Happy, affirmed, challenged /B2-2

Real estate firm is 2025’s Best Employer

Ma. Theresa Nuñez beamed with pride as she held up a certificate noting Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF) made it to the Philippines’ Best Employers 2025 list during the awards night at Hilton Manila Hotel on Nov. 11, 2024.

The company is 32nd on the list featuring 300 companies that ranked the highest in employees’ perceptions in an independent survey run by Inquirer with Statista. It ranks the highest in the Economy, Politics & NGO industry; and rose from 100th in the previous edition.

“This helps further the purpose of [the organization] because it highlights the brand of the organization,” said Nuñez.

“It’s really an honor and a privilege to be part of this,” said Joe Buot, chief human resources (HR) and administration officer at Maxicare Healthcare, 57th on the list. The company has been a mainstay on the list since debuting in the 2023 list at No. 61.

“Since you are being recognized by a major organization like Inquirer, and them doing this in a very scientific manner … this would up your ante when it comes to not only your employer branding but also in demonstrating your HR practices in the organization,” he said.

Best practices

“[We are] humbled by the recognition. At the same time, it’s also an affirmation that whatever it is we’re doing for our employees, we’re so happy that we’re being recognized not just by our employees but other people who also know about Ayala Land Inc. (ALI),” said Isabel Sagun, Chief HR Officer for the No. 1-ranked company.

The gathering was also a sharing among HR practitioners of good-fit practices, resulting in positive perceptions among workers.

What underpins 233rd-ranked The Insular Life Assurance Company’s programs is a clear value for the employee, explained Rozana Pecson, the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer. “ … [We can only achieve our purpose if employees are well taken care of.”

The company has “a robust, holistic and comprehensive “total rewards package featuring four elements: (1) competitive salaries and best-in-class benefits; (2) a wellness campaign focusing on total wellbeing, including physical, mental, social and spiritual health, (3) recognition for good performance and loyaty; and (4) a talent development framework covering everything from onboarding to developing technical expertise.

“Last but not least,” Pecson said, “we consistently cultivate an agile, empowering, inclusive and collaborative culture … ”

ALI highlighted how it democratized learning through “ALIzens,” an online platform through which over 7,000 employees can get upskilling and reskilling anytime, anywhere.

“It’s a combination,” said Jeanette Japzon, Corporate Communications and Digital Marketing Manager at ALI. “We do have onsite and online training. That also shows that we look at how different the learning styles are; how different kinds of generations and people accept learning and when.”

“Do you know that we grow hydroponic vegetables on the rooftops of our Offices?” revealed Fatima Olaguer, AVP for HR at Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), ranked 227th on the list—one of many companies that made it from JG Summit Holdings Inc.

“It cools down the rooftops,” she said. “These vegetables are supplied to our hotels and also sold to our employees every Wednesday at discounted prices for healthy living.”

“As the chief justice has said, we realize that our key resource is people so many of our reform projects are targeted at making them more efficient and making sure that they are mentally and physically healthy,” said lawyer Camille Ting, spokesperson for the Supreme Court, No. 8 on the list.

“Right now, we prioritize mental health,” she said. “There has been the very first mental health summit that took place a year or so ago, and right now we are doing regional mental health consultations.”

They also offer mental health hotlines and will soon establish mental health units across regional offices.

The 75th-ranked Polytechnic University of the Philippines takes pride in its Industry Testimony program, said Engr. Florinda Oquindo, AVP for Student Affairs and Services. Every academic year, they visit the offices of 25 employers to identify the advantages of PUP graduates and “bridge the gap between the academe and the industry.”

“They all say our advantages include dedication, resilience and resourcefulness. They say our graduates are honest and teachable,” she said. The feedback helps the university improve its offerings.

Take-home lessons

The awarding ceremony was a culmination of the What Works at Work summit, where participants reflected on what else they could improve.

Nuñez thought discussions on generational gap were instructive to NWTF: “I learned that there is really no gap at all, it’s just a matter of getting to know better these younger people and communicating better with them so that you get their buy-in.”

Buot said, “It’s not really coming up with a one-size-fits-all agenda. It should be really responsive to the needs of each of these generations based on their work style and ways of working.”

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“We plan next year to improve more on our social media presence,” Olaguer said. That includes creating coordinate postings for RLC and its business units, and creating LinkedIn pages for all of the units.

Oquindo said PUP, while proud of the citation for sintang paaralan, recognized the need to continuously equip the faculty.

“We train, some are even sent to other countries. We are always updated on what should be taught to the students,” she said. “At present, we are so into cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and the like.”

Aside from giving InLife a sense of validation, Pecson said, the citation “inspires us to continue striving for excellence in designing and delivering people programs that truly matter to employees.”

Japzon reiterated the need to keep growing: “You always want to continuously improve on where you are, especially [since] employees now have a lot of choices. You have to be better than what you were the last time just to get the best talent.”

When ALI received the news that they were No. 1 in the rankings, recalled Sagun, she received a congratulatory message from the company CEO. She recounted her reply: “We have to be better.”