International online payment gateway giant PayPal makes its debut in the Philippines Best Workplaces™ list in 2021 after thoroughly exceeding their employees’ expectations with their compassionate, holistic and big-hearted initiatives taken during the pandemic.
The shift to working from home was made as seamless as possible for employees, with a full suite of work-from-home support in addition to comprehensive medical benefits and even financial aid for employees who found themselves requiring assistance.
To ensure employee wellbeing during the pandemic, the team was supported by PayPal’s global wellness program that focused on the four components of Inform, Inspire, Involve and Integrate, with an entire calendar of events being rolled out throughout the year.
The focus on motivation and wellness continued via the creation of a mobile wellness app called PepTalk that gamified wellness through team and wellbeing challenges. Along with special wellness off-days , a wellness equity grant to make every employee a part-owner of the company as well as a wellness stipend, PayPal event went the extra mile to assuage employee concerns by removing employee performance ratings for an entire cycle.
Employee engagement and personal growth continued to be high on the agenda during the pandemic, with the Leadership Team and ‘MGage’ Team (Manila Get Active, Get Engaged) conducting a slew of virtual engagement activities and using their mobile applications to bring like-minded employees with shared interests together to support one another.
The PayPal Connect app was also significant in keeping employees updated with the continually evolving developments and policies, while a special benefits and resources website was set up so that employees were made aware of the comprehensive suites of benefits they were afforded in line with the pandemic, such as reimbursement for the purchase of home ergonomic office furniture.
Along with deep concern for their employees, PayPal also extended care to the community at large by providing grants to 9 NGOs and partnering with community programs to provide food and tech support. Their most unique community outreach program was the #PayPalitForward campaign. Each employee could nominate up to five people that have inspired them during the Covid-19 pandemic, with each nominee being sent USD $50 along with a personal message from the nominating employee.
Healthcare staff, frontline workers and even janitors were among the recipients of these gifts in what turned out to be a truly memorable campaign. Their stories of Unsung Heroes, which were joyful, innovative, extraordinary and often heartbreaking, were shared online and touched the lives of all employees.
After a game-changing year that truly empowered its team to perform at their best, PayPal employees were glowing in their review. A total of 97% of employees acknowledged that they had special and unique benefits while 98% were proud to tell others they work at PayPal.
