Maricris Barrun : Yung unang tanong po is, What is your vision and mission po?

Interviewee : So for the University of Asia and the Pacific, its mission and vision is
enshrined in its education principles, so hindi sya talaga titled na mission and vision. We call
it the educational principles of the University of Asia and the Pacific because from those
principles, the mission and vision statement of principles arise. So if you can check the
website, the educational principles are there and basically it talks about what the university
stands for and it has a mission statement. So medyo mahaba sya. From the educational
principles, we have, the University credo and a mission statement and then we state the
principles. So eight points lahat yan. So technically, the vision of the university is to be a
university of choice in the Asia pacific region, and its mission is really Education but we
have this principle of integral human development that we really want to pursue as a part of
our mission. So thats for the first question.

Angelika Lizada : Next naman po, What are the products and/ or services that you offer to
your client?

Interviewee : So products and services, we are a university, so this is an educational

institution, so we do not produce products but we produce graduates so its the main thing.
Our sector is education so we provide education as a service. Beginning in 1967, aside from
doing classes or educational works it is also involved in economic think tank activity. It is
like a research institution from the beginning and then it started granting decrees, teaching
classes, economics from that time. And then now we are a university so basically the product
is that we produce graduates; service? We educate and we do research. Our client is generally
the society. We would like to focus more on the Philippine area then to the wider Asia
Pacific.

Rose Carla : The third question po, What safeguards do you apply to minimize mistakes in
your compensation administration?

Interviewee: Im the one handling compensation management for HR, so thats why I was
asked to do this interview with you. As regards safeguards, we stick to the policies that are
there, thats a basic thing, safeguarding compensation management or administration and we
minimize mistakes. Another thing in the university, in HR is that we apply this certain level
of collegiality, that the decisions do not only come from the head, its like a collegial body,
its a group. Decision makers form a committee or a group that decides on matter specifically
related to compensation. So we have a management committee and then HR recommends
those things to the management. At a certain level or some moments, we tend to see if we are
committing mistakes or if we are able to attend to some of the matters that may cause some
errors in the administration of compensation. We stick to policy and then we maintain
collegial decision making. So hindi monopoly nung head yung decisions and then other
people can see if we are falling somewhere or having some overlooks or mistakes.

Billvictor : Next question is, What kind of remuneration do you apply in your company?
Interviewee: When we say remuneration, its a pay; the way that we compensate the work of
the people in the university. So basically salaries; we provide people salaries. There are some
faculty and some staff members who are engaged in projects so they also earn something.
Projects include research, consultancy and some other things they get to the operations of the
university or academic institution. Generally, the remuneration that we have is in the form of
salaries.

Allen : Okay sir, How does the government influence your remuneration?

Interviewee: Well generally, they regulate. Example, if the Department of Labor and
Employment releases wage orders or they provide some indications or order, we technically
apply them in the university. We follow, we comply. Thats for the administration of
compensation. If there are increases, application of the minimum wage, we try to follow right
away. Thats one influence. They regulate the amount that we provide as salaries or wages.
The other thing is we report also to them so that they see the whole picture of the industry
where we work which is educational sector. So that from that point of view, we provide
information to the government, the Philippine Statistical Authority for example, they give us
the results of their study and then we try to benchmark or level up with what they provide us.

Maricris: Yung pang sixth po na question, Do you have any UNION? How does it
influence your remuneration?

Interviewee: We dont have a UNION. The university is non-unionized. There have been
some influences from the ranks of faculty that they try to organize themselves. Kung self-
organization lang, self-association of workers, of employees; we have a cooperative. It
doesnt work as a UNION because the UNION collectively bargains, di ba? So we dont
have that but there are other facilities that manages or more or less engages
employees/workers so that their rights are also maintained so that theres no need to
collectively bargain. Parang theres no relevant need for any UNION for the university.

Angelika: Next naman po, Do you have any Sports and/or Recreational Activities? How
does it motivate your employees?

Interviewee: We have this annual sports event that we call the Unitas Games. Its a
university-wide one whole-day sports activity thats collaboration among the faculty staff and
students. Its co-organized by HR with the center for Student Affairs. Basically the students
are the ones arranging things, events, the tournaments and the rest. And the whole university
is divided into teams, they compete in events. Thats one. We can say that its motivating, it
has a certain motivation factor for employees because they tend to see people, meet people
from other units and even students. We come together thats why we call it Unitas Games.
Parang unity game although we compete with other teams. On a certain level, its a
manifestation of our educational principles; that we value unity, Its our motto and from there
forms part of a motivation structure, parang a culture that encourages people and engages
people to do work for the university. In a certain level, those sports and recreational activities
help in motivating people. There are also cash prices kaya more or less they are incentivized
for participating and winning. Other recreational activities that we have, the Department of
Physical Education of the College of Arts and Sciences, they also organize the Fit to Fight
Program. Its like a series of parang circuit training and physical fitness training that
employees can attend; monetary basis and some sort of a recreation because they exercise,
they are also physically and emotionally more or less so they get to be motivated in a certain
sense.

Rose : Pang eighth pong question, Do you have any Company Newsletter and Suggestion
Awards System? Do you think these help your Compensation Administration?

Interviewee: Yes, we do have a company or University newsletter. We call that the

Newspage. Its also available online but before, we used to receive a monthly newsletter. I
can show you later some of those. Then we have this Universitas Magazine which published
quarterly, used to be monthly and it shows feature articles and some other updates about the
university. The suggestion system that we have, we have suggestion boxes around the
campus and we try to check and gather suggestions, comments or points for improvements
through those suggestion boxes. Also online, we have this portal, the Employee portal
wherein employees can send feedback to target people like HR if ever and facilities
management natin and the finance. So how to these things help in our compensation
administration? Generally the employees are informed of any updates. About compensation,
its not just the salary, monetary benefits and the rest. Through e-mail we also receive this
UA&P announcement with the details about the administration, the implementation of some
benefits, upgrades of some benefits packages. Its really more of information dissemination.
Through these means the employees are informed about compensation matters.

Billvictor : Next question po is, Do you have any Company stores, Medical Service,
Canteen Service? Do you think you (could) use these as one of your Non-Financial
Compensation?

Interviewee: Yes, we do have a bookstore, not any company store because we do not
produce merchandises. But the bookstore has these merchandises also pero they are really
paid for employees some discounts and sale before but not regular. Then we have a clinic,
first-aid clinic so it could be the one medical service thats provided to everyone. And then
we have a cafeteria. We have the common cafeteria for students, staffs and guests. Then we
have the executive cafeteria that is basically for employees and for guests. In the cafeteria, if
the people there know that you are an employee, youll get discounts for purchasing food.
For sure and generally, these things form part of our non-financial compensation. But in the
university, we try to regard the area of non-financial compensation more about the culture.
From that culture we would like to promote, that is part of the university educational
principles, so that the way these facilities are provided are manifestations of that culture. Its
like a whole package. Not just providing stores or stalls there for food that you can buy, or
merchandise or sale of items. Thats really more of a manifestation of the culture that we
would like to promote. Its like everything is connected, integrated. Yun yung value that we
think is essential in the non-financial compensation. When someone comes in, the person
does not only look at the salary that we offer but its the whole package. Its an educational
institution, there could be scholarships that could be provided to a person, even scholarship to
the dependants of the person, yung anak nya can study here kumbaga benefit or discount in
the tuition and the rest. The other thing is that the culture, the people that you deal with are
professionals so thats what we try to emphasize. More that these facilities, even the coop is
part of this facility. We try to really put value more into the culture we would like to have as
you can see a part of the non-financial compensation we can propose to the university.

Allen : Sir, Do you have any Job Evaluation or Appraisal Program? Does it help your
Administration program?

Interviewee: Yes, for employees, we apply this job evaluation system kasi for faculty mas
malinaw na yung kanilang progression and promotion because if they earn decrees, masters,
doctorate, the research they get published, they progress easily. For administrative
employees, we try to evaluate the job that they do that once in a while, regularly about two
years for every position, administrative position, thats when we determine if the person has
been doing the work that has expanded or that merits some sort of a promotion. From the job
evaluation, we do it also collegially, from HR, we engage the head of the unit where the
position is going to be evaluated and then we have this job evaluation scale that determines
the level of the job, and if ever the job has expanded or has grown, thats when we apply the
necessary adjustments in compensation. That helps generally our administration of
compensation.

Angelika : Next is, How do you address absenteeism and tardiness?

Interviewee: Well, we try to see it from the timekeeping point-of-view. We have a

timekeeping system, when people come in, they log-in, they log-out using their IDs. That
record is given to us and then we try to check if its the number of hours the people work in
the university and then if there are lapses, errors or mistakes, or under-time or over-time. We
also try to compute for the necessary computations on adjustments on salary. In terms of
absenteeism and tardiness, we address them basically by pointing out that the person has
committed some tardiness, minutes late in reporting to work, or leaving early, and as a
disciplinary process, theres a notice and the person explains if theres a need to explain it
and then if theres a valid cause for the tardiness or absenteeism, we provide the necessary
disciplinary sanctions. May levels din yon. If you incur this number of minutes in a month,
you get to be reminded verbally, written and then thats when you get offenses of different
levels until you incur so much then you will be disciplined regularly, yearly yon ginagawa.
Monthy yung cheking ng time-keeping and yearly yung if you incur this number of
offenses, thats when you are disciplined.

Maricris: For the twelfth question po, Do you have any statistic with regard to Employee
turn-over? Do you have any exit interview? How does it help your company assessment?

Interviewer: I do not have the data on employee turnover but I dont think its that high,
parang every year we let go of not more than five people. That includes retirement. May mga
nag-re-retire na so not more than five, I think for various reasons. In terms of turnover, I
dont think we have a problem with that or we have remarkable information or data to say
that theres a concern about employee turnover even faculty and staff. We do have an exit
interview system, another person in HR handles that. When the person has expressed
resignation, we apply the process for a thirty-day-period for the clearance and an exit
interview before the person leaves and gets to be cleared of all the accountabilities and the
rest. Then the end of that is a quick claim that a person signs that youll no longer expects
anything from the university anymore. All of these are inputs to the employee experience that
we tried to have in HR. When the person comes in, from the moment of hiring to firing, to
separation. We tried to see assess the experience of the employee. Specifically, the way HR
provides the service to the person, to the employee. And those things are input to
improvements in HR service provisions and HR processes. Not directly to the university, but
basically more directly to HR. Once in a while we also send feedback to their unit where the
person used to work.

Rose : Last question po, Do you have any Retirement Program? Are your employees aware
of this?

Interviewee: Yes, we do have a retirement program. Basically the retirement program is

more than the fund or the benefit package that they get from retiring from the university. We
have organized this program which is called the Lifers Program. A Lifer is person who has
dedicated his lifetime to a profession or to a career thats why we call them Lifers. Its a
series of talks and some workshops that will prepare eligible retirees for retirement. That
includes some sessions about personal finance, adjustment, some psychological preparation,
and some other options that are provided to them come the time of their retirement. What do
they plan to do when they retire? How do they want to spend their retirement time, effort and
fund or benefit? We have that. Not everyone is aware of it because its really sensitive to
really point to persons who are retiring, as if you are compelling them, forcing them ready to
retire. Our retirement program is in three levels. There and early retirement program, if
youre fifty years old and have worked in the university for at least ten years, then you are
eligible for that package. Then we have the usual, sixty years old which is the optional
retirement and the sixty five which is the compulsory. There have been some people availing
of those things. Medyo sensitive yung approach because some of them are really affected by
that. When someone is already considered a retiree or eligible to retire medyo iba yung
dating sa kanya so we try to manage it also. Parang elite group that we provide this program
to. Last year we started to also involve younger people to be in the program so that they have
that sense of foresight. As early as now they can already prepare for retirement. Its like
assuming that they will stay here. Involuntary din yung kanilang participation, if they dont
want to attend then its up to them. I think part of the retirement program is also pre-hiring
retirees. In the university kasi, most of those who retire are faculty members and then its
difficult to get new people of that level of credentials, they are professors, they have this
level of prestige in academe. We also provide the opportunity of engaging them after their
retirement so we still have them with us. Atleast teaching part time or getting involved in
research and they are remunerated accordingly as consultants, parang ganoon yung status
nila. They are no longer regular employees. So thats it. Any more questions?