Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI)—Coca-Cola’s local bottling arm—is proud to be ranked eighth among the country’s best workplaces, as certified this 2022 by Great Place to Work® (GPTW), a global authority on workplace culture. CCBPI, holding the Top 8 spot, is the only manufacturing and consumer goods company in the Philippines that was included in GPTW’s top 10 list.
GPTW identifies companies with unique and outstanding organizational culture and employee experience, and its citations have helped companies produce even better business results by underscoring high-trust and high-performing workplace cultures. Through GPTW’s extensive employee survey, CCBPI received an 83% approval rating among its 10,000 associates.
“We are grateful for being certified by the GPTW, and it is CCBPI’s honor to be recognized as one of the top best workplaces in the Philippines,” says Gareth McGeown, CEO and President of CCBPI. “We have always championed our People First commitment, and we have always operated with the foundational belief that our people are our company’s biggest asset and our greatest strength. We are so happy to know that our associates find CCBPI as a great place to work in—a place of trust, professional pride, and camaraderie—and an employer of choice.”
The GPTW employee survey attested that 87% of CCBPI employees are proud that they work in the company; 85% said they are physically safe in the workplace; 85% expressed the management is competent to run the business; 83% feel welcome in the company; and 84% feel good about how they were able to contribute to the community.
CCBPI’s People First commitment—which comprises institutional initiatives and company culture geared toward employee development—was further amplified during the pandemic, which saw the company’s business continuity plan focus more keenly on the health and safety of its associates. Working to preserve the welfare of its people, CCBPI immediately set aside an employee assistance fund to ensure that everyone was paid during the height of the lockdowns; expanded its HMO program to cover associates’ family members as beneficiaries; and heightened its people development programs.
McGeown says, “It has always been integral for us that our people are provided with the resources they need for their well-being and their career development. It is through our associates’ hard work and commitment that CCBPI reaches our business goals, yes, but also how we have collectively created and fostered a holistic and inclusive growth culture where everyone can thrive.”
The company, empowering its associates with the right upskilling and industry training, also strengthened its SMART Manufacturing & Logistics program—an avenue for its Supply Chain employees to boost their trade expertise and advance their careers.
CCBPI also maintains a dedicated team for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which leads programs and policies for equal access to information, development, and opportunities—while leveraging a diverse pool of talent. The company’s DEI initiatives are aimed at fostering an empowering, People First culture for its LGBT, multi-generational, multicultural, persons with disabilities (PWD), and women associates.
CCBPI associates are also supported in their service to local communities, with the company mobilizing its vast footprint in the Philippines and its considerable logistics resources to provide outreach and deliver aid during natural calamities. When Typhoon Odette hit the Visayas and Mindanao—which host a considerable part of CCBPI’s network—the company not only extended assistance to affected employees, but also delivered some 60,000 liters of Wilkins drinking water to affected areas.
CCBPI also provided around 2 million liters of drinking water to frontliners in public and private hospitals, as well as other government and non-government institutions during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recognizing that CCBPI’s success in the industry benefits not just its direct employees, but also countless individuals across its value chain, the company has also intensified its Bangon Pinas livelihood program. The initiative provides overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who had been repatriated due to the pandemic with opportunities as CCBPI partners and Coca-Cola distributors.
“We are incredibly lucky to have associates who support us, who believe in us as a company, who trust us to protect their welfare and cultivate their growth as individuals,” says McGeown. “This recognition as one of the best workplaces in the Philippines will only inspire us to do better, to find more ways to take care of our people.”
