Page 21 - SPiCE Magazine (September 2019)

20 The SPiCE Magazine • From the Operations Floor: Excellence @ 40 The SPiCE Magazine • From the Operations Floor: Excellence @ 40 21

Hop, Skip and a ramp

A Hindawi JEO rapid ramp-up story approach was instituted by key players including What the A-team is made of
By Dorie Unayan Machan, AVP, Ops-Jounals
Talent Acquisition, Management, Hindawi JEO team,
In recognizing the success of Hindawi JEO’s hop, skip and
Ramps in SPi are never without excitement. There and JEO SPi Excellence Launcher (SPiEL) training team.
a ramp, we cannot forget the following key leaders behind
is a thrill in knowing that ramps could indicate a
To complete 4 weeks of batch training and immersion its success. You are truly deserving of recognition.
successful pilot, good account performance, strong
prior to the trainers’ visit, we targeted eight to 10 FTEs
relationship with the client, or simply the natural thrill The Laguna Facilities Management Group for their swift
per week and began recruitment on April 8. Normally,
of change itself. Either way, ramps are accompanied action in providing adequate work stations and setting up
this timeframe for hiring Editorial Assistants would
by exciting challenges and growth in various scales. a suitable and well-equipped training room.
prove challenging, but it was fulfilled on schedule.

Looking back Joey Del Prado whose expert resource management
How it’s done provided an excellent kick-start in placing headcount.

The journey of SPi Global Laguna’s Hindawi JEO
The rapid ramp success wouldn’t be possible without Vince Camigla and Jo-anne Loñoza of Talent Acquisition
team started with the RFP in March 2018 for
the participation of different operations and support for rising to the occasion.
Editorial Processing work. Formally awarded to SPi
units. Apart from aggressive sourcing and high
Global in May 2018, its pilot run was set to kick off in Sher Magallanes, Dustin Reyes and Denise Ferrer of the
recruitment turnout in Laguna, the deferred DPD
November last year. We had a six-moth lead time to JEO SPiEL team for their dedication and hard work not
pilot brought about a favorable situation in kick-starting
plan, build and train a team of 15 editorial assistants only to the Laguna team but all JEO learners.
recruitment for the Hindawi ramp. The bench FTE pool
that is mostly composed of transitioning Elsevier
for DPD became the first batch to be trained, allowing Hindawi Editorial Processing Team Leaders Kharlo Catig
researcher support members.
enough lead time to fill in the succeeding batch. and Katherine Sinio for playing a brotherly and sisterly role

By the end of the first quarter of 2019, the team has and handholding their teammates throughout the process.
Operations supplemented the same-day assessment,
scaled to full capacity. Delivery and quality became
enabling Talent Acquisition to source enough candi- Luz Desquitado for going outside of her comfort zone and
stable after only a short period, along with the forma-
dates. Former Journal Account Management Team taking a permanent post in Laguna to lead the team.
tion of the Hindawi Customer Service team, making
Leader for Parañaque Rosemarie Mendoza - who is
Hindawi a happy client. 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-
The rapid ramp challenge 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.
In April 2019, Hindawi increased the workload to three of the ramp.

times the current volume, or additional 41 headcount.
Currently, the ramp-up team is at 75 percent capacity To the Parañaque and Laguna
This includes 13 additional FTEs in Editorial Process-
and on track to complete 100 percent of the transition
ing, 24 new headcount for Editorial Screening—a new JEO teams, may the force of
volume by September. As we are a hop, a skip and a
JEO work for Hindawi—and 4 additional FTEs for the
jump away from a steady state, the team, in collabora- excellence be with you!
Customer Service ramp.
Keep getting better!
tion with Hindawi, is now working on establishing best
We had nine weeks to create and pre-train a new practices and performance standards, and in prepa-
team prior to the arrival of Hindawi trainers, who ration for the advised 2020 expansion of services to
conducted two-week training beginning June 10, Editorial QA and Materials Check.