ENGAGE OFW RECRUITS TO RETAIN THEM, IMPROVE THEIR COMPETITIVENESS AND PRODUCTIVITY, HR EXPERTS URGE LICENSED RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

Speaker after speaker at the Lilac Center for Public Interest, Inc.’s “Bad Hire, Good Hire, New Hire: Forum on Human Resource Organization Management and Development” yesterday strongly encouraged licensed recruitment agencies to fully engage the overseas Filipino workers they send abroad to minimize migration-related problems, including loneliness, and to improve their competitiveness and productivity.

“Your responsibility in ensuring the welfare of our OFWs does not end at the send-off to the airport,” said one speaker, John Albert DG Austria, an expert practitioner on strategic recruitment, sourcing, selection, and placement, HR management, learning and training, organizational development and quality.

“You must fully engage them through all means of communication, including new social media forms, to show them that you care and to alleviate their alienation in a foreign land,” he said.

Austria, who spoke on the topic, “Engaging the OFW: Turning a Bad Hire into Good Hire”, said licensed recruitment agencies should maintain open lines of communications with OFWs and their families, and even greet them on their milestones, such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Another resource person at the forum, held at the The Bayleaf Intramuros in Intramuros, Manila, said licensed recruitment agencies should thoroughly study and implement the Iceberg Model of Competencies in their recruitment by analyzing deeper into the motives and behaviors of OFW candidates why they seek overseas employment.

“It is important that LRAs know what drives OFWs to seek greener pastures abroad. Certainly, it is not only the material rewards that drive them. We must try to know how they perceive themselves, their roles, and their traits which are harder to ascertain than their skills and knowledge which we could easily document,” said Senibe Salve LabastidaDioso, the head of the front-end operations of Gumshoe Human Resource Consultancy and manager of its “mystery shopping” program.

John Van Dijk, founder and president of Macom Consultancy B.V./Pacific Leader Development Ltd., a Netherlands- and Hong Kongbased company that provides business and management services, specifically in organizational performance improvement and in training and development of managers and employees, discussed the foundational basics of recruitment.

Daniel Meyer, President & Founder of Decision-Making, Analytics & Intelligence Philippines (DMAIPH), an analytics, consulting, training and outsourcing company, urged the LRAs to embrace technology and use analytics and metrics in their recruitment.

Other resource persons who shared their knowledge, insights, and expertise at the forum—supported by NYD International Placement Agency, Inc., Azumi Boutique Hotel, Pioneer Insurance, Best Allied Services Integrated Company Inc. (BASIC), Pag-IBIG Fund, SunLife Financials, Manila International Travel and Tours, Inc. (MITT), and Hallo Hallo Alliance—were Armando V. de Jesus, Jr., a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and a certified instructor in Interaction Management; Arnold R. Mamaclay, Founder-President and CEO of Rensol Recruitment and Consulting Inc., a company that specializes in the recruitment and placement of Filipino professionals and skilled workers abroad; and Dawnie Ray J. Maputi, Country Human Resources Manager of PERI-ASIA Philippines, Inc., a subsidiary of PERI GmbH.

Other forum supporters are Baguio-Benguet International Recruitment Agency, Inc.; Placewell International Services Corporation (PISCO); Max Group of Companies, Inc.; I-Remit Global Remittance; and RM Advent Global Services. Lilac Center media partners who supported the event are the Philippine Star’s Career Guide, BusinessWorld, The Manila Times, and Buhay OFW.

Nicon F. Fameronag, President of the Lilac Center, said the one-day forum sought to provide LRAs a platform to benchmark their practices against international global standards; provide LRAs relevant and useful knowledge in managing their HR function, in organizing their HR units, and in sharpening and improving procedures in hiring overseas workers; share effective strategies in attracting talent; and define the role of the social media in HR development.

“I think we have achieved our goal with the huge turnout of attendees to the forum. There is a huge interest among the LRAs to level-up with global recruitment trends and to enhance the capacity of their HR officers for them to remain at sync with international recruitment standards,” he said.