HTMT Global Solutions keep their employees happy and motivated
By Marla Silayan Gonzalez
PROFILE Photos
by Roselle Aguilar
Festive treats and gifts await agents of HTMT Global Solutions Ltd. who will be on duty during Christmas and New Year’s Eve – holidays traditionally spent with the family.
“We try to provide a home environment during those days as these are times which are traditionally meant for the family,” says Vida Candida Arciaga, the Assistant Vice-President for Human Resources of HTMT Global Solutions Ltd. “We celebrate noche buena and media noche with dinner buffet, intermission numbers, day-long and night-long videoke, and every so often we draw raffle prizes for those on duty,”
Philosophy of fun and family
The company philosophy of fun, a take-charge culture and being part of a family motivates employees to stay loyal to the organization. Vida Arciaga states that they do encourage their employees to feel that their place of work can be a second home.
She says, “We have sleeping quarters for them to rest in during rest periods. These are in-between shifts when agents are requested to render continuous work whether as overtime or the extended shift due to swapping arrangements. They can also rest before leaving for home, or when the weather conditions make it difficult to leave the premises after their shift, or if they are really tired. We also have a gym which has a karaoke room and Internet kiosks where they can surf the Net.”
HTMT leaders and management have established the dynamic culture and warm cozy work atmosphere. The value of treating people well in a family-oriented environment was clearly felt when she became part of the HTMT family. Vida’s personal philosophy of treating employees fairly while upholding the company’s bottom line has cascaded down the ranks through the different programs implemented by her team. “It is tremendously important for me that I am empowered by my company to help us reach our business goals and at the same time treat employees fairly,” she says.
Employee-friendly programs
The festive atmosphere during Christmas and New Year’s Eve is just one of the programs instituted by HR to keep their people happy and interested in staying on with the company. The HR staff, led by Vida herself, are present during these so-called critical work days and accompany the employees on duty even though they are entitled to take a break during the holidays.
At least once every month, HTMT also holds free food days where booths and stalls are stationed at the parking lot, offering cotton candy, fishballs and squid balls, hotdogs, cheese wraps, and at times pasta, tacos and sorbetes for employees to enjoy.
Aside from being stress relievers to individual employees, these activities also promote closer ties among account members and definitely establish engagement and commitment among them. They are designed by teams or by accounts who make the agents feel pride in representing their respective programs. Nevertheless, the camaraderie and collaboration developed among the different accounts or teams prevents too much rivalry and divisiveness.
A “Kick-off Party” ushers in the new fiscal year wherein employees don their formal attire as it is a red carpet night. Employees look forward to the opportunity to dress up and show off their talents during the program. This year’s production and intermission numbers showcased everyone’s diverse talents that range from singing, dancing, and acting to playing musical instruments and others. The employees also brought out their inner fashionista in the outfits they wore during the special evening.
Including the families
As a company that values family, HTMT’s programs include the family members of their employees. Flexible benefits like “Choices” provide options for employees on the mode of availing their leave credits or flex fund.
The company’s benefits statement or contract includes a portion that reminds or encourages employees to show the document to their families before they sign off.
Mothers’ Day this year had a makeover treat for several mommies. The winners were eventually featured as models for the company’s job advertisement. Dads also participated in a photo shoot and the best one emerged as HTMT’s endorser on Fathers’ Day.
During the celebration of Customer Service Week last October, the company allowed family members to put up booths and stalls, dubbed as the Employees’ Bazaar or tiangge, where they sold food, garments, accessories, gadgets and other assorted items.
Family members are welcome during sports activities which are usually held on weekends. Some bring picnic meals or arrive early to practice before the competition. The weekends in July to September were spent at the Club 650 for their basketball tournament. The volleyball tournament started last October.
Family members are also encouraged to join team building exercises out of town. Employees are given a budget to work with which they can augment if they want.
Halloween is the most special day for children of employees who are showered with treats, an abundance of food, magic shows, puppet shows, games and goodies to bring home. During this time, they can see where their dad or mom works and are toured around the facilities. They also get to see different areas dressed up for Halloween. Some kids are scared of the creepy décor, but many are amazed by the creative designs their parents put up in their respective stations for this occasion.
Vida’s own 12-year-old daughter, Kaise, has developed an appreciation for her mom’s work.
Occasionally, whenever allowed, she visits her mother at the office. It is Vida’s way of making up for lost time with her daughter because her work is a 24/7 commitment.
Vida also plays mom to the employees whom she pampers with specialties like fettucine, dinuguan, bopis, pancit and other lutong bahay.
They regard her as a colleague, friend, sister, and mentor whose care and thoughtfulness for her employees is balanced by her upholding of discipline and company values.
Coping with challenges
Vida understands that work is not all that occupies their people. They may experience difficulties in other areas of their life where an objective ear and advice are valuable. She and her night shift team do a lot of counseling.
“My HR staff and I accommodate employees with personal problems that may affect work,” she says. “Our employees appreciate the fact that they feel better after every session. They know that the company listens to and cares for them.” The counseling service is open to staff and their families. Delicate cases involve not just the employees but loved ones as well. Hence, as necessary, counseling may extend to an employee’s spouse or partner, sibling, friend, or anybody significant to the person or the situation.
The company adheres to strict occupational safety and health regulations and have taken measures to increase the safety of their people outside the office compound. Since traveling at night can be dangerous, they have coordinated with their barangay officials and the police. Vida says, “We have roving police patrol and we decided to invest in improving the lighting on the road and extended our security service to the overpass.”
Overall, the endeavors and efforts have decreased absenteeism and boosted performance. Their employees stay an average of three to four years and their attrition rate from top to bottom is less than 40% center-wide.
These figures demonstrate that showing staff that management cares for their welfare is good for employee morale which translates to better performance and a healthy bottom line.
