Life Coaching in the Workplace – A Key Ingredient for Success

If you have lead people, you would agree that one of the most challenging things about it is making them follow instructions. People have varying points of views and background. Some people are more assertive than others. Some are fast learners, while some are average. We cannot have cookie-cutter approach to manage these individuals. Sometimes, even the levels of commitment individuals give toward achieving a goal differ. Are there any ways that you can make employees motivated so that they can do their tasks effectively and more consistently?

Coaching is an effective tool for improving in supporting the professional development of your employees. According to studies, employees stay in an organization when they feel that their career development is being supported by the company. Coaching provides your employees an opportunity to feel that they are supported.

What is Coaching?

For most, coaching is giving instructions and providing details to employees. When we hear the word, we usually think of a sports coach saying exactly what the players need to do. It seems to be a one way street. However, there is more to coaching employees than just this. While in a ball game, a quick instruction that players need to follow for an hour or two is easy, it is more challenging in the office when instructions and feedback must last for far longer than an hour or two. Coaching is about listening and having a conversation. It is about facilitating the processes of reflecting, thinking, and understanding. Below are some of the important things coaching can give to us:

Office-culture Integration

When we hire employees, they don’t usually have the company culture in mind. Through coaching, we will be able to align our employees to our company values. Mentoring and coaching our employees during the first few months of their stay with the company is crucial in developing a sense of ownership and accountability. Coaching, when consistently done, shall allow employees to see how the company values support their work. Awareness that is built through coaching also allows employees to truly imbibe the culture and values we would like to encourage at work.

Professional Development

While having a training and development program is important for professional growth, coaching provides you with an effective means of follow through and support. Whatever our employees learned in class or during an on-the-job or class training can be refined by providing coaching. Companies who have supported their training programs with consistent coaching have proven that the skills learned through training are more easily applied to the workplace. By providing coaching, supervisors are able to check how much knowledge their employees gained from training. Since coaching provides an avenue for open communication, leaders will be able to assess what is lacking, too.In turn, this can be communicated to the training department as feedback, which helps refine whatever professional development programs you already have in place. Employees who have received coaching also strongly feels the impact of their training to their professional development.

Employee Satisfaction

A big fraction of employees leaving the company results from a feeling of lack of value. By having a coaching system in place, people feel valued as they know what they can improve and they are empowered to implement changes in their own work. Similarly, those who are responsible for giving coaching will be able to see their impact to others’ lives and career. This gives them a sense of fulfillment. Of course, the more people working effectively in their teams, the more productive the company becomes, which helps leaders feel a sense of direction too. With coaching, not only will the rank-and-file employees feel satisfied with their work, the leaders as well. All these will positively affect employee morale and engagement and greatly reduce employee attrition as well.

How to Get These Benefits?

In order to take advantage of these great benefits from coaching, learning the proper way of coaching is key. This starts with having leaders who truly understand its meaning. They must be armed with the skills and knowledge in implementing proven and proper methodologies for coaching. Remember that coaching isn’t about telling; it is about listening and guiding. It is important to ask powerful questions; questions that will uncover intention, reasons, and understanding. The goal of the coach is to help the employee identify these important pieces of information and empower them so that they can use these to make changes in performance. Coaching therefore is a reflective activity facilitated by a well-trained coach.

If you would want to learn how to apply the life coaching principles in your office, you may learn about it online, research, or read books. You can also look for videos discussing the concepts of life coaching. These resources will definitely help you have an understanding of how you can apply the concepts effectively in the workplace. You may also enroll in our upcoming coaching workshop and be guided by our certified coaches. You can ask questions and also consult with them during the training session. Our next session shall be on the 19^th of May 2018. You may click here for more information. For inquiries, you may also call us through (02)4333342 or through mobile (0998)5624984 to 85.

PhilHRG Kicks off Sigma-Design Sprint on Its 1st 2018 Learning Session

In 2017, the Philippines HR Group announced its commitment to provide consistent and quality learning sessions to the HR community throughout the year. This year, they delivered this by having its first Learning Session which was entitled “Lean Six-Sigma for HR & Design Sprint Methodology”, which was held on March 3, 2018 at D’Cup Coffee Republic located at the 2/F Pioneer St. Market Reliance Street, Mandaluyong City.

The event was attended by almost a hundred participants and volunteers. The concept of Six Sigma and Design Sprint for HR is quite young in the Philippines but, despite that, the support provided by the community is not short of overwhelming. Our invited speaker is premier in the line of Six Sigma Methodology Mr. Rex Jayson Tuozo, CIE, MBB, CMP. He talked about the different concepts of Six Sigma and its importance as a Tool for the Human Resource Professional. He taught several concepts during the session in which the crowd’s favorite was about SIPOC (Supplier, Input, Process, Output, Customer). Our speaker for the Design Sprint Methodology is Mr. Arthur Flores, Jr. who is known as the “Sprint King” was our second speaker. He talked about the 5 step methodology of Design Sprint and taught the community how to use this tool in their HR processes. Both speakers provided not only an interesting talk about their respective topics but also a quick workshop to get everyone more accustomed to the concepts and tools being introduced to the community. It was an afternoon filled with valuable information and the community can’t help but feel that they want to learn more.

The Philippines HR Group has also sold T-shirts and gave away lots of goodies. They provided freebies as well from those who came from far provinces such as Quezon Province and Ilo-ilo. Inclusive in the prizes were books from Ms. Sha Nacino “Money and Me”and “Mission Happiness.” You may recall that Ms. Nacino was our guest speaker from the very first #InspireHR of the Philippines HR Group last February 2017. There were also mugs from our sponsors that were given away. Not only did everyone go home with new knowledge at hand, they also have new goodies with them. Once again, the Philippines HR Group has successfully gathered our community for another session of learning and getting-to-know session. There were several repeat attendees, and the PhilHRG Inc. Board Members are truly happy about this, too.

Attendees from the Board Members included Mr. Neil Lumacad, Ms. Nhess De Jesus-Lumacad, Ms. Abigail Hernandez, Ms. Jocelyn Morales, Mr. Michael Natividad, CHRP Ms. Joseline Alosbanos, and Mr. Philip Nucleus Sia I, CHRP, who was also the host of the program. Founder and President Mr. Darwin Rivers was also in the event and gave the opening remarks of the program. The volunteers who assisted in this event were: Lanie Santos, Michelle Morales, Bryan Aquilino, Arvin Jessy Del Rosario, Kristine Martinez Bagalawis, Marilyn Magallanes, Raul Polo Devera, Rosalie Joya, Janette Aliwanag Pagadduan; Rolan S. Cayton, Charlie Mae D. Manaligod, Haidee V. Palacio, Nica Mariz G. Ignacio, Margie M. Orate, Marvin Zoilo, Catherine B. Garcia, MBA, Brian P. Guzarem, Jesica R. Cedillo, Maria Cristina C. Lascano, Kristine Comia Mercado, Kashmire Eldrimar Alfaro, and Sheila Espadero-Saberdo. The pool of volunteers is truly growing.

The Philippines HR Group has once again proven that they are a game changer in the HR Community. Their advocacies bring quality but low cost programs that facilitate in the growth of HR professionals all over the country. This 17th of March 2018, the PhilHRG Inc. will once again hold a learning event entitled “TRAINing on Labor Law,” which will include the Data Privacy Act of 2012, TRAIN Law, Labor Essentials, and Latest Labor Decisions and Jurisprudence. More power to the PhilHRG Inc. in bringing these valuable programs available to a larger audience.

We support the advocacy of the Philippines HR Group in providing high-quality training for working professionals in the Philippines but COMPETAD is a separate entity from the PhilHRG Inc. Look up our Leadership Training Session this 2018 if you would like to have a glimpse of our programs, too.

For other training inquiries and sponsorship for any of our events, you may also call us at COMPETAD Training and Professional Development through (02)4333342 or thru (0998)5624984 to 85. You may also send us an email at training@competad.com and we will always be happy to help. Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/competad

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.

The Leadership Development Training Series (2018)

Click here to REGISTER

Our Leadership Development Training Series is designed to provide a cost-effective yet high-quality program for your leaders. It is not just one leadership training session, but 8 sessions that are spread throughout a period of 8 months. Compared to other public training programs that provide generic content, our LDTS (Leadership Development Training Series) attempts to incorporate some aspects of your business in the workshops we provide when you register.

METHODOLOGY

This development training series include activities, workshops, multi-media, and interactive discussions to ensure a fully engaged class. Your employees will leave the seminar not only with new knowledge, but also with a new motivation to apply what they have learned in their everyday work. COMPETAD’s approach in learning focuses not only in developing the skills of its participants, but also in encouraging a sense of excitement so they can turn their learning to action. We understand that great performance is not just about knowing how to do it, it is also about practice having the right attitude.

To have insight into your individual learning, a pre-test and post-test is also conducted for each session. This will assess how much learning our participants acquire per topic. Assignments may also be provided to ensure application at the work place as well as retention of the concepts and principles used during the training.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

The LDTS is a perfect solution not only for those individuals who want to invest in their own learning, but also companies who would like to support a continuous growth for their employees.

HOW is it different. The programs have a general outline which provides an overview about the topic that will be covered. There will also be a TNA (Training Needs Analysis) questionnaire to be filled out by the participants not more than 20 days before the actual session, which will help us uncover their personal challenges in the areas to be discussed. This will allow COMPETAD to provide a more tailored approach for the during workshop. Since participants may come from different industries, they will gain knowledge and insight into other industries too, which makes a more enriching experience.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

There are 8 main topics for the leadership series. These topics are found below. You may click on the topic for more details.

Module 1: Leadership and Supervision Workshop – 20 Apr 2018
Module 2: Time and Stress Management – 11 May 2018
Module 3: Meeting and Email Management Workshop – 8 Jun 2018
Module 4: Managing Teams and Diversity – 13 Jul 2018
Module 5: Systematic Problem Solving and Decision Making – 13 Aug 2018
Module 6: Managing Up (Managing Your Manager) – 14 Sep 2018
Module 7: Influential Coaching Techniques – 19 Oct 2018
Module 8: Navigating Change – 19 Nov 2018

Learning Investment:
Each course is worth Php 2,999.00 when you register separately but you can get almost 20% discount when you register for all 8 courses. Complete your registration on or before 22 March 2018 and you will be able to get all 8 courses for the learning investment of only Php19,999. Your learning investment is inclusive of your training kit, meals and snacks during the seminar, and some freebies. At the end of each session, your participant will receive a certificate of attendance. When they complete all 8 sessions, they will also receive a separate certificate of completion for the COMPETAD Leadership Development Training Series.

Registration Instructions:

1. Fill out the registration form by clicking the link on top of this page. You may also download the MS Word attachment send it to training@competad.com
2. Our admin team shall send you shortly the Statement of Account/Confirmation of registration. Sign the statement of account to conform and finalize your registration and email the soft copy.
3. Follow the instructions in the statement of account and complete your payment.
4. Send the scanned copy of the Statement of Account and your deposit slip.
5. Should you need an official Billing Invoice, please call us at (02) 4333342 or click here for alternative numbers.

FAQs

What is the LDTS program?

The LDTS program is a unique program that aims to provide a tailored series workshop for new and seasoned leaders who would like to enhance their leadership skills, learn, and have fun, too.

Can I just select one or two programs that I would like to attend in the Leadership Development Training Series and not get the entire series?

Yes. The programs are still open to public registrations. Anyone who would like to attend specific programs may do so by registering in our online forms for individual programs. You may also click the register link in the training program’s landing page at the COMPETAD website. Regular rates will apply for single training program registrations.

Will I have to pay one-time for all 8 programs?

Yes. By registering in all 8 programs, you shall receive a premium discounted rate. For further inquiries, special arrangement, or information, please do not hesitate to contact our specialists at (02)4333342.

Can I do installments for the payments?

Yes, you may. Regular rates of Php2999 per session shall apply for these installments. Once you complete your fourth session at a regular rates, you may request for a 10% discount on your next sessions. Discounts apply only upon request.

I will be registering several employees from our company. Can I get a special discount?

The rates for the LDTS are already discounted. Discounts offered by COMPETAD may not be used in conjunction with other discounts. However, for 8 participants and up, please contact our sales and training specialist at (02)4333342 or (0998)5624984 to 85 so we can help you further. You may also email us at training@competad.com.

What if one of the schedules in the series is in conflict with mine and I fail to attend it, will my payment be reimbursed?

While payments may not be reimbursed, you may attend a similar topic that is scheduled on a different date or you may elect someone to attend in your place. If you do not have an alternate and no similar topic is offered, you may consult with our specialists to see if you can instead attend other sessions outside of the LDTS program. We are unable to provide guarantee for approval of such requests but we will do our best to accommodate you.

COMPETAD reserves the rights to provide any goodwill gesture or discounts for you in such or any other instances. You may contact us to let us know about any schedule conflicts at least two days before the training date.

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.

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 19^th 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.

5 Things To Have at Work to Engage Employees

One of the most important resources for a business is its people. However, just having people cannot solely drive your business to success. There are businesses who hire skilled individuals that eventually didn’t reap success. If you engage your employees however, you can make that BIG difference.

But what exactly is an engaged employee?

It is someone who is able to provide ideas and unwavering dedication to his work. Someone who knows his importance to the business and consistently strives to give the best he can for the business. An engaged employee treats the business like his own. Is there a way we can get such kinds of employees in our company? There are several things we can foster into our company culture to help achieve a happier and more engaged workforce.

Motivation. When employees are excited to go to work, they do their best. Supervision is minimal, and it saves the time of the managers. Managers are able to focus on the other important aspects of the business. Employees who are motivated are happy to serve customers and deliver great performance. One of the simple ways we can improve employee motivation is by consistently providing them feedback. Everyone likes to know how well they are doing at work. When employees see their strengths, they become excited. Most also would like to learn and improve what they do. Feedback sessions allow them to know both. Coaching employees consistently is a good key to success.

Aside from coaching, it is also important that we know what keeps people at work. What role does their job play in their personal life? A manager who knows what pushes their employees to do what they do will be able to influence them well. It is important to build good relationships with employees. Talking to them about non-business matters related to their personal lives may be important. This doesn’t mean that managers need to pry into the privacy of their employees. It only means that a leader needs to build a positive relationship with employees in order to get them to open up. Showing employees that you genuinely care will also make them happy to come to work every day.

Creativity. Productivity is something that is seen by companies as a good measure of success. In the pursuit of it, they overlook that employees are not machines whose productivity may be computed by the number of hours they are doing actual work. Employees also need time to look back at the things they do daily so that they can reinvent their tasks. Employees need to find a way to come up with better means of doing their job. They need to innovate. Managers need to provide an avenue for creative thinking so that people will not become stale. Allowing room for creativity also provides employees a consistent feeling of accomplishment especially when their ideas positively impact the business. The company for example who first produced what we now know “post it” allowed their employees creativity and consistently encourages them to come up with new products. Initially, employees laughed at the idea of these sheets of paper with weak adhesive but when the company launched the product and encouraged the idea, it put them in the map and became a top brand worldwide. Encouraging creativity is definitely something that companies should start looking into.

Positive, Supportive Environment. While employees toil in the office everyday, it is easy to overlook the overall environment they are in. A positive environment doesn’t only mean good office equipment, lighting, and new paint. Environment includes people and how they respond to each other. While it is true that managers can never control people’s action, they are the one who can set the intensity that people will follow. Whether they choose to positively interact with employees or not will determine employees will also treat each other. Needless to say, if he shows that he is not a boss but someone who is there to provide people support, then employees would follow and also show respect, support, and positiveness toward each other. A positive and supportive environment encourages work-life balance among employees which is a great source of consistent motivation and creativity. Happy employees produce positive thoughts and give positive care to their customers.

Trust. Managers are there to check on employees, right? Wrong. They are there to empower employees and make employees see how they can make a difference for the business. While some people may argue that there are dishonest and disloyal employees who do not care about the company, a big percentage of these are only because of self-fulfilling prophecies. Self-fulfilling prophecies happen when you have certain expectations of someone and, unknowingly, you take notice of his actions that fulfill those expectations more often than things that are otherwise. This makes you biased and only see the employee based on your expectations. I came across a concept in Psychology called the Pygmallion effect. This states that when you have a certain expectation of someone, you move around the person with that expectation and it reflects subtly in your actions whenever you are around him. In turn, this affects the psyche of the person making him respond based on your expectations. Imagine if you move around your employees with the expectations that you can trust them? Of course this doesn’t mean that there are no risks. We still have to manage risks, definitely. But we create documented processes to manage these. Focus on empowering people. Verbalize and let them know that you trust them genuinely. Remember that boss who always made you feel that he trusts in your ability? Doesn’t he make you deliver your best always?

Training. In Stephen Covey’s book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,“ he talks about sharpening the saw. Engaged employees are effective employees. Therefore, providing our employees with growth and development increases their engagement in our business. When people learn, they become excited about what they do. Providing an avenue for employees to learn will definitely boost their morale and desire to deliver more for your company. Get a motivational training or a training that will enhance their skill in their job. You can also create a training path to get them ready to take on bigger roles in the business. Make these training sessions something your employees can easily relate to. Training can be a class room training, a one-on-one session with their manager, or even a class with a seasoned resource speaker invited. The possibilities are limitless.

There are still many other ways to engage our employees. Companies spend lots in order to come up with many programs for employee engagement, but these simple steps can bring you a long way when you need to deliver consistently good performance for your company.

For any of your training needs, please contact us. You may also send an email to training@competad.com.

5 Reasons We Fail to Make Our Employees Change

by Philip Nucleus Sia

Our ability to influence and change our employees behavior (or sometimes belief), is mostly dependent in our ability to provide coaching. Coaching is the processes of bringing a valued individual from point A to point B through conversation and collaboration. To some, this is usually an activity we link to sports such as in basketball or foot ball. In the Philippines, we can see on television that the basketball coach is mostly the only person talking and strategizing for the players. He tells everyone what they need to do and what position they need to take. While this approach can be effective in this area, it may be challenging to apply the same in the workplace where the coaching needs to take effect not only for an hour but longer spans of times. Aside from these, there are many other things that make coaching at work very challenging.

Coaching is meant to provide support, guidance, and empowerment. It must be a positive employee experience. It is not only done to correct errors and avoid its repetition, it is also a tool to encourage the replication of positive work behaviors. In order for us to ensure that coaching becomes the tool it is meant to be, it is important to understand what challenges us in coaching so that we can work on these and create a positive environment for our staff.

Time and Consistency. In a world where there are so many things we need to accomplish, work has taken so much of our time that we sometimes assume that everyone can certainly do what they are hired to do at the level we want. As a result, coaching becomes the last thing in our bucket list. We rarely spend time providing people development. Most of the time, coaching is done only when an employee makes a mistake. As a result, they tend to see coaching as a way for managers to reprimand them. Coaching becomes a negative experience. To avoid this from happening, managers need to see coaching as an important tool; a key task that will make their life easier. It is important to spend a consistent amount of time providing people with feedback and coaching. So do your coaching weekly or monthly. If you have the time, daily is also good. This makes people aware that you are there to support them.

Don’t Know What To Coach. Some managers do not spend time on coaching as they do not see what else needs to be talked about when employees didn’t do anything wrong. Talking to employees is also sometimes seen as a futile activity with not much business value. This is actually the contrary because, as long as it isn’t gossip, talking to employees regardless the topic does help build rapport and makes a leader more influential to them. While coaching is usually a discussion of possible improvement points for the employee, it can also be a conversation to celebrate an employee’s success. Yes, coach them and talk about the good things they accomplished. Use this conversation to empower them. Be specific about what behavior you think they did well so that they can replicate these.

Saying the Bad News. As coaching is mostly done to correct undesirable behaviors, it sometimes requires us to communicate uncomfortable and less-than-desirable issues. As Filipinos, there are two pitfalls for such. One is that we are culturally not very confrontational. Arguing, regardless the topic, is seen in our culture as disrespectful. However, we fail to see that arguments when in terms of ideas can be a healthy avenue for growth and development. For a coach or manager, it is important to be ready for responses when we have to provide negative feedback and focus the direction of the conversation on what can be productively done despite the bad news. Two, Filipinos take everything, including our jobs, personally. We tend to think that any comment and feedback about our work is personal and we get hurt hearing them. The internet is a living proof of this. When any other nations try to attack Filipinos through comments in social media, we tend to defend ourselves a lot. This is not different from when we receive coaching. Therefore, a manager’s challenge is to ensure that while the coaching targets opportunities for growth, the delivery of the feedback is positive and constructive. It has to provide encouragement and should be blame-free.

It’s about Listening Not Talking. In Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he describes that we should seek to understand before we seek to be understood. Because they have seen it done by sports coaches, some managers think that they are the only one privileged to talk. They provide solutions without asking questions and without identifying the root cause of the issues. This is a true challenge because we sometimes think that our experiences are the same as others. Even the smartest managers sometimes overlook that the challenge for the rank-and-file isn’t doing the task but at times understanding the big picture. As a coach, it is important to ask people about their challenges, their understanding, and what they think can be a good solution to issues. By asking questions, not only do we encourage positive communication and an open conversation, we are also teaching our employees how to think on their own which gives a lot of benefits in the long run.

Keeping an Atmosphere of Trust and Positiveness. When issues arise, some managers can lose their patience quickly. That is all right. After all, we are only human. What separates a good manager from an average one is how he responds and handles the situation. When coaching people, what is most essential is that we create a change; not letting loose of our anger. Some managers overlook this. They vent and then tell people what to do. This makes people work because of fear. While some managers can get away with that, fear instills short-term commitment. When you make people fear you, they will do the right behavior while you are around – what they do when you are away is another story. When coaching, it is important to make people reflect on their errors. Ask them what they think went wrong and how they can make a difference. Once the conversation is done and you have both agreed on a solution, verbalize that you trust in their abilities to make a change and offer your support when needed. This will ensure that your coaching becomes a relationship builder that fosters trust and positiveness in your workplace.

There are many other potential challenges in the workplace when it comes to coaching, but if you are able to address these five basics, then you are on your way to becoming truly successful in managing your employees’ behaviors and performance. Remember that the skill of a true leader is to effectively influence others to follow goals without forcing them and by making them feel that they, as members, can truly make a difference.

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If you would like to learn more about coaching and how you can be influential to your employees, please take a look at our calendar for any upcoming schedules on our Influential Coaching Techniques Workshop. For inquiries, call (02) 433 3342 or thru mobile at (0998) 562 4984 to 85.

Understanding ROI

We may have heard about ROI one time or another. Most of us probably know what it means but, for those who are unfamiliar to it, we’d like to take time to introduce you to what it is and how it is measured. Businessmen have limited capital and would like to ensure that they get the most out of it. This gives rise to the importance of understanding ROI.

ROI refers to returns on investment. It is a performance measure for the efficiency of a potential investment. It allows businessmen to compare varying options for their business. Generally, the higher the ROI, the better the investment is. While there are other factors that businessmen also look at, ROI helps them make intelligent decisions to ensure the sustainability of their companies.

To measure ROI, we take the ratio of the benefits of an investment to its costs. Below is a formula in measuring ROI:

ROI is well known because it is very easy to understand. It measures profitability and it is very to explain it to any potential investor or stakeholder. It makes the investor see which among a list of alternative will be the best possible option.

For example, if you invested your Php 10,000 to a friend’s street food business and got Php 10,800 at the end of the year, then it means that you got 8% ROI. Let us breakdown how we ended up with that:

ROI = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) ÷ Cost of investment

= (Php 10,800 – Php 10,000) ÷ Php 10,000

= (Php 800) ÷ Php 10,000

= 0.08 or 8%

On the other hand, if you have another Php 15,000 and you put it in the bank. After two years the total funds is now Php 16,100. Let us make out how much your ROI is:

ROI = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) ÷ Cost of investment

= (Php 16,100 – Php 15,000) ÷ Php 15,000

= (Php 1,100) ÷ Php 15,000

= 0.07333 or 7.33%

In this sense, although we gained Php 300 pesos more from our savings, we can see that our returns were greater from the business. While this may ultimately not mean that we will cease one and replace it with the other, it helps us see which investment was more efficient. In businesses where capital is a valuable but limited resource, this measure allows a more efficient allocation of resources.

While ROI provides a great way of measuring the efficiency of an investment, it also has its disadvantage. It does not consider the amount of time that was spent in gaining returns. In our example, we can clearly see that the business delivered 8% for a year while putting the money in the bank gave 7.33% in two years. We can see that the efficiency of the business is more than double the bank’s if we consider the amount of time spent for delivering the ROI reported. By merely looking at the numbers and not considering the amount of time spent for these returns, a businessman can easily make a wrong decision when choosing his investment.

ROI is only one of many ways of measuring the efficiency of an investment. It provides a quick and easily understandable way of assessing where you would put your resources. There are many other ways of measuring the efficiency of investment and we will discuss some of these in our future posts. For the meantime, if you would like to learn more about ROI and how to use it for your business, stay tuned for COMPETAD’s upcoming course about Training ROI and how to measure it which we will be launching in the coming months.

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).

COMPETAD’s 1st Cable Splicing and Termination Workshop – A Success

25 May 2016 – COMPETAD Training and Professional Development Services has concluded the very first Medium Voltage Cable Splicing and Termination in the Philippines. This training is only a few of its kind in the country.

Attended by nine participants from different parts of the archipelago, the learning event was a truly successful one. The first day was an introduction to the theories and principles behind the process of Cable Splicing and Termination while the second day was spent on hands-on training and practical application. It was a truly memorable, enjoyable, and worthwhile. All the participants added that they truly learned a lot from the session and they have also enjoyed the fun-facilitation of our trusted speaker.

Engr. Glenmar Cambri, the resource speaker for the said event, is a Senior Application Engineer of the 3M Philippines Technical Division. 3M is a world leader in engineering and technology and is a prominent brand for cable splicing and termination equipment and supplies.

At the end of the session, the participants were given an attendance certificate by COMPETAD Training and Professional Development Services as well as an internationally recognized certificate of attendance from 3M.

COMPETAD Training and Professional Development Services would be holding succeeding sessions for the Medium Voltage Cable Splicing and Termination. For inquiries, you may call us at (02) 433 3342 and at (0998)5624984 to 85. To be updated about our training and seminars, you may also like or leave a message at our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/competad.