*Offshoring Helps Employees Rebuild After Typhoon *

From September 26 to 27, Typhoon Ketsana, aka “Ondoy,” unloaded an astounding volume of rain in Metro Manila – a record rainfall volume so high that thousands of people were left homeless because of raging floods that drowned almost everything in sight. In the wake of the devastating typhoon, Offshoring Inc. had its share of sad, but at the same time, heartening stories from its courageous and unyielding employees.

Rushing to Help: Offshoring Assists Victims

No time was wasted on the operations floor as Ms. Jamie A. Pelaez, Dayshift Supervisor for Offshoring, called one employee after another to check their status, Monday, as the typhoon moved out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

“Here in the office, we contacted all employees who were late and absent because we wanted to know if they're OK. Then we compiled a list of those who needed assistance. COO (Mr. Angelito A. Cruz) personally went out to try to find the employees yesterday. Together with Paul (Mr. Paul Christian C. Ruiz, Senior Manager for HR and Recruitment) and Ms. Ciely (Ms. Cielita S. Subiera, Finance Manager) they went around Metro Manila to deliver clothes and food to the affected employees,” Jaymie said.

Attendance was expectedly down on Monday and Tuesday because employees were still recovering from the destructive typhoon. “There were people who couldn't come to work because of the flood, others because they got sick. There are also those who had to go to Marikina (city) or Taytay (municipality in the Rizal province) to help out their relatives.

This is the reason why although some employees weren't directly hit, they still couldn't come to work because they had to go and help out their relatives.” Some employees lost a lot of their property as the merciless floods swept through Metro Manila. Two or three employees stayed in evacuation centers for a time while a few failed to save any of their belongings. Fortunately, everyone of the talented and hardworking employees of Offshoring Inc. was safe.

As for the clients' reaction, Jaymie was very grateful that they all understood what happened. “It's great that the clients were really considerate. One of them even said, 'Please tell my staff not to worry. Just fix everything; and if he's ready, then he can always come to work.' Clients even wished COO and myself well. They said that they hope my family's fine. For my part, I wasn't directly affected by the typhoon but it still has a tremendous effect on me.” .


A Time to Show Courage and Perseverance

The heavy rains and perilous floods brought out admirable courage and perseverance in every Filipino survivor. The experience of Arvin I. Jose, SEO Linkbuilder from the inventory staff of Offshoring Inc., paints a picture of what thousands of other Filipinos had to go through as the typhoon left its path of destruction across the country.

Arvin lives in Cainta, Rizal, which was, at one point, 90% submerged in the flood. In less than 30 minutes, the floodwater inside their house reached about 5 meters, submerging their clothes, computer, his mother-in-law's TV and other belongings while their furniture floated on the flood's surface.

The real trouble however, was that some of Arvin's nephews were still out in the street as the water volume continued to increase. Arvin bravely plodded through the flood to open the gate for them. The muddy water was already neck-deep and some of it splashed on his lips. When he pulled the gates open, the wall suddenly collapsed, threatening to drown him. His nephews were able to get inside their house by holding on to walls to keep themselves from being swept away by the raging flood.

Kent Bryan V. Blanche, Junior Media Manager of Safe Dock Capital also danced with death to save not only his family's life, but also their neighbors'. Kent lives in Pasig City, another area heavily affected by the flood. In less than an hour, the water level reached 12 feet, submerging their house and belongings. As the raging flood reached a height of 6 feet, Kent raced to assist his sisters and mother, as well as to save their neighbors. He saved an elderly woman, a couple, two kids, and two maids. He saved all those lives and fought against the raging current using only a mineral water jug as a floating device. Rescuers somehow couldn't access their location, so Kent and his family stayed on the second floor of their house for 3 days.

The flood was merciless and distinguished no one to spare. Ms. Ajel C. Olaguer, HR Officer for Offshoring, and her family had to climb to their rooftop to save their lives. In less than 30 minutes, the water level was neck-deep at the second floor. She lived in Provident Village, Marikina City, another area that was virtually wiped out by the cruel muddy water. Fortunately, Ajel was able to save her gadgets (laptop, PSP, digital camera, cellphone) and a few of her clothes. Rescuers who used a rubber boat to get them off their rooftop saved Ajel and her family. After 12 hours, the heavy rain finally stopped at about 8:00 PM. In many places however, the flood only started to go down at about 9:00, Monday morning.

All-Out Support from Offshoring Inc.

Offshoring quickly distributed survival packs containing canned goods, candles, clothes and other essentials to all its employees who needed help. Many employees exhibited their care for others as they tried to enter submerged neighborhoods to help out their relatives and friends. There are also those who exemplified honor and heroism even as they tried to rebuild from the muddy debris of the typhoon themselves.

Timothy Joseph R. Angeles, SEO Specialist, whose house and belongings fell victim to the knee-deep flood, refused the aid offered by Offshoring Inc.

“Ms. Jaymie asked me if I needed help but I said we were OK. I know we are fine on our own. Besides, I know that there are other people out there who need help more than we do, like some of my fellow employees.” Tim said.

Tim rendered a half-day absence at work to help his relatives fix their house in Marikina (city), which was completely drowned, by the furious floodwater. He's very thankful that his family are all right and that their wet appliances are still working.

As more assistance is provided by Offshoring to other survivors, Ms. Jaymie checked on each employee to ask if they're OK.

“I just remind them to thank God because they are alive and their family is alive. What they lost are only material things. Life must go on. All of us have experienced losing something that we really worked hard for. We've all had losses, whether they're things or people, but we have to move on. I remind them that as long as they have a job, they can get those things back. That's the only way to motivate them.”

Even as the daily attendance in the office began to return to normal in the days following the typhoon, Offshoring Inc. continued to look after its employees who were gravely affected. In every step of the way, Offshoring is guided by its commitment to support its employees who are the driving force behind the best BPO in the world.

*Lots of Scare and Prizes in Store for iWebmonsters 2009 *

Witches, monsters, fairies, and dark critters of the night – they're all coming once again to prowl the aisles of Offshoring Inc.'s operations floor. iWebmonsters, the annual Halloween party of Offshoring Inc., is coming this October. This year's celebration is unique because it will be the first time the company will hold a work area decoration contest. The group who decorates their work area in the darkest, most sinister way will win some wicked prizes!

iWebmonsters: Ghosts Gone Wild

Every October, Offshoring Inc. celebrates Halloween by holding iWebmonsters. Employees are encouraged to put on their creepy costumes and decorate their work areas with spooky decorations. They compete in individual and group contests, which award people with the best costumes. While ghoulish costumes are very common, employees can wear any crazy stuff they want. Some employees came in as French maids, counter-terrorist forces, and mafia members in the past.

iWebmonsters is a fun way to break the routine of employees and let them participate in the Halloween season. Some people come to work already in their costumes while others transform themselves just before working in their cubicles. Contestants are called into the pantry to show their frightening forms to fellow employees. Announcement of winners then proceeds, as well as a brief photo session with the participants.

In the end, employees take home fun, precious memories with their colleagues who usually help in dressing them up and painting their faces with ghastly colors. They look forward to iWebmonsters every year just to see the competitive environment of Offshoring Inc. turn creepy and crazy for a day.

New Spooktacular Contest this Year

To make iWebmonsters even better, Offshoring Inc. will hold a group-decorating contest this year for all employees. The winner will be the group who decorates their work area in the most macabre manner. The goal of the competition is to foster camaraderie and teamwork among employees as they work together to make their work area the grimmest of all.

The criteria for judging include creativity, thoroughness of decoration, and consistency in the chosen Halloween theme. Employees are grouped into their accounts while the admin and the IT staff will facilitate the contest. Aside from the glory and fame of having the coolest work area, gift certificates are also up for grabs. Decoration of work area should be done by the 20th of October when judging will take place. Announcement of winners will not be until October 30 during the iWebmonsters Party.

Aside from the group contest, as usual, Offshoring Inc. will also reward individuals who will put in the best work for their costumes. In the past, employees who planned to compete registered for the contest. This time however, there's no need for registration as all employees are expected to wear their costumes on the day of the party. To ensure the safety of the contest, no confetti, pyrotechnics, live flame or smoke generator of any kind will be allowed. A total of 12 winners chosen from morning and night shift employees will receive gift certificates from Offshoring Inc.

iWebmonsters is just one of the regular events Offshoring holds each year to nurture the creativity and friendship among its employees. Celebrations like these make the entire Offshoring team more solid, which ultimately results in better productivity from everyone.

*Mini-Library to be Set Up in Offshoring's Headquarters *

Handling various types of Web-based businesses and driving them to succeed is no small feat. Offshoring Inc., which delivers globally competitive staff-leasing services, requires knowledge and continuous learning among its employees so they will excel in their work every single day. To advance this goal, Offshoring Inc.'s HR Department is planning to install a mini-library in the company's headquarters. The mini-library will expand employees' awareness and know-how, which should increase the high quality of their work even further.

Mini-Library: The Plan

According to Ms. Ajel C. Olaguer, HR Officer, the mini-library will be set up as one of the company's growing number of facilities. Offshoring's employees currently enjoy several facilities, such as a swimming pool and a multipurpose hall. When this plan comes to fruition, employees will not only be able to exercise their bodies, they'll also be able to exercise their minds inside company premises.

Mr. Angelito A. Cruz, Offshoring Inc.'s Chief Operating Officer was the one who came up with the idea for a mini-library. One of the aims of the plan is to utilize the books that the company currently has. “There were several meetings we had for the planning and brainstorming. One of the suggestions that we had was to collect book donations from employees. This is voluntary though.” Ajel said.

The mini-library will be placed in one of the executive offices on the 27th floor of Tycoon Centre Condominium where Offshoring Inc.'s administration staff is located. Offshoring Inc. will gather all the books it has and the donations from employees, as well as purchase new ones to stock up the library. “Books that are relevant in our business, magazines or fictional books are welcome.” said Ajel.

While the procedures on how employees could borrow books from the library are not yet finalized, Ajel's team had already planned how the library would look like. “It will be just a simple library like some of us have at home. There will be shelves, couches and a computer will be provided as well.” Once the library is installed, employees can go to it to relax and read a book during their break. .

Reading in the Internet Age?

The obvious question though is, “Is it really productive to read books in the Internet Age, when the quickest way to learn is just to browse the World Wide Web?”

Ajel definitely thinks so.

“Despite the fact that we can get everything from the Internet already, there are still other people who prefers reading a book rather than spending a very long time staring at the computer. Reading is regarded as one of the most enriching habits for the simple reason that it’s not just a hobby or a past time that entertains us, but it is also an educational activity and hence brings a vast reservoir of knowledge. This will help our employees maintain a very sharp mind that is very essential in our business.” she explained.

Offshoring Inc. is very serious in staying ahead of the curve in the BPO industry. The planned mini-library is another way of upgrading the world-class talents of the company, who will be ready to deliver more amazing results to their clients around the world.

* Search for the New Canteen Concessionaire *

Offshoring Inc. is currently conducting a search for a new canteen concessionaire in accordance with its goal of providing healthy and delicious food to its employees. Employees will determine among the candidates who provides the healthiest, tastiest and cleanest food and services. The winning candidate will get to occupy and use Offshoring Inc.'s spacious pantry for 6 months.

Nutritious and Delicious Food for Low Prices

We talked to Mr. Paul Christian C. Ruiz, Senior Manager for HR and Recruitment, about the services and qualities Offshoring Inc. looks for in its canteen concessionaires. “They don't have to pay for anything. They can use electricity and water for free. In exchange, they have to lower their prices.” Paul said.

Indeed, meal prices of canteen concessionaires in the pantry are very low compared to the average meal prices outside Offshoring's headquarters. Because of this, employees get to eat three times a day without worrying about their budget. Different sets of menus are served to morning shift and night shift employees.

To give employees plenty of choices, Offshoring Inc. requires concessionaires to serve at least 4 kinds of viands every meal. Furthermore, they should serve “merienda” (light meal between lunch and dinner) on a regular basis. “They're also in charge of cleaning the pantry,” added Paul. The spacious company pantry has several long tables and chairs, which sufficiently accommodate employees during their break.

Paul remembers that it was in late 2006 that Offshoring Inc. started to accept canteen concessionaires. “We did it so that employees don't have to go out of the building just to eat.” Today, aside from the canteen concessionaire, Offshoring Inc. also has a couple of kiosk concessionaires stationed at the company pool deck that give variety to everyday menus.

The Tastiest Gets to Stay

The search for the new canteen concessionaire officially started last October 5, 2009, with the first candidate trying its best to serve good food to employees. Four applicants will dish out their best dishes during the search, which will run for a whole month. Each candidate has 5 days to get the discerning employees to their side. Employees referred candidates to the management while admin staff is exempted from the referral privilege.

At the end of the search, Offshoring will conduct a survey to determine which of the candidates is the best. The survey will be conducted via MyWeb, the company's online ERP-based workforce management system. “We'll look into how good their food is, their presentation, and of course, their sanitation. Some concessionaires in the past served delicious food but their work areas were cluttered. That's why we have to consider the concessionaire's attention to cleanliness.” Paul said.

The winner of the search will get to serve in Offshoring Inc.'s pantry for 6 months. The deal is perfect for concessionaires since they get to save a lot of money from using Offshoring Inc.'s fully functional facilities. Employees also ultimately benefit from the set-up because they can dine in the best way possible.

Food is the body's fuel for the day. Offshoring Inc. believes that providing its employees with the most delicious and nutritious meals will keep their high performance going all day and all night long.

* Operations Module for MyWeb Ver. 2 Under Development *

In its quest to better improve its service delivery, Offshoring Inc. has recently kicked off the development of the Operations Module of its in-house ERP, MyWeb. The ad hoc team is composed of Angelito Cruz, COO; Paul Ruiz, Senior Manager for HR and Recruitment; Len Rada, Night Shift Manager; Jaymie Pelaez, Morning Shift Supervisor; Brix Sanga and Toto Ignacio, Systems Administrators; and Arnel Celedonio In-house developer and Junior Recruitment Officer. The Ad hoc Team will regularly meet to see through the development of the fully functional Operations Module. Since the module will include client interface, clients’ recommendations and feedback will also be sought through Len and Jaymie. The Operations Module will capture the intricacies of Offshoring’s operations; and as such, it will entail several months of development, testing and revisions before it can be launched for use.

What is the Operations Module?

The Operations Module is the brainchild of Mr. Angelito A. Cruz, Chief Operating Officer of Offshoring Inc. Shift Supervisors Ms. Len C. Rada and Ms. Jaymie A. Pelaez are helping in the development by putting in their suggestions on what the program should be able to do based on their observations of staff and clients' needs. We talked to Jaymie regarding some of the expected functionalities of the Operations Module.

“We are going to upgrade MyWeb to cater to both employees and clients.” said Jaymie. MyWeb is the central program Offshoring Inc. uses to coordinate and manage all the information, resources and functions of the company from a shared database. The software has many uses, including preservation of data integrity, which is impossible with non-digital workforce management systems. The Operations Module will be an additional function of MyWeb, available for both staff and clients' use.

“The Operations Module will provide clients and staff with many advantages. The program will enable faster updates of tasks. Less time will be consumed and the HR Department will have to deal with less paperwork. In short, all processes will be in real time.” Jaymie explained.

Offshoring employees currently use e-mail, ICQ and Skype to communicate with their clients in real time, as well as send reports and files. With the Operations Module, clients can assign tasks to their staff directly via MyWeb. It will be easy to track progress of task assignments since the Module will keep a complete history of reports. For the employees' part, they don't have to rummage through their e-mails to search for their clients' instructions and files, which could be buried by e-mails coming from other sources. Once the Operations Module is finished, it could replace all the separate functions of e-mail and instant messaging systems, rolling them all into one easy-to-use program that both clients and staff could access.

A Closer Look at the Operation Module's Development

Arnel P. Celedonio, In-house Developer and Junior Recruitment Officer, is the one in charge of developing the Operations Module and MyWeb Version 2. The latter, which will be released this October, will have a better navigational system and improved design and appearance. The Operations Module will be added to MyWeb Version 2 as soon as the program is completed.

According to Arnel, it took a couple of months to produce a completely functional version of MyWeb Ver. 2. “MyWeb was created by combining various types of open source software. Available programs are reused and enhanced while unavailable programs are created” he explained. The Operations Module will appear as an additional tab on MyWeb Ver. 2, next to the modules other Offshoring departments’ use.

Arnel added that team leaders and supervisors can also make use of the Operations Module once it's done. Meanwhile, Jaymie revealed that the management is also looking to integrate Offshoring's timekeeping into MyWeb.

Indeed, Offshoring Inc. is trying to turn MyWeb into a powerful and dynamic software that will increase the efficiency of the company's entire workflow system. With this high level of commitment to the quality of their services, Offshoring Inc.'s position as the number one choice for staff-leasing solutions is definitely secured.

* New Virtual Tour: Take a Peek at Our Headquarters! *

To view Offshoring Inc.'s new and improved virtual tour, please visit:

http://www.offshoring.com/tour.php

Superior results only come from excellent investment. Offshoring Inc. makes it a priority to invest in the progressive enhancement of its headquarters and facilities to continuously increase the quality of its services. Recently, Offshoring Inc. launched its new virtual tour on its website to give potential clients and the general public a better view of its offices and amenities, which it is very proud of.

Virtual Tour: A Panoramic View of Offshoring Inc.

Offshoring Inc.'s previous online virtual tour featured a video that showed still photographs of areas in the company headquarters located at the 27th floor of Tycoon Centre Condominium, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines, as well as the operations floor. The new virtual tour is a huge improvement from the old one, allowing viewers to get a panoramic view of several areas. Short descriptions are also provided, so viewers know the function of each area. We talked to Louie L. Daganzo IV, Offshoring's Inhouse Graphic Designer and Junior Recruitment Officer, about how his team was able to come up with the brilliant virtual tour.

“Actually, the idea came up while I was thinking of how to combine video and 3D for the new virtual tour. We decided to take pictures in 360 view and then stitch the images together to make them into a panoramic shot of our headquarters. The end result had the feel and look of a video and 3D virtual tour, but much more stable and realistic because we just had to edit and retouch real images to make minor adjustments.” Louie explained.

According to Louie, rendering video and 3D is not his forte but he was able to capitalize on his superb image-editing skills to compose beautiful panoramic shots of Offshoring's offices. Louie did not make the virtual tour alone though, but with the help of two other highly talented employees of Offshoring: Ramoncito “Mon” L. Velasquez and Francisco “Kiko” C. Castaneda. Mon, now a Senior Programmer for Cataweb Online coordinated with Louie on taking pictures and editing images, while Kiko, Senior Graphic Designer from Offshoring's inventory staff, took care of flash programming.

Behind the Scenes

Louie and Mon did the shoot of the headquarters during hours when there were only a few people around. Adobe Photoshop was also used to clear out the usually busy operations floor and admin office of Offshoring Inc. It took a considerable time to create the virtual tour because Louie and the others had other things to do. However, the resourceful and extremely talented team still came up with great results because of their flawless teamwork.

During the virtual tour's development, Louie's team tried an approach where viewers can click certain parts of an area in the tour to get a 360 view. They changed their plan though and decided that it would be better if the tour just slowly walk visitors through
Offshoring's headquarters. The fruit of their efforts was certainly an asset of Offshoring's website. For his part, Louie is just glad of the final product. “We are very happy with how the new virtual tour came out.”

Offshoring Inc. is continuously upgrading its website to provide potential clients and the general public with all the vital information they need on what the company is all about. In the future, visitors can expect more exciting features from the website, which is a reflection of the outstanding dedication of Offshoring Inc. to world-class staff-leasing services.

To view Offshoring Inc.'s website, please visit: http://www.offshoring.com/

*Jodi's Corner *

Jodi is going all around the world in search of more knowledge about SEO, Web Development, and other Web-based enterprises. She's also spreading the great news that Offshoring Inc. is here to provide offshore staffing solutions to anyone who has a Web-based business in mind. Jodi will be in more conferences, expos, and other events to talk with you about Offshoring's services and to answer all your pertinent questions. So if you want to know more about Offshoring Inc. and how your Web-based business can be optimized, be sure to catch Jodi in upcoming shows and events!