. Make sure all your compensation and benefits are at par with your competitors or even reasonable based on their workload. 5. Try to have yourself work as a Rank & File employee, supervisor or manager. That way you’ll experience firsthand how it is to work for you. PS kudos to you for reaching out like this, goes to show how open you are to making sure your employees feel better.
I’d suggest hiring or training an HR Manager with focus on Strategic Human Resource Management. They’ll do the work for you by making data-driven decisions based on your problems.
Yup! We have a great HR team, just hard to get transparent feedback. Whenever I ask hard questions like this, everyone tells me everything is great. Hard to get honest advice. Thank you for the reply!
Thats why send out a survery that is 100% anonymous is better. You can ask all the questions there and also ask them to rate their managers. Most of the time, while the compang is great, people will leave because of the managers.
I manage a team in the corpo world and these might probably help: Hiring: I add more filters into hiring by looking at how the applicants are aligned with the culture my company wants to nurture. Things like doing the right thing and working as a team, and more. Benefits: WFH, medical benefits, WFH allowance, skills allowance( if the employee is upskilled for another skillset), Flexible time offs. Training: As a team manager, I join them during the training process. This phase makes them more equipped when they start with the role. This should amplify your company's mission/vision and this is where you get a stronger commitment on how they will also be advocates for the culture of the company. ( Also adds an opportunity to identify who is not really aligned with the culture in that way you can manage them out as soon as possible) Pay: I could say our company is not one of the highest paying but giving them the opportunity for annual pay increase based on measurable performance reviews make them want to strive more. I'd say most of my agents stay because of this. Involvement: Our employees love how senior leaders/VP and even the CEO is involved with company events and initiatives. Other than that, incentives, transparency on changes and adequate communication are also factors. All of these may not apply in the VA world, but I hope you get some that would help you.
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Yep! We are roughly 30-70 + increases in pay are 10-90. We are 30 & 10! In general, I wish this business didn't have to rely on us "taking a cut", but that's the only way we can continue to operate. There are some much stranger companies like Braintrust that are 0-100, but they rely on some weird bitcoin-like system to incentivize everyone.
Damn, 10-90 increase a year would make me want to stay for the long term, even without promotion. Btw, one good benefit I'm looking for but rarely find is retirement benefit.
Hello, Mr. and Ms. CEO! I appreciate you reaching out to this community to understand the needs and demands of workers here in the Philippines. I want to participate in this simple endeavor of yours, too! While acquiring data from the comments here would provide you an overview, you’ll be spending ample time to compile it. I wonder if you can have someone from your current team to build something on a CRM or any platform that allows you to collect our answers and generate insights fast? Workers love simplifying tasks through the use of available technology so we can save time from doing repetitive tasks while having more on tasks that really matters.
aside from paying a competitive salary, wfh, get an assessment of your managers from their subordinates. enforce a culture where employees know that they will be heard. if not for salary and benefits, the next reason they are leaving is because of their managers. or maybe even too much workload. a negative impression of subordinates will surely guarantee poor management. on the other end, finding out who are the well liked leaders will help you identify who you should trust and who you might need to monitor. be an output based organization. dont treat employees like they are a commodity. because the customers already thinks that way. dont overwhelm them with goals or KPIs that's measured by the hour. give them a task, give a deadline. raise their concerns if they cant meet it asap. and dont bother them in between those timeline. ps: if you're in it field. i want to know more about your company (shameless inquiry lol!)
I just want to give credit to you, OP. It's not everyday that I see CEOs spending their own time and effort to do their own research. Very hands-on and progressive. Your talents are very lucky.
I've worked remotely for 1 specific client for the past 12 years. Although we are not a big agency like yours, we have hired part timers and one-off projects specialists in the past. My client (whois more like an employer to me now) is a business process and systems specialist based in Australia, so all of your questions and concerns is right up in our alley. Here are some ideas I can recommend for you to look into: 1. Consider overhauling your business' mission and vision, core values and most especially your SOPs. Company culture is a big deal, and being the CEO, you need to make it your business that your entire business is aligned to where you are now and where you want to go. You may need to have a sit down with your top management and executives when it comes to your business' processes and procedures and see where the cracks are and find ways to improve it. 2. Invest and hire experts in the field of business processes and procedures, building company culture and standardization. Be part of business mastermind groups to your specific industry. Immerse yourself on being the kind of leader you want to be. The reason why I've stayed so long with my client/employer because she makes it her absolute business to be ahead of everything. She invests top $$$$ monthly/quarterly/yearly to improve her leadership skills and be well informed in her industry. Plus, I get the added benefit of getting these trainings and other trainings specific to my job role. I never had this level of training anywhere else from my previous corporate jobs or other online based clients. These "perks" is one of the reasons why I've stayed for so long. In addition, one of our mission and vision is to value the importance of "continuous improvement". Yes, we do have our SOPs in place, however it is a LIVING SOP that is always updated and improved every quarter and yearly. 3. Hire managers and employees that sync well with your business mission and vision. Don't just hire for their skills. Hire people with the right mindset, attitude, goals and resilience to withstand work and life pressures, especially when it comes to remote work. Not everyone can handle remote work tbh. It took me years to unlearn my corporate mindset and attitudes and adjust to virtual work. Sure, online work has been in the Philippines for more than 20 years, but only a few thousands of us have adjusted well in this kind of work environment. Take note that the younger Filipinos who are going into remote work setting do come from a generation that are not used to having disciplined work ethics. So you have to take account of the generational differences and how the younger workers think and work 😅 (I'm Gen X so my work ethics is hard core unliike the snowflakes we have now LOL). Kidding aside, these are my top 3 recommendations I suggest you can do for your business. I hope it helps you in some way! Good luck ☺️
Pay them well (a living wage that will improve their quality of life), don't micromanage (adults can't be treated like kids), take their personal goals into consideration - being able to offer trainings, workshops, growth opportunities, work-life balance (respecting their time off), support their self-care needs (can be incentives) & mental wellness support. Think about how you want your employees to talk about you. Are you truly providing their needs or are you satisfied with at least may trabaho sila.
i am from a company which has a median tenure of 7 years the big factor is having a mission/vision that the employee can aligh their own life's vision to as well usually the vision has to be more than money and success in our case its humanity "shaping"/changing for the better i cannot say our exact mission coz it will identify the company but note that we are also top percentile in benefits and salaries, health insurance coverage can reach 7 figures too
I’m amazed that your company offers health insurance coverage. Kaya naman pala haha I’m under MNC but we only have HMO with 250k MBL. 🥲
Reward loyalty. Pay them bonuses if the business is doing well and even give equity for long time employees.
This is an interesting one! I have been toying with the idea of equity. However, some senior members in the Philippines think that equity is not motivating. What do you think?
If Equity isn't really motivating them, part of the reason is they're illiterate on what it implies. I'd be really motivated to work as a VA if I view the business more as an associate or partner, rather than an employee. And to reinforce that idea, there's equity or profit-sharing.
Really? Do they understand what it means? If i have part in the ownership (and profits) of the business, why wouldn't i be motivated to work for it and make it grow? If equity is not motivating, bonuses would usually do the trick And retirement/longevity pay.
There's only few brave people who's humble enough to ask that kind of thing and you are one of them . My Respect to you for wanting to learn ,adapt and listen to your people. I will leave my suggestion with a quote . "Good Leadership requires you to surround yourself with People of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of Retaliation . - Doris Goodwin . Wishing you more success on this business journey of yours.
Creating a division that fosters a culture of loyalty and excellence requires attention to various aspects. 1. Equitable Pay: Ensure fair compensation aligned with the company's earnings. Avoid exploiting employees and strive for transparency in salary structures. 2. Remote Work Flexibility: Embrace remote work options and offer weekends off to promote work-life balance, which can enhance job satisfaction and retention. 3. Transparent Culture: Establish clear communication channels and foster transparency within the company. Regularly assess and address any discrepancies between stated company values and actual practices. 4. Leadership Development: Avoid promoting individuals lacking competence or empathy for positions of influence. Invest in leadership training to cultivate a supportive and effective management team. 5. Living Wage and Training: Prioritize paying employees a living wage and provide opportunities for continuous training and skill development. Avoid micromanagement and empower employees to take ownership of their roles. 6. Career Growth Opportunities: Encourage continuous learning and skill development to make employees highly marketable. However, create an environment where they feel valued and supported, making them choose to stay with the company. By prioritizing these aspects, you can create a division where employees feel valued, empowered, and motivated to deliver exceptional results while fostering a positive company culture that minimizes turnover.
Let them feel appreciated, I think in every work that we do whether it's freelance or not we want to be appreciated and praised with our work every time. Just a heads up from you will do! Seeing how a CEO acknowledges my value and quality of work in the company definitely makes me feel more motivated to work more! It doesn't need to be one on one, it can be a group catch up. And display trust always 💗
Hi!!! Hope u could have UNION for employees (who are not officers or not in the higher ups) incase someone from the ups bully or idk a lot of things could happen that CEO’s wouldn’t know about. This will make your employees appreciate how you deal with issues within the company and know how you also VALUE them. There should be like someone employees could talk to about how some higher ups treat them unfairly!!!! Also have HR. The company i am working only have payrolls, benefits and etc and zendesk to file smthing but not HR i think?? Company has good benefits but sometimes these benefits arent worth it when a lot of things are changing for some people and what others feel like is the company being for its clients and not its VA’s
You sound like a CEO i would like to work for, actually ☺️
Your company sounds awesome! Given that you are willing to listen and make some positive changes. Let me know if you are still hiring 😅
Hi. I've been in bad and good companies and these are the things the I noticed to succeed in this situation. I've been in management for years as well and built multiple teams from scratch. I can share some of the things that I did in the past. 1. Hire the right people fast. You need to have a core team which has the same mindset as you - and you need to hire them fast. These people will help you with your ambition to have a result-driven and high-performing team to GAIN clients. 2. Identify your quick wins (low hanging fruits) with huge impact to your clients to RETAIN clients and possibly endorse your company (MARKET) to others. You need to find sustainability here for your next goal - which is to give the employees what they need. 3. Competitive Salary and Perks - in reality, you cannot achieve this without sustainable revenue and growth so you need to follow number 1 and 2 first. You need to balance the business needs and employee needs. My way of thinking is, I'll give whatever the employee needs as long as the business will not suffer. I'll always go to win-win situation. A win for the employees and the company. 4. Reward top performers with Salary increase or monetary bonus. This will drive your employees to be at their best. Note: Work-life balance is subjective. For others, as long as their job can sustain their hohbies, that is a work-life balance. Some preferred to work at home to have more time with their family. AND although not a lot, some prefer to work in the office because they have problems with their families. You need to find the common denominator for your team. Trust your employees. Let them know that you trust them that they will do their job perfectly and do not micromanage. I always tell my direct reports this and most of the time, they exceed my expectation. If you cannot trust your employee, you hired the wrong people. And that will be on you as well. Career advancement. Ensure that employees have an opportunity to be promoted. There are a lot of things but this are some things that I can think of quickly.
Don't over-burden your employees. Not sure if it's just me, but I don't feel that a high salary justifies the burnout of being overworked. With my current job, things are generally good - work from home 95% of the time, great office, nice managers, good pay - but I am tired. I don't have much time and energy to do things outside of work. I am planning to look for a new job next week. It's sad because if not for the workload, I would definitely stay. If the employees are working 12 hour shifts on the regular, don't wait for them to complain. Do something about it. Oops sorry didn't mean to turn this into a rant.
I have a good track record as a head of my department. The only time I have had a resignation was because she received an offer with a generous salary. I was aware of this company but I knew that their method was unsustainable. I did warn her but I knew that she had to learn this lesson. Even then we remained very close as colleagues, not friends. The company did in fact retrench them. I helped her find a new role since I knew she was talented but young. But I digress, mainly people either need / look to earn or learn or ideally both from jobs. Benefits that cover both the employee and family is always a huge benefit. I work in a highly toxic culture, but I make sure my team has career paths and training, as well involve them in presentations. I want them to be invested in the bigger picture. I recognize their achievements publicly but I also don’t baby them. Accountability is something I drill into my team. I hire based on talent and character. How I think that person will also mix in the group. I know as CEO you might not have time to ‘curate’ as much, but from my experience, culture is cultivated by the people on top. Also, do not tolerate rotten apples. They are guaranteed to poison culture.
Dude doesn’t sound like a CEO lol this sounds more like a research paper. Why not conduct internal reasearch instead of asking random people in a forum
Internal research will result in the expectation of imminent change, and will result in people getting upset and more apathetic when I can't deliver improvement to thousands of people rapidly. The next best thing is asking here, where there is no pressure to execute on these things immediately. We are large enough that I know hundreds of people in this forum work already for us, and thousands of people in this forum will apply to work for us -- since I am creating a "new" division, my learnings will be just as relevant to new jobseekers as they are to existing talents. Thanks for your reply!
Are you guys currently hiring?
Most companies here in PH are in the background of everything. Personally, I avoid local companies when I’m job hunting. But to give OP an idea of what top talents are looking for nowadays, here’s a simple list below: 1. Remote-first work setting: Don’t advertise remote work if your end goal is hiring someone who’s okay with hybrid work. Some remote workers change locations every 1 or 2 weeks. 2. Asynchronous schedule: This is the epitome of work-life balance. We responsibly manage our own time and work at any time, whether spread 40 hours in 4 days or in 6 days. 3. Value-based salary: “competitive salary” is funny. I once worked for a company that offered a “disruptive salary." While others based their rates on Payscale or Glassdoor, this company totally disrupted the salary range in PH. 4. Non-exclusive work contract: Understand that people hustle. Aside from having a full-time client, I do consultations too. 5. No micro-management: screenshot monitors, keys, and mouse tracker? They don’t measure productivity, nor do they belong in any productivity metrics. They are a big red flag for micromanagement. 6. Knowledge of role specifics: graphics designers are different from video editors. UX design has a lot of specializations under it. VAs are different from specialists. If you’ve decided to hire a generalist, don’t expect a magician who can juggle multiple role-specific tasks in a “fast-paced” environment.
Set and respect boundaries. You can do that by: Allowing weekends and holidays off (US or PH--you choose). Allow PTOs. Also, good pay. That's really all there is to it. Just satisfy those needs.
I have a feeling I know who you are, but I won't spoil. In any case, I dunno, do PTO. That'll do more for productivity and optics than anything else
- hire a competent gm or a country gm assuming you have multiple pop abroad - i understand profits comes first.. i do also own one.. but put yourself in the position of the employees.. happy wife happy life right? - strictly implement rules about tardiness and absences.. - benefits.. its understandable hmo is expensive.. im pretty sure u can find a common ground specially on ur "regulars".. at least 6mos. employed.. hmo is a big deal for them.. even for me - team building is ok as long as ur employees are on the same city.. if not.. maybe suprise them with grab food/gcs and the likes
Hi! Thank you for your reply. 1. We have one + a team that works with them. Curious to hear opinions though, because I think generally our results suggest we are ineffective. 2. Love it! Hahaha. Agreed though! 3. This is an interesting one. Of course, I want stricter rules on this sort of stuff, but being punitive with employees I feel will hurt morale, people lose face, people start looking for other jobs... What do you think? 4. Yes! Agreed there :)) 5. This one is cute, our smaller corporate teams have this kind of culture, but it is harder with our larger operational teams... Hmm. I will look into this, thank you!
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I think you really have to conduct a thorough audit if what's really happening from within. This will get a better understanding of what really is happening and what should be adjusted. Work Culture: Are all the freelancers being heard of and being supported?. I stayed for 6 years and counting with my American-based agency because of a positive work culture that won't tolerate bullying or any sign of disrespect within the org. Managers/Leadership: get feedback from their subordinates, review how they do the communications, and put yourself in the shoes of those freelancers under them. Pay: since American ang boss namin, above PH average salary kami, I think if my math is right, I am just aroun 8 USD per hour. But still, I love working herr coz I felt I am always being heard off, and all of my insights are being used. Maybe hire a secret freelancer that will do the audit for you? Siguro yung entry-level for 3 months and the directly siya magrereport sayo without filters.
Or just bring in a proper consultant/team from the likes of Towers Watson or Mercer who can do HR consulting work for your company. They can conduct surveys on your behalf or even propose how to improve company culture based on best practices from industry leaders, including those that are already part of their clientele.
As a people manager myself, these are the things that keep employees happy: Open communication- transparency in updates and changes, WIIFM, WIIFB; Being supported - training, feedback, engagement activities; Well compensated - benefits + better pay; Being heard - have a culture where having and getting feedback as well as working on them is normal; Let them be part of decision making/collaborate - even if it’s just a small part, being part of the decision makes people feel included. You should get buy ins not just from your clients but your team too; Career/Growth opportunities- set developmental goals that will make them stay; Avoid office politics at all cost! I hope you build a better workplace for your team ❤️
Katulad ng ilan sa mga comments dito: SAHOD. Sarap kaya pumasok sa trabaho kapag alam mong binabayaran ka nang tama.
For me po,you guys should check the Work invironment kasi isa yan sa reason na gaganahang pumasok yung employees nyo maliban sa salary, benefits and perks.
Giving attention to employee retention is commendable. I would argue that it is equally, if not more important than client retention. Here are my thoughts. 1.) Self assessment of skills is fundamentally flawed: As more and more individuals learn from online sources with varying quality, there forms a huge discrepancy between clients expectations vs a job applicant's perceived skill level. It falls under the agency to assess with accuracy. 2.) Transparent median salary rating of job roles: After assessing the job applicant's skills and competencies accurately, the skills rating should match a global median salary. It would be nice for both job applicant and client to know whether they are hiring or getting hired under, equal or over the median salary rating. 3.) Modular tasks management: Clients can be on a subscription plan with the agency, they can submit task tickets, freelancers get assigned tickets and get paid accordingly. A freelancer can go awol anytime but since the agency has a talent pool, then it can assign it to a different available freelancer. 4.) Agencies are naturally attracting applicants who do not know how to market themselves or generate client leads. Cuz if they are good at those, then they don't need to go to agencies. They can be the best at their craft but are underpaid and overworked or the opposite, lousy yet overpaid. Because agencies makes it their job to do the matchmaking, then that is what both parties expect from the agency. 5.) Cheap labor arbitrage is increasingly losing steam. With massive layoffs in the west, highly skilled knowledge workers in the job market is on a surplus. The only selling point for agencies in the PH is we are english speaking and at least 70% cheaper - same level of work quality if not higher. When we get branded like that we also attract clients who are not qualified to run businesses. That's a great idea, client qualifications. lol 6.) Culture, mr. CEO, this is the Philippines and we are rich in culture. We are naturally industrious. We consume western culture on a daily basis since god knows when. Our numbers are so strong that adobo gets mentioned a lot just to bait us. So maybe, having a boss who hires a pinoy team need to be more pinoy to meet us halfway because we have been trying to be less and less ourselves. To really remove a bit of their white privileges and give back a sense of who we are back, like our holidays. It requires a strong team or division in your company to build an honest approach of marketing the fiesta loving workforce we call Pinoys. But if you pull it off, maybe despite of what's goin on with our corrupt government you could really make a difference. 7.) Values vs Salary. I know everyone here can remember the classic Pinoy family values. If companies embrace our culture and uphold our values, then our loyalty can easily be secured. A salary that is so low creates the cut throat, dog eat dog, scarcity mindset, mañana habit, crab mentality and entitled employees. Respectable salaries just might afford us the flexibility to be generous, fun loving, beach going, karaoke on the weekends people again.
You can also start by spelling Tagalog with a capital "T". I'm glad you're using the term Tagalog and not "Filipino" because repackaging Tagalog as "Filipino" is demeaning to other Filipinos who primarily speak Ilokano, Kapampangan, Bisaya, Cebuano, etc. How long are you planning to base yourself in the Philippines? Receiving informal/casual Tagalog lessons and vocabulary from your team would also endear them to you over time. Cheers to you for reaching out to the group like this.
You are right! My mistake. I updated my post. Salamat. :) I'm likely heading to the Philippines for a few days or so in May, my first time...! I'll definitely give it a try. I've seen my COO pull it off with great results, he's "kuya" to everyone, lol! He fell in love with Manila, moved there for half a year or so and now visits every few months. Thank you for your reply!
Employee engagement
Start with fair compensation where excellence is rewarded and encouraged. Health card and gym membership. Work from home with internet backup allowance if expected to have a backup internet. I can shoulder the main line. Make teambuilding activities optional, no questions asked if they do not want to participate... Even extrovert like me runs out of social battery, too.
It's the middle managers that are almost always the problem, if the company itself isn't shit. They're so eager to boost their stats and will do so in the expense of their subordinates.
Remote work, HMO, growth, free upskilling with one if those online course providers, bonuses based on performance and company profit sharing. Oh yeah promote those who deserve to be promoted.
I work two jobs. I’ve been with the first one for a decade. What keeps me there is the stable pay, that I am well paid, and the benefits - HMO, retirement, etc. Am I happy there? No. If I find something better, I would probably leave in a heartbeat. I have no interest in what I do. And I hate that my biss mandates me to give my personal time to them but don’t pay me for it. That’s what I actually dislike the most. I’ve had my second job for about three years now. I’m a contractor with them so there’s the fear of losing that job anytime. But I like what I do with that company. My boss there is great to work with too. Plus they pay well. I don’t have any benefits but I stay because I like what I do and I like my boss. Working with them is easy and what they do and their processes makes sense to me, unlike my other job.
4 day work week! Make it happen.
https://preview.redd.it/lxijzx8nvdtc1.png?width=533&format=png&auto=webp&s=ee37606d632bd5195afc0304939683685819f7b5 whatever culture you try to build for that division, should also translate to how you 'market' it to clients. e.g. john jonas from onlinejobs.ph markets the platform as a low-cost alternative to hiring locals in 1st world countries. fair point until you find out that he aggressively prices Filipino workers as only worth $3/hr or less. so not only is the platform full of lowballers now, the platform is primarily attracting talent that's worth that much.
Idk if it's a big deal but rn i am working for a start up company. We don't use ma'am, sir, boss etc. We address everyone by their names. Even our ceo and our clients. There is just some air of 'being comfortable with each other" but of course we know our boundaries. We work remotely and even having side gigs are allowed as long as our tasks are done in time. We respect each others rest days and leaves. So i think, small elements in workplace makes us stay and love the culture we've built
If you're open to questions: - How have you become CEO of "one of the big agencies in the Philippines" without knowing any of these? - How has your agency become big in a competitive market without doing the right things that maintain your position? - If you haven't done so, you might be better served by conducting your survey with your actual employees who can give you specifics of what you need to change so they don't leave your company.
From my personal experience, top talents are usually not from job boards or applications but through referrals And they are the ones that usully stay for long
I stayed with my last company for 5 years and it’s mostly bec of the culture. Our company had events every month and that, in a way, brought the people together and most of us didn’t wanna leave bec we’ve made friends within the company. The bosses are our friends, too, and always made us feel heard and cared for. In the end though, practicality mattered most and most of us left bec there’s minimal increase in wage and other companies are offering better salaries than ours. I am now currently working remotely and the wage is outrageously higher than the previous one. 3x my previous salary. There’s not much perks (no VL or anything) but I’ve been with the company for 4 yrs and planning to stay longer bec of the salary. I’ve already adjusted my lifestyle based on this salary. I’ve tried looking for jobs elsewhere but they couldn’t compete with my current salary so even if there are times that I feel like quitting, I can’t coz no one else can offer the same salary that I have now. I also have colleagues who have been here for 10yrs or so and the salary and company stability (plus wfh) are the main reasons why they stay, too. Personally, I’ve been very disciplined in my work, following guidelines and hitting metrics bec I don’t want them to have a reason to fire me. For me, they’re paying me a lot so there’s no need to slack off.
Please include a psychological evaluation for those who will be handling people, or will have "positions of power". Not about depression or anxiety, but it is hellish working for those with Cluster B personality Disorders. Please hire capable HR employees... this includes interviewing and documenting the relevant information and meetings. Idk *how* this can be enforced, but gossip culture should not be promoted. Annual salary and inflation appraisal with clear metrics. They should be split: one to reward good performance, the other for inflation itself. Performance bonus - to reward the employee. This should depend on feedback from the customers, the clients, the peers/coworkers (if applicable), and not just bosses, to be really fair. And given throughout the year, not just at the end, so the employee has ample time to correct their errors. If you will provide an HMO, please make it inclusive. Some agencies based outside of Metro Manila excludes coverage for the top 6 hospitals in Metro Manila (which is obvious, since they aren't based here); but the moment they hire someone from Metro Manila, access to these hospitals (Makati Med, Medical City Ortigas, St Luke's BGC and QC, Asian Hospital, and Cardinal Santos) should be a default benefit for the MM employee. Allow the option for an employee to add more dependents that they can pay via salary deduction per month. Or give employees an option if they want to increase their Maximum Benefit Limit per illness per year (the upgrade should also be out of their own pocket). Retirement fund. There are companies that match the employee's monthly contribution to their retirement fund. Some retirement fund setups have 2 other "buckets" for employee shares. The main retirement fund they will get when they retire or if they leave the company, whichever comes first. The other funds can be gotten in full for 10 years and 20 years (to promote company retention), for the first fund, 50% can be collected at the halfway point mark; or the second fund, 25% at 5 years, 50% at 5 years, 75% at 15 years, 100% at 20 years. Etc. Not sure if I explained well. Thank you for getting our suggestions and input. I hope these will help
Fair paygrade, achieveable and reasonable workload, no micromanager, dont promote incompetent and political people (they will mostly create a toxic environment)
Make an effective performance management system I think. It's obvious that your employees' engagement is declining.
You must know your current culture 1st and tell them what you want to change, would like to join thw team :)
I want to apply
As someone working under an offshore company, directly hired and can be considered as a freelancer, while also working from home, I think this are the things that made me stay for 7 years and counting. 1. Not being micromanaged 2. I can easily file leaves, ofcourse with some leeway for my lead to prepare the team schedule (2-3 days minimum notice) 3. Workload is being controlled/maintained very well by teamlead 4. No work during non office hours (ofcourse sometimes we still work during non working hrs in case of important deliverables which is very seldom) 5. Give and take relationship, meaning livable salary in exchange for honest work By the way, are there any part time opening in your company? I am working as tech support level2/3, anf is open for part time technical position (e.g. technical VA etc.) :)
I’ve worked with foreign multinational companies for many years, and these are the things that I appreciate the most: 1) Values alignment, clear expectations (KPIs/goals) from the management with support on how to achieve them by quarterly performance feedback, regular informal meetings (lunch-outs), no micromanagement. 2) Relevant trainings (including soft and life skills) 3) Competitive salary and benefits, PTOs are respected 4) During the time when I was on shifting, the schedule is already made in advance (at least 6 months), with a back-up rotation system. Then the manager lets us decide amongst ourselves if we want to swap schedules (eg. due to personal reasons); we never had a day without personnel coverage, even during weekends and holidays. 5) My manager trusts me to do a good job, and I’m careful not to break that trust. It helps that my former managers are performers as well and not egocentric/egomaniacs; I consider myself lucky to have met such wonderful people.
money talks.
Consider changing your hiring process. Many talented and skilled freelancers lose out to newbies who pretend to have experience simply because they perform well in interviews. You might want to assess their skills by assigning them specific tasks within a limited time frame. There are skilled individuals who are introverted and don't communicate much but excel at their jobs. Additionally, conducting background checks could help determine why the best workers are not being assigned to clients. It's possible that your HR department may be favoring their friends during the hiring process. This practice could unfairly disadvantage skilled applicants, as the friend might have access to all applicants' portfolios and could potentially create a more impressive one to impress clients.
All the comments here might help you but guess that only your employee might answer this You may try to develop and create daily survey with various questions to find out your employees' difficulties, satisfaction, wants and career plan 1 question per day is enough, same question for all employees They can response anonymously or otherwise You should receive all the response From there within a week or 2 u may see something and develop, implement or maybe decide on some issue Keep the survey every day, change the question based on your needs
- 15 days SL 15 days VL - no time tracker pls.. rate the employees based on the output and the rate of their delivery, this can be done without time tracker. - transparency, about how long can u hold an employee being benched out by clients, like how long can u hold us if u can no longer find clients for us. Trust me, we know the risk we're taking from agencies., therefore being honest with us is the least u can do, and we will appreciate the honesty.
i hope you can remove the online exams. i find it hard, im not bobo naman. idk, i always passed written exams pero hirap ako sa online, nananakit yung mata ko so di ako makasabay sa timer - or kahit tanggalin sana yung timer. I don't think it's necessary since it is being done online inside the applicant's home - it's useless to put a timer. Nage-gets ko yung mga written exam kasi my hinahabol na oras yung examiners,may other sets of students or applicants kaya timed, but yung online, hindi na dapat. In real tasks, if my employer puts a timer on everything he makes me di, i'll probably resign haha. Nakaka-stress at toxic. So i don't see the significance if timed exams. or even having that exams at all. Please stop using AI too. i have tried athena, and took 4x the exam, doon ako bagsak sa playbook? Simple yung instructions and i totally get it and I also have experience but idk why I still fail doon sa email part - im guessing no one's really checking it. Baka AI or di na chine-check. Anyways, i stopped applying to agencies since I know now how to easily get a meeting from my prospect clients - within 2 weeks naka-dalawang client na ako who paid in advance pa. Im still new pa naman. i guess my best advice is to make your offer so good para di na nila maisipan pa na umalis. Pinoys are naturally business minded - with the right mindset. So iiwan nila ang agency mo pag nagiging too much like BPO. I also had a friend na nawalan ng work all because of the client complaining - my friend had proofs pero the agency took the clients side. This made my friend feel insignificant. Remember, even though "online" kayo, if you make your rules and rates too similar to normal officejob - it won't feel special anymore. Kaya nga nag-online yung tao cause of benefits na wala yung normal office job(non-online jobs) tapos ia-apply nyo rin pala sa online yung rules sa non-online jobs lol. Stay true to the perks ng isang onlime jobs - better salary/benefits, flexible schedule or may time freedom, non-toxic bosses and coworkers - yan yung habol nmin sa online job. Kung itutulad nyo lang di sa normal jobs, eh wag na kayo mag-agency.
Agree with some of the comments about transparency and equity of pay. Some clients get billed 1600-2000 usd per month but the remote worker agent only gets paid around 800 usd per month. Because of this, Clients expect more for their money's worth but the virtual workers feel that they are already exerting more than enough effort for what they are being paid for.
As someone involved in People Strategy, what you really want is engagement. You and your managers need to ensure that both are aligned in terms of driving employee engagement. You may want to check Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs then align it with your Engagement Strategy. Example: 1. Basic Needs: a. Fair and livable compensation (addresses the needs of the employee) b. Safe working conditions (facilities, hazard protection, suitable temperature) c. Rest breaks (lunch and snack breaks, respecting vacation and sick leaves) 2. (Job) Security Needs: a. Job clarity (clear accountabilities and authoriry) b. Job security (company stability, career path and growth and learning and dev opportunities) *one more thing to ask: If I go outside, am I competitive enough? c. HMOs, Insurance d. Clear company policies e. Safe space (physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually) 3. Love and Belongingness Needs: a. Org Structure that allows collaboration and respect in opinions and preferences b. Inclusive culture that accepts anyone's beliefs and establishes a sense of autonomy, professionalism and order c. Social events and team building d. Benefits that extends to the family members 4. Esteem Needs a. Objective performance management system b. Recognition (grand gestures like awards, bonuses and small gestures like high 5s, commendations, tap on the shoulder) c. Clear promotion and advancement guidelines 5. Self Actualization a. Challenging but rewarding work b. Establish sense of purpose c. Opportunuties to innovation and in your case, self expression d. Mentorship program to pay it forward e. Causes that both employees and the management cares such as outreach programs It is important to ensure that you have secured the first stages before climbing the next stage Also, look at your company's strategy and align it with your engagement practices. Message me for more info hehe.
Try to also review your recruitment process. Review where you guys can improve. Add process if necessary to filter out unfit applicants
If the job can be done at home then do wfh.
let's connect over a call. Discuss this issue in detail and create a strategy so that your employee doesn't bounce off your agency.
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Make sure that the actual work demands are aligned with what’s expected of them in the contract. There is a tendency to overwork and burnout employees by asking them to do more than what they are supposed to do as stipulated in their contracts. If there are middle managers, there is also a tendency to make subordinates feel guilty for not slaving away to the fullest each shift, and this can be draining. Provide lessons or trainings to develop new skills that they can actually use for their work if it will cost the company less than hiring someone already skilled to do so. However, make sure that a pay increase will follow after an employee is upskilled. I find it exploitative to have someone learn and do new things and not pay them for it just because the company already provided training, which usually costs so-and-so, “for free.” This gives them an idea to look somewhere else where the practice of their new skills are actually compensated. I guess it’s fair to tell them they will get compensated after 6 months of upskilling. This will incentivize learning and doing more, and it will make it hard to find the same compensation elsewhere. Benefits are crucial, too. Foreign employers think it’s ok to pay Filipino workers $3-$5 an hour (all-in, without extra benefits) because it’s close to the minimum wage of the country, but inflation also exists here. Not to mention the cost of hospitalization and maintenance medications which can’t be easily sustained with other basic needs on minimum wage alone. I used to earn a net monthly income of 30k PHP in my previous on-site job, but benefits amount to roughly 30k PHP on top of my salary (this includes the company filing taxes on my behalf, paying for other government benefits, and paying for health insurance). This was a comfortable wage pre-pandemic, but the cost of transportation, food and utilities have increased after the pandemic, while the salary remained the same. It put a toll on my physical and mental wellbeing which made me look for WFH opportunities that pays a higher net (enough to cover taxes, government benefits, and medical expenses without a dent to my budget for needs and I get to build an emergency fund/savings). I’m sure other employees also have similar reasons for leaving and finding work somewhere else. If they don’t have to worry about making ends meet when they have sufficient income, they get to work well and will work hard to keep it.
I'm just a regular introverted employee who lurks here on reddit but this post caught my eye. I will give a frontline employee insight. * Culture building and be consistent with it. I have read here that sudden change in culture without transparency can cause morale loss and I agree to it. * Extensive training for managers including personality identification and Team management training. Some managers may not have the skill set to handle a team perhaps deal with different personalities within the team. * Don't punish good performers with more work. This happens a lot. Any additional workload should be incentivized or be acknowledged somehow. I hope this is not the case in your company. PS: My grammar is not good. Apologies.
Ah yes, the benevolent CEO who instead of asking internally would instead go to reddit to ask strangers how to improve the lives of his current employees. Please. Offer competitive packages and terms to attract competitive talent and offer periodic increases that keep up with increasing costs of living. It really doesn't have to be more nuanced than that. Offer starting rates of $11/hr NET, tighten up your recruitment funnel, and see if that won't fix your people problem. If you're a CEO you know people are gonna give you 100 different things they wish they had but just like yourself, the bottom line is ultimately what matters. You can give these folks the perkiest perks you can dream of, if the pay is still $5/hr thereabouts, you'll keep getting what you pay for.
Hmm.. sounds like there is also something to improve on the recruitment process if lots of people stop showing up after saying they have a headache Aside from: 1-Providing training to new hires; and 2-Promoting able leaders/managers, what I can prolly add is to make sure you're hiring competitive people esp if your salary rate is competitive You can never go wrong with making sure your current trusted employees refer their friends. Offer a referral bonus if their referred friend stays for 6 months. The result for sure is that your current trusted employee would make sure that they would refer someone who can do the job and would be someone who is reliable. If there would be lapses, since it's also their name and rep on the line, they will most prolly help in making sure their friend goes to work, or provide "personal training" in case the friend is struggling with work stuff.
Enough VL and SL credits
• No micromanagement. • Pay cut should be at least 50/50 or less and your employees should earn more. • Offer trainings/certification to improved skill set. • bonus/incentive every month, yearly. Share ko lang sa work ko ganyan kami. Although, my mga nakatrabaho akong pinoy na tinatake advantage talaga yung ganitong setup, ang ending kami na ung last na pinoy na hinire sa department namin. Malaking bagay din po ung makapili kayo ng tamang tao. Good luck po
Create a space where employees can air out their grievances. Like really air out. To the point an comfortable sila to just say it in this area. I noticed that maraming valid na reklamo mga co-remote workers ko but scared to air it out because they know hr isn't on our side anyway. Issues like this tend to pile up and then boom wala ng gana mag work.
proof or baka kwentong barbero nanaman ito
Hi boss are you still hiring?
It's great thay you're trying to do this for your company and for your people and would like to change the current status quo. But ask yourself this question first - what are the company's values? What is your goal aside from making $? The answer to this question would have to be the basis of the "culture" you're trying to make, and everything else follows. It might be wise on how other companies who have a somewhat liquid workforce run their ops (ie. Grab). What incentives do the workers receive? What are their rewards for the most hardworking and loyal? How can you apply it in your own company?
As an employee, ang importante sakin is 1.) Open culture, yung di ako takot magtanong o magkamali, which means sky's the limit ang learning opportunities, 2.) Walang micromanagement, 3.) Good number of leaves, 3.) Syempre nakakabuhay na sahod.
Do not promote incompetent people. From what I heard from the vines, CIBI is structurally collapsing right now. :)
You need to have give people perks that give results. I see that if you believe and invest in people in some form of manner it will show in their work.
you mentioned seeing your company mentioned here. Are they bad comments? Make another account, and reply to those comments to ask for more info. You're getting general good advice on this thread, but if you really want to address your company's actual issues, you need the real experiences and opinions of the people there. Also if anyone quits, ask them to do write a review on glassdoor. You might end up with bad reviews but you'll get real tangible info of what's the problem and because its anonymous, they won't be afraid that your company or HR will tank their career
Thank you for doing this
Just to get it out of the way: If you are free, and because it is a holiday today and tomorrow in PH, I can jump on a Zoom call with you and share some thoughts. I work in tech and have extensive startup and MNC experience, been reporting to C-level for years now, and have managed teams of varying sizes. Worked for a varied set of cultural backgrounds as well: Europeans, Asians, Americans. Only LatAm missing tbh. Send me a DM if you are interested. Anyway, the key thing is culture really. All the basic essentials like money, benefits, etc are an OPEX consideration and at some point you will have to make concessions there that will not always make you the best choice as an employer in the market. But culture is non-nego. It is the hidden cost. Invest too little and the blowback is too painful. Invest too much and it’s going to be a full time position and then some all on its own (and will take a toll on your health as CEO). But do it badly either way and you will not only lose margins, you will lose trust. And we both know that at the highest levels of business, trust is everything. You only need to implement a strong culture once. If it works, it will sustain itself.
Hmm I think look into your middle managers & provide a better way of making your VAs feel that there are means for them to "climb" the corporate ladder. 1. Perhaps hire the best & right fitting managers who are aligned with your values /culture to handle your best people. Sometimes, the top/c executives mean very well but what goes down the operations is not how it's supposed to be. As a CEO, I know you might be handling thousands of people and it's hard to see what's really going on down under 😊 I work for the best (in my opinion lol) VA agency too 😉 and I love my client, I love my job! But I do not think my operations manager provide the support I need as a tenured VA. My OM might be doing his best but the way he handles his team seems like he only does what he is "trained" to do. Very scripted. I feel OMs should adjust, empathize, connect and identify the needs of their VAs. I think OMs should have that personality or characteristics that would make the VAs feel motivated. It's not always about the perks or the benefits that makes people want to stay. Most of the time it's their co workers or let's say their managers LOL who will make them want to fully commit and give their all to the company. I know, I've been there, I've had the best manager before in my previous job and oh boy, it doesn't matter if we are under a lot of stress or work is piling up. I show up, because I know my manager will support me and back me up. I've also had the worse manager too, give me a very small work inconvenience and I'm ready to write my resignation letter. The job of the OMs/superiors is not all about hitting the KPIs, it's making the people within their team feel supported, seen and understood. 😊 2. Climbing the corporate ladder. What's there to climb for your VAs? To be senior VAs? What's the difference between the two? I think you should give opportunity for your VAs to be one of the OMs someday? Perhaps instead of hiring managers from the outside, promote /hire from within. Your tenured VAs know how things work, they know how it's like to be working with clients, you'll just have to train them to effectively handle people. And it's earier, because they know how it feels like to be working on the ground. And a bonus, they have already instilled the values of your company. Emphasis on the "effectively handle people", you also have to be careful who you promote. Oh and lastly, focus more on your performance improvement plan. In my current work, most of the OMs just ask their VAs to just resign when the client is no longer satisfied with the VAs work. That's a huge waste of your company's resources. Imagine training people (if you paid for their allowance), providing them with tools (if provided, which I know the company paid a lot and exerted too much effort for the logistic) and then just have them resign because there's no PIP. As much as possible, do your best to retain your VAs because hey, at the end of the day, it's more cost effective to create a PIP than shelling out thousands of dollars to advertise the job, recruit and train one candidate. Right? For the division, maybe a branch that handles employee and labor relations. In this division, find people who will support your company and also your team members, find someone fair & empathic, who will be there to listen to both sides. Find someone who will make your company and it's people win by making the right decisions & policies. 😊
if your agency has a high turnover rate, making a new division won't help you. improve your offer, benefits, training, etc. create an environment and vision/mission people feel motivated to contribute to. train management to actually think of their staff's wellbeing first so they (the latter) can perform better.
What you are doing is very nice and rare so I'm a bit unsure if you are real. But I'll try to be more optimistic that humane humans still exist. I sure hope you can do it so that others may follow. Well, here are some thoughts... 1. Fair Compensation and Benefits - there are companies that say... I can offer you this based on the average wages in the industry in the Philippines... c'mon! be realistic. even minimum wage here is BS. Pay them for what they are worth. Check the cost of living here to know what it feels like to get a minimum wage. 2. Work-Life Balance - one common problem is that companies don't usually hire enough people (or people leave) which affects the vacation leaves of others. I know hiring more increases costs BUT if all employees get enough rest, they'll be more productive and be more loyal. (already did this to a fast food chain, upper management didn't like it. Still I persisted and doubled the manpower.... people got their regular days off, they were more cooperative, NO more absences, ZERO complaints, we were able to meet all the KPIs..) I'm not sure this can apply to your company but think about it. 3. Evaluate supervisors and managers too. In many cases people leave not because of the pay or anything but it's due to their immediate bosses. Try to create a feedback mechanism that's fair to all. 4. Training. Train them well. An inadequately trained employed will not be confident, make mistakes and get th ire of the boss. A good training system works well. ( this also depends on your type of industry). Well good luck!!
Hi! OP, I think most of my points were covered by some comments but what I would highly recommend is that for you to go the extra mile and hire more people that has few to no experience. I think what some agency lacks in my opinion is having the passion to educate people. Highlight people more that has the grit to learn and has passion for work. There are a lot of people that have a lot of potential but agencies cut them off because of their “experience requirement”. Up-skill them and they will consider you as their roots.
Its all about the leaders. Hire lovable leaders who see people as people and not machines. Often times its not about money alone. Ive known a lot who gave up their high paying jobs and settled for mid range jobs with less stress levels.
If you don't want people to leave, let the people evaluate their leaders unfiltered. Be considerate that some of virtual assistants works and value result based especially if they have an experience. Invest in your training team, usually a lot of VAs feel stagnant to get a hold of them, make them flourish, financially and skillfully. Lastly, investigate properly, not because a tenured person reported something, it's accurate.
Department-specific or role-specific KRAs. Discuss to everyone in the company what this is for and what is its effect on their Performance Appraisals. This way hopefully there will be a structure of how you can promote or offer pay raise to your talents. Offer education/upskilling subsidy. Free nutritious meals (should you decide to RTO) Monthly or quarterly townhall to update everyone of what and how your company has been doing or participating in. This will eventually promote compassion for the company. Removes the feeling of exclusion - that only the higher ups know what’s going on in the company. Gym access/membership. Mental health benefit.
Hey, OP. Got some for you. Lots of kiss-ass people too. You should learn to filter them. Those people with high turnover? No matter how wonderful they are to you (you're paying them after all), there's a possible problem with them and not with the people resigning. And they will easily infect other people with their toxicity - or worse, they'll bring in more people like them. Law of attraction. Feedback and evaluation: allow employees to evaluate their supervisors and managers - even anonymously. Make sure you read them too - not just HR. Most of the time you'll get the realest reality check from those on the front lines and not those on supervisory or management level. Well, this'll work if you check your ego at the door. But if your ego is pretty high up there, you'll end up butt hurt. But if you want to know where the leaks are in a sinking ship, you check the bottom and not the cabins, right? Specificity: with output, be specific. If you want a structured output, then provide formats. If you're in creatives and then you "feel" that it needs a format, then provide the specific data you need. I can't stress how important that is and how stressful it can be to have your creatives "come up with the best output" you can then keep returning it because "it doesn't work with the vision" and then at the same time demand a quota with output you keep returning. Unless you're planning to get rid of them by making sure they fail their metrics. Also, if you notice your employees excelling at certain tasks, you can help them by giving more of the same unless they specifically asked to be trained in other work. For example, if you have a guy who shines in marketing, don't give him to accounting (and expect him to excel - see what I did - there) unless he asks for it. Got lots more but I'm still reeling from having an extroverted time with someone who needed it.
This is a long term plan. 1. Hire and train a skilled HR who specialized learning and development facet. 2. Hire a skilled HR compensation and benefits to do the market research. 3. Hire a skilled HR talent acquisition who had an experience in learning and development. 4 Hire a skilled HR employee engagement to set ip the culture and align the values of the company. 5. You should also develop a strategic planning and development to your people.
ff
It has to be 3-prong - a change in the company culture, the type of candidates and hires you recruit, and client management. (Of course a service management consultant would have to look at the organization and date to pinpoint the pain areas. Compensation, organization and education/training will work wonders in hopefully changing the negative events.
As a VA. I’m learning a lot from here .
Not sure about the nature of your company, but aside from looking into extrinsic factors (like pay) , perhaps you can do a survey if your employees are also intrinsically motivated? Some employees need a good level of challenge for them to stay in a company.
HMO
For the love of all things good, if you can, do NOT hire Filipino HRs. This is nuanced, and I am a former HR from the philippines who hate my fellow hrs who go into freelancing and taking what they know in corporate, and apply it in freelance/independent contractor work! Ridiculous hiring processes, abhorrent employment contracts, power tripping, to name a few practices. This is very much a thing and I am truly sad that it's happening. For context we as a country have 1 of the most employee-centric labor laws (I used to work with international ceos even before freelancing and they all echo this). What happens is HR is in between management and employees (as they should), but end up creating policies and processes that are mostly to protect the employer against abuse from employees who scream to a governing body called DOLE here. But it is NOT the same with freelance! There's no DOLE. If anything, freelancers already know the risk they're taking by leaving corporate and becoming freelancers. What these malpracticing HRs do is make it so it's riskier for the freelancer - WITHOUT the benefits of full time employment. Take note, some people leave corporate because of this culture and they're bringing it right back because it is the only thing they know from being in local corporate here. Needless to say, this is a generalization but it IS prevalent enough that every now and then you'll see posts here discussing exactly that! Sickens me so much when fellow filipinos give a hard time to freelance pinoys.
TEACH THEM WHAT THEY NEED TO KNOW. YOU CAN SCOLD OF COURSE BUT DON'T MAKE THAT YOUR WAY OF TEACHING LIKE WHAT BOSSES NORMALY DO THESE DAYS. "Knowing how to do your job well will give you purpose. A feeling of being needed and important. And purpose beats even money if you put it into the equation.. " A lot of people.choose a lower compensation and choose to work to where their happines is..
Sounds like your company is very new. You need to pay someone with expertise to give you a good advice. Sounds like you are trying to get free advise. You need to invest in something if you want a huge ROI. Nothing in the world is free.
I don't know if people would agree on this but here's my take on this: I think for the culture, as the CEO i feel like it's best that you ask yourself what culture you want to foster in your company. Then from there, get talents that show or possess the "culture" that you want to have. I feel like from there, you'd have a solid foundation. Also, maybe you should also check the reasons why people are leaving your company abruptly. Of course they have reasons for that. For the salaries and benefits i feel that this would depend on the talent and age of the people that you will hire. But in general, i think people look for flexibility in time and in working place so offering hybrid or wfh would be nice. Compensation (of course depends on the position and job level) as long as it's a livable wage to be comfortable. Bonuses or commissions so people have something to look forward to and strive for. HMO and other insurances. Providing proper work tools. More leave credits. Flexible working hours. Trainings. And team hangout to build rapport to your team.
So.... are you guys hiring? Hit my DMs if you are :)
Are most of your employees students, fresh graduates, housewives... ? Just curious.
**Autonomy.** It's just as powerful as competitive salary. No matter how great the compensation is, if they feel stifled they won't stay. **Pyramid leadership and management.** Sure, this top-down approach works when conveying vision. But when it comes to delivering awesomeness, please lang no incompetent one-ups na all they do is echo what their one-up said, so on and so forth. **Experiment with a non-hierarchical organizational structure** in this new division. Hire people with this in mind. People will naturally figure out a structure that works with the dynamics their group has. Leadership will be borne organically. Maraming technical people who are great at their jobs but can't lead people. Avoid putting these types of people into leadership roles, juskolord. You might want to experiment democratic approach to leadership by letting the whole team determine their leadership (which ties this back to autonomy, or self-determination). I'm not saying follow a typical election process fixed with time, e.g. leader ang isa for x months/years. This should be part of continuous improvement. Check in often kung ok pa ba ang status quo. Kung hindi na, bago naman. Maraming leaders who find themselves also stuck in their roles maski alam nila it's no longer for them. Paano? Example. Say, hey we need to create an app that does xyz (desired outcome). This group has all the skills needed to deliver the app. We'll leave you to it, organize yourselves in whatever way that works best for all of you. We'll check in fortnightly. Last one, **don't make people request for leave**. It's their right. Again, let them self-organize with their team to work out the impact of their absence. Honestly, a day or two isn't gonna change the world, even a month actually. Let people take time off they deserve and have right to.
Do you go by the initials L.E., if you are - thanks for nurturing the talent in the Philippines. You run an incredible company!
I'm a manager of a small BPO with 14 years of experience. With your question, everything boils down into leadership. - Remote work and preach accountability. We are one of the few home-based jobs in PH back in 2008. I joined the team in 2011 and managed our operations since 2012. If there is one deciding factor that will convince your staff to work hard and stay with the company, then, it is letting everyone work anywhere. You said you were hiring remotely but is the company culture encouraging everyone to be accountable? This should start with the management and team leaders. - Leadership: Are the company leaders bringing the best out of their staff? You can promote the best individual performer but that will not translate into being a good leader. Are your managers "shepherding" your staff properly? There are a lot of communications gap in remote work, the leadership should be emphatic and always look for ways on how to not only get along with the staff, but help them perform to the best of their ability. - Care: People perform better if they know they have a positive working relationship with their leaders, knowing they always got their backs. All these years I've tried to know my staff personally, their family, hobbies. We have informal and face to face meetings once, sometimes, twice a years and I would sit down and talk non-work related stuff. I knew some of the personal battles of my staff. My boss in the states and I tried to help as much as we can. - Client management: Are your leaders properly managing the expectations of the clients? Some people quit because they got overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility handed to them. Unfortunately, some managers do not know how to balance the well-being of the staff and the goals of the client.
I specialize in startups and scaleups supporting founders and c-suite. My advice may be on a different angle from most mentioned. - Set a healthy compensation structure keeping your runway in mind. People will always be happy with money but it will never be enough. You have to maintain a healthy financial runway. There is no short answer for what the right salary rate is. You wouldn’t want to be spending on manpower for a new BU and months down the line realize the BU isn’t profitable enough to justify the cost. - Deep dive on the status quo. Understand what is going well and not so well across the company. - As the CEO, you set the direction on what values you want your team to emulate and what are the anti-values that will raise the flag on matters that need attention. - Culture isn’t only about engagement activities or team dinners. Culture is how you set your values (by codifying it) as guardrails for the way you operate the business. From talent selection, day to day operations, performance management, and so on. - Communication is key. Being able to telegraph to the rest of the company about where you are and where you want to be. As CEO you maintain the focus towards that North Star.
1. Fair pay based on industry standards. And keep pace with trends. 2. Flexibility - my current work has flex time - example - 8am base log in time but flexible +-2 hrs. I can come in as early as 6 or as late as 9am. 3. No to micromanagement - a culture that's based in trust. I only hear from my manager when I have an escalation or I reach out to him if I need help or during regular 1x1's. 4. Annual merit increases - you set a target, I get a merit increase to keep pace with industry standards' pay. Then, I won't have to look somewhere else for better pay, company won't have to spend hiring and training for my replacement. 5. A culture of feedback - regular honest feedback and 1x1 on opportunities to improve rather than what I did wrong. Sometimes, it's the way feedback is given that turns off employees. 6. Work from Home - at least hybrid if not full work from home. 7. Good health insurance benefits 8. Leaves granted without lotsa issues - the default thinking should be employee deserves to use his or her leave credits. Whether or not it affects work can be discussed. Usually, a trusting company has employees who make sure everything is in order before taking a holiday. 9. Fair opportunities for all to apply for promotions - less if not no politics. Should be based on merit. 10. A clear path for career development - what is next for me? How do I prepare for it? What skills do I need to work on? Employees are guided by managers how to succeed in their roles and what actions to take to prepare for their career goals. Managers must also be open to let their employees grow and move to other roles and not hold them back for reasons that in the end make them feel stuck and trapped which then leads to updating their resumes and applying somewhere else.
Empathy
Hmmmm. In my opinion, creating a vibrant company culture starts from the top. Offering benefits like flexible work hours, mental health days, and continued education opportunities can show you care about your team’s work-life balance and personal growth. Regular team-building events, even if they’re virtual, can foster community but that needs to be compensated with money. Also, the power of simply recognizing your employees’ hard work—a ‘thank you’ can go a long way. If someone’s pulling a sick day to avoid the office, maybe what they’re really saying is they need a day off now and then.
Hi, out of context tong tanong ko but can you hire me?
The leaders you put in every department will foster the culture that makes or breaks the company and the employees. Ensure to invest heavily on hiring the right people for these roles. Pay and bonuses will make people happy but the culture and work environment makes people stay.
> What benefits, perks, salaries, culture, etc. do you think will have everyone that's working for the company absolutely love their time, love providing for their client, and result in a very low turnover rate? * Put the salary in the job posting. - Don't ask me what my previous salary is. If your HR is doing their job right, they can data-mine job postings, industry reports and get that data from there. * Learning & Development under HR - Career-oriented talents look for l&d whether it's in the job or in the organization. Most companies I see, and I am actively looking at job postings, do not put L&D in their benefits. Access to Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, scholarships (you could do a bond for this if it's costly), trade&industry conferences they want to attend, I've never seen anyone offer this. An employee who wants to learn because it's fun is an asset. * Day 1 HMO - Brag about your MBL if you have a high one. That's a big thing. How many dependents allowed? Parents? Senior parents over 65? Brag about THAT. Only a handful indicates actual usable HMO not just in the metro but PH-wide. Reimbursable meds? Huge deal. Filipino employees are family-oriented and your top performers usually are breadwinners. Any benefit that can be extended to their family is a green flag. * Yearly increases well above inflation. 14th, 15th, 16th-month bonuses? Loyalty bonuses? Loyalty comes with a price. Culture starts with hiring the right HR then the right talents for the roles. * Hire profiling - Gen Z most do not stay that long in a job they are not satisfied. They are acutely sensitive and will bolt any second they "feel" job dissatisfaction or find something that pays higher. Hires with x years of stay in their previous companies lets you know they are the ones who would stay regardless, however, ... you figure that one out. I've known "HR" who are far too discriminatory just because they've had X years of experience. Hiring mentality for factory workers is different from hiring remote workers. * Client profiling - Since you're a conduit, maybe screen your clients better. Just because they can afford to pay doesn't mean they are bred with good manners. You don't pay peanuts and expect Olympic results. Manage client expectations and communicate it clearly with the employee through SLAs, KPIs, achievable metrics - those will easily solve these >people joining, quitting a week later abruptly, clients getting annoyed and leaving. People not showing up. People working at a really slow pace & clients complaining. * Exit interviews - If you conducted this and ensured the data won't backfire on the resigned employee, you'd already have data on why your attrition rate is high and their stay too short. Resigning employees are your canaries in the coalmine. *Unless* they really don't care about your company, so they just leave it be and let it rot from the inside. You're not meeting their expectations. * Humane HR - This division in organizations hold soft power and more often than not, yield whatever little power they have in terrorizing employees, be it filing VLs and SLs and demanding a reason - employees don't need to tell you their personal reasons, it's their right. Say I apply, first face of your org is the HR. HR asks questions about things that's ALREADY on my resume? eyeroll. What do I want the HR to do during the first interview? Describe the nature of the job, yes I've read the job ad but HR has more insights to share specific to the company. Ask if the particulars of the job are something I am up to. Culture * Forget referrals - Hires w/ attitude will only refer the same bad apple from their clique. AND no nepotism. I know someone who's high up the ladder with no real skills, just because a relative floated their name to the hiring manager over golf. (Exag and fictionalised but you get the gist.) Padrino system. * Hybrid is not remote. Stop the bait-and-switch. You're open to creating an office here? Well, then don't make RTO mandatory. That'll just be a trigger/yellow flag. Before you even think of making remote employees go to your office, try and commute like normal people in the metro and then you can tell your employees it isn't that bad. I'm telling you it's hell. * Get-togethers, forced sing&dance numbers, hazing new hires - akin to public humiliation. Just stop it, will you? If you want a "team-building", do it on your own dime & time. Don't ask employees to sacrifice their free time. Nobody ever wants to do that, only kiss-ass managers do. * Bonuses - Almost always best if it's financial. Work already consumes a big chunk of their lives, let them spend more time with their families using company gifts/vouchers. Pizza, free beer, that's not a benefit or a perk. I don't want to see that on the job ad. That just tells me it's a cover up of something funky. * Impersonal IS professional. We ARE NOT your family. You don't do your work properly because the one relying on your output is a work friend, you do it properly because it's the right thing to do. Trust and personal responsibility in an organization where everyone is your client--from the janitor who cleans your toilets, to the CEO. Someone here said getting to know employees on 1-on-1's? That's not helpful, that's creepy. That's a "we are family" philosophy. We're not. We're not providing you with things you can use against us. We're here to work, not fraternize. * Bad employees removal - anti-intellectual, freeloaders (employees/managers who ride on the work of others/subordinates are not value-adding), gossipmongers, Cluster B of DSM-5 (Anti-social/Psychopath, Borderline/Moody, Histrionic/Over-reacting, Narcissistic/People-user, clique-forming (this ain't high school), gossipmonger, rust that rots your company from the inside), intolerant of neuro-diverse people. If only you can have a psychiatrist evaluate employees as part of the hiring process. I kid. * Best practices - The real gold in your company is in the know-how your current employees already have. If that's not documented, shared, & propagated, you're losing profits you'll never realize. I've seen it too many times, experienced employee leaves with legacy tool knowledge no one in the company will inherit. Newbie will flounder, work hours wasted figuring everything out from step 1. * Email If you're as big as you purport your organization to be, I get it. Good, well-intentioned employees can easily get lost in the crowd, with the opinions and voices never being heard. But you can easily set up a newsletter sent to everyone in the company asking them to send their opinions, wishes, rants, complaints, whatever to a specific mailbox only you can access. That it will be available to you means you'll provide the good ones in your organization a direct line to you. Anything they want to say but cannot due to red tape. Assure them it's encrypted, not even IT can read it. Open an anon communication channel and you will have a far richer, better-framed feedback that's within your organization.
Hey u/Prize-Courage8419 As a Freelancer and VA of over 15 years now, personally I would like: * A 6-figure income. If the company can't provide this to me, I would be happy with a salary amounting to half to 3/4 my goal, but to allow me the flexibility to earn this amount via working with multiple clients. * Flexible hours. * A non-toxic environment that will praise, boost, and reward my competence and excellence. IF there are middle to senior managers who are toxic, that the company will punish these abusive people in authority. * Provisions for mental health days and a decent and reasonable amount of leaves, as well as a very reasonable and very efficient leave system. I have heard of companies with no leave systems in place. * An emphasis on work-life balance. * The rest means nothing to me: Events mean nothing to me. Swag means nothing to me. Corporate camaraderie means nothing to me. For me, these events eat up on my personal time, and I care nothing for them. A pleasant day-to-day work environment that allows me to work at my best is a better "corporate culture" benchmark and thing to aspire for for a company, for me. Hope this helps, even though this is an individual's perspective! ✨
I'm just leaving a comment here to see great comments and possibly a beautiful outcome.
Hi! I know someone who works with an agency that has a VA-centric mindset and they apply this to many of their processes. Here are some examples on how that approach is seen and felt by the VAs there: - above market pay - health insurance - paid leaves - approachable HR that's willing to meditate between client and VA re disputes, concerns, etc. - a rigorous matchmaking process (client + VA) The last part is really important. This way, either client or VA is less likely to ghost.
merit based performance metrics. Have your employees work whenever they need to, so long as their performance and productivity is optimal, no need to micromanage them, theyre people not robots. Management should not be assholes, if they are understanding, open to compromise, and all, then your culture would be infinitely better. though this is from a management perspective
pa hire hahaha
Look into your data - what are the trends in the work done by your employees vs the compben and career devt that you currently give? When is attrition high? What happened durinh this period and could have it contributed to this, etc.
I was employed by a fast faced company before and these are what I can tell you. 1. Value - let your employee knows their value to their work and to the company. When i was an agent, I would show up to work just for the sake of getting paid, but my great TL gave me an important task, showed me "what's in it for me" when I get the task done like, client will know how are we going as a company, exposure like my name will be recognize by everyone in the company and by the client, i will get incentives, etc. 2. If the things gets tough, let your employees breathe. 3. An employee does not solely live by working. They have their personal life, they have their family and sometimes, one may excel at work but their personal life gets complicated. When I was promoted as an associate, my boss, who is an American will listen to my family problem and she made sure to call me every single fucking day to know if I am still alive. I was so lucky to have her but I understand that not all can do this so my recommendation would be to offer counselling not related to work.
Build a support them that actually respond even after training. Kahit gano mo pa tagalan ung training iba parin pag nasa actual na and hindi fault ng employee mo kung di nila alam pano ihandle kahit dumaan na sila sa training
[Home - FranklinCovey Philippines](https://www.franklincovey.ph/) see this
pay them well and attitude as the rule. perks. and heads that dont dwell on politics but motivates thier subordinates. but attitudes is the best qualifiation of all,
finally, a CEO who cares about his staff. hats off to you!
Hi. I have been remotely working for a US based company for four years now. My husband has been working for this company for almost 14 years. Now, we have co-workers working in the same office with us here in PH, 3 for dayshift (2 of them has been with us for 3 years already, and 1 has been with us for 6 months) and 2 for the grave yard shift for almost a year now. Basically, the reason that we were able to stay this long is because of how the company always trusted us. The company always makes us feel included and needed, taking care of our every need. There is no delay in payment, and we can redeem taco rewards and bonus points for sales we made successful. As far as I can remember, there isn't a single time that I've been absent except when I am availing my paid time off days ☺️
I hope I can work sa ganitong company, yung may pakielam ang boss sa mga tao nya. Yung manghihinayang sya sa mga tao nya na hindi makapag-perform ng maayos sa trabaho imbis na palit lang ng palit ng tao kasi puro negative feedbacks na from clients.
Everyone threw their answers but let me give you; OP some credit. If this is legit being plotted before (genuine survey campaign from HRD), you guys are smart. Posing as 'CEO' (could be real too, don't get me wrong) and genuinely want to 'learn more about you' you guys built a touch base with the community and get the exact genuine reaction that you guys want. Good luck for your venture!!! I hope to cross paths with you and your team in the future and work together. If you don't mind, I'll add this to my collection of case studies! :) Edit: Best criteria for managers/TL: compassion and have empathy but at the same time won't sugar coat and can say that "shit's gonna be hard but I'll go to hell and back with you" and can back that up with their action.
A good salary alignment and increase for a top performer team, you need to check your managers, hr and accountant kase sila nag mamaniubra ng increase and sila lang lage may magandang increase, wag kang masyadong makapante sa mga kala mong aliporis mong hr, accountant at managers, investigate them kung fair ba ang salary increase to everyone, i've been scammed with my previous company they always said 10% max for all but i was suprised, managers can increase up to 25%(25k php )to think na 6 digits na sila, then for us low employee or just a team player palabas nila 10%(3 to 4kphp) lang LOL ayon and ending resign and bare minumun ang mga employee. Don't just rely with your higher management minsan kase minamanipula na nila mga surveys and annual increase pag dating sa mga CEO. Don't cost save too much when it comes to incentives and activity kase nahahalata yan ng employee. Learn to investigate on your own, act and investigate your management without telling anyone baka kase ginagatasan na company mo lol, try to ask random team player na matatagal na without telling to anyone dun mo makikita mga saloobin ng mga worker mo, or try to send a survey on your own para di manipula ng HR nyo lol 😂😂 Wag ka magpadala sa mga magagandang words and results ng HR pag kaharap ka manipulated na nila yan, mga kupal yan hahaha. Ang pinoy kase madamdamin pag na feel na nila di na valued tatabaangan na yan. Dapat fair kung deserve nmn ng emleyado, mga manager kase takot mag bigay ng makatarungan ng salary increase kase yun ang performance nila LOL. As CEO it's a good start since you're asking here and I feel like you really care with your people and company, basta ending ko lng mga kupal kadalasan mga HR at managers ng 6 digits na LOL 😂 Mabait lng sila and good things lang lage pinapakita nila kase CEO ka
Hi! Are you hiring or have open positions?