BY: FERLIZA C. CONTRATISTA
CEBU CITY, August 8 (PIA) --- Cultivate a culture of “Walang Iwanan”, this was the main message of Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Director General Jose Mari Oquinena to more than a hundred human resource (HR) practitioners in Cebu recently.
Oquinena was one of the speakers of the 14th Proactive People Management Seminar organized by the Peoples Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP).
Oquinena, who is also one of the pillars of the non-government organization “Gawad Kalinga”, said that an HR practitioner must create and leave behind as legacy a culture of “walang iwanan”.
“Don’t leave anybody behind, develop a culture of 'walang iwanan,' and expect a high level of cooperation from the personnel, the men and women of the company,” Oquinena said.
The legacy that will be left behind by an HR personnel will practice a sense of fairness that can inspire everybody in the workforce, he said.
He added that the legacy will also include an atmosphere of thriving for excellence.
“Pag inspired ang mga tao mo, you will be able to raise them to a level of excellence wherein hindi pwede ang pwede na,” Oquinena said.
Most companies, he said, have visions and missions that have terms such as “makatao" or pro-person, “maka Dios” or pro-God, “makakalikasan” or pro-environment, however, oftentimes neglecting the humane push for competence and excellence.
“Makatao, maka Dyos, maka kalikasan, eh sinong maka deliver?” he asked.
But prior to this, Oquinena said that an HR practitioner must first resolve his or her own issues to be effective.
“Sometimes, we need a mirror, to see the beauty in us, so that we can see the beauty in others,” he said.
The HR person can judge better if he or she does not have any baggages and insecurities.
“HR procreate persons while working in the company and you can’t do that if you do not heal and see only yourself,” he said.
He said this is manifested when an HR practitioner is afraid or threatened with a suggestion that may be better than his own, and when confronted with questions on rights of employees vis-a-vis benefit of the company.
“I believe there is no lack of resources, only lack of sharing. I am not an activist but I believe there is enough for everybody,” he said.
Issues such as reduction of manpower, he said, needs to be dealt with properly and after a thorough evaluation.
“Siguro sa company owners, if hindi lang mabawasan ng malaki, there can be a change of lifestyle para ma prevent yan. Sometimes you have to humanize the issue, it’s a choice between human beings and financial statements. How far will you go, as far as your heart says so,” he said.
But when there is really a need to fire people, Oquinena said, an HR practitioner has to be skilled and sensitive to let the employee go without losing his dignity.
Oquinena towards the end of his talk posed a challenge to the participants.
“Your people will become great men and women in the future because you are the HR manager that inspires them,” he said.
Other than Oquinena who spoke on HR Activism, there were also top caliber speakers from established companies.
Other topics were Techniques in Cost Management for People, Programs that Pass Scrutiny; the Power of Personal Branding in Corporate Image; Getting People to be Enthusiastic and to be Engaged in your Programs and What it means to take communication to the cloud.
The overall aim of the activity is to have a strategic advantage for HR managers of being ahead.
Also in the government side, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) is also bent on equipping those in the government service as well as in the private employment to be ready with the Asean integration. (rmn/fcc/PIA-Cebu)