AIA Philippines, known for more than 70 years as Philam Life, the country’s premier life insurance company, recently marked a groundbreaking milestone with its rebrand. As a global brand carrying the AIA Group name, it is all set to further its Hong Kong-based parent company’s Purpose of helping people live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives.

As part of its forward-thinking master plan, AIA Philippines is slowly making changes in its organization guided by key strategies of the AIA Group. An integral part of this transformation is its goal of empowering and upskilling its workforce through its people development strategy, with various programs and platforms for learning introduced to employees early this year.

“AIA Philippines is made up of passionate and talented individuals who are at the core of the company’s strength. While the people development strategies were already in place even before the pandemic, it was the lockdown that forced us to accelerate the changes to adapt,” explains AIA Philippines Chief Human Resource Officer Ellen Imasa. “The shift to digital was very abrupt and as a 74-year-old company, there were a lot of things we had to learn and unlearn. To make sure that everyone can get onboard with these changes, we had to go back to skills rebuilding to ensure that everyone is equipped and on the same page.” 

Led by its Human Resources Department, AIA Philippines zoomed in on three approaches enabled by technology, digital, and data analytics. The objective was to make sure that employees take charge of their growth by making learning accessible anytime, anywhere, ensuring that opportunities for upskilling are available; showing them the career opportunities open to them that will hone them into the next generation leaders of AIA Philippines.

Accessible Virtual Learning Platforms

To provide learning opportunities to its employees, AIA Philippines partnered with Udemy for Business and Dot Native, with the intention of building the foundational understanding of digital among employees across the organization. A collection of courses called Learning Paths were made available through easily accessible virtual classrooms. Each individual can choose among various courses that may pique their interests in digitalization and technology.

The different learning paths available through Udemy include Agile, for those who want to become an agile coach or scrum master; Development, for future business systems analysts or front-end developers; and Human-Centered Design for user experience designers. Other learning paths include data management, technological risk, government and compliance, business continuity management, and Power BI upskilling.

Aside from Udemy for Business, employees can also access Dot Native, a scalable online platform where they can apply what they have learned, monitor their progress, and receive certifications essential for their career growth. In partnership with Avado Learning, the Dot Native online learning campus comprises modules on how organizations can adapt to digital, think through the eyes of their customers and adapt, and learn the tricks of iterative working.

Fostering a Community for Growth

Employees are not only given access to learning platforms, they are also encouraged to share their passion and knowledge to fellow employees, turning what was once a healthy working environment into a better one—an environment conducive to growth.

Communities of Practice was introduced where best practices can be shared and new knowledge can be created. This shared community focuses on five important pillars aligned with the Udemy Learning Paths—Program Management, Data and Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Human-Centered Design, and Business Process Engineering.

To encourage employees to join these communities, regular events are scheduled to urge them to complete their Udemy courses and converge with fellow employees. The end goal is for those with opportunity to get certified to do so in their field of interest. On the other hand, a capstone project applying their learnings that will solve specific organizational challenges will be the culminating activity for the fields that don’t have certification.

Building Tomorrow’s Leaders

With AIA Philippines going through organizational restructuring, employees are given clearer career options, with the choice of pursuing a generalist or specialist path. Human Resource regularly conducts sessions that give employees the tools that will support and guide them in their chosen path. These sessions go hand in hand with regular employee dialogues with their managers, helping them define the direction they want to take within the organization.

“Thanks to digital technology, we are slowly achieving our vision of turning AIA Philippines into not just a workplace but a university of learning. We are confident that this will further fuel our people’s passion and help them deliver excellent results, leading to employees who are well-equipped to take whatever path they choose for themselves,” Imasa states.

“At AIA Philippines, we are strengthening the organization by providing our employees the means by which they can build their career. Here they have the opportunity to own their growth and drive their success, whichever path they choose,” explains AIA Philippines Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Ang. “Helping people live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives is not just for customers, but starts within the organization with our own people whose work allows them to live their purpose,” he adds in closing. 

Indeed, behind the continued success of AIA Philippines is a thriving community of people empowered, equipped, and inspired to achieve their purpose.

Click here for more information about AIA Philippines, or here to visit AIA Philippines’ Facebook page, email [email protected], or call (02) 8528-2000.