Downturn no reason for employers to exploit their workers

MANILA, Philippines - The current economic downturn is no reason for employers to exploit their workers, the country manager of freight forwarder DHL Express Philippines said on Tuesday. Instead, this is the best time for companies to invest on human resources since it could spell the difference between success and failure once the economy turns around. “If employers think that the crisis is the best time to exploit their employees because workers would have nowhere to go, that's wrong. Once the economy picks up, their employees might leave them for a better company," said Ahmad Mohamad, DHL country manager. Although the industry has a 20 percent employee turnover rate, the Philippine unit of DHL has managed to keep it at 10 percent or lower. Mohamad, who took over DHL’s local operations last year, said he treats the firm’s 640 employees as “friends" or members of an extended family. “It keeps people loyal," he said. “Although loyalty does not automatically mean productivity, you just have to realize that there's good and bad in every people," said Mohamad. Moreover, the company has adopted schemes and promotions which added value to their products. “Price war is not something that we want to get into. We provide total solutions for customers instead," he said. As a result of this strategy, the Philippine unit of DHL saw its market share improve seven percent to 51 percent as of last year, making it the industry leader. DHL Philippines will be launching its Clark Service center soon. The company has opened its Subic Service Center, DHL's seventh facility in the Philippines. The company also plans to strengthen its local presence by concentrating on Northern Luzon Triangle, namely Subic, Clark, and Bataan. The company is gearing up for an aggressive expansion since business remained good despite the crisis. “We see improvement in the business. We're registering growth despite the downturn," said Mohamad. GMANews.TV