Jo is one of our trainers with HGS Philippines. She has been with us for more than three years now. She shares with us her experience here:
When I joined HGS, I thought I already had everything anyone could ask for in their career—great job, good pay, zen workplace and location, and amazing colleagues. I had no idea that three years into my stint here, and after all the usual challenges any job has, I would come to the crossroads. It was merely an assignment to another site for no more than a week. Given my situation as a single mother, leaving home was a hard choice. But the opportunity was a welcome break from my usual routine. I couldn’t turn it down.
Our site in Alabang turned out to be no different than the one back at home. It reminded me that even though HGS is spread across locations, we are one team. I met a lovely set of people from all walks of life, and it turned out to be one of the best new hire sessions I had ever facilitated. The batch even put up a program on our last day of training and gave me a message board with photos from our training sessions. On my last day, though I wanted to be back home, I realized it was hard to leave! All the anxiety I had had at the beginning of the trip about being on a new site disappeared, and I was happy for the experience.
On my first day back, I put the message board from my trainees up on my desk. Now, it makes me smile every time I look at it, even on a hard day. In my line of work, the impact can take some time to show, but it is always significant. My trainees affirm this to me frequently, because every time we speak, they let me know how I have helped their perspectives. I take a lot of pride in having a part in bringing such a positive change. The biggest lesson from this off-the-course experience has been that challenges aren’t of one kind. After the week, I have felt a lot more prepared to take on the dynamic pace of our work.