This is five people in the back of a pickup truck in the Philippines.
[click to enlarge]
All but the bottom center guy, which you can’t see between the tables, are above the bed.
The only thing keeping them from falling out the sides are folding tables.
Two guys mid-left.
One guy mid-right.
One guy bottom-center.
One guy on top of the cab.
All could barely stay awake, I assume from a hard day’s work doing an event.
And in the minutes before capturing this on our Uber (their app is called Grab), I saw plenty of other humbling things.
The city was just as busy, potentially busier at 11pm at night, than during the day. Because it’s so hot during the day you only go out if you have to.
You do not play field or court sports during the day. The city comes out to play and watch basketball at midnight. Crowds of people in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat. And they’re not even the ones playing the sport.
Outdoor courts, no fans, no a/c.
It’s so hot during the day you don’t even get in the pool to cool off. It’s too hot. You get in at night, when it’s still too hot, but at least now bearable.
I love Filipinos. I’ve been working with them for 19 years.
I have ~40 team members, and the design and dev half are in the Philippines (with copywriting and client facing roles in the states).
Many currently with me approaching 10 years, and some tenured team members as long as 17 years.
If you find the right people, Filipinos are the most dedicated and loyal people you’ll meet.
They’ll work so hard for you that you have to tell them to stop and make sure they get time for their self, and their family.
They’ll work sweating in their home MAYBE with a fan, half the time not even in their room as they go without so their family can have it in the other room.
And they’ll do it without a complaint because they don’t know any different. That’s just how it is there.
The crazy heat + their humility is why one of the first things I have my amazing HR manager, Jennifer, do is ask them what they need.
- Do you need an air conditioner? Done.
- Do you need a dedicated computer desk to focus so you don’t have to work at the kitchen counter while your spouse feeds the family? Done?
- Need a gaming chair, too? Done?
- Does your laptop need an upgrade? Done.
Most work on 5-10 year old laptops with barely enough RAM to run more than basic applications, and they don’t even mention crashes and freezes because, again, it’s just another day to them.
Your team on the other side of the monitor you’re reading this post on right now, Filipinos or otherwise, are humans… just like you. Some of just got geographically lucky where we were born.
And your team loyalty with them isn’t built by mottos and feel good words. It’s built by gesturing first.
By showing you will invest in them before they even start working to show them “we’re in this together.” Because that’s what teams are. Togetherness.
