On the road to further strengthening the cooperative industry in the Philippines, 1 Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines Life and General Insurance (1CISP) recently hosted the third and last leg of the COOP HR Summit held at Novotel Manila in Quezon City, Philippines.
With the theme “Third Path HR: Journey to Cooperative HR Enterprise,” the Coop HR Summit Manila leg aims to level up human resource operations in light of prevailing issues in HR and technology affecting local cooperatives today. The first two legs were held in Davao City and Iloilo City.
The COOP HR Summit became the venue of thought-provoking ideas from various guest speakers including Asia Select Inc. (ASI) President and CEO, Gilbert Camasura, ASI Lead Consultant, Jeremiah Bonifacio, Crawford & Company Country Head, Gigi Geronimo, Geiser Maclang Marketing Communications Inc. (GMCI) Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder, Brad Geiser, GMCI HR and Finance Director, Angela Contreras, BPO Executive, Alpha Omega Aquino, SHRM Sr. Certified Professional, Veronica Estrella, and HR and Quality Management Consultant, Alen Esguerra.
As a backgrounder, 1CISP is the leading insurance cooperative in the Philippines and the go-to organization for the protection needs of its cooperative members. 1CISP has been in operation for almost 45 years and has grown tremendously, having over 2,000 cooperative members and insuring around 900,000 individuals annually.
Changing the Mindset
As the largest cooperative insurance organization in the country, 1 CISP is taking the lead in changing the mindset of would-be employees of the cooperative industry. Although most cooperatives in the country have been over-achieving in terms operational and financial performances, they’re rarely seen as employers of choice, particularly among the younger generation of graduates.
This is the challenge that 1CISP aims to overcome through this capacity development activity featuring cooperative thought leaders as well human resource experts as speakers and panelists mentioned above.
1CISP President Roy Miclat, in his keynote address, stressed that cooperatives in the country have been succeeding in their endeavors and have continually contributed to nation-building yet the public remains oblivious due to lack of promotional efforts.
“Adults often say to the youth that there is no future in cooperatives, which is not true at all,” Miclat declares. “That’s one way of thinking that we need to change,” he added.
Surprisingly, Miclat also revealed that cooperatives are, in fact, the biggest contributor in the communities they serve and oftentimes even earn more than their corporate counterparts. He also said that cooperatives have some of the most competitive compensation and benefit schemes in the industry. The challenge is how to communicate these to encourage everyone to support cooperatives.
“1CISP, in comparison to corporate insurance counterparts, is growing at a remarkable rate, and believe it or not, this is not an isolated phenomenon. It is a lot more common than previously thought, with a precedent since 2007,” said Miclat, citing the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation’s (ICMIF) 2018 rankings and industry trends.
“Our aim for 2019 and beyond is to elevate cooperatives and make them known for what they really are–an important pillar in economic and social development,” he stressed.
Moreover, Miclat cited the immediate need to adapt to technology as most millennials prefer a tech-savvy workplace.
1Koop Leaders Academy
In partnership with Asia Select Inc., 1Koop Leaders Academy – a nationwide training program for young cooperative professionals, was also announced in the COOP HR Summit.
It is one of the country’s leading human resource companies, and aims to train young minds and build strong foundations in business, tech up their knowledge and skills, and become effective and principle-centered cooperative leaders. The program will have expert HR and marketing professionals as trainers and special lecturers.
“Aside from the 1Koop Leaders Academy, we also have two other projects—Coop Kicks, the first-ever cooperative pitch fest in which young innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs are given opportunities to pitch their ideas on cooperative ventures, and 1KoopMart, the country’s first-ever cooperative sari-sari store chain,” Miclat shares. “But these three projects represent only the beginning of more things to come for 1CISP and its partner cooperatives,” he added.
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