GBP empowers employees through ‘Coaching Café’
GLOBAL Business Power Corporation (GBP), a leading energy company in the Visayas Region with presence in Mindanao and Mindoro islands, acknowledges the value of its people and has worked to develop a culture of communication and mentorship across its organization through programs like the ‘Coaching Café.’
With the company’s continuous business expansion and growing number of plantilla, GBP keeps in mind the well-being of its people by creating initiatives that would help them flourish and relax at the same time. GBP’s Coaching Café was designed to serve as an avenue for employees to have fun and productive conversations with experienced mentors over a cup of coffee.
Started in 2018, the Coaching Café invites the staff to choose from a ‘menu’ of work-related topics generated through a survey of what GBP employees want to learn and discuss. These include subjects such as managing emotions, setting and executing goals, finding the right leadership style, organizing new projects, correcting mistakes, dealing with different workplace generations, and many more. Afterwards, the participants are paired with coaches to tackle their chosen topic for an hour of exchange and feedback.
As of June 2020, GBP has successfully certified 48 coaches capable of mentoring employees across all of its sites. The company is eyeing to have 15 more coaches to be trained and certified by the end of the year. The rigorous process to become a certified GBP coach involves 16 hours of theoretical classroom training, at least 4-6 mock coaching sessions, and a minimum 2-4 coaching observation sessions. This was devised to ensure the ‘coaches’ possess specific management skills and competencies in order to help with the growth, development, and achievement of its people.
“GBP has seen a lot of positive changes through the Coaching Café. It has enabled our people to be more engaged with work issues and concerns, and open communication lines on all fronts. We are happy to be reaping the rewards of this initiative and will continue to launch projects that will continuously enhance our company culture,” says Margarita Paulino, Assistant Vice President for Finance and one of the company’s certified coaches.
Aside from the Coaching Café, the company has other activities to support the growth and developments of its employees such as formal and informal performance discussions, ‘kumustahan’ sessions, mentoring sessions with GBP leaders, and individual development training programs. GBP was recently awarded the ‘Investors in People’ Silver Level Accreditation for its continuing efforts and remarkable policies that develop and empower employees. The company was also cited in 2019 as one of the best companies to work for in the region by HR Asia.
