Holiday greetings from John Clements Consultants!
We are extremely grateful this year as things started looking up after the COVID pandemic finally turned endemic and we all began the gradual progression to adjusting to the new normal in the wake of this global catastrophe. I feel blessed that our company has not only survived, but thrived through these dark times!
Speaking of accomplishments, at its January 2022 International Partners Conference, Zenger Folkman— a leading provider of 360-degree assessments— gave John Clements Consultants its Top Asia-Pacific Partner 2021 award. This award recognizes John Clements Consultants for achieving the highest sales of Zenger Folkman assessments of any partner in the Asia-Pacific region.
We have been hard at work to create more solutions with our partners and clients in mind and our goal has always been to provide an innovative and seamless experience at JCCI. As such, we launched our newly redesigned corporate website that features a refreshed look, better navigation and new features, making it easier for candidates and clients to fulfill their hiring needs. On Google, our SEO stats went from being on page 12 and beyond, to page 1 within the year with key terms such as ‘best headhunter in the Philippines’ and ‘top executive search firm’!
This year, we continued our leadership development program offerings with our EMBA on Sustainability and Deep Purpose, based on HBS Prof. Ranjay Gulati’s book “Deep Purpose”, the Breakthrough Development Program, and the New Managers Program. We also hosted a conference that both revitalized leadership development and provided a much-needed mind, body and soul rejuvenation experience after emerging from the two-year pandemic, which was held in May at the majestic Rocky Mountain High in Colorado Springs, USA. The conference focused on environmental and sustainability initiatives and how this could affect JCCI’s carbon footprint as an organization.
Meanwhile, our employees—100% of which have been fully vaccinated—were definitely happy to return to face-to-face engagement activities, such as the 13th CADY Awards, JCCI-EDI Monthly Sales & Production conferences, PS and SBA monthly townhalls, and of course, our annual Christmas Party. Similarly, our virtual events such as the JCCI 8th Youth for Leadership Summit: Act Now, Be Responsible, Think Sustainable, as well as our webinar series on industry and HR leadership, continued to be a success– with the latter consisting 17 weekly briefings in the first half of 2022, featuring timely topics such as “Cautious Optimism: The Philippine Economy 2022”, “Digital Transformation in the Next Normal”, and “Planetary Health: A New Paradigm for the Era of Covid-19 & Climate Change”.
I was thrilled to have several opportunities this year to share my insights as a guest speaker at the MAP Strategic Human Resources: How to Thrive and Prosper in the Talent Economy, a panelist at the Business World Virtual Economic Forum: Re-Engineering HR Strategies for Post-COVID Workplace Realities, and an author for the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s feature on International Women’s Month: Why Filipino Women Need to Roar. Likewise, our EDI-Staffbuilders President and CEO Cesar Averia was featured again this year on ABS-CBN News’ TV Patrol to give updates and insights about the USA’s dire need for registered nurses in the next five to ten years.
In November, we reached another milestone as John Clements celebrated its 48th founding anniversary with no less than four events in one week, starting off with our 5th CEO Golf Classic 2022 at the Manila Golf Club, Organizational Purpose as a Source of Competitive Advantage with HBS Professor Ranjay Gulati at Dusit Thani Manila, a Thanksgiving Mass and lunch, and ending with Open Bar @ Ruby Wong’s Godown Bar, where our VIP clients and valued guests joined the JCCI team to celebrate.
2022 was also the year of revenge travels, which I really missed! Just to name a few trips– aside from Colorado Springs, I visited Japan last April for a business trip with JCCI clients, Bangkok in June to attend the 2022 Global Summit of Women, Korea last October for my mom’s birthday, and Latin America earlier this month for my HBS AMP182 reunion, which was the most rewarding trip I took this year! The Galapagos Islands had breathtaking views and amazing wildlife that took me on a spiritual journey, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience the beauty and fragility of this extraordinary place.
Finally, as everyone knows, HBS Professor Ranjay Gulati’s new book “Deep Purpose” has resonated with me immensely and got me thinking about my deep purpose. I had the chance to apply the learnings to my daily life and organization by conducting several talks and cases on “Deep Purpose”. In fact, at our annual Corplan, we reflected on our deep purpose as an organization and we decided that our goal is deliberately integrating a purpose into each critical company function to improve performance and stay motivated.
And as for my own deep purpose? After some reflection, I realized that my deep purpose is helping build the Philippines by recruiting, developing, and training world-class Filipino talents that will one day be leaders in their respective industries and uplift our nation towards a bright future. Knowing my purpose has motivated me to get up everyday and stay focused and excited amidst all the challenges around us.
As another year comes to pass, I am extremely grateful, as always, to the incredible John Clements team—our clients, partners, and employees—for your support, patience, and invaluable contributions. If you haven’t already, I urge you to find your own deep purpose and live a life of humility, continuous learning and being in service to others: your family, your colleagues, your community, and your country.
A blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year to all!
(signed)
