Quantrics

HOW EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES PAYS DIVIDENDS

QUANTRICS

2 | APAC Outlook issue 46

TECHNOLOGY

People Powered 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 Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki

S

afeguarding 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.

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QUANTRICS

CAREER SNAPSHOT

VICTOR LOO “I started my career in recruitment of highly specialised technology personnel. You can say I was thrown in the deep end early on in my career as I was a political science graduate and didn’t have any background in engineering or computer science at all.

“However, I am a very curious person and I certainly wasn’t shy or afraid to ask all the stupid questions. I knew it would be challenging, but I felt that if I immersed myself in the environment with the top engineers in the business, I would very quickly learn how things work, how the business would evolve and what good talent looks like in that particular space. I was speaking like an engineer in no time!

“Specifically, I recruited for network engineers, data centre specialists, cloud computing specialists, business intelligence, security consultants and highlevel sales executives at the B2B enterprise level. I simply loved recruitment and the thrill of seeking out talent in a particularly competitive sector. I really enjoyed the challenge of finding top talent, selling the opportunity to prospective passive candidates and picking the best ones for business leaders within the organisation.

“This love and passion for technology allowed me to expand my interest to state-of-the-art HR technologies and other industries like insurance and animation, where technology in those spaces is also very different.”

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,” 4 | APAC Outlook issue 46

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

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QUANTRICS 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

LEADERSHIP FOCUS

THE SEVEN FUNDAMENTALS Based on two decades of experience, Victor Loo highlights seven fundamentals which help to define a good business leader: • They love working with people • They guide but don’t control • They know that their success comes from their team’s success • They are agile in how they lead • They know how to properly delegate • They are a motivating or inspiring force • They take calculated risks “I believe that leadership is like chess or poker,” Loo says. “You may know how to play the game and say all the right things, but your professional development in leadership never ends. You are always learning how to become a better leader.

“People often use the word leader and boss interchangeably – in fact, they are quite different. From my experience, the most engaged teams that provide 110 percent in effort and produce the most long-lasting results are those that are led by leaders, not bosses.”

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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.”

TECHNOLOGY

Quantrics makes no secret of the fact that its success is down to the empowered people who work for the company 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.

www.quantrics.com

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QUANTRICS SM City Taytay IT Park, Manila East Road 1920 Taytay, Rizal, Philippines 3rd Floor, Robinsons Place Naga, Roxas Avenue cor Almeda Highway, Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines SM San Mateo, Gen. A, SM City, Gen. Luna Ave, San Mateo, 1850 Rizal, Philippines www.quantrics.com PRODUCED BY APAC OUTLOOK MAGAZINE