“We’re in the BPO business. Every time we place an employee with a client, we’re putting our reputation and values out there for the world to see. The HR Asia Business Awards is testimony to the work The Back Room puts into creating a superhero workforce, for superhero clients.” Wayne Findlay, CEO The Back Room.
The Back Room recently celebrated winning Employer of the Year at the 2023 HR Asia Best Companies To Work For awards.
The HR Asia Best Companies To Work For Awards, in conjunction with Business Media International, rewards businesses across Asia by recognizing companies with the best HR practices, who also demonstrate high employee engagement and excellent workplace cultures.
It’s the first time The Back Room has entered the Awards, which involved 50 team members completing an extensive survey to measure work satisfaction. The results put The Back Room on the elite list of 200 companies in the region doing exceptional work in HR.
Scoring above the market average
Survey categories include Leadership & Organisation, Culture & Ethics, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Digital Transformation. The Back Room scored well above the market average across every single category. Highlights included:
- 4.6/5 company average for its Culture & Ethics (well above the 3.81 market average)
- 4.68/5 company average for "there are equal career development opportunities for everyone regardless of differences in gender, age, ethnicity, and culture" (well above the 3.86 market average)
- 4.72/5 company average for "I am confident of the value of my contribution to the organization” (well above the 3.96 market average)
Darren Canano echoes the thoughts of many of his Back Room colleagues: “I never get bored since work challenges me but I also get enough support that I feel comfortable doing the job that I do… we have great teamwork.”
Why awards?
Businesses enter and win awards for many reasons: to raise profile, showcase the innovative work they do in their chosen sector, or to celebrate and recognize their workforce.
In the realm of business process outsourcing (BPO), HR awards are significant. It’s a stamp of approval that you have your internal processes right and a winning people-centred culture.
However, there’s a double jeopardy for BPOs. Their people are out in the field representing the company at another organization. Clients can spot a mile away when a team member from an outsource provider is demotivated, under skilled or simply not a good fit. The professional relationship between client and BPO won’t last very long if the BPO is supplying inadequate workers, leading to reputational damage.
What’s happening inside a BPO organization is a reflection of how their people will perform externally – an attractive proposition for partners looking to outsource key functions, perhaps for the first time.
“This is why we lead the way in how we look after our people,” says Wayne. “We build a culture with plenty of fun events, offsites and training, as well as a real commitment to work-life balance for our Filipino teams.”
Brilliant customer feedback
New Zealand-based Connected Accountants had worked with BPOs previously, before working with The Back Room to assist with their 2021 tax prep.
The firm found their outsourced staff to be respectful and skilled, fluent in English, and highly talented, adaptable to New Zealand business cultural norms and aligned to the values set by the accountancy business. Kevin Summerhays, CA Director, says: ‘The only thing I would have done differently is go straight to the Philippines and The Back Room. It’s brilliant.’
Approximately 70% of executives (depending on which piece of research you lean into) say that employee engagement is critical to their company’s success because it’s been proven to increase morale and staff retention and, in turn, fill the global talent shortage.
According to Gallup’s meta-analysis, businesses that score high on employee engagement show 21% higher levels of profitability, while a high-performing company culture leads to four times larger revenue growth (Forbes).
The BPO that’s achieving this is effectively excelling twice – a skilled and engaged BPO employee is a high-performing outsourced employee.
A commitment to people
As well as developing an ethics policy of fundamental principles to ensure it upholds respectful, safe and professional working conditions, The Back Room maintains strong values around career progression and competency development, continuous professional training, intensive graduate training and strong client-staff relationship-building.
It also provides a plethora of professional, personal and financial perks and benefits as standard to its employees, which go far beyond the expected levels of BPOs in the Philippines. These include onboarding training, performance-based salary increases, staff accommodation and employee engagement activities – plus a few fun things for good measure, such as birthday leave, Christmas hampers, free lunches and opportunities to travel.
A real win, win – with the awards to show for it.
"Employee engagement, a positive and supportive learning culture and people’s well-being, is at the heart of everything we do," says Wayne Findlay, Managing Director at The Back Room. "We’re thrilled to be recognized by HR Asia Best Companies to Work For, as our values and policies reflect the Awards' benchmark standards in people and culture.”
