Last March 3, Great Place To Work® (GPTW), the global authority on workplace culture, presented through a virtual event the ten organizations named as the Philippines’ Best Workplaces 2021. The honorees were identified by GPTW Philippines’ team of culture consultants as having a high-trust, high-performance culture for employees based on the Trust Index™ Dimensions, which are: Credibility, Respect, Fairness, Pride, and Camaraderie.
Great Place to Work® is the organization behind the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For™ list since 1998, which gathers and evaluates employee high-performance cultures using their rigorous methodology. Their annual research represents the voices of more than 12 million employees from companies of varying sizes and industries, in over 60 countries worldwide.
Being Great Pace to Work-Certified™ is the first step for a company to qualify for the prestigious award. Being a great workplace can be accomplished by any company that makes a genuine, committed effort to achieve a high-trust, high-performance culture, as exhibited by this year’s awardees.
CEO of Sutherland Global Philippines, Deepak Nair, fully supports taking on the process of the journey to becoming GPTW-certified. “Our having the Great Place to Work certification means a lot to all of us. It’s not just because of the title but because it shows that our people value the efforts we made to create great employee experiences.”
“It only takes 3 simple steps to become GPTW-certified. First, launch our Trust Index™ Survey. This is our research-backed employee experience survey. Then, provide us with your Culture Brief. And Step 3, meet GPTW’s criteria. That’s it,” explains Great Place to Work Philippines Sales Manager, Karissa Huyong.
New Heroes for the New Normal
“Honoring The Heroism Of Filipino Workers And Employers” was the theme for this year’s awarding ceremony. The 10 organizations were recognized for their bold acts of leadership and heroic response to the COVID-19 crisis, in relation to how they protected and took care of their people; going above and beyond to ensure the utmost wellbeing of their employees and their families.
“Indeed, the year 2020 was a very challenging time for our countrymen, particularly from the labor and business sectors. But the damage could have been worse if not for the Bayanihan spirit of our people. My congratulations to all the honorees! May your exemplary deeds serve as inspiration to others,” said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, as he congratulated the winners during the virtual event.
This year’s Great Place To Work® Philippines awardees are:
DHL Express Philippines, a company that specializes in express delivery of documents and parcels to over 220 countries and territories worldwide emerged as the top awardee, with 98% of its employees saying it is a great workplace. The pandemic did not stop DHL Express from connecting people and businesses securely and reliably, thus putting them at the forefront of the global fight against COVID-19. The pandemic had a major impact on DHL’s operations, but they remained focused on employee safety as they continue to provide service for their customers. To minimize the risk of exposure, alternate schedules were implemented, while resources were used to provide temporary accommodations and shuttle services.
“DHL Express Philippines is built on a strong foundation that is based on trust, open communication, passion, and most importantly, love. This is why we cannot separate work from personal. Each one of us has shown passion to uplift each other because DHL is personal to us,” explained Human Resource Director for DHL Express Philippines, Norberto dela Cruz, on why every member of the DHL family is committed to making the situation work for them.
Synchrony Global Services Philippines is second on the list, with 95% of its employees saying it is a great workplace,. A subsidiary company that manages Synchrony Financial’s call center operations, it already enforced precautionary measures to protect their employees prior to the implementation of the ECQ. Employees who volunteered to be housed in nearby hotels were provided with free accommodations as well as transportation services, free on-site meals, and work allowance.
SVP and Business Leader for Synchrony Global Services Philippines, Liwayway Langit, expressed her appreciation of the citation, on behalf of the company, “It’s an honor to be recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in the Philippines. Caring for one another, especially amidst the challenges we faced in 2020, demonstrates the big heart that we have for our people and for our company. This is a tribute to Synchrony’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and employee development, and it reaffirms that when we work together, we can make our culture even stronger.”
In third place is Canva Philippines, with 94% of its employees saying it is a great workplace. Canva has over 40 million monthly active users across over 190 countries, working together on a mission to empower everyone to design. At the onset of the pandemic, the company prioritized staying connected with staff, provided them with a daily food stipend and transportation for employees. Canva also shared its software to support tens of thousands of teachers, students and non-profits.
Other winners on the list are: 4th place – S&P Global; 5th place – American Express; 6th place – Atlassian; 7th place – Paypal; 8th place – Ericsson; 9th place – Ingram Micro; and 10th place – Western Union AROC.
In her speech during the virtual event, Antoniette Talosig, GPTW Philippines’ Managing Partner said, “Faced with unprecedented circumstances where one could easily falter, it is heartening to witness many companies with leaders who bravely took the stand to put their people first. It is no surprise that in these organizations, amidst the economic uncertainties, mental and social stresses, their employees did whatever it require of them to rebuild their operations, serve their customers, support their co-workers, and to keep their businesses going.”
Visit our event page for more information about this year’s Best Workplaces awardees.
