Globe Telecom Inc., along with its two major shareholders, Ayala Corporation and Singtel, advocated "reinvention" of businesses to keep up with the times and foster a positive work culture.
In a fireside chat on Purposeful CEOs, the leaders of the three companies talked about the industry’s evolution in the aftermath of COVID-19.
First of all, people are having different expectations, so there is no room for complacency, says Globe Group President and CEO Ernest Cu.
This prompted the company to work harder to make careers meaningful for employees in the industry.
“If you continue to do what you're used to doing, you're not going to be an exciting industry. And when it's no longer exciting, you won't attract good talent. That's the start of the downward spiral,” Cu maintained.
Even though Globe has been named the employer of choice in the Philippines, the market is catching up. More companies are trying to win talent over and attract new ones, he noted.
It was this situation that drove Globe to move beyond telco and develop an ecosystem around its core business.
Right now, the telco offers diverse high-growth technology driven enterprises in health tech, fintech, adtech, edutech, entertainment, and e-commerce, among others.
Ayala Corporation, for its part, conducts employee performance appraisals where individuals and supervisors discuss, set, monitor and measure performance against agreed targets.
It also conducts career discussions and performance improvements yearly.
Ayala created two boards, the usual set of leaders and another one composed of the younger generation to come up with proposals on the corporate direction.
However, on top of performance ratings and bringing in new people, Globe rotates its workforce, enabling employees to be moved around different areas in the organization so they can grow.
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“I think at all levels, we should start exposing and moving people around," says Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon, who also spent five years in Indonesia as part of his career development in Singtel.
"I’ve been speaking with all the CEOs. Let’s start to identify and create opportunities for our people. This is not just for the company but also for individual development,” he noted. "It’s good when you’re in rotation."
Significantly, the three companies stressed the importance of putting the welfare of employees first.
This became most apparent during the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and the lockdowns that followed.
“I think the one thing we realized (during the pandemic) is the importance of taking care of our people. If you don't take care of your people, they will not take care of the business and your customer. So, we had to do a lot more for our people,” Moon acknowledged.
Singtel, for instance, had to go the extra mile to provide accommodations for its frontliners from neighboring Malaysia, who were trapped in Singapore after the government suddenly closed its borders.
Despite having the opportunity to return to their families later on, the grateful staff stayed and continued to lay down fiber to hospitals and homes.
As a result, Singtel was the only network in Singapore that held up during the whole period.
Globe showed the same concern for people espoused by Singtel and Ayala from the beginning of the crisis in its Alagang Globe program.
“I think that’s a key learning for all of us. As organizations, our health, our wellness, and our well being are absolutely critical to the success of the institution as we move on,” says Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Chairman of Ayala Corporation.
“A company without a purpose is a company without a soul," Moon underscored.
"Our purpose is the North Star that guides us, why we exist. Having this Singtel Group purpose becomes a lot more meaningful to many of our stakeholders. But most importantly, it starts with our employees. With every one of us.”
Uplifting people’s lives, obsessing about the customer, and innovating to create positive impact are also behind Globe’s purpose.
“In everything we do, we treat people right to do a Globe of Good,” affirmed Cu.
Similarly, Ayala reinvents the way things work and meet evolving demands through practical solutions balancing quality and affordability.
“This broad purpose to help the country grow is something that we at the Ayala Corporation feel very strongly about. We’ve said it many times that we always wanted the goals of Ayala to be aligned with national development,” Zobel concluded.