For its outstanding efforts at shifting focus on its people and promoting a sustainable workplace for them, Business Process Outsourcing pioneer and top call center in the Philippines Sykes Asia, Inc. bagged the Top Workplaces in Asia Award at the recently concluded 2019 Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability (ACES) Awards.

The ACES Awards recognizes successful companies and individuals in Asia across two main domains: leadership and corporate social responsibility. It values the services and achievements of businesses, both large and small and national and international, for their contributions to their communities and the world.

SYKES was commended for its various programs focusing on developing employees to help them achieve the perfect Work Life Balance while also allowing personal growth, making them one of the best BPO companies in the Philippines to work for.

Specifically, ACES was impressed with the high employee involvement in various engagement activities at SYKES. The awards organization believes that these not only bring together employees of similar interests but also serve a greater purpose of providing meaningful contributions to society and communities.

“SYKES takes great pride in being recognized as one of the Top Workplaces in Asia, as this just proves that our employee-focused initiatives centered on promoting a healthy and lively working environment are succeeding. Helping people is what we are all about, not only in servicing our clients, but also in the way we take care of our employees. We allow them to do meaningful work and learn in a fun and supportive office environment that helps them grow their careers,” said John Sneed, Senior Vice-President of Area Operations and Shared Services at Sykes Asia, Inc.

Under John’s guidance, SYKES has also developed various initiatives focusing on employee empowerment that the 2019 ACES Awards deemed him as one of the Outstanding Leaders in Asia. Currently based in Cebu, Sneed notes that his win would not have been possible without his belief in the importance of creating the perfect business environment.

“My experience at SYKES helped me find and focus on the ‘power of its people’ – how supporting the employees and creating a strong culture can deliver amazing results,” Sneed shared. “I have always been a believer that creating the right environment for the employees, setting them as your number one priority, and introducing various programs for their growth and innovation ultimately support the work that we do.”

Promoting work-life balance

SYKES dominates the Philippine BPO workplace with almost 18,000 employees, about 4,000 of which are stationed in Cebu. Despite this large population, SYKES maintains a healthy work-life balance by conducting year-round engagement programs. This is to ensure that everyone in the organization grows as employees and as individuals with their mental and physical well-being of utmost importance.

Every year, employees look forward to activities such as the Year-End Celebration, Sports Fest, Family Day, and Customer Service Week.

During the Year End Celebration, thousands of SYKESers gather in one venue and are treated with food, entertainment, and raffle prizes to celebrate a fruitful year. SYKES’ grand YEC, as in previous years, serves as an opportunity to appreciate all the employees who excelled in their professions and gave equally excellent customer service for the company.

Customer Service Week, commonly referred to as CS Week, is an internationally recognized celebration observed every first week of October to show how much the customer service industry and the people who serve and support customers on a daily basis are valued and commended. SYKES has been organizing this week-long activity for decades to celebrate the hard work and efforts of its employees ─ the core and reason behind the organization’s continued success.

Additionally, SYKES launched funded interest groups dubbed as SYKES Choices (for Manila) and SYKES Involve (for Cebu). These groups refer to recreational organizations for employees by employees. They include a dance club, table tennis club, outdoors club, motorcycle club, and anglers and fishing club, to name a few. The groups provide an opportunity for employees to enjoy their hobbies and interests with their fellow employees outside work.

 SYKES employees are given the opportunity to further expand their skills under different talent development programs, such as the Career Selfie (Self-Improvement Education), SPARK, and ALPHA (Accelerated Leadership Program for High Achievers). These programs provide classes focused on developing business leadership and management abilities necessary in career advancement.

Social commitment

Being among the top BPOs in the Philippines in 2019, SYKES also provides its employees with opportunities to give back to the community through several corporate social responsibility campaigns across different sectors through SYKES Cares, the philanthropy program of SYKES in the Philippines. Primarily established as an education advocacy arm, SYKES Cares has launched programs geared towards increasing access to education by providing educational facilities and equipment to underprivileged communities. Through the years, SYKES Cares has developed its endeavors for social well-being (English training programs for BPO aspirants), economic growth (rebuilding of communities and educational establishments), and environmental protection (tree-planting activities and energy conservation programs).

At the heart of everything that SYKES does is its purpose – to help, one caring interaction at a time – be it for the clients, the customers, the employees, or the community.

Because of these efforts, employee reception at SYKES as a workplace is always positive. Employees or brand advocates share how it is a great privilege and opportunity to be working at a pioneer in the Philippine call center industry. Moreover, the recent SYKES Global Satisfaction Survey revealed that 82% of employees admitted that they are proud of working at SYKES, and 73% said that they are likely to recommend a friend to work in the company.

Starting its operations here in 1997, SYKES is the first multinational call center to operate in the country. It is also the first BPO company in the Philippines to venture out of Manila, opening the first call center in Cebu in 2003. With over 22 years of experience in the BPO industry, SYKES is a recognized industry leader in providing customer care and widely considered to be the top BPO in the Philippines due to its innovative services and supportive work environment that merit the ACES Awards, among other local and international accolades.