PETER HAYDEN General Manager

CAPITAL ONE PHILIPPINES

Capital One Financial Corp. has a culture that extends beyond its US headquarters. When the company opened the Philippine support services almost three years ago, the company also made a conscious effort to simultaneously put up its inclusive business model by engaging its host community – Alabang. This model was not an afterthought by this American financial company but it is embedded in the company’s core culture.

Peter Hayden, a former US Navy officer, makes it a point this level of community engagement is maintained if not strengthened along with the growth of the company’s operations in the country.

THE COMPANY

Capital One Financial Corporation is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., had $221.8 billion in deposits and $330.3 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2016.

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has branches located primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One Philippines Support Services Corporation supports Capital One’s US credit card business. Capital One Philippines is fully owned by Capital One and is the first in-house offshore operations location and the largest single contact center location.

It opened doors in the country barely three years ago. It started with about 1,500 full time employees. Now, it has doubled to 3,000.

“Our business is doing very well, we have more demand than supply. We have work across our global network and our performance and values are clear,” says Hayden citing the importance of the local unit supporting the company’s clients mostly concentrated in the US, Canada, and UK.

Capital One in the US is in the top 125 Fortune companies and one of the largest issuers of credit cards. “We’re a full suite financial service from auto lending and direct banks and credit,” adds Hayden.

Its Philippine operation is serving a captive market just for the operations of Capital One and no other. “Capital One is dedicated and we are focused on US cards,” he adds.

“We have very smooth operations in this country and going into Philippines and the support we got from the industry and from partners here,” he adds.

MAGIC

Time and again, the Filipino talents have proven to be the foreign investor’s major attraction.

“We are absolutely impressed with the Filipino values and to think that we are not working for an outsource company but rather our associates,” he says.

For its recruitment, the company leverages on all channels from newspaper print to billboard and new campaigns in its advertising.

“We are a young company, we strive for excellence and we do the right thing and we found out that the values of Filipino workers fit as who we are and we brag about it,” says Hayden citing this is key factor in its attractiveness as an employer.

He even feels something wonderful happening for Capital One at its location in the south at the Northgate, Filinvest, Alabang.

“There is magic in this place, there is energy in the Philippines because what’s flowing to our site is ‘malasakit.’ It is just the energy and the amazing thing is the hard work of our people, which are the value and culture of Capital One,” he says. Malasakit is a Filipino term for “compassion, ownership and putting one’s interest behind others.”

While majority of work is on customer service, there are tasks across the board. It has its own finance team, IT, accounting and finance, among others. There are certain skills though that take longer to hire like those with analytical skills but they get along fine.

Since Capital One serves a captive market, it is easier for Capital One to create a culture that builds. “We focus on learning and development and we have a general policy but we have smart and great people and they rise to the occasion,” says Hayden.

In the next five years, Hayden sees the Philippine operations continuing and going stronger. “Our hope is our employees establish their careers with us as we continue to focus,” he adds noting that Capital One supports employees pursuing further studies via the company’s accredited training programs.

The company’s low attrition rate is a testament that there is career in Capital One.

Had Capital One not bullish on its Philippines, it could not have doubled its manpower in just a matter of less than three years. Hayden cites the Philippine operations for contributing greatly to the success of the entire company operations.

“We continue to invest here for the long haul,” he adds.

CAMPUS-LIKE As a support service, Hayden seeks to provide a nice workplace. It envisions to become a workplace of choice and along with that, “We holistically focus on employees, providing a good set up for amenities and a lot of things that they need while at work. So we create a place as their second home accommodation and people development comes along,” he adds.

“I think for us, the belief is we pay for performance and we do a lot along those lines. We also keep an eye of the market,” he adds.

The company is also moving towards more value added solutions and this requires a lot of training for its workers.

“This is not really a challenge but an opportunity for the Philippines because the customer base for our company is rapidly moving towards digital solutions. So we provide more training to employees,” adds Hayden.

One thing he noted though is that the Philippines has a lot of young workers. “Majority of our employees are 21 years old and they are technology savvy,” he adds.

“With the right training it is so easy for them to learn the technology. The industry is all in the digital revolution and the banking sector is the center of that so this is a very exciting time,” cites Hayden.

The collaboration among the IT-BPM industry with the government, the academe and the private sector to advance and sustain growth is one thing that makes this industry bullish.

“The performance of this industry makes this country a great place to do business and I am optimistic with the great partnership with industry and the private sector,” he adds.

“The business world is always changing and we are very happy with our presence in Alabang,” he adds.

What makes its Alabang site so ideal for Capital One is it is like a campus where they operate in one environment. It makes Capital One’s operations very manageable in one area. That is why the company does not see itself expanding outside of its existing campus.

“We want to create a campus-like environment with all amenities in one site to be able to walk between the buildings and we are able to bring the culture in one unified company. We are very happy to keep the culture together,” adds Hayden.

This campus-like approach is a common approach for Capital One. That is why even if Capital One is going to expand, it will still keep its presence in one area in Alabang.

NAVY A former US Navy, Hayden brings along with him an experience for a deep sense of service and service for others.

“The values of the organization are something close to my heart,” adds Hayden, who finished his undergraduate and MBA in the US.

“When I met Capital One I knew that it is the place I want to be because it represents my own values and it has amazing products. I become one with them in that diverse sense of service to people. It’s been great working with Capital One,” says Hayden, who has been with the company for the past 8 years starting out as senior manager in the technology industry.

Working with Capital One has given him also the opportunity to work overseas although he had been travelling the world as a US Navy official.

“At some point I knew I wanted to work overseas and in a global environment, I just don’t know where that was,” says Hayden. When he was told to go to Manila for his new assignment, it took him two seconds only to say yes.

“I travelled all over as Navy officer and love working with different people that’s why when that opportunity comes to work with lots of Filipinos it was an even more amazing experience,” says Hayden, who has embraced the service leadership kind of management.

“Our clients deserve a world-class service and our greatest asset because of our people,” he says stressing that “If a company takes care of its people, employees will take care of the company, too. So our job is take care of them.”

The experience of Capital One helped Hayden during the transition period from a US-based position to a completely different site, but which he later found out to be just another home.

“There is an absolutely an open arms mentality of the Philippines, very welcoming so the transition was pretty easy. I’ve fallen in love with the Philippines,” says Hayden.

COMMUNITY Like many other expats, the islands have captivated Hayden’s. He has been to the country’s best resorts such as Palawan and Bohol. He has scoured Manila not just to satisfy his curiosity but in line with his belief and to carry Capital One’s thrust towards community engagements.

On day one, Capital One already engaged with the ‘Tuloy Foundation”, which promotes the Contact Center Readiness Program for Filipino youth with limited access to tertiary education. The school, which used to be a dumpsite, is just close to its Alabang site. The nine-month program teaches students key competencies required for entry-level positions in IT-BPM and other service industries and give them the opportunity to work in Capital One Philippines.

“We set up a classroom environment and we provide technology training,” says Hayden adding that after the training students can apply for work at Capital One.

Hayden even teaches every Friday on contact center readiness where he focuses on spending time with students on value formation, diversity of goals and overcoming challenges.

“I love teaching and these students are high school graduates. These kids at one point could not have the same opportunities,” he adds.

Engagement with its host community was not an after thought, but it was born along with the company’s decision to locate here.

“We have 16 full time associates, who at one point do not have the chance at this kind of work. But with the program, they have become productive members of the society. We are hoping to replicate what we’ve done,” he adds.

Capital One believes that if your immediate community is not thriving, then it would be difficult also for your company to thrive. Thus, it is necessary for the company to invest in the community, not just financial investing but putting food on the ground.

To reach even more Filipino children in need, Capital One Philippines also partnered with Planet Water Foundation by building a water filtration tower in Putingkahoy Elementary School in Rosario, Batangas. The initiative is set to provide 600 school children and their families with access to potable water and is part of Planet Water Foundation’s “Project 24” which aims to build water towers that will benefit 24,000 people in five countries within 24 hours.

“Capital One has always been committed to the wellbeing of our partner communities. We focus on education because of the immense potential of the Filipino youth. Providing children with basic needs – potable water, school supplies, and clean classrooms – coupled with the selflessness of our associates’ time will hopefully give them the inspiration they need to continue following their dreams,” says Hayde

According to Hayden, Capital One does not measure growth in terms of monetary values but level of customer satisfaction. It also equates investments with the number of jobs it generated, especially for its immediate host community.

“In my opinion, this is one reason we are doing so well because of the values and quality of our workforce in the Philippines. The fact that English language is well spoken in this country and there is hard work ethics, then we have a great value culture making the Philippines a great place to invest in,” he adds.

“It is an amazing experience, I met and made friends all over the world but the history of the Philippines, the passion of Filipinos and the food make it even greater to be here,” he adds.

“If I were to describe the Filipino workforce, they are value-centric, energetic and they have the ability to rapidly learn and apply back in amazing ways,” he adds.

His servant leadership style echoes back to his military days espousing the basic role of the military to take care of people because that is the way to fulfill a mission.

“I believe in sharing transparency because we have tons of contents and information. This way employees become empowered to take decision. We are a very young company and we always have that start-up mentality,” says Hayden.

On top of that, Hayden believes in having fun because humor is key to learn things quickly. He could only surmise that this fun-loving attitude among Filipinos could be one reason Filipinos learn fast.

ARTS

Hayden, loves Filipino food. He, however, takes an exception for his favorite authentic Bicol Express because of its great flavorful combination.

Hayden also discovered the Philippine arts. “I love Filipino arts, it’s amazing,” adds Hayden, who loves to bring his family for adventure during weekends to art galleries and new found food outlets.

“I love the energy in the arts scene in Manila,” says Hayden even as he scoured other museums in the country including that of famed artist Bencab in Baguio.

“I think the Philippines has the best features that the world has yet to discover,” he says citing places to visit such as Coron, which he described as the best place he’d been to in this country.”

“This is one of best professional experience and am so proud of my team in the Philippines that I feel so lucky to be with my extended family of 3,000 people. It’s an amazing opportunity to serve them and experience our lives together,” says Hayden.