Having opened its doors in the Philippines four years ago, Quantrics has become known for its empowerment of employees, a company culture that has enabled it to thrive commercially.
PEOPLE POWERED
Safeguarding the wellbeing of employees has never been more important.
In a year which continues to be shaped by the coronavirus pandemic, organisations across the region in all industries have invested huge amounts of time and resources into making sure their workplaces are safe for employees.
In the Philippines, the welfare of people has always been top priority for Quantrics, a leading IT development (including business intelligence, web and mobile applications), shared services support and customer experience specialist.
Having opened for business four years ago in Taytay, it now operates from three sites in the country, the other two being located in Naga and San Mateo, bringing the total employment count to over 4,000.
Victor Loo’s remit as Vice President of Human Resources very much covers employee welfare and empowerment.
“What makes Quantrics special and unique in the Philippines is our company culture,” he says proudly. “We are ‘People Powered’ and believe in the power of the individual to create a better future for our customers, our communities and ourselves.
“At Quantrics, everyone’s voice matters. We are not hierarchical in any way. We embrace diversity and operate with full transparency. We are protective of this culture and operating framework because we firmly believe that our most critical asset is our people – this fact was further underscored throughout the pandemic as we made conscious decisions to support our employees, their families and the communities in which we operate during these challenging times.”
Indeed, the company ensured all staff were paid at least 80 percent of their salary, with those continuing to work as part of a skeletal operation being renumerated in full. The firm also provided shuttles and food to employees working on site, and provided a generous internet allowance which enabled most of its teams to safely work from home.
Loo himself splits his time between Canada (where Quantrics’ parent company is based) and the Philippines, the pandemic creating obvious difficulties in terms of travelling between the two countries due to lockdown restrictions.
However, while 2020 has not been straightforward, he continues to be as impassioned by his people powered role as he was when he first joined the firm in 2018.
“I decided to join Quantrics because I felt it was a phenomenal opportunity,” he recalls. “I always wondered what it would be like to work overseas – I’m an avid traveller and an adventure seeker, and thought this would be a great experience, and it certainly has been great on many fronts, both personally and professionally.
“I also felt that if I put myself in a situation that was outside of my comfort zone and being away from friends and family, it would present a tremendous opportunity to grow and be exposed to areas of HR other than recruitment, and to have an opportunity to lead and partner with some of the best in the business.
“Quantrics has been and will continue to be an outstanding organisation. I feel that the Philippines is just starting to discover and hear about Quantrics, despite the fact that we have been around for a few years.”
Loo’s role is integral to making sure Quantrics continues to get the most out of its people, and therefore provide the best possible service to its customers.
With no two days the same, the Vice President of Human Resources is in constant dialogue with departmental heads and his own leadership team, admitting that he is a stickler for detail when it comes to using measures and reports to judge the progress of various policies and strategies.
Indeed, Quantrics is always thinking about how it can maintain a competitive edge, Loo being proud of that fact it continually challenges the status quo.
“Empowering our employees is critical to this end,” he says. “It is who we are. What I find interesting is that new employees from other more regimented organisations joining us have shared how surprised they are with the Quantrics way of life.
“Many are surprised that we do not require team members to wear uniforms or follow a dress code, and they are impressed with our benefits offers, which are very family friendly.
“The fact is that we spend a lot time and resources to develop our staff professionally, including programmes for career development, job shadowing, intern opportunities and tuition reimbursement for upskilling. We also empower them with tools to improve their overall physical and mental health and to be a contributing member of their community through our Qcares corporate social responsibility initiative.”
Loo is also extremely passionate about advancing the role of women in the technology industry.
He points to the fact that across many Asian nations, a disproportionate amount of business leadership positions are held by men, a trend which Quantrics is actively tackling within its own organisation.
This is being coordinated through the Women in Q programme. A firm believer in equality and diversity, the company has already has achieved gender parity at the VP level, with many other women in positions of management, and wants to do more to drive gender parity throughout every level of the organisation.
The Women in Q programme is designed to encourage more women to pursue career advancement at Quantrics, providing a forum through which they can engage and inspire each other.
Another empowerment initiative is being rolled out in collaboration with Women Who Code Manila, the two parties joining forces to offer workshops, networking, training and recruitment services.
Collaboration with the education sector is also critical to Loo’s recruitment activities at Quantrics. “We believe that it is essential to influence the next generation of Quantrics employees at the grassroots level, especially at high school, college and university,” Loo adds.
“Today, we are working closely with a number of institutions like the University of the Philippines and College of San Mateo to influence what is being taught and covered at the schools.
“We share with these institutions the type of work graduates would be engaged in when working at Quantrics and the importance of upskilling in specific areas. We have also started to introduce academic scholarships and bursaries to reward academic excellence at these various institutions.”
This prompts Loo to highlight the importance of collaboration more generally to the success of Quantrics to date, not just in the field of recruitment and employee empowerment, but also up and down the supply chain which keeps the company’s operations ticking over smoothly.
“We have a phenomenal procurement team at Quantrics who help us manage our supplier relations,” Loo continues.
“Our suppliers and partners are crucial to our success on all fronts. Any issues in the reliability of our vendors can have serious impacts on how and what we can deliver as an organisation. The team here at Quantrics go through a very rigorous but fair process when choosing suitable partners – there are too many suppliers or partners to list here to thank, but we look forward to continuing our mutually beneficial relationships.”
And relationship building, be it with suppliers or employees, will be vital as Quantrics continues to grow and gather momentum in the Philippines.
Its newest branch in San Mateo saw more than 1,000 new hires join the organisation earlier this year, and it is these people both there and at the company’s other sites that will chart the next chapter in what is still a relatively young journey. We, for one, are excited to see what’s in store.
