It is sometimes difficult to understand a problem much less find a solution to it if you’re too close to the situation. It is suggested that when you find yourself in such a predicament it would be good to step back a bit and see the bigger picture.
Personally, I find that getting another person’s perspective also helps. With regard to examining and finding solutions to the many problems plaguing our country, it’s also good to consider how foreigners see us and our situation. One caveat though: when you do this make sure to keep an open mind because a foreigner’s views no matter how constructive may prove to be scathing. It would also help to distinguish immediately between a foreigner who simply mocks and one who criticizes constructively.
Ben Kritz or BenK of The Bad Manners Gun Club is a blogger who clearly belongs to the second category. He is critical and he is constructive. From what I’ve gathered, BenK is an American who is now based here in the Philippines. He also owns a business consulting company.
In one of his most recent posts , BenK wrote:
Just because I understand and can adapt to the Filipino way of doing business, however, does not mean that I accept it. Too often, cultural habits and values – “the way we’ve always done things” – are an excuse for tolerating incompetence and lack of ambition, and for disregarding normal business behavior sometimes to the point of rudeness, despite what the Filipinos like to say about their “famous” polite friendliness. It can be incredibly frustrating and leave one wondering how anyone manages to accomplish anything here. That the Philippine economy consistently lags and continues to fall farther behind its Asian neighbors would seem to be strong evidence that the stubborn Pinoy insistence on cultivating their “cultural quirks” in business affairs is an arrogant mistake.
Another foreigner who writes about the Philippines is Clarence Henderson. His site or blog is called Pearl of the Orient Seas. I first came across Henderson’s site a few years back and forgot all about it. I was pleasantly surprised to find it referenced in BenK’s post, which I cited above.
According to the short bio on his site, Henderson has had over 20 years of consulting experience in New York, Los Angeles, and the Philippines. Here’s an excerpt from his post “An American’s Reflection on the Persistence of Colonial Mentalities.”
The relations between classes – and I purposely risk using (or misusing?) that tired old Marxist term – are outwardly civil and deferential on the part of the masses. Indeed, from the perspective of an American (or other Westerner) acculturated to the norms of equal opportunity, do-it-yourselfism, and upward mobility, one of the more challenging adjustments can be learning to interact appropriately with working class Filipinos in whatever capacity. Whether dealing with drivers, domestic help, or service workers, you are bombarded with “yes sir” this and “yes sir” that and obsequious, self-effacing behavior.
There’s also a perverse cultural inferiority complex that drives me bananas. As a white ex-pat, I am generally ushered through security checks at malls and hotels even though the Filipino guy next to me is practically strip searched. Whenever I raise a ruckus about some lapse in service (which I do now a lot more often than when I first came), people scurry around trying to correct whatever the error might be. Underlying such interactions is a troubling presumption of a wide and seemingly unbreachable social, cultural, and entitlement gulf.
But I can’t help believing that, just below the surface, there is a deep river of long-term resentment just waiting to bubble to the surface (see The Social Volcano).
The Philippines’ complex colonial heritage (see An Oversimplified History Lesson, Cronies and Booty Capitalism, and Globalization Part 1) continues to have a major impact on the country today – on the political system, on social relations, and on the way people live their lives.
I’ll be scouring the net for other noteworthy blogs/sites by foreigners who have some constructive things to say about Filipinos and the Philippines. In the meantime do visit the two sites I mentioned above. Just make sure not to take things too personally as we Filipinos are wont to do.
I think it’s worth studying how McDonald’s encountered Filipino workplace attitudes and won, big time.
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lpgd Reply:
August 24th, 2009 at 10:02 am
to pinoybuzz,
i’ve been thinking about your comment and i must admit it caused my head to spin a bit. could you elaborate.
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Yeah, I’d like to hear more about that, too, although I think I know what you’re getting at. The fast food experience here compared to what it is in the US was one of the things that really caught my attention when I first came here; I’ve always found it slightly disturbing.
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lpgd Reply:
August 25th, 2009 at 6:41 am
to benk,
Slightly disturbing in a Twilight Zone kind of way?
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Disturbing in the make-work sense. It’s not normal (nor is it ultimately very productive) to have three or four employees on a shift dedicated to picking up after customers, delivering food that takes a few minutes longer to cook, wandering around idly mopping already-clean spots on the floor, etc. And what’s really boggling is that in most of these places, a college degree or at least being a college student is a prerequisite for a job that, in the States, is one for kids just getting their feet wet in the working world, elderly looking for a little part-time income, the mentally-challenged, or just plain losers. Something just ain’t right about it.
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Hi guys!
Sorry for the lateness of this response, I’ve been busy with another advocacy and it’s kinda hairy.
When McDonald’s opened its store number 2 on Morayta (which is in the University Belt) sometime in the mid 80s, McDonald’s had to train part time staff composed mostly for Filipino college level kids.
The usual Filipino work ethic usually entails a lot of slacking off and inattentiveness to the details of their jobs — be it cleaning a street or being a high level government executive.
Now, when McDonald’s introduced their system to Filipinos and trained them in that system, something remarkable happened. At first, there was resistance (as can be expected), but eventually, the dissenters were weeded out and those that were left adapted to a new way of delivering fast food service. After some more time, McDonald’s became known in the Philippines for being the best companies in the fastfood service in the Philippines.
Filipino college kids were trained in a system where there was an exact way of doing everything and a prescribed time to accomplish everything. Work was made to comply to standards, everything from frying french fries to cleaning windows had an exact procedure and employees’ performance were assessed according to those standards. Every employee was trained to master one job at a time before being rotated and given another job to master. After mastering all the jobs, they were then given the opportunity to train as a supervisor and thereafter, as store manager.
Moreover, McDonald’s paid its employees by the minute (deducting pay for the number of minutes they were late to report for work or late to resume their duties after a fifteen minute break). The employees were issued uniforms, their meals were subsidized, and were given non-monetary rewards just for doing ordinary jobs extra-ordinarily well.
The morale of the story here is this, Filipinos thrive in well thought out systems that are balanced to serve the company’s interests as well as the interests of the employees.
The college level kids that were working in McDonald’s at that time were not after just money, they were in there to learn how to run and manage a fast food company while getting paid for it. A lot of the kids that got jobs at McDonald’s at that time came from middle class backgrounds and were pretty well educated. They were working for McDonald’s to serve higher needs on the Maslownian pyramid of needs.
I think McDonald’s is a small example of how Filipinos can thrive and be the best they can be under a good system that rewards hardwork and fulfills higher human needs — above that of food, shelter, and security.
Subic is a bigger example, but I don’t want to get into this because LPGD already has had his fill of my hero’s stories. (Dick Gordon can walk on water!)
But, let me give you one more example of what happens to a Filipino when he or she works under the right system.
My Uncle was a truck driver for Goodyear Philippines for ten years. He relocated to the United States after my Aunt got a job there as a nurse. My Uncle barely finished high school and while he had a lot of skills (apart form being a truck driver, he was also a diesel engine mechanic, a carpenter, a plumber, an electrician, etcetera), he couldn’t get a job because he didn’t have certification for the skills that he had. For some reason, or another, instead of getting certified for the skills he already had, he decided to get training as a phlebotomy technician (someone who takes blood samples and analyzes it) and he eventually got certified for that skill.
In the Philippines, everything is set up against the average Filipino.
Normally, most Filipinos go through public education in a system that barely teaches them the basics. Most of those that get through college have the intellectual skills of a high school graduate and they naturally end up with lower paying jobs. Some even end up as teachers in the public school system.
Even those that go through private school from elementary to college find it tough to make any head way. After all those years of education, they eventually find themselves battling it out for entry level jobs which give basic pay.
It’s great that we have call centers nowadays, but really, I have a lot of friends working in the BPO industry. They were more interesting before they entered it, something bad happens to the brain when you answer the phone all day and keep repeating the same script.
Anyway, perhaps the flaw of the “Philippine system” is not that it does not reward good behavior, but that it rewards bad behavior better.
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Okay, point taken about the McDonald’s system. I could add much the same about Starbuck’s (I’ve done some work for them, and there are some similarities between the two training regimens). My problem is, I believe relying on college grads/students for these kinds of jobs is not addressing the country’s “Maslowian pyramid of needs” very well.
We could, of course, debate how much of a priority that needs to be to either McDonald’s or Starbuck’s or any other company that follows the same pattern. From a business standpoint, it is highly effective. When I worked with Starbuck’s, my job was to help them be more profitable and competitive, not more corporately-responsible. Even so, the whole “McDonald’s concept” has a couple of (probably) unintended negative consequences:
-It’s lowering the already-pathetic standards of academic achievement. When enough companies set employment qualifications that are so far beyond the functional requirements for jobs, the education system responds by teaching to that level of function.
-It’s taking D class jobs and giving them to B and C class people. Indeed, the unemployment situation has a lot to do with that; there is an over-supply of workers, so the market is skewed in favor of employers. BUT, if D class jobs went to D class people, and the education system was training new workers to be competitive at a logical level — knowing that they will have to be, because the low-hanging fruit is going to get picked before they reach the job market — then those students are going to have a better chance of being able to develop new businesses and jobs. And you won’t have as many engineers driving taxis for a living in the States.
Long-range thinking. What a concept.
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There’s a missing sentence or two in my comment, the one relating the story of my uncle…
After getting certified as a phlebotomist, my uncle got a job at a hospital and now earns more than a high level executive here in the Philippines.
I wouldn’t say that he is rich but he is immensely comfortable and he can afford everything he needs.
He clocks in at 8 AM and clocks out at 5PM. Has three days off and has paid leave.
In the Philippines however, just to make ends meet, you’d have to have two jobs — if it is at all possible to do that. Some people work all week.
Those who have higher paying jobs cannot afford to take vacations.
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Ben,
Here’s the situation as I see it, there are no jobs or not enough for the millions of kids that graduate from college each year. It has been this way in the Philippines for the longest time and still is.
It’s a buyers market.
There is actually no effort at all on the part of government to regulate the private school system.
When computers were the big thing, what happened? There were computer schools everywhere and not enough computer companies to hire the graduates.
When the physical therapy was the big thing, you guessed it! Physical therapy schools up the kazooo and whatsits!
I’ve actually lived long enough to see the first and second Nursing school bonanzas. The first was in the 1980′s and then the second one happened just two or three years ago.
LPGD and I even have a friend who left his job as a writer to finish a nursing degree so that he can migrate to the US. Guess what? He is still here and because of his age, he can’t get a job as a nurse — EVEN IF HE VOLUNTEERS FOR IT!
I think, as far as jobs are concerned, you’d have to be pretty darned good or connected to get the good positions. Otherwise, you better get whatever job you can.
It isn’t a lack of ambition, it’s simply being practical about things.
Class D jobs going to class B and C people, that is the status quo.
On the other hand, this seems totally unjust considering that Joseph Estrada can be the President of the Philippines and some UP students who graduate with degrees in Nuclear Physics have to find a job abroad.
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lpgd Reply:
August 26th, 2009 at 7:59 am
i actually experienced working at a fastfood back in college. i even remember feeling as if i can already afford to drop out of school after i started receiving my paycheck. i guess that was the “stupid” in me. good thing i remained in school.
i also know of someone who used to work at the same fastfood chain as a dining area crewmember. i learned that he purposely worked there to lfamiliarize himself with the ins and outs of the business.he now owns a number of fastfood outlets, which he established himself.
obviously, there’s a big difference between me and this other guy (he’s a client of the-master-and-kumander btw). i was there for the measly salary, which for a young, clueless student back then already seemed like a windfall. but this other guy was there for the experience and learning, which he later used to set up his own business.
the point i’m trying to make here is that this fastfood opportunity can either be a waste of time or a great learning experience. it all depends on the person in the situation. however, i think we can safely say that of all the young people who work in these fastfoods only a handful probably have dreams of setting up their own restaurants. majority are there just for the extra cash and, perhaps, the illusory feeling of independence.
while it’s good these fastfoods offer an option for those who can’t find better jobs elsewhere, this situation is really quite indicative of a problem that needs to be addressed. there ought to be more and better employment opportunitiesfor everyone and there should be better matching of jobs and skills/qualifications.
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