Page 20 - SPiCE Magazine (September 2019)

20 The SPiCE Magazine • From the Operations Floor: Excellence @ 40
Hop, Skip and a ramp
A Hindawi JEO rapid ramp-up story
By Dorie Unayan Machan, AVP, Ops-Jounals
Ramps in SPi are never without excitement. There
is a thrill in knowing that ramps could indicate a
successful pilot, good account performance, strong
relationship with the client, or simply the natural thrill
of change itself. Either way, ramps are accompanied
by exciting challenges and growth in various scales.
Looking back
The journey of SPi Global Laguna’s Hindawi JEO
team started with the RFP in March 2018 for
Editorial Processing work. Formally awarded to SPi
Global in May 2018, its pilot run was set to kick off in
November last year. We had a six-moth lead time to
plan, build and train a team of 15 editorial assistants
that is mostly composed of transitioning Elsevier
researcher support members.
By the end of the first quarter of 2019, the team has
scaled to full capacity. Delivery and quality became
stable after only a short period, along with the forma-
tion of the Hindawi Customer Service team, making
Hindawi a happy client.
The rapid ramp challenge
In April 2019, Hindawi increased the workload to three
times the current volume, or additional 41 headcount.
This includes 13 additional FTEs in Editorial Process-
ing, 24 new headcount for Editorial Screening—a new
JEO work for Hindawi—and 4 additional FTEs for the
Customer Service ramp.
We had nine weeks to create and pre-train a new
team prior to the arrival of Hindawi trainers, who
conducted two-week training beginning June 10,
The SPiCE Magazine • From the Operations Floor: Excellence @ 40 21
approach was instituted by key players including What the A-team is made of
Talent Acquisition, Management, Hindawi JEO team,
In recognizing the success of Hindawi JEO’s hop, skip and
and JEO SPi Excellence Launcher (SPiEL) training team.
a ramp, we cannot forget the following key leaders behind
To complete 4 weeks of batch training and immersion its success. You are truly deserving of recognition.
prior to the trainers’ visit, we targeted eight to 10 FTEs
The Laguna Facilities Management Group for their swift
per week and began recruitment on April 8. Normally,
action in providing adequate work stations and setting up
this timeframe for hiring Editorial Assistants would
a suitable and well-equipped training room.
prove challenging, but it was fulfilled on schedule.
Joey Del Prado whose expert resource management
How it’s done provided an excellent kick-start in placing headcount.
The rapid ramp success wouldn’t be possible without Vince Camigla and Jo-anne Loñoza of Talent Acquisition
the participation of different operations and support for rising to the occasion.
units. Apart from aggressive sourcing and high
Sher Magallanes, Dustin Reyes and Denise Ferrer of the
recruitment turnout in Laguna, the deferred DPD
JEO SPiEL team for their dedication and hard work not
pilot brought about a favorable situation in kick-starting
only to the Laguna team but all JEO learners.
recruitment for the Hindawi ramp. The bench FTE pool
for DPD became the first batch to be trained, allowing Hindawi Editorial Processing Team Leaders Kharlo Catig
enough lead time to fill in the succeeding batch. and Katherine Sinio for playing a brotherly and sisterly role
and handholding their teammates throughout the process.
Operations supplemented the same-day assessment,
enabling Talent Acquisition to source enough candi- Luz Desquitado for going outside of her comfort zone and
dates. Former Journal Account Management Team taking a permanent post in Laguna to lead the team.
Leader for Parañaque Rosemarie Mendoza - who is
Ed Bautista – JEO’s muscle and backbone - for investing
now based in Laguna - became one of the DPD
his time and effort to lay a strong foundation of knowl-
bench FTEs and was immediately considered as a
edge, competency and standards that made the entire
Team Leader, which was much needed for the scale
JEO team better, if not great at what they do today.
of the ramp.
Currently, the ramp-up team is at 75 percent capacity To the Parañaque and Laguna
and on track to complete 100 percent of the transition
JEO teams, may the force of
volume by September. As we are a hop, a skip and a
jump away from a steady state, the team, in collabora- excellence be with you!
Keep getting better!
tion with Hindawi, is now working on establishing best
practices and performance standards, and in prepa-
ration for the advised 2020 expansion of services to
Editorial QA and Materials Check.