The women leaders of PLDT and its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) recently offered advice to female employees on how to navigate a workplace considered a man’s world.
The internal campaign, arranged by the company’s Human Resources Group and billed “Yes, She Can!,” also ran webisodes featuring female employees and a digital activity wherein employees shared posts of appreciation and gratitude to women colleagues.
Fifty percent of PLDT and Smart’s top management team members are women, while 40 percent of the officers are female. Women leaders face challenges on their way to making their mark and being heard, PLDT and Smart chief financial officer Anabelle L. Chua said, adding she is “proud to be leading alongside empowered women who have the heart and the desire to make a difference.”
Echoing her view, PLDT and Smart chief legal counsel Marilyn A. Victorio-Aquino said she always believed that “the only limit to a woman’s success is how hard she is willing to work for it and how steadfast she is in holding on to her dreams.”
“To excel in this highly competitive ‘man’s world,’ one has to focus on what one wants to achieve. To me, it is to serve our millions of customers,” said Debbie Hu, head of PLDT and Smart’s network operations. Her team ensures customers get the best services they need 24/7, rain or shine. As head of a predominantly male team, Hu keeps communication lines open and shows interest in her staff’s work.
Finding balance is second nature to women, observed PLDT and Smart chief people officer Gina P. Ordonez. “We naturally extend ourselves for the benefit of others, as mother, wife, daughter – nurturing, organizing, integrating,” she shared. According to her, the women in the company can always be counted on “to provide the magical, feminine touch.”
Jane J. Basas, senior vice president and head of consumer wireless business at Smart, attests to this. The mother-of-four underscored the importance of a good support system for working mothers, as well as the accountability and the freedom to accomplish their goals. Company records show that 99 percent of female employees who had gone on maternity leave stayed on in PLDT and Smart.
Having been with the company for two decades, Kat Luna-Abelarde has survived the company’s trying times in various roles. She is currently the head of PLDT and Smart’s international carrier business and concurrent head of strategic partnerships. Her advice: “Be bold. Your dreams must be bigger than yourself. You will be surprised that you’re actually stronger and better than you think.”
“Every day is an opportunity to learn. The bad days are, honestly, life’s best teachers. But no matter how dark and hard the situation may be, it is important to always get up and show up,” added Luna-Abelarde.
PLDT and Smart’s Chief Sustainability Office also organized a webinar with the Philippine Business Council for Women Empowerment to discuss workplace gender equality and its importance to the business, as well as what women’s economic empowerment means and how it can be supported and practiced in the workplace.