5 Years of Excellence: To the Ones Who Made Great Possible
Antoniette Talosig
Managing Partner and Organizational Coach | I help companies and leaders create a great workplace experience that is better for the business and the people.
Great is possible—without a doubt.
We saw it live in action last March 19 at Great Place To Work?’s highly anticipated annual event, the Philippines Best Workplaces? for 2024.??
In Grand Hyatt Manila’s ballroom, we convened with our community to celebrate our peers who made it to the renowned inaugural list of Best Workplaces?.?
More than just an award, this is a commemoration of the companies who have raised the banner of Philippine workplaces. Those who have set the gold standard in workplace culture by going above and beyond their Certification? and clinching greatness.?
We not only honored the milestones of the Best Workplaces? but also Great Place To Work’s momentous 5th year—the very reason why this specific occasion this year is not our usual. It is grander, greater than ever.
To say, “We have come a long way” is an understatement.?
I remember when our Regional Managing Director, Evelyn Kwek, and I uttered a quick prayer at the driveway of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) the night I sent her off from her visit to Manila. Although this earnest moment seems ages ago, I couldn’t help but fondly remember it as I stood before our 300+ guests last Tuesday.
Everything between then and now is a story that boldly declares, “Great is possible.”?
Our 2024 Listmakers
After half a decade, I am happy we continue living out our mission of making the Philippines a great place to work for all. None of this would be possible without the heavy lifting of our Certified? body, most especially the Best Workplaces?.?
And for that, we give big thanks and warm congratulations to our 35 listmakers for 2024!?
SMALL CATEGORY
01 Kollab?
02 Eco Global Consulting, Inc. (ECOGLOBAL)
04 Logix BPO?
06 Takeda Healthcare Philippines, Inc. (Takeda)
07 J4RVIS ?
09 Fulcrum Solutions (Fulcrum Technology Solutions, LLC)
10 Air Accounting?
MEDIUM CATEGORY
01 DHL Express
02 Cisco
03 Hilton?
04 Atlassian
06 3M GSC Philippines (3M)?
07 Hilti Philippines Inc. (Hilti Group)
09 General Motors Philippines (General Motors)?
10 Lingaro (Philippines), Inc. (Lingaro)?
11 Amadeus Marketing Philippines, Inc. (Amadeus)?
12 SCJ Philippines (SC Johnson)?
13 Aurecon
14 Genesys Cloud Services Cayman LTD - Philippines Branch (Genesys)
15 Thumbtack Philippines (Thumbtack)
LARGE CATEGORY
01 Synchrony Global Services, Inc. (Synchrony)
02 Accenture
03 TaskUs
04 Lexmark Research and Development Corporation (Lexmark)?
06 Capital One Philippines (Capital One)
07 DXC Technology Philippines (DXC Technology)?
08 CGI Philippines, Inc. (CGI)
10 Tech Mahindra Limited (Tech Mahindra)
This recognition is a significant milestone.?
The Great Place To Work Trust survey assesses the quality of relationships across the five dimensions of a great workplace: Credibility, Respect, Fairness, Pride, and Camaraderie.?
A great place to work is one where employees take pride in what they do, enjoy the people they work with, and, most of all, trust the people they work for. Beyond that, Best Workplaces consistently build a high-trust workplace culture regardless of employee size, demographics, and industry—where For All? leaders exist and are multiplied.?
For All? leaders create great workplaces where employees feel safe—psychologically, emotionally, and physically. They form an environment where people can be themselves rather than one that breeds fear. These people-first managers foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity, ultimately inspiring genuine loyalty, value-driven performances, and growth for all.?
The Legends
As part of commemorating half a decade in the country, Great Place To Work Philippines also paid homage to the organizations that have proven their dedicated and long-term approach to creating, maintaining, and improving a culture that puts people at the center. These illustrious businesses were bestowed the prestigious Great Place To Work Legend? title.?
Those who made the cut were familiar contenders for the Top 1 spot over the years, DHL Express and Synchrony Global Services, Inc.. They now bear the title of a “5-year Legend” for satisfying the award’s biggest non-negotiable: to be an organization that has built solid trust by being a listmaker for at least 5 consecutive years.?
What a feat! These 2 are the epitome of “great being possible” despite the waves of uncertainties that have plagued the business landscape over the past years—from the pandemic to more recent concerns like how to manage AI and multi-generational teams.?
Why is Great Possible??
So far in this newsletter, this year’s theme has been echoed many times.?
Great surely is possible! We have our newly established Legends? to prove that. Great is attainable! How could it not be when we’ve expanded from merely the Top 5 Best Workplaces in 2020 to 25 across 3 categories in 2022 and now 35 listmakers??
These examples tell the tale that “great” can be done. But what exactly makes these great things achievable? Why is great possible?
What makes the greatness we have witnessed in the past five years from organizations committed to building and nurturing trust, pride, and camaraderie in their workplaces as they navigated through the unique challenges of our times possible??
As I prepared my speech for the event, I asked my team, “In what ways have we witnessed that great is possible from our clients and team?”?
Here are 3 observations my team and I ended up with.?
People Care?
We witnessed “great is possible” when seemingly impenetrable barriers were broken because people showed genuine care.
While the COVID-19 pandemic now seems like something from the history books, its strong impact continues today.
Many exemplified the Filipino Bayanihan spirit and built on that to create undeterred camaraderie that helped employees and their families survive the dark season.
Whether you were an associate or the company's president didn't matter. Everybody across the ranks joined hands for the good of everyone. From going out of one’s scope to deliver laptops and equipment to distributing ayudas in the form of curated groceries to business leaders checking in on employees and their families when they caught the infamous virus.?
The Filipino “Bayanihan spirit” couldn’t have been more true during those trying times—even bonding moments of singing and dancing together (albeit virtually) didn’t go unseen!??
It is no wonder that in the past five years, we have seen the most positive employee experience, particularly with employees feeling people care about each other in their organization during the pandemic.
Collaborative Synergy??
Number two, we witnessed “great is possible” through collaborative synergy.
Great Place To Work Philippines is where it is today because of the multiple opportunities we had to work alongside our Great Place To Work-Certified? community to share our collective knowledge, experiences, and best practices through webinars, industry collaborations, and speaking engagements.?
We’ve also collaborated with associations that help make education available for all, such as Teach for the Philippines, Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, and, most recently, NABU.?
Our growing Certified? community of over 216 companies in the Philippines proves that our thought-provoking ethos and contagious passions inspire many to share in our mission. That is 21 times more than what we had in 2020! We’re excited to see this number grow tenfold in the coming years!
Trustworthy Leaders
My team and I’s third observation is that “great is possible” when trustworthy leaders arise.?
Creating high-trust workplace cultures starts with us—the leaders—being trustworthy. Research, studies, and our experiences have shown that trust develops when leaders genuinely listen and seek to understand.?
These studies didn’t just remain as data on paper. We witnessed it alive and thriving in the increasing multitude of companies that have committed to validating workplace cultures through employee feedback. The quintessence of this growth is how our Trust Index? surveys massively expanded from having 60,000 employee voices represented in our first year of operations in the Philippines to over 600,000 employee sentiments this year.?
Through these efforts to sincerely listen and understand, trustworthy leaders emerge. They see the gaps in their culture and humbly say, “This is on me.” Then, they truthfully ask, “What can we do together?”
Hope Above All?
“Great is Possible” is all about the future as it is about the past five years. It is about hope for tomorrow.
The hope to win more For All?.?
Many are still unaware of or not convinced that having a purpose-driven, people-first organization is a win For All?. This victory doesn’t just affect the employees and the business; it also flows down to their respective families and eventually to all Filipinos.
We hope to share more impactful stories, best practices, and case studies to improve the employee experience in our country.?
In the years to come, we hope that “great is possible” is translated into published Best Workplaces? lists that recognize organizations that excel in high-trust workplace cultures for members of our society who require unique support, such as those with disabilities, women, working parents, and those with caregiving responsibilities. ?
There are also aspirations to build on what has already been started—to award Best Workplaces? specific to an industry, just like our IT-BPM Best Workplaces? list.??
The term “For All” also points to our hope of one day witnessing the banner of Philippine workplaces being raised globally. Imagine: a local company being recognized in Great Place To Work’s annually published “Best Workplaces in Asia” and “World’s Best Workplaces”. What fierce pride our nation will have!?
The hope to continue making great possible. We’ve come a long way together, and this journey is far from over. We will continue to press on towards the greater possibilities we are yet to behold.
As one community, we continue to care, share, and be truthful in our pursuit of making the Philippines a great place to work for all.?
Again, congratulations to the 35 companies that make the Philippines Best Workplaces? 2024 and to our rockstar Legends?. You inspire us and give us hope.
Last but not least, thank you to the people who work hard alongside me and have shown time and time again that, indeed, great is possible—my Great Place To Work Philippines Team.
Cheers to greater things ahead!?
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8 个月So absolutely wonderful to read this. Congrats to you, your team and all the companies that were recognized!
Neuroscience, AI & Emotional Regulation Upskilling Solutions ● The better we understand how our Brains work, the better we become at everything we do ● TEDx Speaker ● [email protected]
8 个月Congratulations and continued success to you and your GPTW Philippines Team Antoniette Talosig!!! You just keep on raising the bar and our vision of the limitless possibilities that Life offers. I have crafted a Neuroscience Talk that would explain the neurobiological basis for GPTW, and the actionable behavioral transformations and Organizational benefits such a mindset generates. I would be honored to do it for you and your Team so that we could collectively appreciate the science behind the phenomenon. Blessings to you and everyone at GPTW ????