Early adoption of technology both in its service delivery and internal operations has allowed Globe to remain resilient and to transition smoothly and securely to the full work-from-home set-up when the pandemic broke out.
The majority of the over 8,000 workforces of Globe was able to work from home at a moment’s notice through the help of various tools that were introduced to them as early as 2013 when the company decided to migrate its on-premise systems to the cloud for easier management. Right now, Globe is able to keep its systems running with 99.9 percent uptime on Amazon Web Services and at the same time, ensure that it can immediately detect and respond to cyber threats.
With a digital-first attitude, Globe employees were able to take on a virtual work mindset and be productive anywhere they may be since the company started its digitalization journey which includes the use of GCash mobile money instead of cash for transactions inside its offices as well as the enrollment of the workforce in KonsultaMD for 24/7 access to licensed doctors through telemedicine.
“It’s worth noting that we are able to function as normally as we have before the enhanced community quarantine given that we have not seen each other for over two months now. We were very, very fortunate to have prepared ourselves well for this type of situation,” said Ernest Cu, Globe President, and CEO.
As a testament to how ready Globe is in terms of technology and digitization, it was able to enter into a joint venture and sign a production agreement with two separate companies in the US while Metro Manila was under ECQ. This was done by exchanging and signing documents electronically while ensuring that they are legally binding. At the same time, Globe was able to make a major software upgrade to its billing system while its employees are at home, a huge task which normally takes over 100 people working together for several days in a row.
Having the right work tools was the first step towards a successful WFH transition. The majority of Globe’s knowledge workers have laptops and mobile phones which provide them with the flexibility to change their work location as long as there are an internet connection and cellular signal. Globe also uses virtual desktop technology so employees can securely access their work environment in the cloud. Globe had already implemented some limited Work-From-Home arrangements even before physical distancing measures were imposed.
Likewise, physical distancing did not hinder Globe’s workforce from collaborating effectively with each other and their stakeholders since Globe has been utilizing secure cloud-based collaboration tools such as Zoom for video conferencing, and cloud-based office suites for email, document storage, and sharing, prior to WFH.
Internal company processes from memo routing, purchasing, and payments, managing work tools, and schedule, among other manual operations, were also digitized as Globe leveraged its cloud environment to build business, financial, and human resources tools for a more efficient organization.
The shift to a virtual work environment also did not prevent Globe from making sure that the well-being of the workforce is being taken care of. It created Dude, a bot that checks on the employees daily and triggers a response to attend to the concern raised if needed.
Cu stressed that to ensure business continuity in crisis situations, it is imperative to effectively adapt to disruptive shifts in technology and volatile business environments while honing workforce skillsets and devising innovative business models.
To know more about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph.