This year has brought upon us perhaps this generation’s biggest challenge, but that has not stopped the A-People’s willful dedication to advancing business and communities. The first-ever AEV Year-End Virtual Celebration salutes the dedicated service excellence, exceptional loyalty and hard work, and the invaluable contributions our A-People have accomplished for the year. This year’s theme “PADAYON!”, which in visayan means “to continue” or “move forward”, seems fitting for the resilience and strength exuded by the team leaders and team members alike.

The A-People work hard, but they also know how to acknowledge and recognize hard work. Despite the lack of a physical gathering to raise their glasses to the year that has been, AEV’s Team Leaders and Team Members gathered around for a 2-hour virtual celebration of the rollercoaster ride that is 2020.

2020 SERVICE AWARDEES

The service awardees, all of whom practice and live out the Group’s core values in their professional lives, are a true testament that with the Aboitiz Way they have withstood the test of time. This year, the Group awarded 22 dedicated and hard-working A-People from 10 years to 30 years of service from Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.

THE ABOITIZ WAY AEV TEAM AWARDS 2020

One of the most anticipated programs every year is The Aboitiz Way AEV Team Awards. This program honors projects that live out the time-honored core values of Integrity, Teamwork, Innovation, and Responsibility which are also the basis of the awards’ categories and criteria. Here is an overview of each category:

INTEGRITY: These are projects that managed to excel in delivering the Brand Promise to our customers and untiring in terms of improving customer service to exceed customer satisfaction. These efforts were also successful in bringing or expanding our markets and customers.

TEAMWORK: This category champions projects that foster a collaborative atmosphere within teams, inter-CSUs, or across the group. These are projects that broke silos and made a significant impact to increase team member engagement.

INNOVATION (Improvement): This category gives recognition to projects that seek continuous improvement, may it be in service, process, or product. Recognition Night is our way of celebrating each other, to shine a spotlight on our fellow team members, and honor each other’s achievements in a big way.

INNOVATION (Breakthrough): Projects that are bold and pioneering, projects that are first of its kind for the Aboitiz Group. These initiatives are cutting edge, trendsetting, and truly, speaks of innovation.

RESPONSIBILITY: category champions projects that were successful in balancing the interest and involving our stakeholders to ensure that they have a fair share of the value creation we are involved in. These projects also advocate sustainability and care for our environment.

Despite the rough year it has been, these projects speak for themselves that in times of roadblocks, the A-People band together to create more efficient ways of working. A grand total of sixteen entries - the most the program has received since its inception- vied under various categories for this year. The projects were carefully screened by the panel of judges composed of AEV executives and leaders from various departments.

And the winners are....

INTEGRITY

This category’s winner really delivered what they promised. Human Resources’ Aboitiz Academy’s Digital Library is a completely new way of administering Learning and Development at Aboitiz in response to the business strategy, changing needs of our team members, advancements in technology, and global best practices. The Aboitiz Academy includes digital learning sessions, core program e-learning modules, LinkedIn Learning platform, and the virtual Mentoring Partnership Program. All of these are Groupwide in scope and are actively participated in by all our business units.

TEAMWORK

Teamwork makes the dream work. Navigating the COVID-19 Challenge by Human Resources and Risk Management Team alongside Government Relations and Facilities Management, nabbed this award. In this category, different CSUs teamed up against COVID-19 to protect the Group’s greatest asset, the A-People. The COVID-19 Technical Working Group which is composed of team members from other BUs and AEV  Risk Management, Human Resources, GovRel, Security, IT, and Facilities Management was formed to spearhead initiatives to mitigate the impact of the global pandemic. The TWG developed policies and protocols to mitigate the risks brought about by COVID-19 and redefine the new normal in the workplace. TWG efforts include but are not limited to, Return to Work protocols, RTK/PCR testing, provision of PPEs, use of Safepass for contact tracing, group contribution for no-work-no-pay subcons, and campaigns on physical and mental wellness.

INNOVATION (Improvement)

The Virtual Annual Stockholders Meeting by Legal, Investor Relations, and Reputation Management won the hearts of our panelists with this initiative. In the middle of a global pandemic, AEV was able to hold its first Virtual ASM on schedule while most companies have decided to avail of the extension granted by the SEC to comply with this yearly requirement. With an innovation mindset, AEV was able to adapt to the rapidly changing environment due to the pandemic, saved the company millions, and ensured that regular activities remained unimpeded with no delays. Congratulations again! What an amazing project.

INNOVATION (Breakthrough)

Definitely deserving of this award, the Mobile Workforce Enablement by Information Technology really helped in the daily lives of the A-People. In 2017, IT Department’s vision and one of the pillars is to support the business by enabling workforce mobility, wherein work is redefined as something we do and not a place to go to. The 3-year initiative roadmap was established and implementations were made year after year. The full realization of this initiative was appreciated when the pandemic hit the world in March 2020. The business and infrastructure were resilient, we immediately transitioned to a Work-From-Home environment with no impact on operations.

RESPONSIBILITY

This year’s winner goes to Boracay Balabag Wetland by Government Relations and Reputation Management Department. In 2018, the Aboitiz Group signed a Memorandum of Agreement to adopt and revive Wetland No. 4 in Boracay.  A three-year project in collaboration with the DENR, DOT, TIEZA, DPWH, DILG to rehabilitate and convert a one-hectare lagoon into a sustainable, linear urban park by reviving its biodiversity (endemic vegetation) for locals and tourists to enjoy while improving its water quality. Once completed, it will be showcasing three distinct features: a recreational low-impact eco-tourism design; educational generating awareness on the importance of wetlands; and experiential by allowing stakeholder participation in the cleanup, maintenance, and protection initiatives.

2020 TRIBUTES

The Year-End celebration also gave tribute to the organization’s most loyal members. When we talk about core values, these people have lived out and imbibed in them the Aboitiz values throughout their stay in the Group, up until their retirement. This is not just about tenure, but also pertaining to the impact these A-People have made during their time in the company and the legacy they will be leaving with us. That is why, it is only right to pay tribute to these wonderful A-People.

These A-People were celebrated as they espoused what it means to live and breathe the Aboitiz Way. Tributes from AEV are:

ONWARDS AND FORWARD

The year 2020 has been a whirlwind for everyone, from ash fall scattering all over the metro to strong typhoons and - who can forget? - a global pandemic. The year has not just challenged the team leaders and team members on resiliency and simply survival, but as a collective, this has pushed them to go above and beyond their call of duty especially when it comes to living out the Brand Promise and Group Purpose, and that’s the achievement we all raise our glasses to.

The A-People came out stronger than they did coming into the year and ready to face what tomorrow will bring, hand-in-hand, as #OneAboitiz. Padayon, A-People!