In any company, the benefits of providing continuous training and growth opportunities to employees should not be underestimated. In an online article, the UK-based HR practitioner Stuart Hearn states that “continuous training is an essential element of performance management that can provide a great return on investment while improving overall productivity.” Among its most tangible benefits to an organization include the following: it attracts highly capable employees, it improves employee loyalty and satisfaction, it improves standards of performance, and highlights areas for improvement.
At Universal Robina Corporation, leadership and people development have long been an important part of its corporate strategy. By promoting a “People and Planet Friendly Culture” in the company, URC has engaged and empowered its capable employees and its high performing teams to create innovative products and deliver positive customer experience. This corporate culture and employee know-how are honed at URC University. Here, URC’s brand of people development “inspires personal mastery, encourages servant leadership and collaboration, and ensures operational excellence.”
According to Susan Tayag, Group Manager of URC's Talent Management and Organizational Development division, URC’s Human Resources, URC University “is an educational entity focused on building internal capability. The programs are focused on developing knowledge and skills unique to and for the benefit of the organization and the individual employee.”
She adds, “More than a physical facility, the URC University is a collection of leadership and function specific curriculum. Based on the respective competency frameworks, a stream of courses is developed for employees to go through depending on their learning need and business requirements. The courses may be delivered face-to-face in a class or through blended approaches like online learning, self-paced, microlearning, and podcasts.”
While URC had been partnering with the HR department of its parent conglomerate, JG Summit Holdings, for several years to conduct employee training, it launched in 2018 customized leadership development programs specifically tailored to the needs of its leaders and the industries URC engages in. The flagship program, called “Excellerate,” is a six-month training program designed to inspire executives to be at “their very best,” while teaching them how to inspire their team members to achieve excellence as well. The Excellerate program is billed as a learning journey of self-discovery, allowing the organization’s leaders to see who they are more clearly and unlock their further growth as individuals, leaders of their teams, and leaders of the business.
The different modules of the Excellerate Program are handled by experts in their field. URC University’s Facilitating Team is composed of consultants from the Resilience Institute, Oasis Strategy Consulting, Singapore Management University, and the Indian School of Business. Participants in the program are assigned to small groups, which receive guidance from both internal and external coaches. Internal coaches come from URC’s Senior Leadership Team, while the external coaches are selected from the aforementioned Facilitating Team or outside business consultants.
So far, three batches of URC leaders—37 managers in total—have completed the program. Feedback on the different modules has been positive: Jesselyn Panis, Corporate Quality Assurance Vice President, reveals that “Leading Self was a very good start of the program where I had a lot of realizations as a person and as leader.” Likewise, Naida Ebora, the Sales and Marketing Director of URC Flour, says she was able to recognize her own strengths and weaknesses to become better as a leader.
Ronnie Villanueva, IT Manager for URC Vietnam, shared the same insights, saying “the 360 feedback is a humbling experience to know ourselves and how your stakeholders view us as a leader.” Meanwhile, Patcharee Singtokul, Commercial Director from URC Thailand, said that being with other colleagues broadened her knowledge and ways of working: “the team composition of the business challenge pushed us outside our comfort zones where we got an opportunity to learn across functions and region.”
Emboldened by the success of the Excellerate Program, URC University is rolling out new programs to serve the developmental needs of other departments. These will sharpen the skills and competencies of key personnel in the Sales, Marketing, Integrated Supply Chain and Human Resources departments. Customized for the company’s middle managers and line managers, the new programs will provide them with timely, relevant, and engaging learning experiences to help them navigate the headwinds and challenges they may face in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.
