According to recent studies, the Filipino employee’s perception of their organization’s incentive and rewards programs has been changing. The emerging trends are:
- Less than 65% of employees believe their employee rewards programs cater to their personal needs
- Less than 60% believe they receive appropriate recognition for their efforts
- Less than 70% believe their performance impacts their compensation and rewards
One of the key levers helping Philippine organizations drive and manage growth is human capital. The Philippines has a well-educated, young, and growing workforce. However, rising salary costs has been a top concern of employers. There is now a greater need for Filipino companies to differentiate and motivate their employees and top talent, especially for the BPO and Call Center companies to remain globally competitive.
1. Employees Feel Welcome and Part of the Team
Filipinos are family oriented and generally like to belong to a group. Furthermore, they like to feel that they are part of a family. Thus, a lot of successful family-led companies have survived and grown for a long time including the Ayala Corporation, SM Investments Corporation, First Philippine Holdings, and Aboitiz Equity Ventures. Meaningful relationships with co-workers have a big impact on motivating and retaining employees. Making employees feel part of a team and the greater company is crucial for engagement and productivity.
2. A Clear Sense of Purpose
Filipino employees need to believe that they are contributing to the success of an organization before they can accept performance incentives. This is why open dialogue and forums work best for Filipino employees. They need to feel they are heard and are part of the “family” (organization) so they can be validated.
3. More Compassionate Leadership
It’s a common saying that “people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses.” It turns out that the opposite is also true. An inspiring manager creates more team engagement. According to research by leadership development experts Dr. Brad Shuck and Maryanne Honeycutt-Elliott, “higher levels of engagement comes from employees who work for a compassionate leader—one who is authentic, present, has a sense of dignity, holds others accountable, leads with integrity and shows empathy.”
4. Make Recognition and Rewards Specific and Personal
Another issue Filipino employees have with recognition programs is that they’re generic. If your approach to recognition is one size fits all, then you’re not demonstrating to employees that they’re valued.
A personal approach is more appreciated by employees. It is best to let employees pick their own way to celebrate their hard work. Let them choose the reward they want. It is extremely difficult for HR or any human being to know what reward each employee wants at any given time. Leading companies found that using a Rewards and Recognition Program that lets employees choose their own perks based on what motivated them the most is most effective and sustainable.
5. Work/Life balance is now Work/Life blend
With the new Work-From-Home law of the Philippines now in effect, the working environment has changed. Filipinos are now embracing flexibility. For many job-functions there are no longer definitive reasons to require people to come into the office every day, or for work to be done between the hours of 9am and 5pm.
The use of technology has made communication and work to be time and location independent. Filipinos are family oriented and prefer to be able to attend to family matters as work and living conditions change. Outcome-based vs. time-based performance framework is fast becoming a need.
6. Appreciative Management Culture
Filipinos want to be accepted for who they are while being appreciated for their efforts by their managers and peers. This is especially felt by the younger generations of Millennials and GenZ. While the older generations of Baby boomers have a different set of experiences and expectations, a common thread binds the Filipino workforce in companies that demonstrate a culture of appreciation for the efforts of their employees.
7. Environment to Learn and Excel
Filipino employees especially the Millennials who represent more than 50% of working Filipinos value a company that supports learning and development as a structured means for them to excel and advance in their careers. Filipino employees want to know there is a way for them to learn and contribute to the success of the company and their professional growth.
8. Promote From Within
Employees working for Philippine companies regardless of age, highly appreciate a culture of "promoting from within". A company culture that promotes within its ranks fosters loyalty and dedication from its employees. A performance based culture that recognizes its Filipino employees for their contributions and demonstrated skills to take the next level will sustain its workforce, attracting and retaining top talent.
9. Connect the Younger Generation to the Big Picture
Don’t assume that young Filipinos already see the big picture, much less understand the objective of every task or project they are doing. They don’t need more content as much as they do context—not just information but also interpretation. This creates engagement and answers the question why they are doing what you asked them to do.
Filipino Millennials are generally purposeful people: they would rather do things that have personal meaning to them. And to be honest, that’s all they need to be and stay motivated. When you tell them WHY, they’ll find their WAY, and this process enables them to see how valuable they are to the team and the organization as a whole.
All these insights can help you assess if your company has the right culture and Employee Programs in place to thrive in the new environment and the emerging Filipino workforce trends. Since customers are the lifeblood of any company. We can appreciate the saying “Happy employees produce happy customers”.