THE EAGLE LANDED in the PHILIPPINES

Grace Sorongon
Sep 4, 2018 · 4 min read

By Grace C. Sorongon

The John Clements Group with Mr. Mizuta

Last August 13 to 15, 2018, The John Clements Group was honored by the presence of Mr. Mizuta, President and CEO of Persol Holdings. He is the no. 1 executive of Persol Holdings, our partner, which is the top recruiting company in Japan.

In one of my visits to Japan, I remember Mr. Mizuta saying that he planned to visit the Philippines. Sure enough, his trip to the Philippines was a fulfillment of his promise to us. As President and CEO of a large company, I could say that it took a lot of coordination to make this visit happen. Normally, it takes about 12 months to arrange this kind of visit, and schedules are normally set at the start of the year. This visit was no exception.

As early as May 2018, we were told that this visit was bound to happen. Since this was a monumental event, and his first in the Philippines, we wanted to make it memorable. I was on top on the preparations, which started by making sure that John Clements executives were available and would not miss our visitor. Additionally, since Mr. Mizuta wanted to visit several Japanese companies based in Manila, arrangements were made to meet their executives as well.

It was a challenge though, since Mr. Mizuta’s visit coincided with an important holiday in Japan that honored their dead relatives. For this occasion, most of the Japanese go back to Japan for family reunions. It took so much effort to orchestrate the whole calendar of events to make sure these executives were available.

However, this is where relationships beget results. We can muster the synchronization of schedules because we have built solid relationships with our client companies. Together with Mr. Cesar Averia and Mr. Daisuke Tabuchi, we managed to set up four appointments with client companies and meet with their presidents and country heads. The meetings gave Mr. Mizuta a glimpse of local operations and how these companies have become successful in the Philippines. One thing I noticed was that the Japanese love to talk, especially if they are using their own language. They are just like us in many ways.

On top of organizing these client visits, I had to prepare the whole John Clements Group as well. There are four JC offices scheduled to be visited. Japanese office protocol has to be followed by about 220 employees. Due to this, I came up with a cultural briefing conducted by Ms. Hiroko Sato, a native Japanese. We needed to understand a little bit of the Japanese culture. Realizing, of course, that there are many protocols to follow, such as seating arrangements, exchanging business cards, courtesies, etc. We had to remember all of these when we did our whole “meet and greet” program. It was a good thing that we had a number of Japanese people on our team. They helped us organize the whole cultural briefing as well.

In any kind of event, preparation is the key. We actually over-prepared for this visit and it was such a feat that everything fell into place as planned. From the dinner arrangements at the Mireio, Raffles Hotel on the first day, to the office visits and presentations of the different divisions of the John Clements Group, to the lunch appointment at Dusit Hotel and the client visits — nothing went amiss.

Mr. Mizuta, you are welcome to visit us again.


Come visit and join the John Clements Talent Community.

About the author:

Grace C. Sorongon was the 2013 president of People Management Association of the Philippines. She has been working with John Clements Consultants for more than three decades now. She is a Senior Vice President and is in charge of various corporate projects, steering these projects towards completion. She also manages the operations of Professional Staffers, a business unit within the John Clements group.

John Clements Lookingglass

Discover Your Full Potential with Looking Glass, a Publication from John Clements

Grace Sorongon

Written by

John Clements Lookingglass

Discover Your Full Potential with Looking Glass, a Publication from John Clements

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade