Last June 26, I attended an assembly in Makati Shangri-la. I was the representative of Mitsubishi Motors for this event. I was amongst Managers and Top Executives. I felt like a fish out of water and felt truly intimated. “Maganda naman ang legs mo,” assured NJ via SMS. OK. Haha.

In a fortunate turn of events, I arrived at the venue in a Pajero. I arrived a tad too early, I might add. The event was scheduled at 11:30 am. I arrived around 10am. Talk about excited. Haha. I decided to proceed to the exact location of the event: Rizal Hall. I walked towards a long table and approached a woman seated behind it. “Madam,” I started. She abruptly—and awkwardly—stood up, “Kayo ba ‘yung taga-TV5?” I gave her a dumb-founded look, “Hindi po. I’m from Mitsubishi, I’m here to register.” She relaxed a bit and informed me that the registration will start at 11am. I was about to leave the room when I noticed a bunch of men—hotel personnel—each sporting an earpiece, clamoring behind my back. The woman in the registration table probably thought they were my escorts. That was perhaps why she assumed I was part of the press. The hell, right? Hahaha. I don’t know, but I took that as a compliment.

Yes, this was in the Lady's Room. Problem?

I headed towards the lounge where lots of foreigners were having serious conversations with other, er,  foreigners. I was sitting beside Europeans (Germans, I guess) who were having an argument about something that sounded important. I’ve noticed that they almost always begin their statements with an “I agree with everything that you’re saying but,” or variations thereof. It was fascinating.

At around 11am, I went back to Rizal Hall. The place was already buzzing with people. After having registered myself, I went around the area to collect some freebies from the companies who were invited for the exhibit. Not much of a haul, to be honest. 

Inside the Rizal Hall

Well, the registration fee included a full-course meal. 

The starter was a potato salad which I did not bother taking a picture of. I hate the taste of red onion and I believe that mayonnaise is only for sandwiches. To my credit, I took a small bite from it, hoping that it would taste OK, if not good. But it made me tear up. I spat it out. Ack.

The main course was not bad. It was chicken thigh with couscous. The couscous reminded me of something I was sure I’d eaten very recently but just couldn’t put my finger on. (I later remembered that it was the Chili Cheese Fries from Sunrise Buckets.) 

The dessert was so-so: Vanilla ice cream atop a pineapple. I mean, I tasted the cinnamon (ew!) but the vanilla ice cream was OK. I wasn’t thoroughly satisfied. The entire meal didn't thoroughly satisfy me, for that matter.

I was so hungry, I even ate that green thing.

After some perfunctory speeches, a panel discussion took place. It was entitled, “Increasing ROI on People through a Robust Performance Management System.” 

This was the reason I was asked to attend this meeting. Handling the Performance Management System (PMS) is one of my major functions in MMPC. The panel consisted of HR heads from Digitel, UniLab, and URC. The forum was rather informal and spontaneous and at one point, I got up and asked a question: In your organizations, what are the most common causes of delay when it comes to the implementation of the PMS?

I won’t elaborate but the answer I liked most is from the HR Head of UniLab, Ms. Anna Maureen Macaraig-Martinez. “Resistance, of course. And the frame of mind that the PMS is tedious and is synonymous with more paperworks. But Change Management had always been difficult. Communication and education is key.”

The meeting ended a little before 3pm. I walked out of Makati Shangri-la feeling a little more confident. Instances like these had that effect on me.

Cheers to the next adventure!