HR Talk: How to Deliver Bad News during the Lockdown

How did ECQ affect your industry? We are in the retail industry so all mall are closed. So our entire operations is temporarily closed, and there’s no work, no pay for our company. What kinds of challenges did ECQ bring in managing people? According to Benjamin Franklin, “It is the working man who is the […]

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Businesses First? No, Your Workers First.

There’s a lot of things we need to reflect on while we are in Expanded Community Lockdown. As I am at home, sipping my coffee and catching up on work, I realized that not everyone is as calm as me. Many businessmen are anxious, shouting “bankruptcy” even if it’s just the 12th day of temporary […]

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How else can companies help out their staff in the midst of the Coronavirus?

A LITTLE FINANCIAL AID GOES ALONG WAY We can’t work from home because we are in retail. We have to be at the store to keep operations open. If the mall is open, we are contractually obliged to open. Our company issued a memo re: Coronavirus. I think there’s not a lot to do aside […]

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Current Events: How to Handle an ex-Frontrow or MLM Employee?

Yesterday, Dave Villanueva, a disgruntled popular multi-level marketing employee went to Raffy Tulfo to complain about FrontRow Millionaire’s Club’s failure to pay for his earnings due to some misunderstandings last year. Dave Villanueva was tauted as one of Frontrow’s rags to riches story and his face is still at the site’s web page. Here was […]

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Only in the Philippines: When a Hostage Taker Becomes the Good Guy

Yesterday, March 2, an armed man named Archie Paray y Pedraza, 40 years old, went into the mall admin office of V-Mall in Greenhills, San Juan, fired three gunshots, shot one person and took hostage up to 70 people, mostly rank and file employees working at the admin office in the mall’s second floor. He […]

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Judy — A Wolf Disguised as an Angel

There is no greater evil than stealing from those who have less than you. I have an area supervisor whom for privacy reasons, we should call Judy. At a young age of 30+, Judy was a single mother of 5 children. Judy was pretty and had a loud boisterous voice. Everyone who knew her called […]

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Staff Housing Agreement Form (with Downloadable Word Doc)

We have drafted a Staff Housing Agreement and asked our lawyers to look through it after providing a staff house. I have decided to share this so that everyone can benefit if they are also providing a staff house. It’s better to get everything in writing before they move in so all is clear. That […]

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Why We Decided to Subsidize a Staff House for our Core Team

I have managed our small business for 5 years and have only now decided to make a staff house for our head office core team. The idea has been one year in the making, from the time that I have been looking around the area, negotiating with brokers, and finally putting the money down. Why […]

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Work Series: Look at the Man’s Character, NOT merely What They Say

A person’s character can be seen not because of what she said, but rather what she DOES.  A person can come all sweet and giggly, but underneath, is a snake in disguise. Whereas they may greet you with smiles and happy cheer, underneath, they are boiling with jealousy, insecurity and paranoia. You cannot change them […]

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An Entrepreneur’s Life: Solving Problems the Entire Day

A lot of people ask what I do the entire day. The short answer is, “Long term wise, I set the direction of the company. Short term wise, I solve problems.” Especially when it comes to running a business, you already have a system and capable group of people in place. But sometimes, sh*t happens […]

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Leadership Series: Create an Atmosphere where your People can Tell the Truth

I received a call this afternoon. My new supervisor made a big boo-boo — She erroneously gave our staff the wrong schedule causing the store to still remain closed until noon. The late opening caused us to incur mall late opening charges, which usually, if hidden, can be charged to the affected staff for not […]

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Leadership Series: Crab Mentality

In the Philippines, we have a saying that you should not have a Crab Mentality. Have you ever seen crabs in a barrel?  Everyone wants to escape to avoid being eaten, but every time someone gets a leg up, the rest of the crabs in the barrel pull that crab down, until everyone gets eaten. […]

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