Sha Nacino Shines in PhilHRG Inc.’s First #InspireHR Event

The Philippines HR Group held its very first #InspireHR last 17 February 2018. We can remember that, in order to provide valuable services every year, the PhilHRG Inc., aka Philippines HR Group, offers new and exciting options for our community. In 2017, they have featured the Quarterly learning sessions which has amassed great success and support from you. This year, #InspireHR is an avenue to make the HR community renew its pride and excitement in our chosen career. The sessions are not focused on HR to-do lists or skills that we need for our office work. Rather it focuses on having a worth-while and meaningful work-life blending. The group notices that sometimes, the reason we are not able to do what we need to do as HR is because we do not feel empowered. #InspireHR aims to empower all HR professionals in the Philippines. The last event was provided at absolutely no cost to the community as a way of saying thank you for your support to our volunteerism efforts. It was held at the Meralco Theater in Ortigas and was attended by over 100 participants, volunteers, and sponsors.

As a highlight of the event, guest speaker Ms. Sha Nacino has provided her piece of wisdom on how you can find happiness in your pursuit for success. Her topic was entitled Mission Happiness. Here, she presented 5 important G’s to achieve this: Gratitude, Goal, Growth, Gift and Gold. She said that we need to count our blessing and be thankful for the small things we have. Being thankful for the people around us also helps in achieving happiness. She also said that we need to find growth and development as this helps a lot, too, in achieving happiness. Ms. Sha encouraged everyone to give gifts to the people important to you. She said that it allows you to feel good about yourself and remove bad vibes too. We agree; after all, it is better to give than to receive. She has shared many other tips and has solicited a lot of crowd participation. Everyone truly had a great time while learning and feeling inspired during her session.

The event was a true success; thanks to the invaluable efforts of the new set of PhilHRG CORE Volunteers lead by Ms. Michelle Morales who toiled to ensure that everything is in place. Other members of the new CORE Volunteers group who made the event possible were: Janette Pagaduan, Rea Michelle Morales, Kristine Mercado, Kashmire Eldrimar Alfaro, Marilyn Centino Magallanes, Maria Cristina Lascano, Rosalie Joya, Arvin Jessy Del Rosario, Raul Polo De Vera, Jesica Cedillo, Rolan Cayton, Kristine Bagalawis, Ana Jean Abletis, Haidee Vicente Palacio, Catherine Garica, MBA, Matilde Ortiz, Margie Orate, Sheina Obejero, Shin Khan, Nica Mariz Ignacio, Annie Lyn Leonardo, Dianne Estrella, and Lanie Santos.

Special thanks to Mr. Michael Natividad, Board Member of the PhilHRG, Inc. who was the point-person for the new volunteers. He ensured that the new bloods of volunteers are guided throughout the preparation period. Other Board Members of the PhilHRG who were in the event and helped in the back scene were Ms. Jhoya Morales, Ms. Nhess de Jesus-Lumacad, Mr. Neil Lumacad, and Mr. Philip Nucleus Sia. Ms. Michelle Cordero-Garcia, President of the PMAP, was also there and was very supportive of the advocacy. The Philippines HR Group is rooting to have a partnership event with PMAP very soon. We shall keep you posted.

With many things happening in the organization, we are looking forward to many more news to come. The Philippines HR Group has already been in talks of having more membership benefits for the community and this definitely something to look forward to. Meantime, if you would like to know about other upcoming and exciting events of the PhilHRG, please do not forget to check out our Group FB page frequently. You may also send an email to philippineshrgroup@gmail.com for your inquiries, comments, and suggestions. The Calendar of events has also been posted at the FB page for you.

This article was brought to you by COMPETAD Training and Professional Development Services. COMPETAD supports the advocacy of the Philippines HR Group in providing quality but accessible training programs for the Filipino professionals.

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

The Philippines HR Group has just held its second learning session for 2017 last 24^th 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.

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.

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 24^th of June. To further forward its aims and advocacies, the Philippines HR group will hold another learning session this coming 22^nd of September and will have its 2^nd 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).

Talent Management & Organizational Development

(Featuring our very own Managing Director, Mr. Philip Nucleus Sia I)

PHRG’s Largest Public Event Shook the Ground at 5.6 Magnitude

Not even a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in the afternoon of the 8^th of April was strong enough to shatter the participants’ enthusiasm and eagerness to learn as the Philippines HR Group (PHRG) held its most recent and largest public event at the Philippine Bible Society in UN Avenue, Ermita, Manila. This is the second run of 1^st Quarter’s topic, “Strategies on Prominent Labor and Employee Relations Issues for 2017”. The learning session was attended by 314 participants from all over the Philippines, with some as far as Negros. COMPETAD again participated in the volunteering advocacy as a minor sponsor, with its Managing Director, Mr. Philip Nucleus Sia I, being the master of ceremonies. Our Lead Sales and Marketing Officer was also a member of the event coordination team and ushering committee.

Mr. Darwin Rivers giving an opening remark to the participants of the learning session.

The event started with some fun and games to warm up the early participants then was opened by the Philippines HR Group founder, Mr. Darwin Rivers. After sharing a little history of the organization, his message was about the passion and volunteerism of the team that has put together the event. He emphasized that the volunteers have organized it to truly give back to the community. He also invited the participants to attend the upcoming learning events in June and the PHRG Summit in November 2017.

Mr. Neil Ryan Lumacad, PHRG Core Group Member, giving a prize to a winner of the Early Bird Activities. Our Managing Director at COMPETAD, Mr. Philip Nucleus Sia I, behind them as master of ceremonies.

The first speaker of the day was the Regional Director for the Department of Labor and Employment for NCR, Atty. Johnson Canete. He spoke about the 10 new provisions of the DO174 and how it impacts the HR community. He also talked about a few cases to help everyone understand the prohibition on “Labor-Only Contracting.” This way, HR professionals will know how they can help their companies become compliant. He emphasized that non-compliance to many issues such as not paying the minimum wage requirements, not paying overtime, and other such simple regulations have always plagued the DOLE with complaints from the labor sector and he urged everyone to make a difference. Atty. Johnson has set the bar high for the event has he spoke with passion, humor, and enthusiasm that emanated and connected to the crowd.

Atty. Pol Sanggalang was second to take the stage and shared that the right mindset an HR personnel should have when disciplining employees is their good faith. He elaborated that disciplining shouldn’t be punitive, rather a means of achieving good employee relations, adequate compensation and benefits, good leadership, and supportive training programs. He said that disciplining must be embedded in the company’s policies and must be coherent with an employee’s constitutional rights. For habitual offenders he suggests that documentations of progressive discipline and evidence are a must to ensure that no rights will be violated. His session was a truly valuable and informative segment in the event.

In the afternoon, Mr. Allan Cañete, also a member of the Philippines HR Group, gave a heart-felt but entertainingly witty presentation about how companies can proactively create harmony by adopting an employee-centric culture. He highlighted that the existence of unions indicate a potential dysfunction in the corporation as its need usually arises when employees’ woes are not heard by the management. While he does not discourage the creation of unions, he offered an alternative mindset which he calls POGI (Power of Gratitude Intelligence). He said that by having a positive mindset and actively encouraging a “thanking” attitude in everyone, we can have physiological and sociological benefits both for the individual and the company that will increase the likelihood of a cooperative relationship between employee and management.

Mr. Jaime “Ka James” Estrada ended the day by sharing his experience from his four-decade long journey as an HR professional. He has shared some of his challenges and the ways that he overcame such labor relations issues in the practice of his Human Resource career. He ended his presentation with a touching video clip showing photos of his experience, which gave a melancholic throw-back feel to everyone. It was awe-inspiring.

The audience during the Philippines HR Group Learning Session on Strategies on Prominent Labor and Employee Related Issues in 2017 (April 8, 2017)

Aside from the new knowledge and ideas, the participants of the event also went away with some prizes and freebies from the event’s sponsors that included mugs, umbrellas, a book on Performance Appraisals, and Free Passes to future learning events. The event also encouraged participants to take snapshots with these three official hashtags:

#PhilippinesHRGroup, #PHRGLearningSessions, #PhilippinesHRGroupEvents

Winners will be drawn after the event and shall be posted at the Philippines HR Group Facebook Page. This has truly been a great success for the Phillippines HR Group and a milestone of great magnitude and proportions.