We at AwesomeOutsourcing are huge fans of hiring Filipino workers for online businesses. You have probably heard of the advantages of outsourcing Filipino workers and how it enriches your business. You might be ready to hire a VA or an online writer from the Philippines, or maybe you’re already working with one or two.
However, in order to maintain the healthiest working relationship with your outsourced workers, it would be wise to get to know more about them. What are Filipinos like? What makes them tick? What’s awesome about them? What’s annoying about them? Understanding them will let you prepare for issues you might encounter and boost productivity for your business.
This article aims to provide you with an honest insight on Filipinos, their culture, values, and work ethic. After all, communication is key, and understanding leads to better communication. Who knows, maybe you can avoid the “Disappearing Filipino Syndrome”.
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If you ask most Filipinos, they would say: “We are friendly, hardworking, and honest!” Is that true?
The truth is… not all Filipinos are the same.
A problem with Filipinos is that they are all too eager to fall into a stereotype. Filipinos like to say that they are this or they are that, proud when they claim a positive stereotype, and self-deprecating when they admit a negative one. Despite this though, they are all unique with their own quirks, flaws, and positive attributes.
You can examine Filipino culture and yes, that will give a fair idea of how Filipinos behave in society, but that doesn’t really tell you about who each of them is as a person.
Filipinos are people, not interesting critters you see on National Geographic. In most cases, they are just like anyone from any other country.
However, since this article isn’t a philosophical discussion, but rather a guide to help you prepare yourself for working with Filipinos, let’s see if we can take a look at common Filipino traits that you can expect and the best way to deal with them. Just be sure to remember that generalizations don’t always apply.
The Philippines is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural country.
The country was colonized by Spain for more than three hundred years and because of this Filipinos share a lot of traits with Spaniards and Latin-Americans, namely a laid-back attitude, close family ties, religiousness, and an unfortunate tendency to be late. Some Filipinos are of Spanish descent.
Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in 1898 and the country became an American colony until 1946. The Americans were largely responsible for establishing education in the Philippines and this the reason why English became universal in the country.
Due to access to the English language, the Philippines shares the same media with the U.S. and other English speaking countries. Filipinos watch the same shows and movies, listen to the same hits on the radio, and browse the same websites, all in English. If anything, Filipino-language songs are more like an exotic genre and Filipino movies are usually deemed for the lower classes.
Because of this, there isn’t that big of a difference in how Filipinos think and see the world as people from western countries.
The difference lies more in subtle behavioral patterns. Here are some of the most common:
Because of these traits, it may be up to you to draw them out and open communications with them.
English isn’t considered a foreign language in the Philippines, it’s more like the official language, their own native tongue is used more in informal and casual conversations.
So can all Filipinos speak and write English like a native?
Nope. According to studies, 63.73% of Filipinos are able to speak English, and I would venture to say that among that number are those who can speak it but aren’t particularly good at it. People living far from the cities might have little to no contact with English, while others just aren’t gifted with languages.
The good news is that you don’t have to worry about the non-English speaking population of the Philippines because the ones who apply for online jobs are good at English. They won’t apply otherwise.
How good their English has to be will depend on the kind of employee you are looking for. If you’re looking for a VA or a writer, then they’ll have to be very good, but a graphic designer or a web developer doesn’t need to have perfect English. One thing you can be sure of is that all Filipinos who work online are good enough at it to communicate.
Most of what has been said about this topic all agree that the Philippines has an honest culture. Is that true?
Actually… no. Filipino culture is anything but honest. Theft and corruption are two of the biggest problems plaguing the Philippines. When applying for a driver’s license, they get asked a bribe to be passed on the test, and if you drop your wallet on the street you will never see it again. Also, Filipinos don’t like to speak their minds and would prefer to tell white lies than the hard truth.
So, if dishonesty is rampant in the Filipino culture, are people lying when they say they haven’t encountered problems working with a Filipino before? Are Filipinos lying when they promise honesty in their job applications? Actually, no, in this case, they’re telling the truth.
Culture ≠ Everyone.
You have to understand that the Philippines has a population of more than a hundred million, for a country so small, that’s a lot! And being a third-world country, there’s a wide gap between social classes. Maybe the people in power are corrupt, maybe the impoverished take anything they can get to survive, but that doesn’t mean every Filipino is crooked.
The real question here is: are Filipino online workers honest?
By all accounts, and in the ways that matter, yes. Filipinos who work online are usually middle-class people who are themselves frustrated with the problems the country faces. They value honesty, as you do, and most likely share the same morals. And if they don’t, it’s likely they will be too scared to try anything stupid because they risk losing too much.
As for the hesitancy to speak their minds, that’s mostly harmless if you approach it the right way (more on that later).
Filipinos you hire online won’t take advantage of you. In the history of onlinejobs.ph, there has been almost no complaint from an employer that their employees have been stealing from them.
So, in short. Not all Filipinos are honest. However, the ones that matter to your business will be honest.
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Again, let’s only talk about the people who work online. Efficiency should depend on a person to person and is typically based on experience. One thing is certain though, they are motivated and eager to do a good job.
Why?
Because they are grateful that they can work online in the first place. They don’t want to lose their job, because if they do then they might go back to extremely low-paying local jobs and deal with the horrible traffic. A typical daily commute can be 2 hours a day one way.
Filipinos save more money working online because they won’t have to pay for gas (if they have cars), or commuting (if they don’t, which is more likely). The horrible traffic that can be found in most Filipino cities could easily make them lose hours of productivity being stuck on the road.
So yes, they will take their online jobs very seriously, their livelihood depends on it.
If you find that their work isn’t satisfactory, it’s not for a lack of trying, they want to do a good job. If you train them properly you will find that they are very fast and eager learners.
This is the most important thing you should keep an eye out for. This is the most common problem employers have experienced in working with Filipino employees. They suddenly disappear on you, they stop replying to your e-mails, and you never hear from them again. They are gone without a trace.
What gives?
This is due to Filipinos’ non-confrontational nature. Filipinos would rather ask for forgiveness than permission, would rather stay silent than ask for help, and would rather disappear than get fired.
Filipinos respect authority, maybe too much. They look up to you, their boss, but sometimes they get intimidated. They don’t speak out, they get embarrassed, they are afraid of making mistakes. When they feel like they can’t handle the pressure anymore, they tend to vanish.
Maybe each of these vanishing Filipinos has a different problem, maybe their kid is sick, maybe they found another job, maybe they feel overwhelmed, or maybe they encountered a problem beyond their skills. Whatever the problem, they don’t want to tell you about it.
You can blame the employees for being too timid, or you can blame the employers for being culturally insensitive, but that’d be pointless.
This is an annoying trait, yeah, but easily solved through communication and initiative on your part. From the get-go, tell them that they can ask questions, explain their struggles, and report their problems.
An example of what you can do would be to require a daily e-mail report where they talk about what they did that day, the problems they faced, and the questions they want to ask. This maintains a stable communication and builds a habit in your employees for asking questions and reporting problems. If you do your part in answering these questions and helping them with their problems, then they won’t have a reason to disappear.
Not all Filipinos disappear on you. If you’re lucky then you won’t ever have to contend with this, but better be safe than sorry.
Not all Filipinos are the same. It is up to you and your employees to truly get to know one another, but it does help to know their common characteristics to better prepare for them.
Despite their flaws, Filipinos are still the best option for outsourcing workers. Lower labor costs, a strong motivation to do a good job, and proficiency in the English language are the obvious advantages compared to other countries. They are also unlikely to take advantage of you.
As for the disappearing act, if you maintain good communications with them, train them properly, and make them feel at home in your business, then you’ll have nothing to worry about.
If handled right, Filipinos could be the most loyal workers you will ever find.
Have any questions? Do you want to share your own experiences? Did you enjoy this article? Let us know in the comments below.
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