Work spaces that WORK
From an office in a mall to one surrounded by green spaces and ducks on a lake, Ayala Land Offices contributes to a company’s robust productivity, and its employees’ overall well-being
In the Fortune. com article “Home vs. Office: Where Should You Work?” Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer noted that while people tend to be more focused and productive when they work from home, they’re also “more collaborative and innovative when they’re together” in an office. “Some of the best ideas come from pulling two different ideas together,” she observed.
Indeed, even as the Internet, e-mail, and SMS have facilitated freelancing careers for many Filipinos (four million as of 2012, according to an article published in a local broadsheet), reporting for work in a traditional office still has its advantages over a work-from-home setup. For one, it creates a clear boundary between your family and professional lives. It also encourages camaraderie and collaboration among colleagues, something that a teleconference, chat, or virtual face-to-face can’t quite achieve. Appropriately, companies are responding to our need for quality work spaces by choosing offices in areas that inspire creativity, productivity, and personal satisfaction. In short, these are the kind of places that motivate us to be in our work stations every day.
Ayala Land Offices enhances our work life in many ways. Its world- class business centers are strategically situated along major thoroughfares to ease our daily commutes. They’re also found within vibrant central business districts and masterplanned mixeduse communities in 11 key cities nationwide. This means all its modern office solutions are within walking distance from sprawling malls, world-class hotels, endless dining and shopping destinations, lush parks, lively entertainment arenas, and exclusive residential buildings. The self- contained setting is a deliberate one, designed to provide us with opportunities to experience the best that life has to offer, even while we’re at work.
Small wonder why Ayala Land Offices is home to many Fortune 500 and top Philippine corporations, as well as the biggest names in the growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
For the 3,584 employees of Manulife Business Processing Services (MBPS), a large selection of restaurants isn’t the only perk of holding office at UPAyalaLand TechnoHub in UP North Science and Technology Park, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. A verdant landscape complete with ducks swimming in a lake is a soothing sight of the 20,000- square- meter global shared service center that provides administrative, finance, investments, marketing, underwriting, actuarial, and information services to Manulife and John Hancock operations in Canada, the United States, and Asia.
“The whole concept of the park— low buildings with a lake and ducks, wide open spaces, and lots of green—definitely has a calming effect,” avers Gigi Mantaring, MBPS Vice President and General Manager, and one of the first to join the company in its inception in 2006. “Even if the office is not very far away, it somehow separates you from the blare of the city and being holed up in a high rise on a congested street.”
Location, in fact, has been a plus for the company since it began its operations in UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub in May 2008. Employees ( whose average age is 27) find that everything they need is here or within reach. Food choices, as mentioned, are aplenty, and Mantaring has seen staffers flock to the slew of eateries at the Tech Portal “for breaks and even after work hours to unwind.”
The office also happens to be within a 10- kilometer radius of most staffers’ homes. “Having a conveniently located office helps attract and retain employees, which is one of Manulife’s goals,” says Mantaring. “We just like it here.”
When TELUS International Philippines was looking for a fourth site to expand its operations last May, team member experience was a top priority of the global call center outsourcing and IT development company. “Is it easy for them to get to? Is it a safe environment? Is it conducive to inspiring workplaces that will engage them and reflect the brands of our clients? At the end of the day, McKinley Exchange Corporate Center on EDSA corner McKinley Road, Makati, proved to be the most suitable location, as we realized it is a place where we can put our culture of caring on full display,” says Warren Tait, TELUS International Philippines Vice President of Brand Marketing and Culture.
Ayala Land Offices was a natural choice for TELUS. Boasting a fitness center, library, game rooms, themed rooms, and a pharmacy, the 11,000- squaremeter state-of-the-art facility is the ultimate work-life balance venue that has a positive impact on its 3,850 employees. “Historically, all of our sites have been strategically beneficial to team member productivity. An organizationwide survey in 2014 showed that a good number of accounts had high levels of engagement — a critical component of our success,” says Tait.
Because of location, TELUS’ team member experience extends long after work is over and even outside office confines. Relaxing dinners, cocktails at a bar, and even a pampering treatment in a spa are how the company’s largely millennial workforce likes to reward itself after hours on the job. These significant drivers of the country’s economy are legitimate consumers, too, reminds Tait.
“Based on our longstanding partnership, as well as our promising beginnings with McKinley Exchange, I would say these three words best define the Ayala Land Offices experience — professional, inspiring, and world-class,” Tait declares. “Ayala Land has always delivered on its brand promise of providing the most reliable facilities management services, and we feel truly privileged to have this joint endeavor with them.”
“The Ayala Land Offices experience is professional, inspiring, and world-class.”
WARREN TAIT Vice President of Brand Marketing and Culture Telus International Philippines
“We just like it here.”
GIGI MANTARING Vice President and General Manager Manulife Business Processing Services