Dr. Patrick Azanza
President/CEO, Winsource Solutions

When Dr. Patrick Azanza, HRD practitioner for more than 20 years, was recently appointed President/CEO of Winsource Solutions Inc., he instantly became the toast of the HR community. His accomplishment affirms what every HR practitioner wants the entire corporate world to realize: that HRD is a strategic post that represents the core of every business organization.  It should be noted that his organization, Winsource, is one of the very few surviving wholly Filipino-owned call centers in the country. As the authorized channel partner and value-added reseller of Epicor, a Microsoft-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, it is expected to challenge the market of Oracle and SAP in 2010 because of its high flexible functionality, mobile facility and cost-efficiency.

Winsource Chairman Mr. Teodorico Haresco announced that Dr. Azanza was the Board’s unanimous choice to serve as President/CEO of the company because of his technical expertise, innovative ideas, business acumen, and people skills.

Achiever

Dr. Azanza has the best academic training and the right business skills and experience necessary to lead a one-billion peso company: a post-doctoral diploma from Harvard University; certificate programs in human capital management at the Asian Institute of Management and the University of California;  an HRD crash course at the Birbeck College, University of London;  AND a Juris Doctor from the UP College of Law.

He served as professor at the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations and became the youngest director of the HR department of the entire UP System. Other professional positions include Chief Operations Officer at the AMA Group of Companies and International Consultant for the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In the business sector, Dr. Azanza is known for his keen expertise in business development, start-up operations, brand equity creation, and strong ability to turn around losing business ventures. Because of his contributions in the field of HRD, he was conferred the Lingkod  Bayan Award, the highest award given to outstanding civil servants, as well as the UP Distinguished Award for Social Service. He is also listed in the Marquis Who is Who in the World in recognition of his accomplishments in HRD.

Transformation

Taking over the helm of Winsource Solutions six months ago presented tremendous challenges, e.g. the adverse effect of the the global financial crisis and shrinking US economy on many call centers. By strengthening teamwork and cooperation, Dr. Azanza turned the company around. He gave each department head  his full trust and encouraged them to actively participate in the management of the company. Top management recognized each performer not just through cash incentives but by presidential citations and acknowledgements of them as corporate heroes in the company newsletter, wall of fame, and website.

Company performance more than doubled as Dr. Azanza brought in new business opportunities. Now the company is on expansion mode and the total  number of call center seats has ramped up by more than 200%. Before the end of 2009, Winsource  registered 10% higher than its target sales.  With the introduction of the Epicor software products, the company expects a higher revenue next year. The company has just successfully finished its sales, pre-sales, and technical training on Epicor product implementation and is all set to conquer the Philippine market in the year 2010.

Under the leadership of Dr. Azanza, Winsource also completed its ISO 9001 management certification process under the ABS Quality Evaluations, a US-based quality certifying company. The company is now awaiting the release of its ISO stamp of quality.

Secret to success

Dr. Azanza shares that his secret to corporate success is largely due to his penchant to translate everything into numbers and pesos. In order to break the common perception that HRD is a mere support to those who are in sales or operations, Dr. Azanza developed HR metrics which measure and highlight the contributions of the HR department to the over-all performance of the organization. “Whenever I start explaining HR activities in terms of numbers, the Board members easily understand my point. They listen as soon as I speak their language and emphasize the return on investments for every peso they allocate for HRD,” he says.   “It is always important to emphasize that HRD is not eating up company profits but actually embark on programs that will contribute more to the corporate objectives for growth and expansion.”

Usually, in the board room, the HRD professional often fails to bring home this point and thus loses out to the arguments of those who have the hard facts and figures and analysis on company profit and loss. Dr. Azanza recommends HR people to “always focus on the bottomline which is what matters to business owners. Always give a corresponding peso value to every proposed HR activity. Only then can one convince top management that HRD is a profit center and not a cost center as others think.”

At the end of the day, a business’ success lies on how one manages the people within the organization. Dr. Azanza says, “The company’s human resources are the single most important factor in achieving corporate success. How one manages the employees would be reflected in how they in turn would manage their respective clients. Only happy employees can make their customers happy.”

Paying forward

People who know and have worked with him describes Dr. Azanza as humble and down-to-earth despite his success. He rolls up his sleeves if needed . He remains accessible to the staff of the organization at all levels, talking directly to the janitors and guards. He even rides the bus or MRT with his call center agents. He shares, “It keeps me grounded. It reminds me of where I came from, and provides me a glimpse of the difficult experiences being braved by our workers as they commute to and from work. I understand every bit of sacrifice being made by our employees and agents.”

Outside the office, Dr. Azanza is a very active community servant. He is the incumbent National Secretary-General of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Philippines, and serves as a Board Member of the British Alumni Association (BAA). He does volunteer trainings for out-of-school youths and is actively involved in emergency relief operations.  At the height of typhoon Ondoy, Dr. Azanza personally monitored the status of all company call agents and their families. He ordered the immediate release of their 13th month pay and provided emergency loans to those adversely affected by the floods. He also mobilized volunteers for the emergency relief operations.

Dr. Azanza points out, “The company must always give back to the community where it operates and do business. It must support not just its employees but even the market that patronizes it so that there will be an assurance for sustainable and long-term business growth.”