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In the past 30 years, Jollibee has grown from one store with a
handful of employees to a company with a workforce of over 40,000
people in more than 600 stores nationwide.
At the heart of its success is a family-oriented
approach to personnel management, making Jollibee one of the most
admired employers in the region with an Employer of the Year Award
from the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines, Best
Employer in the Philippines Award from Hewitt Associated and a Top
20 Employer in Asia citation from the Asian Wall Street Journal.
“Jollibee is a household name and has become
part of Filipino families. As such, we are expected to be very good
at personal relationships,” says Tet Jotie, Jollibee assistant
vice president for human resources. “People who work for Jollibee
should experience closeness to their families so all of us can
translate and replicate that in our stores and to our customers.”
The company promotes its core values to
employees through its employee relations program called “Life.works.”
It integrates the company’s communication program; social,
physical and spiritual programs; livelihood and self-development
programs; scholarship grants; and comprehensive rewards system to
enhance workers’ family lives.
Home-life rewards
When Jollibee hands out its company-wide Walang
Kupas (for loyalty) and Golden Bee (for exemplifying core values)
Awards, the awardees’ families are also invited. The fast-food
chain goes a step further and includes the family members when it
treats employees to a summer trip. “The whole idea is for the
employees to be able to share the glory, limelight and the rewards
of working at Jollibee with their loved ones. This is also one way
the company thanks the families for their support and make them feel
that they are also part of the bigger Jollibee family,” shares
Jotie.
Even working students and other crewmembers,
paid on a daily basis, have a lot to gain from the company’s key
human resource programs. Like regular employees, they participate in
a self-development module called “Unleash the Highest Potential of
your Life” that aims to help them integrate personal goals with
company values. The program also includes budget management sessions
for the employees and their spouses.
Jotie says, “We recognize the reality that
there may be problems in managing the household finances and
something like this can affect the employee’s motivation to work.
That’s why we find it important to reach out to their families,
too.”
More than usual benefits
Like any good Filipino home, respect for the
individual, concern for each other, trust and openness rank very
highly in the Jollibee culture. Tuition assistance is available for
working students and monthly paid employees who wish to pursue a
second degree. Regular daily paid employees can also register their
children for the scholarship program that is part of their
collective bargaining agreement. Apart from the usual assistance
extended by the company during emergencies, employees receive extra
aid from fellow workers through the Kaagapay Fund that members
voluntarily donate to every month.
Open environment
Employee feedback is highly valued and gets
heard by even the top executives. Apart from the organizational
survey and company newsletter, a regular breakfast session gives
employees a chance to air their concerns directly to Ernesto
Tanmantiong, Jollibee business unit head and president. Each year,
Tanmantiong visits the stores in the provinces to provide employees
in the provinces with the same opportunity. Another venue is
Jollibee’s Employee Care System, which uses the same
infrastructure as their sales service contact center. The hotlines
and email addresses allow employees to express themselves to
management. Jotie shares that, on several occasions, she has
received employee feedback, coursed through Tanmantiong, and even
from JFC chairman and CEO Tony Tan Caktiong himself.
Jotie says, “Our employees really trust the
leadership of this company, and our leaders themselves display the
values we want our employees to have. For our employees, it’s a
big part of the magic to be able to identify with such winners.”
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