Creative team decision making

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Type of Training: Leadership Training - Creative Synergy (Day 7 of 10)
Client: DMCI Homes, Inc.
Date: April 10, 2013
Venue: DMCI Homes Corporate Office, Makati City

 

 

 

 

 

Working well: the health advantage

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(Published on page J6 of the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 7, 2013, Sunday, World Health Day)

http://www.jobmarketonline.com/blog/working-well-health-advantage-roel-andag

By Roel Andag

Contributor

From time to time, employees eagerly examine both government- and company-issued calendars to take note of holidays and long weekends. They look forward to these breaks, which they generally use to de-stress. Stress is oftentimes cited as a major cause for quitting a job. Stress is attributable to the state of our health. There are six interrelated and mutually reinforcing health dimensions that companies should strive to address.

Dimension 1: Physical health – level of physical fitness and absence of disease.

Ideas for the company: Provide health coverage package that includes annual comprehensive physical exam, vaccinations and services of a company physician and nurse. Note that Art. 134 of the Labor Code orders all companies employing more than 200 workers to put up a company clinic that will provide free health services, including reproductive health services. Establish a gym in the office or form a tie up with a nearby gym, with defined times of use. Aside from the lunchbreak, enforce two 15-minute renewal breaks, one at mid-morning and another at mid-afternoon. At Chevron, where I once was consultant, all their computers will automatically lock during designated breaks. Employees who want to do some stretching gather in spaces that are wide enough for them to use simple exercise equipment such as dumbbells and stretchable ropes. Their computers will only unfreeze once the break ends. Call centers have nap rooms while construction companies have barracks for their engineers in project sites. Implement health campaigns that promote healthy lifestyle (aside from sportsfests, some companies have Biggest Loser contests and no-smoking policy), work-life balance and safety consciousness, and shed light on occupational hazards and unhealthy and life-shortening vices.

Dimension 2: Mental health – the ability to learn and grow intellectually.

Ideas for the company: Create a learning organization. Set company and department goals that stimulate employees’ creative and analytical thinking. Make planning sessions collaborative, use strategies that tap into both the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Implement an equal opportunity training and development program that taps internal and external resource persons who can help enhance employees’ knowledge, attitudes, skills and habits. Sponsor or subsidize employees’ graduate studies or at the very least allow them to pursue self-financed Masters degrees or special interest courses. Acknowledge, celebrate and reward innovative ideas. One good example is Google’s practice of allowing its employees to use 20 percent of their official time to pursue their personal passions.

Dimension 3: Emotional health – ability to control emotions such that the person is comfortable expressing them in the appropriate manner.

Ideas for the company: Provide regular stress debriefings especially for those in high-stress jobs. When I was still working at the United Nations I came to know that the Department of Social Welfare and Development makes said service available to its caseworkers. Provide counselling to address personal problems because emotions emanating from such problems cannot be prevented from seeping into one’s work. Create support groups that will serve as safe environments for unloading and making sense of emotional baggage. Install a counselling and help hotline that guarantees anonymity and confidentiality. Conduct EQ training. Will it be too radical for a company to create a ‘Taksyapo’ area in its premises? With soundproof walling, of course.

Dimension 4: Social health – the ability to interact well with people and to have satisfying interpersonal relationships.

Ideas for the company: In addition to formal teamwork and collaborations, institute socialization activities that bring together employees in a fun context without job pressures. This can be in the form of parties, outings, family days and creation of special interest and skills clubs such as a choir, Toastmasters, mountain climbers, pet owners and the like. The quality time and interaction that takes place in these events will promote better communication, cross fertilization of ideas, interdependence, and healthy respect for diversity. Also, it has been proven that having a true friend in the workplace is one reason why people stay longer in a company.

Dimension 5: Spiritual health – belief in a unifying force, with faith as the core concept. It also means feeling connected with other human beings and believing that one’s life has purpose and meaning.

Ideas for the company: Some companies hold first-Friday masses and conduct regular retreats and yoga and meditation sessions. Set up an interfaith prayer room. Have nature treks. Create an authentic corporate social responsibility program. Encourage employees to render volunteer work in NGOs and to get involved in their communities. Provide life coaching services and appreciate employees’ contributions to the achievement of company goals.

Dimension 6: Environmental health – a healthy, supportive setting in which to function.

Ideas for the company: When implemented, many of the tips given in the five health dimensions above will already help greatly in ensuring environmental health, especially in the psychological sense. In addition, the company’s commitment to health and wellness needs to be institutionalized in its vision, mission and goals, human resource policies and featured in corporate communications. Make health consciousness part of company culture. Role modeling plays an important part. For example, bosses should live healthy lives and not begrudge employees who in good faith and good timing avail of their vacation leave, of the nap room and taksyapo room. For the physical aspect, the following ideas may be considered: invest in ergonomic equipment and tools, basically chairs and keyboards that are body-friendly; and rearrange office layout such that it conforms to the principles of 5S and promotes face-to-face communication. Serve healthy food during meetings and compel the cafeteria to offer healthy food choices. Provide a directory of nearby health and wellness establishments related to the first five dimensions of health, including places of worship and open, green spaces.

Wellness is the degree to which these six dimensions are in balance. Therefore, a company’s health and wellness program needs to promote equal-opportunity participation where there is no stereotyping that certain persons are good at intellectual pursuits and poor at physical activities. Notice also that the tips and ideas address all levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Health is a human right and a shared employer-employee responsibility. The worker needs to keep himself healthy by optimizing the company’s health and wellness program and by living a healthy life inside and outside of the office. This way, workdays will be as enjoyable and as rejuvenating as holidays and long weekends.

True, it will be expensive to institute all of the above but long-term gains will offset the investment. Think reduced downtime and turnover, and increased morale, motivation, employee engagement, productivity, creativity and longevity. Think ‘employer of choice’ branding because of the leverage derived from a comprehensive health and wellness program. Robust employees handle stress better. Workers who are well work well.

(Roel Andag is an independent trainer and HR consultant. He handles the Management Development Program of DMCI Homes. Visit his blog: www.traineroncall.blogspot.com.)

7 online job application blunders (and how to solve them)

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(Published on page J4 of the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 24, 2013, Sunday)

http://www.jobmarketonline.com/blog/7-online-job-application-blunders-and-how-solve-them-roel-andag

By Roel Andag

Contributor

How convenient it is to live in a world where resumes can be sent in a jiffy to companies regardless of time zones and geographic locations. This ease, however, needs to be tempered by carefulness so that these blunders are avoided:

BLUNDER 1: Incorrect attachment. What the applicant thinks was a resume is a scanned receipt of payment for an item.

SOLUTION: Proper labelling of goods. When I buy Coke in can I expect Coke to pour out; I will be jolted if in my first sip my taste buds will tell me it’s another beverage. Whenever I attach my resume to my emails I always check that the file name ‘RoelAndagResume’ actually bears what it promises to deliver.

BLUNDER 2: Overwhelming volume of attachments. NBI clearance, certificates of employment, certificates of training, passport, etc. – yes, these are important documents but they don’t need to be supplied unless the recruiter specifies otherwise. As it is, the recruiter wades through hundreds of applications that a bulk of unnecessary attachments disorients him. A tsunami of unnecessary documents reeks of desperation.

SOLUTION: Attach only a resume. If the recruiter asks for other documents then by all means supply.

BLUNDER 3: Resume with "track changes" in-line editing marks on every page.

SOLUTION: The recruiter doesn’t need to see a resume that is a literal work in progress. When using MS Word’s ‘Track Changes’ option, when the modifications are found to the applicant’s satisfaction, click ‘Accept Changes’– way before submitting the application.

BLUNDER 4: Use of unprofessional email address such as dropdeadgorgeous@yahoo.com. This is not only off putting but a tad too revealing about the applicant’s personality. Yes, this may be a flimsy ground to judge the merit of an application but can you blame the recruiter for forming first impressions, which is a default psychological prioritization function?

SOLUTION: Set up a new email that is simple, straightforward and steady-sounding. Do not automatically accept system-generated email addresses. The ‘firstnamesurname@serviceprovider.com’ format is best. Same goes with profile name, simply use your baptismal name.

BLUNDER 5: Submitting an application without a cover letter.

SOLUTION: Take time to write this all-important piece of communication. An application letter is a jobhunter’s first pawn in the impressions game. It can make his application stand out in the growing pile of submissions. Besides, prefacing an application with a cover letter is basic jobhunting etiquette. Tips: highlight key qualifications that match the company’s job requirement; use bullets and eye-friendly font style and size for visual convenience; err on the side of brevity; observe correct spelling, grammar, punctuation use and the rules of business letter writing.

BLUNDER 6: Not specifying the job title.

SOLUTION: We are the multitalented, multitasking generation. We get confused in our intention to multi-impress and multi-appeal. If there are several positions advertised, do not apply to all. You appear unfocused and indecisive. Be specific because each vacancy uses different qualification parameters. The recruiter does not have the luxury of time to engage in a matching type quiz.

BLUNDER 7: Lame subject line.

SOLUTION: ‘My Application’ or ‘My Resume’ is easy to ignore among tons of other similarly headlined emails. Couple this with an unprofessional email address or profile name and your application might even be mistaken for spam. Follow this format when typing on the subject line:
Application of Roel Andag (for Training Manager). The specificity of the name and the job title, which demonstrates your attention to detail and keen interest on the job, instantly separates your email from those with generic subject lines that reflect sloppiness and lack of original thinking.

Your email application is your chance to project a favorable first impression on the recruitment officer. Make sure you have a high-impact online application before hitting the Send button.

Roel Andag is an independent trainer and HR consultant. He handles the Management Development Program of DMCI Homes. Visit his blog: www.traineroncall.blogspot.com. 

Excellence at Work, Excellence in Life

Tweet Type of Training: Work Excellence Training
Client: Asian Technicon Managers and Consultants, Inc.
Date: March 15-16, 2013
Venue: Whit Cove Resort, San Juan, Laiya, Batangas

Readying the young: training university students on creating career-propelling image, personal and online

Tweet Type of Training: Image With Impact
Client: Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Department of Human Resource Development Management (300+ students and faculty)
Date: March 9, 2013
Venue: PUP Claro M. Recto Hall, Manila

Optimize OJT as talent pool and CSR

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(Published on page J10 of the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 10, 2013, Sunday)

By Roel Andag
Contributor

All year round, thousands of college students enter companies as on-the-job trainees (OJTs). But not all companies take them seriously. At best, they are viewed as stopgap solution to personnel shortage. At worst, some consider OJTs as occasional nuisances, interruptions to daily routine. Companies, however, need to optimize this opportunity as fertile ground for talent development and as corporate social responsibility that focuses on grooming future leaders. Here are some tips:

1. Implement a formal policy explaining the rules of engagement. This policy should define code of conduct, work hours, use of company properties, reporting arrangement with the trainee’s school and other necessary details. This formalizes the company-trainee-school relationship.

2. Conduct formal on-boarding. A simple orientation will be seen as a welcome gesture that eases the school-to-work transition. In the orientation, discuss company vision, mission and goals, organizational structure, history and corporate highlights. Provide OJT kits that contain basic information about the company, OJT ID, timecard and other necessary documents such as the latest annual report. Include a guided tour of the company premises.

3. Provide a job description. Following the on-boarding activity, meet the OJTs to discuss their learning objectives. It is the task of the company representative to manage the expectations of OJTs based on the best extent of learning the company can provide. The mutually agreed learning objectives will be the bases in designing a simple job description that details the OJTs’ responsibilities. Together, the learning objectives and job description will serve as covenant between the OJT and the company and as guideposts in assessing work progress and accomplishments.

4. Give them meaningful tasks. Do not condescend on OJTs by giving them only thoughtless tasks as it will create feelings of insignificance and resentful compliance in the immediate term and cultivate mediocrity in the long term. Explain to the OJTs their potential contribution to the company. As its name implies, the purpose of on-the-job training is for the student to learn practical skills and lessons that are useful in their future workplaces. Whether OJTs are office- or field-based, give them course-appropriate tasks. Such tasks should be doable within the OJTs’ stay with the company. Aside from the daily grind, a creative way of imparting skills and lessons is to let an OJT ‘shadow’ the assigned manager, supervisor or buddy during an 8-hour shift so that the OJT will have a snapshot of what happens during a workday.

5. Keep them motivated. Develop adeptness at managing Gen Y people. Know their motivations – people perform better when they are motivated. Material motivation can be in the form of modest allowance, free ride in the company shuttle and gift certificates. Non-material motivation can include encouraging them to pitch in ideas, monitoring their performance, acknowledging jobs well done, making them attend relevant training, allowing them to sit as observers in company meetings, and providing career counselling. It is also useful to create face-time with the company’s decision makers. Set up one meeting where OJTs can freely interact with the bigwigs who will serve as career role models.

6. Provide performance feedback and be objective in grading them. The grade depends on the grading system set by the school. Through one-on-one sessions, explain to each OJT the bases of the grade given at the end of their stay. Report the OJTs’ performance to the school as well.

7. Conduct a group debriefing or individual exit interviews at the end of the OJT period. A “graduation” ceremony may be organized where awards and recognitions will be given. This will plant in them a good impression about the company and a positive attitude toward work.

8. If warranted, make a job offer. A job offer made to a deserving OJT is the highest form of affirmation. If an OJT demonstrates potential but an offer cannot be made, inform the OJT that the company will keep a close eye on him and to expect a call right after graduation or when the time is right – and actually follow through on this promise. Keep the lines open in the meantime. This will encourage the OJT to succeed.

Implementing these recommendations will result in a win-win situation. The company will solidify its image as an excellent training ground so that OJTs will actually compete for a slot and the company gets to choose the best aspirants. On the other hand, the student completes the 5-unit curricular requirement and will be proud to record in his resume the 250-hour experience with the company, using it as a ticket to a real job. As a youth-centered CSR, the company’s OJT initiative will help raise well trained, competent young people who will soon enter the workforce.

Roel Andag is an independent trainer and HR consultant. He handles the Management Development Program of DMCI Homes. Visit his blog: www.traineroncall.blogspot.com. 

Training on listening - a key communication skill

Tweet Type of Training: Leadership Training (Day 6 of 10)
Client: DMCI Homes, Inc.
Date: March 7, 2013
Venue: DMCI Homes Corporate Office, Makati City