COVID-19 Surge in the Philippines: The Enshored Response Plan

Our commitment

COVID has been a unique shared experience of unwilling participants relatively equally distributed across the entire world.

COVID recovery, on the other hand, is a tale of two halves. The most developed countries are ticking age groups of the vaccination list, while the Phillippines is still in extended government lockdown. And with only 2.4 million people vaccinated (1.8% of the population), life is still a long way from normal in the country.

Teams can’t operate at peak performance if they are concerned with basic survival needs. This is why Enshored commits so much of our resources to support our teams to thrive. COVID reinforced our commitment to empowering our people through whatever challenges they face, global or personal.

The impact of COVID on our team

The surge in positive cases has posed a challenge to Enshored’s operations. 2% of our employees in Manila tested positive during the last two months; this follows the country’s spike during Mar-Apr 2021. Since the pandemic started, 3% of our team members have tested positive and recovered.

The tight lockdowns have also impacted Enshored’s regular operations. Getting supplies to staff outside of Metro Manila can take up to three times longer due to travel restrictions.

To meet these challenges, we have developed a four-faceted approach to supporting our staff, partners, and community.

Our response

1. Social Impact in Action

Vaccine procurement

Enshored is in the process of procuring vaccines. We want to make sure our staff and their families are vaccinated no matter where they live in the country. 

Launched a medical relief fund 

We have set up a fund for employees whose households have been affected by severe infections that require hospitalization or led to long-term health issues. 

Supporting Children

Coronavirus has also brought to light inequality gaps in education. Children outside of Metro Manila almost solely rely on their family members to provide any educational instruction they would typically receive in their schools and classrooms.

To offset this, Enshored is developing curriculum material and distributing technology resources to keep children engaged and learning despite extended school closures. Stay tuned for more news on pilot programs we are launching this summer with local agencies as we aim to power growth to the next generation.

2. Protecting Our People

We have used every tool in our arsenal to protect the mental and physical health of our team:

• Extended our Work From Home policy through the end of 2021.

• Implemented a moratorium on in-person gatherings.

• Provided rapid Covid tests, masks, sanitization equipment, and proven H&S protocol for any unforeseen event that requires in-person contact.

• Developed a Work From Home morale campaign to provide solidarity through team-building techniques and distribute work/life balance best practices.

Ensured staff members testing positive test/ confirmed exposure receive two weeks of paid sick leave.

3. Protecting Your Business

We have built-in operational resilience to client delivery. To offset the risk to delivery, we have:

• Increased the level of WFH coaching sessions to include one-one coaching, side-by-side sessions, pre-shift huddle session with teams all taking place over Zoom.

• Added new software to all agent desktops to allow for more accurate tracking of productivity.

• Deployed our Data Analytics and WorkForce Management teams to implement adjusted shift assignments to handle forecasted volumes. 

• Offered overtime rates to our team to help reduce queues that cannot have volume reduced. For COVID-impacted over time, we do not charge our customers overtime rates. We absorb this and will continue to through the pandemic.

We have added in capacity via buffer agents (Heroes to the Rescue) to start-ups with 25% or more coverage impacted.

4. AI Enabled

We have implemented AI to drive ticket allocation across the competency framework, ensuring that despite the number of Heros coming to the Rescue, we can allocate complexity in an intelligent way across complex and agile teams.

In this for the long haul… not just during the pandemic

Our vision is to build a tribe of learners and leaders who reduce the inequity gap in our communities.  The buck doesn’t stop with this global pandemic.

Built on the principle of empowering growth and modeled on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we look after the basics first.

Our active support funds help our team achieve medical, legal, and financial stability and support our people through challenging times – from typhoons to personal tragedies. 
Our Empowerment Department teaches skills for success in the workplace in 2021 and beyond, from Agile project management, tech integration & building, regenerative business practices, social-emotional intelligence. We reinforce community by driving local and global partnerships to support the global workforce in emerging markets, emphasizing education and social justice.

How Enshored can help

Enshored is built to support disruptive start-ups.

We augment, build and support customized Customer Experience for digital CX, Sales & Marketing, Back office and Content Moderation. 

We provide the people, the culture and the operating system to support you to scale seamlessly.