This coming February 4 and 5 here in Cebu, virtually via digital platform, a very big HR event is going to unfold. The first day, chaired by this writer, will focus on organizational justice, the new name of employee relations. The second day, chaired by the country's greatest expert on employee compensation and benefits, Mr. Freddie R. Marquez, will focus on its new name total rewards. Thousands of the country's HR professionals have signed in to attend this huge event.
Top global and regional speakers will join Vice President Leni Robredo, Governor Gwen Garcia, Mayor Edgar Labella, Vice Mayor Michael Rama (an excellent HR practitioner before he joined politics), and DOLE officials with Undersecretary Benjo Benavides, Atty. Sonny Matula, president of the Federation of Free Workers, one of the biggest labor groups in the country, and Chairman Ed Lacson of Employers Confederation of the Philippines. DOLE regional director Mimi Siaton and People Management Association of the Philippines outgoing national president Loi Echivarria and incoming president Lin Mukhi will also speak on the first day. Cebu PMAP president, Dr Grace Iligan and other bigwigs in the HR community are also coming. You should not be left behind. Be there.
On the second day, there will be discussions on the global, regional and national trends in compensation and benefits, especially in the light of the on-going pandemic. We all know that the global trends and emerging realities in the digital economy are putting pressures, on top of the COVID pandemic, to redesign compensation strategies. Total rewards should drive higher productivity and better quality of products and services, even as we need to formulate solutions to issues on health, safety and well-being of our human capital, our people. Compensation and benefits should continue to ARM (attract, retain and motivate) people even during the most trying times, when movements are being limited and physical interactions controlled so as to combat the spread of the virus, including its many variants.
The lingering questions are how to redesign our compensation and benefits to reward people and to retain the excellent people in our organization, and how to make voluntary and early retirement for those who are no longer coping in the digital workplace. Issues like paying people based on time put in or on productivity, volumes, outputs and outcomes are going to be tackled, along with paying people based on performance not just based on academic credentials. Rewards should not be based on positions or ranks but based on degree of effectiveness. That is why performance management is very crucial. The criteria for effectiveness and productivity should be very clearly communicated and understood, and should be implemented with flawless precision and consistency, fairness and objectivity.
Of course, traditionally, the compensation package is unique for every organization, based on four elements of formulation: first, their macro and external salary and wage surveys as well as a reading of the economy and financial projections; second, the micro or internal salary and wage analysis measuring the company's attainment of business goals relative to group and individual performance; third, individual contributions based on a tedious and cautious performance evaluation; and fourth, the company's value systems. But this traditional system is being challenged in the digital business world, where ranks and positions are already set aside in favor of individual contributions.
Global experts and regional gurus on compensation and rewards will face our own experts and they will come out with comparative matrices on compensation surveys. They will discuss the latest and the fittest for our current realities, given the COVID crisis in a digital business here and in the global arena. Those who will not attend this huge event will really miss out tremendously.