A New Year’s Message from JCCI President and CEO
Holiday greetings from John Clements Consultants!
We are almost two years into the pandemic, and we have so many things to be thankful for. John Clements has continued navigating through this crisis and much like 2020, for the first part of this year, JCCI has worked from home with very productive results. This was largely due to the combined efforts of cloud-based operations, our employees’ familiarity with online communication tools, and a disciplined approach to working from home. As such, JCCI continued to keep buzzing even during those dark moments of lockdown: we were able to do everything we had been doing before the pandemic, although virtually. From our weekly sales meetings and excoms, monthly sales & production conferences, relationship reviews with clients, annual strategic planning, to awards nights and holiday gatherings, nothing was left out.
We kicked off 2021 with the launch of “Weekly with JC”, an annual campaign where industry experts shared ideas and learned from each other. This year, with both our Executive Search (ESSD) and Professional Staffers divisions taking the helm, our campaign effort was an extensive two-part series that lasted for almost 6 months. We covered a variety of relevant and timely topics — from Healthcare in the Time of COVID-19, The Future of FMCG, Redefining the Talent War, to Smart Implementation of AI and Data Analytics for your Business. We also facilitated a virtual case study on Moderna to exhibit our virtual facilitation capabilities while talking about a pertinent topic. We also brought back Professional Staffers’ successful “Recruitathon”, an original workshop concept attracting and training potential recruiters to expand our competencies.
John Clements has also forged a partnership with CrossKnowledge, an award-winning, world-class learning solutions company. Through the JC Leadership Institute, we set up a CrossKnowledge Digital Learning Portal to consistently provide our clients and employees with the necessary skills. We also introduced the ESSD Executive Jobs Depot to make it easier for executives and C-Suite professionals to engage with us and Jobs-on-Demand, an initiative of Staffbuilders Asia (SBA), our outsourcing, service contracting, and augmented staffing arm, to provide immediate, additional manpower but short-term needs of our clients.
EDI-Staffbuilders was featured twice on ABS-CBN News’ TV Patrol as they deployed professionals to Finland, Japan and other countries, sending an inspirational message to Filipino job hunters that many work opportunities are waiting for them abroad, since aggressive job hunting in the midst of a pandemic is an opportune time to seek more rewarding careers globally.
Our virtual events continued to be a success: our most sought-after “Youth for Leadership Summit”, organized by Professional Staffers, rode on the theme of Tech Entrepreneurship to the Power× on its 7th year; “Sinigang Valley”, where forward-thinking entrepreneurs gathered in a meaningful discussion on developing a collaborative Filipino entrepreneurial community and cultivating innovation and technology; and “What’s Happening in the World” with Harvard Professors Richard Vietor and Kristin Fabbe, a 7-session discussion focusing on the economies of Singapore, Japan, China, Australia, India, Philippines, and the US. Meanwhile, our employees enjoyed bonding over virtual engagement activities such as JC Game Nights, where they played fun games that included Family Feud, Name That Tune, Charade, Jeopardy, Bingo, Flashback Friday, and Movie Mania, and virtual events such as “Summercation” and “Daily WFH Huddle”.
Our top priority in 2021 was getting all our employees vaccinated. And I am proud to say that, to date, 100% of our employees have been fully vaccinated. Consequently, towards the latter part of the year, we were able to implement a hybrid set-up, with activities such as the hybrid JC New Managers Program and our first-ever hybrid CADY Awards. All our employees came into the office at least once a week, helping us maintain our culture and allowing for better collaboration. And by the end of 2021, with the number of vaccinated Filipino people going up and COVID cases steadily going down, we were able to hold our annual Christmas Party in person!
Another notable achievement was JCCI’s social media indicators skyrocketing due to our boosted communication efforts. This year, John Clements has racked up almost one million FB ad impressions, reached a 1000% increase in accounts on Instagram, gained additional 11% organic followers on LinkedIn, and garnered an increase of over 200% followers on Twitter.
On a personal note, I am grateful to have received the 2021 Harvard Alumni Association Clubs & Shared Interest Groups Outstanding Volunteer Leadership Award, been extended for another year on the HBS Global Alumni Board, been invited to be a board member of the Philippine Swiss Business Council and welcomed into G100: Mission Million as G100 Wing Corporate Governance, Philippines Country Chair. And of course, being invited to share my yoga journey on the CNN Philippines program, New Day!
To cap off this year, we celebrated a new milestone: John Clements’ 47th anniversary. 47 is associated with the amethyst, a gem that stands for protection and inspiration — two things that are especially important to us. We are protective of our heritage to a fault and providing inspiration to our partners is essential to us.
As we look towards the future, John Clements is investing heavily in artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, I enrolled in an HBS virtual program on “Competing in the Age of AI”, and we will be applying the insights learned to JCCI. Our hope is that by being forward-looking even during the ongoing pandemic, we will position John Clements to be a more vibrant organization that is at the top of its game once this crisis ends.
I would like to express my gratitude to the incredible John Clements team — our clients, partners, employees and friends, who have been with us every step of the way during this crisis. As we welcome the new year, the gradual easing of the COVID-19 pandemic to endemic, and the upcoming presidential elections, we reiterate our commitment in helping our economy and country, providing our clients world-class services, and being your partner for life.
A blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year to all!
(signed)
Maria Carolina V. Dominguez
President and CEO, John Clements Consultants, Inc.
