theceomagazine.com | 81“Our partnership with 8990 Development is a collaborative and free-
flowing one, from the top management all the way to their project
managers and engineers on every project site, and from product
development all the way to after-sales product improvements.” –
Ferdinand Sy, Vice President, Roosevelt ChemicalsThis emphasis on people not only characterises
8990’s mission, but also provides Willie with much
of his own inspiration. “My motivation is to be able
to improve people’s lives,” he says. “And when I say
people, I mean both our home buyers, who dream
of owning their first home, and my teammates, to
help them improve their lives and thereby improving
their families’ welfare. Our mandate is to make
people’s lives better.”While Willie recognises the importance of social
events and holiday time for his employees, he also
wants to help his workforce build on their training
and education.
Willie believes competition for workers, both
in the Philippines and overseas, is playing a part.
“Everyone’s building at the same time, and we’re
competing with overseas projects where Filipinos are
in great demand,” he says. “At our end, we are trying
to find solutions that would use fewer people and
rely on machines more.”
However, technology is not his only solution. “We
believe that a more long-term solution would be to
address this problem by helping grow the pool of
skilled workers and investing in manpower,” he says.
So actively training and improving 8990’s staff will
be a major focus. “We hire people from all over the
country, and sometimes their education is not on
par with those from the better schools,” says Willie.
“We’re hoping to come up with a program where
we can train our own people and keep them longer.
Hopefully, we can improve their level of education
by creating programs for them to train in.”
Willie is also ensuring that the company improves
its operational side, by innovating its buildingprocesses. Thus the company is implementing a new
system of building to emphasise efficient, better-
quality walls with guaranteed plumbing systems. This
includes a degree of automation, removing many of
the human factors from the building process.
This new system is only one aspect of the
company’s plans to pursue internal improvement. The
management team regularly holds meetings to ensure
8990 Holdings is at the cutting edge of the Filipino
construction industry. “We’re always making sure that
something positive comes out of our discussions,” says
Willie. “This could be in terms of technology, our
operating system, manpower or managerial choices.
We’re trying to make sure that this company will last
for generations. We’re trying to build our best.”“ We ’re hoping to come up with a
program where we can train our
own people and keep them longer.”