On January 27, 2010, First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP), Inc. received its Investor in People (IiP) Certification from the IiP Quality Centre in the Philippines in ceremonies held during the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) First General Membership Meeting held at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila at the Makati City.
IiP is a UK-based quality standard on people management excellence. With the award, FPIP becomes the first and only industrial park in the Philippines to be IiP Certified and joins a select group of Philippine and Lopez Group companies.
FPIP and parent company First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPHC) has a strong Business Excellence Program promoting organizational excellence in the areas of quality systems and processes, environment, safety, health and people management. Some FPHC subsidiary companies are pioneer IiP Certified organizations.
FPIP made IiP Certification as one of its Corporate Goals for 2009 in the area of Business Excellence. It is an Integrated Management System (IMS) Certified company in the areas of Quality (ISO 9001), Environment (EMS 14001) and Safety and Health (OSHAS 18001).
Below is an employee account of FPIP’s path to IiP Certification.
In 2009, FPIP made one of its major endeavors to be an Investors in People (IiP) certified company. It is aligned with the company’s business excellence initiatives especially since it centers on excellent people development and management. When we talk of people, we talk of employees and of course, that is us!
Our journey started in February when we attended the launch seminar orienting us of the significance of the program and how it will be part of our daily employee lives. Our IiP champions, namely the HR Section and selected employees from the rank and file, presented the history, background and the basic framework itself so that we were all on the same understanding what we wanted to achieve and how to achieve it. Each of us received our IiP Workbook, which in essence, became our partner-in-crime along with some other added references throughout our journey. This workbook was our diary noting down our thoughts, documenting exercises and keeping references to the framework as we proceeded with our journey.
An Initial Assessment occurred in March during which time half of the organization was interviewed to evaluate FPIP’s existing people management practices vis-à-vis the IiP framework. We were very hopeful in doing well from the start as we knew that we had people management practices well in place but didn’t know how it stacked up against the standard. Yours truly was one of the anxious interviewees. We attended a one-day consultation seminar and reviewed our respective IiP Workbooks religiously anticipating possible questions of the assessor. Our adrenalin for excellence was in high gear as we wanted to do well even for just the Initial Assessment. And when the big day came, as a good soldier readying herself to battle, I got to answer all questions with enthusiasm and rapport.
Like any other organization continuously thriving for improvement, we accepted the identified gaps and looked forward to addressing them in months to follow leading up to the actual Assessment. It certainly did not dampen our mood because we knew we can rise over the challenge.
In the next seven months, the company’s HR section with the assistance of our IiP Initial Assessor Mr. Mon Medina set out a path to close the company’s identified gaps. Many were enhancements to existing practices while others were new ones, which already made the framework work in our favor. Parallel to the HR programs to address the gaps, all of us attended IiP Drill Sessions. Corresponding to the framework, each indicator was thoroughly discussed and we had workshops to test our knowledge about each indicator. Although it can be too difficult at times, we slowly realized that each indicator is already present in the FPIP management system. It was a discovery and a realization. All we had to do was pinpoint which existing programs correspond to that indicator and relay our actual, practical experiences about those programs. I, for one, learned that a simple thank you from my immediate superior is a form of rewards and recognition. Many of us took “thank yous” for granted. Who would have thought that in my daily tasks people management is working its way to my development.
Grueling as they can be, the objective of the IiP Drill Sessions was to help make sure we closed the gaps raised during Initial Assessment. As an added preparation, we had a Mock Assessment one month prior to the Final Assessment to examine how far we were in meeting our objective. FPIP is lucky to be part of the Lopez Group of companies whose strong thrusts in business excellence counts many of its companies as IiP certified. We had the benefit of the experience and expertise of our Kapamilya who conducted the Mock Assessment. Our IiP Workbook had to be re-printed again to make room for more notes and answers. Our Mock Assessors were very encouraging and helpful in convincing us that we were ready for the Final Assessment.
And then it came… another half of the organization was interviewed and we stayed in one room before and after each interview session to share experiences and boost morale. Each person had a unique story to tell but all of us knew we were prepared. And true to that form, we were recommended for certification after a day’s worth of telling the assessor how FPIP takes care of its employees. The work done for the past nine months just blew away with such good news.
Now that we reached this milestone, there is no telling where FPIP will be again next year with IiP. But I am more than assured; it is farther than where we started and definitely notches higher in people management excellence.
