The John Clements Blueprint for the Future
By Paul Catiang

“If you keep doing the same old things, you’ll keep getting the same old results,” said Carol Dominguez, president and CEO of John Clements, at the launch of Vision 2.11, the human resources firm’s roadmap for the next five years. The company president’s aphorism embodies the drive that inspired the need for a vision and a mission to direct the company’s action’s for the next five years toward a single goal.

Thus, from February 2 to 3, 2006, 33 people from John Clements traveled to the resort on Mount Malarayat in Batangas to take a step back from the company’s day-to-day operations. Among these people were the company executives, representatives from sales and production consultants, as well as Mr. Andi Mohammad Hatta, president-director of PT John Clements Consultants Indonesia, and Mr. Tully Moss, president of the Magellan Alliance.

They examined the Philippines’ economic landscape to determine the general trends of business and finance and to see how John Clements can take advantage of these external factors to their advantage. Internal factors were also considered, and the company’s core values were distilled into six individual principles that embody what John Clements looks for in its people. Key success factors and business initiatives—the individual steps toward the goal—were also written down.

After 48 hours of discussion, contemplation and debate, the 33 participants emerged from their seclusion to produce a dream of what John Clements could be in five years: Pan-Asia’s premier blue-chip human resources provider, earning up to three million dollars before interest and taxes.

This is how the vision was built.

Foundation: Bayanihan

Every well-made building requires a solid foundation, whether it is made of mortar and brick or of the collective ambitions of a company. John Clements’s vision is built on its six core values centered on the Filipino concept of bayanihan. Roughly translated, it means “being a bayan”—the basic Filipino social unit, which can refer to anything from a local community to an entire nation. Bayanihan is best recognized through the oft-portrayed image of an entire community carrying a house on its shoulders and taking that house from one location to another. As Filipinos of old brought their nipa huts to better locations, so do the people of John Clements aim to bring their company to the future.

Pillars: The Six John Clements Core Values

These values, which form the core of each action taken by the company, are encouraged to be followed by all within the company, and are vital in reaching the mission named above.

Integrity and Professionalism
Integrity—the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles—and professionalism—the quality of a courteous, conscientious and businesslike manner in the workplace—go hand-in-hand in John Clements. Coming to work on time and in proper attire, delivering on promises made to clients, candidates and fellow employees, and maintaining honest dealings are all expected and encouraged within the company. Mario Biscocho, vice president and managing director, defines this value as “doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.”

Energy
Expanding throughout Asia and earning at least three million dollars requires a lot of effort. Energy—the continuous exertion of power, enthusiasm, and vigor to reach a goal—is an essential factor in following these ambitions within the next five years. Late nights and weekends at work can be expected, and extra work must be accepted heartily and done with the utmost enthusiasm. Stopping and quitting are never options; the belief that John Clements has set truly worthy goals will fan the flames of excitement and will blaze a trail into 2011.

Target- and Action-Oriented
With goals as ambitious as those set by John Clements, having clear, well-defined goals becomes necessary, not only with respect to earning over three million dollars and spreading operations throughout Asia, but also the smaller goals that make up the larger aspiration: ensuring smoothly-running support services, reaching sourcing and recruitment targets, signing up new clients, the list goes on. Moreover, achieving these goals requires a constant flurry of activity, doing the next thing, doing everything needed to achieve these objectives. Keeping one’s sights on the goal and never stopping until the prize is won are integral in this vision and mission.

Service Quality and Customer-Oriented
Quality is never to be sacrificed in the pursuit of these goals. At John Clements, everyone is reminded to provide nothing but the best quality of service: candidates are to be processed with all due consideration for their comfort, support services should be provided quickly and clients can expect only the best candidates for their requirements. Constant communication—text messages, emails, phone calls, regular meetings—is needed to ensure that John Clements service is up to par with clients’ standards.

Proactive to Change
Change is inevitable. John Clements has over thirty years’ experience in providing the same products to different clients, and experience has proven that each client needs a unique application of those products. Every day provides a new set of challenges for everyone to face: new demands, different candidates, clients with unique needs. Everyone at John Clements is encouraged to think imaginatively and adapt accordingly to whatever changes that come their way, and to embrace these changes wholeheartedly.

Passion for Excellence
Expanding throughout Asia, forging new alliances, meeting clients and candidates from a myriad of cultural backgrounds and bringing in millions of dollars will require nothing but the heart and soul of everyone in John Clements, and this demands nothing but the best everyone has to offer. Passion—that drive that stems from one’s innermost desires—will be needed, and passion for excellence is what’s needed the most. John Clements needs people who will throw themselves into their daily work and look forward to doing the best job of their lives, day in, day out.

Structure: Key Success Factors and Business Initiatives

Once the foundation has been laid, the next step to take is to plan out the growth of a business on that solid base. Technology is key to this growth; what is needed is a technological infrastructure that provides John Clements with an efficient internal office email system that can be accessed in the area of expansion: Asia. A talent database of over 5 million résumés will be collected and be made ready and available for the 5,000 clients John Clements aims to sign up.

The people of John Clements will enjoy a structured motivational program, that they may enjoy the hard-earned fruits of their labor and keep them striving for these lofty goals.

Strategic alliances will be forged with local and international partners, for the purposes of expanding into new areas and for attracting investors to generate more capital. An initial public offering is expected sometime in the future.

Over the next five years, John Clements expects to expand to India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, providing the best service as far as recruitment, training, and outsourcing are concerned.

Vision 2.11: Tulong-tulong sa Tatlong Milyon (Working Together towards Three Million)

At 8:00 AM of April 18, 2006, John Clements flocked to Sakesan and Arkipelago at the RCBC Plaza to witness the unveiling of a dream and the revelation of a goal. Called Vision 2.11, Tulong-tulong sa Tatlong Milyon, the event gave, in broad strokes, the company’s direction for the next five years.

The highlight of the event was a multimedia presentation that challenged John Clements employees: core values were named to serve as the foundation on which the new dream can be built; business initiatives showed how the vision-mission can be achieved; and lastly, the goals themselves were named: by 2011, John Clements will be Pan-Asia’s premier blue-chip human resources provider, earning three million dollars before interest and taxes. A poster displaying an icon embodying the five-year plan was then unveiled, which will serve as a reminder of the goals set that day.

The presentation reached a peak when the executives of John Clements stepped up and signed their names on the poster as a symbol of their commitment to the vision. All John Clements employees followed suit and affixed their signatures as well.

In the past 32 years, John Clements has grown and adapted to the ever-changing landscape of business by developing diverse services in recruitment, training and outsourcing. The next five years will show an exponential growth built upon the experience of the past three decades. By committing to these lofty goals, John Clements shows the ambition and the strength of will to take the company to the next level, and the coming years will test the company’s resolve, and achieving these goals will be the long-awaited reward.