PhilHRG Kicks off 2018 with New Volunteers and More Exciting Activities

by Nuke Sia

After the first 2018 board meeting of the Philippines HR Group last 5 January 2018, the PhilHRG gathered yet a new group of volunteers to handle some of activities of the organization. With a number that has grown to almost 80,000 online members, the need for more helping hands has increased. Last 20 January 2018, the organization has called for another meeting which was attended by 20 volunteers, 9 of which were repeat volunteers and 11 new bloods. We would like to share with you some of the exciting things that happened during the event.

Founder and President Darwin Rivers started the session by walkingthe volunteers through the early beginnings of the PhilHRG Inc and the origins of its advocacy. In the meeting were three other members of the board, Mr. Michael Natividad, Ms. Jocelyn Alosbanos, and Mr. Philip Nucleus (Nuke) Sia. The group has welcomed the new volunteers by sharing with them the new activities that the Philippines HR Group would be spearheading for the country’s HR professionals this year. The new volunteers was a mix of HR managers, HR assistants, and HR supervisors. They were hyped and energized by the upcoming activities. A short introduction session got the volunteers familiar with each other. Mr. Rivers set everyone’s expectation that all volunteers of the PhilHRG are treated equally regardless of company ranks and ages.  He encouraged the volunteers to live by the values of the Philippines HR Group as they represent its advocacies and take part in its activities. The volunteers were provided a time to meet amongst themselves and create committees for upcoming activities of the organization after they were told about the activities for this year.

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So what is in store for 2018? A lot!

#InspireHR. There are many activities to look forward to this year. Aside from the usual advocacy to provide development and learning to all HR practitioners in the archipelago, the organization would like to bring in what we call #InspireHR. We have seen that some practitioners can perform well if they are motivated in their work. This will be the goal of #InspireHR. This will be several sessions within the year where we will invite practitioners from different industries to talk about the HR challenges, experiences, and trends that aim to excite and inspire. Contrary to the learning events where we discuss the technical and administrative aspects of HR, #InspireHR is non-technical, easy to the ears, non-brain intensive, and is aimed at building pride in our line of work. Schedules will be posted in a separate flyer at the Philippine HR Group FB page, so watch out!

PhilHRG Job Fair Event. Recruitment and pooling talents is one important aspect of the HR function. The organization has decided to provide a solid support for our community in this area. Aside from the learning sessions, we will help you gather talents from all over the country to hire for your company. The aim is to provide an avenue for our network of HR professionals to be connected to people with the appropriate skills. Not much has been shared yet about the specifics but the target date for the Job Fair is on the 19th of May 2018. For more details on how you can participate, you may send an email to Philippineshrgroup@gmail.com or just wait for further announcement at our PhilHRG facebook page.

PhilHRG Headquarters. As the non-profit organization grew, having a place where its volunteers can regularly meet to plan out high-quality events for the community became a must. With the HR community’s support, the organization is aiming to establish a headquarters before the end of the year. This will make communications with the participants and the entire community more fluid and easier. No details yet in regard to this, but if anyone in the community have suggestions for a cost effective place for our headquarters, you may contact PhilHRG Board Members Rhonadale Florentino or Michael Natividad. You may also contact Mr. Darwin Rivers directly.

Continued High-Value but Low-Cost Learning Events. Similar to last year when the organization has established quarterly learning sessions, we will still have seminars that will be offere to the public at very very friendly prices. We have an ongoing talk to team up with one of the top universities in the Philippines to provide us with a venue for our community to hold our learning events. This is a great opportunity to continue on of the main facets or service that PhilHRG would like to give to the country’s HR.

Aside from all these exciting things to look forward to, the PhilHRG is also planning to create a website that will provide official, valuable, and timely content to keep us abreast with what is going on in the HR community.  Of course there are lots more to happen and we will continue to keep you updated through our FB page.

PHRG Pursues Its Aim at A.I.M. Makati

The Philippines HR Group has just held its second learning session for 2017 last 24th of June at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati. We can recall that aside from building the largest HR network in the country, the organization aims to provide its online members an access to value but cost effective education to enhance the HR leadership and practice in the country. This event is another milestone in the public learning sessions of the PHRG. This session’s topic was Talent Management and Organizational Development. Recalling the previous sessions in April, Mr. Darwin Rivers has highlighted that the core members and volunteers work on the advocacy out of the love of the Human Resource profession. Despite not receiving any monetary compensation for their work, they have truly delivered in this session just like every other. The speakers were Ms. Michelle Garcia-Cordero, Ms. Penny Bongato, Mr. Edwin Ebreo, Ms. Daphne Granfil and our very own Managing Director, Mr. Philip Nucleus Sia I.

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Ms. Michelle Garcia-Cordero started the session with a talk about Disruptive Innovation. She highlighted that the current generation should not be thinking out of the box, instead totally remove the box. She described disruptive innovation as that which creates market and value network and eventually disrupts existing markets and value networks, displacing market-leading firms, products, and alliances.  She spoke about work that were not existing 10 years ago that are highly demanded in today’s business world. She also said that there are more new opportunities as we change the meaning of work from a place we go to into something that more integrated to our daily lives.

Ms. Penny Bongato discussed the different facets of employee engagement. She said that we can engage our employees by making them enjoy what they do. People need to believe in what they can do and feel valued for it. Ms. Bongato said that engaging people means making them feel satisfied. As people are the biggest drivers for success in a company, she discussed that there are six critical levels to address in order to engage them. These are: Engagement Surveys and Analysis, Coaching and Performance, Employee Communication, Learning and Careers, Rewards and Recognition, and Health and Well-Being.

The next speaker Mr. Edwin Ebreo focused on the right mindset toward Training and Development. He stated that while most companies have training programs and may even outsource training services, they see it as a commodity that they can readily buy. However, he encourages that companies and HR take a look at the bigger picture. For instance, he stated there were companies who request for customer service training for the frontline staff but does not involve their managers in the undertaking. Mr. Ebreo encouraged the HR professionals to include the leaders in such because transformation can only be achieved when the leaders support it and know it as much as the rank and file.

Our Managing Director, Mr. Philip Nucleus “Nuke” Sia I, was the next speaker and he talked about how to measure training programs. He discussed the “Four Levels of Training Evaluation” that was developed by Donald Kirkpatrick. Afterward, he also gave the crowd an overview on measuring training and making proposals using ROI. He provided a sample scenario on how to compute ROI. While he said that there are times that we may not need to measure ROI, he ended his session by highlighting that if we truly want to consider training as an “investment” when presenting it to managers, businessmen, and investors, it has to be measured in the same way that we do any other investment – by the returns it gives to the company.

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Ms. Daphne Granfil ended the session with a bang. She did a full training hour complete with some musical intermissions and activities to liven up the crowd. She discussed how to present a training proposal to decision makers. She said that one important way of doing it is by presenting it as a story. According to her, communicating your proposal isn’t just about your idea. It is also about how you make other people see its worth. Ms. Granfil said that preparation is the key in communicating your idea.

The Philippines HR Group is in the process of collating feedback gathered from the participants during the event but, even before they could, email has already poured in from the HR community thanking the group for the valuable session they have conducted this 24th of June. To further forward its aims and advocacies, the Philippines HR group will hold another learning session this coming 22nd of September and will have its 2nd Annual HR Summit on November. The specific date for the summit has not been announced yet, but its founder, Mr. Darwin Rivers has said that they will release the information as soon as it is available.

Aside from the learning, there were raffle items from the sponsors and souvenir shirts available near the registration booth. It was a great opportunity to learn, meet new friends, and connect with others in the HR community. If you have not been part of this learning session and would like to be part of the next, you may contact the Philippines HR Group through facebook or email (philippineshrgroup@gmail.com).

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