Innovation

“We focus on providing decent work and economic growth as what I learned from going to La Salle, under Ms. Pia ‘s class, was to provide decent compensation to our educators because there is a systemic problem in the education sector and education industry in the Philippines..” -Tristan Garcia.

Bethel Academy has been facing problems with permanent employment for its educators as its employees come and go. The organization realized that this is a low salary income. The educators apply and work to gain experience while waiting for the licensure exam and then resign after a few months. According to Kersaint et al. (2007), there are the top three factors why teachers leave an organization: financial benefits, administrative support, and joy in teaching. (https://www.academia.edu/14414453/Why_teachers_leave_Factors_that_influence_retention_and_resignation) Hence, Bethel decided to commence "Re-Value"- a salary restructuring program for the teachers, especially Teacher 1 and 2. It was designed to gradually increase the salary and match what the public sector offers. Through this innovation, Mr. Garcia believes that a salary increase would support its employees survive in this time of the pandemic.

One of the challenging parts for Mr. Garcia is to convince the organization as this program would bring losses to the Bethel Academy for the first few years. He sees the program as more of a decision than innovation. Despite that, the organization then agreed and started the Re-Value Program and gradually increased the salary. Mr. Garcia sees the systemic problem in the education industry, especially in the private sector, because of underpaid employment. Hence, before solving a greater problem, he wanted Bethel Academy to be a good employer and a good organization to its employees first. Educators who feel supported, cared for, and nurtured would be more productive, happy, and love their job even more.

Even though the effect of this innovation will take longer for them to gain back the profit and generate more income, they believe that it will be all worth it. It is the start of more permanent employment for its educators.

Decent Work & Economic Growth

Inspiration

".. we can't imagine giving them such a small salary and surviving the pandemic.." - Tristan Garcia

During the interview, Mr. Garcia said that one of the inspirations of the Re-Value Program is the hard work of his grandfather and his father. He saw how his family cared for the Bethel Academy. As a business leader and a Junior Director for Management of Bethel Academy, it is his duty and responsibility to do everything for the organization. He acknowledged that Bethel Academy continues to strive for excellence with his colleagues' support and cooperation.

This is one of the many reasons Mr. Garcia wants a raise in the teacher’s salary. He knows that Human Capital is vital to the success of Bethel. Thus, the Re-Value Program can make the teachers feel that their efforts are being appropriately compensated.

Mr. Garcia wanted the Bethel Academy to continue its legacy, and he wanted to prove its worth in treasuring and passing it on to the next generation. His experience as one of Bethel's business leaders has helped him decide on which beliefs and attitudes will be cherished and which he wants to make a conscious effort to change. Through the help and trust of his colleagues, Bethel continuously achieves its short-term and long-term goals.

Overall impact

Bethel Academy restructured its salary program not just to increase employee productivity alone but also because of their belief that it is worth the time and effort to develop strategies to improve the overall retention of employees. A raise in salary would mean that employees may not slack in their work, but instead, they will pour their maximum effort to do their duties. A salary increase would make them realize that they may find it hard to find the same salary in another school. In return, they would be more motivated to do their excellent work and remain at their job.

However, wages alone do not make the employee stay. Engagement is also an essential factor for them to remain in the organization. Bethel believes that career mapping and an increase in brand reputation will be significant in driving the engagement of its employees.

The shortage of staff can cause less brand effectiveness to the Bethel Academy, and as a result, they may make a smaller number of enrollees. The objective of Bethel revolves around Human Capital, where they target the most significant asset in the organization, its people, to grow, improve, and stay. Bethel strives hard to keep its educators, and the organization must improve its productivity and competitiveness if the employees just come and go.

Business benefit

The benefits of the Re-Value Program are the following:

Increased Employee Competition- Re-Value Program can result in a more competitive workforce, encouraging competition between employees. They will strive hard to do their best to earn high productivity as this will be a criterion for salary increase.

Employee Motivation- Performance directly reflects one’s salary and a competitive salary is one motivation to bring out the strength in the employee’s work ethic. Pay raise incentives can enhance performance reviews, and this will show how the employees value their work as the company appreciates and values them through proper compensation.

Employee Retention- Compensation is one way to show employees that they perform their duties and responsibilities very well. Tying performance evaluations and pay raise incentives will provide them that Bethel values their productivity and is willing to give rewards for those efforts. With this, employees will feel a sense of loyalty to the organization, which will result in them staying longer.

The attraction for Best Talent- Competitive salary will attract qualified employees and the best talent in the organization, resulting in Bethel's chances for growth and continued success. On top of that, the best talent will help Bethel unlock unlimited opportunities for the organization, and in return, Bethel could help them maximize their potential.

Social and environmental benefit

Increasing the salary improves the general quality of living for Bethel’s educators, provided there is an appropriate level of income to handle the increasing daily expenses of the people in the society. The intangible benefit of a wage increase is that improved employee morale could increase employee satisfaction. This will reduce the job-related relocation expenses as employees will be more inclined to stay in the company, contributing to the greater advancement of the organization.

Another potential advantage of increasing the salary is that the spending typically increases as the wage increases. A higher-income would put more earnings for the workers, and this money would then flow to other goods and services businesses and retailers.

Bethel Academy regularly notes the challenge of giving satisfactory encouragement to motivate educators to pour their heart and mind into their duties by performing with maximum effort. This is exceptionally complicated with lower-wage employees who feel that their efforts are not preventing them from poverty.

The overall result of the Re-Value Program innovation will contribute to inclusive and more sustained economic growth. This, in turn, will offer better employment opportunities for people in the society and, as a result, could improve better quality of life and livelihoods for the people in the country.

Interview

Tristan F. Garcia, Junior Director for Management