Erick Carcamo on Leading with People in Mind

Meet Erick Carcamo. He joined Majorel Philippines in 2017 as the Vice President of Operations overseeing the Philippines. Since then, he has grown his position and works as Senior Vice President of the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Kenya & India. His journey started 25 years ago, starting his career as a front-line agent, and through many role changes throughout the years in operations, client management, and performance management, he joined our ranks 5.5 years ago. While many things have changed in the past 25 years, he never forgets where he began and the well-being of his front-line employees is always on top of his mind.

In the first article of this two-part series on Erick´s and his team’s achievements in the last couple of years, we aim to tell you more about his position and responsibilities. The second part will be about his professional learnings, leadership style, and the importance of cultural awareness in a global team. Stay tuned for part two!

Majorel

How did you join Majorel and how did your career evolve after?

I had already been in the Philippines for 11 years working for another BPO company when I first learned about the opportunity at Majorel. I was surprised by how big Arvato was globally, yet how small its presence was in the Philippines. This was exciting to me because even though the opportunity at Majorel was at a smaller scope operationally, the full regional responsibilities have a much larger impact and reach. This was exactly the opportunity I had been searching for. I had been looking for a smaller organization where I could utilize the learnings that I have gained in my career to help grow an organization and make it a great place to work.

It just happened that Fara Haron, the Regional CEO of NAISAUKI, was in the Philippines that next week. It was one of those scenarios of meeting the right person, at the right place, at the right time, and the rest is history.

Fara gave me clear direction when I joined the Majorel team: focus on fixing the operational challenges, and everything else will come later. Those are the same words I follow with my team today, and that commitment to operational excellence has helped us grow from under 1000 employees to nearly 8000 over the past 5.5 years in the Philippines. During this time, I opened up our Malaysian site and took on the responsibilities of overseeing Thailand, Kenya, and India.

What are your current responsibilities?

In my role, I’m involved with all aspects of our regional business. I love the ability to wear many hats in this position. My job is to ensure that we deliver our clients the best operational performance and value. As our name states, we bring MAJOR RELationship to our clients, their customers, and our personnel. I truly believe that employee engagement is crucial to any company’s success, which is why building a great work environment is essential.

With this incredible growth over the last 2-3 years, my role as an SVP of Operations has morphed to include SVP of Construction and Site Designer. In the last 5 years, my team has gone from 1 country, 3 sites, and 4 operational floors to today, where we are operating in 5 countries, 12 buildings, and 24 floors. That has been one of the most fun parts of my role and truly one of the most rewarding things I have done in my career. Remember, I started as a front-line agent, so if you are sitting out there as a front-line agent and have ever said to yourself, if I had the chance to build a site, I would do this or that…well, today I have that responsibility.

I am fortunate that I live in a country that has multiple sites. I can be in Alabang one day and the next in Clark or Eastwood.  I sometimes visit all three sites in one week. I just returned from visiting our teams in India, Kenya, and Malaysia. It’s never a dull moment, and always rewarding to meet our employees across the globe that drive our success.

What is one project you are most proud of?

Throughout the last 2.5 years, a big part of my job has been building new sites. When you go from 1,000 team members to over 8,000 in the Philippines alone, you need floors and buildings. It doesn’t just stop in the Philippines, Majorel’s growth has extended to Malaysia, India, Kenya, and very soon Thailand. I have construction happening in 5 countries all at once. I am grateful to be involved in building sites that people want to work in. Having once been an agent, this is a great privilege for me.

From the seats, carpeting, lighting, desks, and even colors on the walls, I work closely with the architects on the layouts and designs. I go into every aspect of the design process with the thought, “does this benefit our front-liners?”. Building office spaces that make our employees see the office as more than just a workplace, or hearing from clients and visitors that these are some of the best sites they have ever visited, makes me proud. Our sites are built with well-being at the forefront. With pool tables, karaoke rooms, and gaming areas to be used during their downtime. Our production areas are built with our new Millennial and Gen X team members in mind knowing that employees learn differently today and not the way things were 20 years ago. We recently won One the Best Employer Award in the Philippines by the Philippine Inquirer, which feels like a real honor.

What is your hobby?

I don’t have much time for hobbies, but I do have things I love to spend time on. My family is my entire point for being, so spending time with them is the most important thing. I’ve loved sports since I was a kid. I used to play baseball and football when I was in school but now, I watch the games on TV (Go Yankees!). I like hanging out with my friends and having BBQs at my house or going out on a boat to fish on a sunny day. I am a warm weather person so my happy place is where I can put my toes in the sand and swim in the ocean – you will have a hard time beating that!

What makes you #FeelGood at Majorel?

The ability to innovate and drive change. Working in an environment that encourages you to collaborate and create new ideas inspires me. This is not a performance-driven thing. This is about caring for one another and wanting to do more for our clients and team members. It’s what makes Majorel special. Most of the management team has been around since the inception of the Majorel brand and through all the tremendous growth. Seeing the positive impact this has on our employees instills a sense of pride. We all #FeelGood about what has been cultivated. When you feel cared for, you care back. This is what #FeelGood at Majorel is all about.

Thank you, Erick. We are grateful you took the time from your busy schedule to explain your position and your responsibilities further.

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