When you hire a virtual staff from the Philippines, you could easily think that you are helping these talented individuals achieve the byword of “work-life” balance but what you don’t know is that there are also subtle ways your life as an employer could be changed too.
For you to understand their fascinating culture, we have to take a quick look back on their history. Just like the great country-continent of Australia, the Philippine archipelago was once under the rule of Western power. The Philippines adopted Spain’s religious beliefs and during the 300-year foreign occupation, Filipinos learned the importance of staying together. Tight family ties were cemented, and Filipinos opted to become the working class, to survive.
There is a lot that could be said about the traditional Filipino culture, although not every employer could understand each antic, Remote Staff has listed three things that you could learn and experience when working with a Filipino VA.
Filipinos are pretty much relaxed.
A Filipino worker is naturally hardworking, friendly, and resilient. We don’t mean relax as lazy but as someone who isn’t easily budged. You might not understand why a Filipino tends to laugh about things and situations. It is not about them making a joke about everything, though they will probably joke about it, it is their own way to avoid stressing about things. A Filipino would seem a tad bit apathetic, preferring to just go with the flow, but on their own way, this is their accepting nature that things are just the way it is. In some odd ways, they are relaxed and collected and some foreigners are left in awe, “How could they stay calm and still manage to laugh amidst everything?” It’s just the way Filipinos are.
Filipinos are over workers.
Filipinos want to please people and this is a fact, the Philippines has come in on the top in social media usage for three straight years according to the WeAreSocial’s report. Filipinos are highly responsive and sociable, and as a virtual personal assistant from the Philippines, you might receive a handful of questions of “What else can I do for you?” once in a while. They also have the ability to stay in the gray areas between being helpful and annoying. You really can’t find these light and warmth bringing people annoying. They naturally want to help out in things they think they could, and you just have to let them.
Filipinos are family-oriented.
Filipinos have a sense of responsibility to “give back” to their folks, and the majority of millennials still embrace this traditional culture. A rare hard-wired behavior that is innate to Filipinos. A lot of foreign employers were deeply changed, admitting that they want something just like this when they get old and frail. Hire a VA from the Philippines and you would witness this firsthand when you come to visit the Philippines to gather your remote team. They would treat you like a family, yourself and you would be wishing you are. That is just how Filipinos care.
Aside from Filipino’s worldly-acknowledged attributes such as their abilities, competence, sunny personality, resilience, and nurturing habit make them the country’s best economic resources. Many foreign employers are delighted to work with Filipinos, not for work and operational reasons but because they know Filipinos are simply one of the best people to work with.
