How long have you been working for RareJob Philippines, Inc.?

I’ve been working for RareJob since 2011, so that’s about 13 years now. I started as a part-time employee and worked my way up the ladder.

What would you say were the highlights of your stay in the company so far?

I have implemented different initiatives and managed several projects over the years, but nothing beats seeing my team members grow and reach their full potential. It brings me so much joy to be part of their journey as they take on new challenges and bigger roles in the company.

How would you describe your leadership style, especially with multiple teams handling different aspects in Tutor Resource?

I am the type who empowers people to think outside the box by explaining to them what the goal is and letting them come up with as many initiatives they can think of. They may not be able to get it right the first time, but I allow some room for mistakes so they would not be afraid to try and try. Doing this makes them more engaged and gives them a sense of ownership.

I don’t micromanage; instead, I recognize each person’s skills and expertise and maximize them by making them part of the discussion and not just solely taking orders. I once received a feedback from a colleague who was directly working with me before. According to her, my leadership style is transformational.

Being a manager during both the on-site and remote work set-ups of the company, what do you think were the biggest challenges when it came to team and department management?

As a manager, working on-site allows you to be present. People are assured that I am just around when they need help or guidance from me. I can also easily check up on them and extend support when needed.

One of the biggest challenges as a manager in a remote work set-up is not being able to really see how your members are doing. You should be able to maintain a good working relationship with each of them and trust that they are fully capable of doing their tasks on their own. There have been several times when new hires have already come and gone without us even meeting in person.

On the flip side, how do you think has the work-from-home set-up benefited you and your team, both in productivity and motivation?

As you know, traffic is getting worse and worse here in Metro Manila. The time we would have otherwise spent in commuting could now be spent doing something productive like cooking food for the family, watching our kids (or dogs) grow up, or even just resting.

Did directly working with the RareJob Tutors—who have always worked from home—help your department with transitioning from a face-to-face to a remote set-up?

If anything, the experience made us more empathetic to our home-based tutors since we are also going through the same thing ourselves—working alone, doing the work virtually, and solely communicating with colleagues online. It gave us a fresh perspective on what we should do in order to keep them engaged.

One major activity that we launched during the pandemic is the Circle Quest where home-based tutors were grouped by their current location. Together, each of the Circles will take on quests which would let them earn points. We thought of such an activity because we understand that those who work from home need to be assured that they are not alone, they can readily ask for help, and they are part of a bigger community. This provided a strong support system, especially when they can finally meet and mingle with their fellow tutors through our onsite Circle Hangouts. Because of the positive feedback we received, both the Circle Quest and the Circle Hangouts are still ongoing.

What are some of the activities that your department partakes in to keep up the engagement and motivation of your members?

Each team is encouraged to have at least one breaktime in a week where they will take it together. Doing so gives them an opportunity to still have the usual friendly banter just like in the office. Some teams even play online games or have a watch party.

To foster engagement at work, a town hall is conducted monthly within the department where each team share the status of their targets, the challenges they faced, and the actions they took to address it. Because it is a town hall, members are strongly encouraged to participate by asking questions, raising concerns/issues, and making suggestions to help other teams.

To further ensure engagement, the first ever House Cup which was inspired by the Harry Potter movies was launched this year. A quiz is given after all the reports to check their understanding and the team’s average score will be added to their House Points for the term. Aside from that, their participation is graded as well, which means every question asked, clarification sought, and suggestion given let them earn more House Points. The winning House will receive the highest budget for their face-to-face term-ender activity.

I also have a touch base meeting with each member every term to check how they are doing and find ways to help them and their team reach their targets. This has proven to be very beneficial since a big chunk of the initiatives that were implemented came from these meetings.

How did you and your department leaders come up with such activities?

These things are discussed in meetings with the department leaders. Usually, the issue at hand is presented and we brainstorm on how to effectively deal with it.

It is really important for us to instill the spirit of collaboration since we recognize that we don’t know everything, and that others may have some good ideas if only they were more involved. It is one thing to keep them informed, but it’s a whole other story to make them participate. To address that, we thought of appealing to their competitive nature so that they will do that because they want to and not just because they were asked to.

Lastly, for those in leadership positions who are working from home, and are also looking into improving their team’s engagement, what tips do you have for them?

First is trust. Learn how to trust your team, and make sure to earn their trust as well. For me, this is extremely important. You will be surprised at how much a person can do when they trust you and when they know you trust them as well.

Next is to keep an open mind. Recognize the fact that you will make mistakes as a leader, and welcome the feedback of your team when you do. On a similar note, accept that your members will also make mistakes along the way, and be ready to provide support so they can improve. When we promote openness, people will be more willing to chime in and cooperate; this is where innovation thrives.

Lastly, make them feel that you care. It’s not enough that you ask them how their weekend was, but show them that you sincerely want them to grow and be the best version of themselves: identify their strengths and assign tasks or projects that would highlight it, find out what skills they want to develop and create opportunities for them to learn, and consider their preferences when making decisions, if possible.