Smart employees ‘live more’ in best workplace

MANILA, Philippines - A recent Forbes article said employees could get bigger salary increases if they didn’t stay in the same job for more than two years. If such were the case, companies could reasonably expect more of their workers to jump ship to increase their earnings. But the reality is that there remains a chunk of the workforce determined to stay loyal to their company.

Results of a Towers Watson survey of employees of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) show that company pride is a top driver for employee engagement and for making people stay. Ninety-two percent of those surveyed said they were proud to be associated with Smart because of the wireless services leader’s contributions to society. They took pride in Smart’s social responsibility and said they believed strongly in the products and services it offered.

Majority of Smart’s supervisors, managers and heads have spent at least 11 years in the company.

Another top employee driver, according to 89 percent of Smart respondents, is company strategy, direction and objectives. Survey results show that it is important for employees to understand how their work contributes to the company’s business objectives and to relate to the company’s vision and mission.

“Career growth is also one of the primary reasons why people stay in a company,” said Smart People, Strategies and Operations Center head Cheryll Agsaoay.

“At Smart, 73 percent of our managers and 60 percent of our senior managers started out as staff members or as supervisors. This is a very high percentage. This opportunity for career growth, plus Smart’s development programs for employees encourage our workforce to stay in the company,” she said.

Benchmark data from the American Association of Training and Development show that Smart’s training hours and training investment for employees are at par with the global standard. Early this year, the Asia Communication Awards named Smart the “Best Place to Work” among telecommunications companies in the region for its employment practices, internal communications, remuneration, perks, employee diversity and corporate social responsibility programs.

Agsaoay said another big factor in keeping people is the quality of work relationships. “Based on employee feedback, Smart employees love working with like-minded people with the same passion for service and excellence.”

Aside from encouraging Smart employees to stay, good work relationships have convinced former Smart employees to return. Smart services governance manager Catherine Semilla resigned from the company in 2010 to work abroad, only to come back “home” in 2012.

“Working for Smart makes me feel like I’m part of a family.  I feel a sense of purpose when I am here.  My ideas are heard and I am given the opportunity to hone my skills. People here thrive on challenges and are not afraid to embrace change.  Work feels lighter because I am surrounded by people who are extremely passionate, immensely talented and outrageously fun. Every day is a learning experience and I am glad that I am in a place that allows me to improve and become a better person along the way,” she said.

For others, fulfillment comes from seeing one’s ideas developed over time and launched as concrete projects.

“My 13 years with Smart have been a great learning experience. I was part of the core team that delivered latest technologies supporting products that involved years to evolve and mature,” said Smart services governance center head Lourdes Posadas.

Agsaoay said this is something that people who hop from one job to another don’t experience.

“While salary increases are important, money is not the sole factor employees consider. It can attract people but it won’t necessarily make them stay. Because, as our employee survey indicated, people work not just for the money but also for a sense of individual and group accomplishment — the knowledge that you’re making a relevant contribution to society,” she added.