By Monsi A. Serrano
Admit it or not, we are all overwhelmed by the disruption. It seems to happen all-too-often and all-of-a-sudden as the new technology takes over our workplaces, our leisure spots, and even our homes. Suffice to say that even the Philippine government has acknowledged these rapid changes, hence, no less than President Rodrigo Duterte signed last January the Telecommuting Law.
This new law anticipates the necessity of accepting the fact that the landscape in the workplace has significantly changed and that the future of the workplace is here to stay. Companies are now being educated to ensure fair treatment and benefits for employees working outside the four walls of their offices and that the need to encourage and trust their employees to seek alternative locations to work using the internet is not just practical but also empirical.
It pleases me well enough that this coming August 28, the ASIA CEO Forum will hold the Asia Future-of-Work Summit 2019 at the Newport area in Pasay City.
As she faced THEPHILBIZNEWS, Ms. Rebecca Bustamante-Mills, president of the ASIA CEO Forum, told me that the idea of not having one’s employees sharing the controlled environment of an office is creeping into the top levels of management. “We ought to accept the fact that way back several decades ago, companies want their employees to be in their office. But in other countries, ‘work from home’ has long started as early as mid late 2000s and this is really good. It makes your employees productive and by doing that, you also give them the space they need to be creative and mature by being responsible and productive. This is the reason why we heed the call of the people for ASIA CEO to come up with a relevant event on how the digital disruption will change the way people work 50 years ago. And the Asia Future-of-Work Summit 2019 came into being,” she said.
I also got to chat with Richard Mills, chairman of ASIA CEO Forum, and he said, “If we are not going to educate the people on how to deal with the inevitable, it is going to be disastrous. We commend the lawmakers and President Duterte for having a grasp of where the future is heading us to. Companies and employers must be ready to anticipate digital transformation that will disrupt almost everything? How do we deal with it? Is your company ready to deal with it? How about you?”
He said their upcoming event is not just “another talk” because the issues beg to be discussed in every boardroom of any company wishing to pull things together. “That is why we thought of inviting the crème de la crème who would give important and relevant pointers in addressing the issues of the Future of Work,” Mills said. “Well, we have Lars Wittig of IWG plc, who is the brain behind the successful Regus and Spaces that expands its influence across the world. Then we have Sean Byrne, CEO of Cortex Technologies. Their strength is on the design, development, and commercialization of IOT solutions for the consumer and commercial/industrial sectors.”
He explained that in order to give valuable input and government perspective, Asia CEO will also bring in the country’s first-ever Privacy commissioner and chairman, Raymund Liboro, who heads the National Privacy Commission. Also joining the pool of speakers is Andres Ortola, Microsoft Philippines, Country General Manager who will discuss productivity tools that would certainly help both companies and employees in achieving their goals..
“There’s a good perspective from a woman, Kassy Pajarillo, Founder and Chief Encourager Officer of The After Six Club that encourages people to collaborate together by helping them how to be empowered and drive their ambition. Plus the expert Christophe Vicic, Country Head JLL Philippines, Karlos Naidas, CEO Eplayment, Manuel Tuason, President and CEO CIS Bayad Center Inc. and David Almirol, Chief Executive Officer and Founder Multisys Technologies Corporation, all of them will certainly give substantial and helpful information on how to deal with the future of work,” Mills said.
The Asia Future-of-Work Summit 2019 is set on August 28 at the Manila Marriott from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. To register, visit https://www.asia-ceo.org/register
I will see you there.
