Knowledge Transfer: The John Clements Exchange Program
By Paul Catiang

In the second week of February, three consultants from the John Clements main office in Manila flew to PT John Clements Consultants Indonesia in Jakarta as part of an exchange program designed to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and expertise between the two offices. “We wanted three of our best and most experienced consultants to help train the staff at PT John Clements,” says Grace Sorongon, vice president and Managing Director.

The consultants were chosen according to their respective specialties in the field of recruitment: Rowena Aquino for large-scale recruitment, Charlotte de Jesus for executive search, and Jasmin Lozada for outsourcing. All three services are offered by PT John Clements Consultants, and Andi Mohammad Hatta, president-director of the Jakarta office, believes that their expertise has been proven and needs to be passed on to the office’s recruitment consultants. Aside from training, the three will also place people in Jakarta and add to the existing talent database for PT John Clements Consultants Indonesia. This is part of what was laid down in the John Clements 2006 Corplan, only recently finalized, in January of this year.

“Hopefully, this will act as a springboard for future recruitment exchanges,” continues Ms. Sorongon, “where PT John Clements will send some of their best consultants to Manila and show us how they get things done.” In the future, some consultants from PT John Clements Consultants Indonesia will come to the Philippines and share their expertise with the consultants in the Manila offices.

Mses. Aquino, de Jesus, and Lozada will train and recruit in Jakarta for the next three months, and are currently living in a staff house that has been rented for an entire year, as part of the year-long exchange program.