by Ricardo Jimenez
IT was an assembly of employees like no other. Indeed, it was a novel way to promote unity, camaraderie and sense of values among employees coming from an assortment of more than 20 sister companies working within the same compound.
And all it took was a little coordination, planning and support from top management, according to Nelson R. Umblero, an experienced training executive of the Antonio O. Floirendo Corporation (Anflocor) Group of Companies based in the DAMOSA Complex in Lanang, Davao City.
“We focused our attention on the traditional employee assembly highlighted by the community prayer and mass singing of the National Anthem and announcements from sister companies. We enhanced the purpose of the gathering by including a few innovations to foster greater employee-employer relationship, especially in imbibing the Anflocor Vision-Mission-Values (V-M-Vs), the former human resource manager of Davao Agricultural Ventures Corporation (Davco) said.
So we developed a short program (about an hour) every first Monday of the month, starting at 8 a.m, calling it Anflocor Employee Gathering. It highlights the following features: The president’s time (quarterly), recitation of Anflocor’s V-M-Vs, a contest among employees for the best definition of a corporate value as the theme of the month, among others, Nelson said.
The new version is a departure from the way that most company workers or government employees start their week: an Invocation, singing of the National Anthem, Oath to the Flag, and Oath of a Civil Servant, the message of a sponsoring agency head and singing of the theme song of the place.
The Anflocor version is about an hour, held on the first Monday of the month, starting at 8 a.m. It is seen as an opportunity to share ideas, greet birthday celebrators of the month, introduce newly hired employees and transferees, and do some physical exercises.
The innovations started January this year. One part is the Employees Times (expression of thoughts about the theme, achievements, difficulties, and concerns about the work). This is followed by the Management Time (a response to the employee’s shared thoughts and concerns laying down of management expectations and directions).
The activities were an offshoot of observations that very often, rank and file employees did not go beyond the courtesy greetings of “Hi” or “See you” while meeting along the corridor or seeing each other in the rest room during break time. It was all work, Nelson explained. “With the assembly and exchange of interdepartmental announcements, employees are better informed not only of what their respective companies do but also what other sister companies are busy with.”
To guide in the conduct of the monthly assembly, an Anflocor corporate value is assigned as theme of the month. Thus, there is Integrity for January; Honesty, February; Trustworthiness, March; Fairness, April; Professionalism, May; High Competence, June;
Effectiveness, Efficiency and Responsible Service, July; Respect for Individuals, August; Recognition of Talents, Abilities and Achievements, September; Empowerment thru Responsible Delegation of Authority, October; Teamwork, November; and Unity of Purpose and Cooperation, December.
A contest is set among employees to present (in two sentences) the best definition of the monthly theme. The winning entry among three finalists is selected on the basis of the loudness of clapping among the assembly participants. An award of P500 worth of gift certificates is given to the entry contributor with the best explanation of the theme before the assembly.
To insure inter-company sponsorship of the assembly, the monthly gathering is pre- assigned. Snacks are also provided to participants. A recitation of the Prayer before Work ends the gathering.
The assembly innovation introduced by Nelson was endorsed by Romulo R. Remollo Sr. Anflocor manager for human resources/admin, and approved by Anthony B. Sasin, executive vice president-IR, and Ricardo R. Floirendo, senior vice president and chief operating officer.
As for now, the innovation has developed better employee recognition of values that have become hallmarks of Anflocor through the years, and enhanced the role of the employees as a valuable human resource both as a person and as a friend, Nelson stressed.
