WORKING TO OUR STRENGTHS

In my 7 years employment here at Philex Mining Corporation, I personally witnessed how the Mill Division manpower structure has developed over the years. In my short stint in the Mill, we were handled by 3 Division Managers already (Engr. Libby Ricafort from my date of hire up to 2012, Engr. Rey Yabes from 2012 up to 2014 and Engr. Milton Agyao from 2015 up to present). I also witnessed lateral transfers of various managers, supervisors and rank&files. I observed most transferred employees improved or even excelled with their new assignments. Special mention to our two seasoned department managers. Engr. Grace Villanueva, previously under Metallurgy, showed her fierce leadership to the Operations people, and Engr. Jud Reliquias, previously under Power Plant Operations, build his technical capabilities to head the Mill Maintenance people.

There are Philex employees who are struggling, not because they weren’t talented but because they weren’t in roles suited to their strengths. For many, manpower reshuffling was initially unwelcome and downright uncomfortable. This shuffling is done because management sees our talent is more suitable to certain roles.

Manpower shuffling is about settling employees at the right place where they can deliver the maximum results. Finding the most suitable people and shifting them to take on the responsibilities of a higher level is definitely a tough task.

A properly planned and carried job rotation process plays an essential role in strengthening the Mill Division organization and helps it deal with uncertain and tentative outer environment.

What are some of the benefits of Manpower Shuffling or Job Rotation?

Helps Managers Explore the Hidden Talent: Job Rotation is designed to expose employees to a wider range of operations in order to assist managers in exploring their hidden talent. In the process, they are moved through a variety of assignments so that they can gain awareness about the actual working style of the organization and understand the problems that crop up at every stage. Through this process, managers identify what a particular employee is good at and accordingly he or she is assigned a specific task.

Helps Individuals Explore Their Interests: Sometimes, employees are not aware of what they would like to do until they have their hands on some specific job. If their job is rotated or they are exposed to different operations, they can identify what they are good at and what they enjoy doing. They get a chance to explore their interests and hidden potential.

Identifies Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes: Job Rotation helps managers as well as individuals identify their KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes). It can be used in determining who needs to improve or upgrade his or skills in order to perform better. This helps in analyzing training and development needs of employees so that they can produce more output.

Motivates Employees to Deal with New Challenges: When employees are exposed to different jobs or assigned new tasks, they try to give their best while effectively dealing with the challenges coming their way. It encourages them to perform better at every stage and prove that they are no less than others. This gives rise to a healthy competition within the organization where everyone wants to perform better than others.

Increases Satisfaction and Decreases Attrition Rate: Exposing employees to different tasks and functions increase their satisfaction level. Job variation reduces the boredom of doing same task everyday. Moreover, it decreases attrition rate of the organization. Employees develop a sense of belongingness towards the organization and stick to it till long.

Helps Align Competencies with Requirements: Alignment of competencies with requirements means directing the resources when and where they are required. It assesses the employees and places them at a place where their skills, competencies and caliber are used to the highest possible extent.

As a conclusion; if you are assigned to other jobs, either within or outside your section, take this as a compliment. In the end, this will definitely make you a more valuable employee to the organization you are working for.

With or without shuffling, we should still work to our strengths because when we feel strong, we will definitely be willing to venture into new and higher territory.

By: Jomel Kawi