| A Visionary Named Arnold Bagabaldo
He is a confident and driven man who knows what he wants and how to get it. He is a loving husband to wife Cindy and a doting father to his son Angelo. He is also a self-confessed computer geek. He admits that he listens to all sorts of music depending on his mood – from jazz to pop to alternative and anything in between. All, he says, except for… Metallica. With an inherent entrepreneurial spirit, he was managed to turn his love and passion for technology into something lucrative, spearheading thriving businesses the moment he finished Graduate School. At 38, Arnold Bagabaldo is at the top of his game. He now leads TRG Philippines, a subsidiary of The Resource Group – one of the largest and leading multinational BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) in the world.
When one speaks of a Managing Director or Company President, the image of a threatening and intimidating man usually come to mind. In the case of Arnold Bagabaldo, however, such imagery is rather inaccurate. As long-time friend Mr. Eric Serate, information Management Director for TRG Philippines, describes him, “Arnold is the type of person you rarely see lose his temper. He is very laid-back and has a cool demeanor. He also has a way with people – he’s very charismatic. And he has great passion for helping people, which you seldom see from traditional corporate presidents.”
Indeed.
Colleagues speak highly of him. TRG employees look up to him. Arnold Bagabaldo is a man who commands respect and reaps inspiration. “I joined TRG because of Arnold,” says Mr. John Manzano, Operations Director for TRG Philippines.
Things weren’t always easy for Arnold while he was growing up. In fact, a heartbreaking childhood experience required him to perform odd jobs selling cigarettes on the streets, picking up bottles in malls, and watching/washing cars in Ermita just to make ends meet. What’s more, he was juggling all these while studying in Lapu-Lapu Elementary School in Tondo. A lesser man would have broken down given what he went through as a young boy.
But Arnold Bagabaldo is no lesser man.
He became head of the family at an early age and Arnold recognizes that “such an experience helped build my character. It told me that I could live without anything but can still accomplish much if I strived hard. It also made me realize that there is something out there for me, something that I could reach.”
This attitude has earned him the moniker ‘Romantic Existentialist’, a term coined by his former teacher in Philippine Science High School. True enough, Arnold Bagabaldo has proven that individuals are able to shape their own destinies based on the choices they make and by taking responsibility for it.
Incidentally, Lady Luck must have been looking out for Arnold since he was little. Arnold became a Philippine Science High School Scholar, which paid for his studies including a stipend.
His lucky streak did not end there. After college, a German national, who is the foster father of his best friend Emmanuel Lim, sent him to Armstrong University in California for post-graduate studies. After which, he decided to set up a business in the US – first, a network consulting firm, which he eventually got bored of and then a long distance telephone communication business, which proved to be highly successful. “By providing low margin and high volume of calls, I was able to grow my company to US$6.5M revenue in a month, from an initial investment of US$300,000. It came to a point that we became bigger than AT&T having 30-35% of the Philippine termination in the USA market share as opposed to their 28%.,” he reveals.
Like in any business, politics plays a great part especially if the industry becomes too competitive. In the end, politics reared its ugly head in the form of a competing company undercutting his own. Soon enough, traffic went from his company to his competitor and Arnold suffered a loss. He eventually had to close it down. But as they say, you can never keep a great man down for a long time. Two years later, Arnold Bagabaldo flew back to the Philippines with a PABX in his luggage and set up the call center Callworx in the Philippines. Understanding how the technology works but not the industry itself, Arnold spent the first year learning and experimenting. In two years’ time, he was able to grow the company from 16 to 222 seats.
Further demands to grow the company to service all existing clients moved Arnold to look for possible investors and partners. However, in September 2005, after two weeks of being in the market for investors, the international BPO firm TRG approached him and expressed their interest in acquiring the company. “I wasn’t ready to give it up yet. And of course I had to consult my existing partners Vertex, which was in the US, and Tridel,” Arnold explains. “After several meetings with TRG and my partners to discuss the deal, we came to an agreement six days. By the next month, on September 30, 2005 to be exact, TRG Philippines was established.” Arnold’s entrepreneurial spirit and go-getter attitude was a match to TRG – fast-paced, goal & results-oriented and committed to succeed. TRG has successfully developed value enhancing operating solutions for thousands of customers worldwide.
There is no doubt at all that he will lead TRG Philippines to much greater heights. “Arnold is a visionary,” Eric Serate explains. “I used to always tell him that it’s like he has a 6th sense because he’s always one step ahead of the game. Like he knows what’s going to happen before it does.” Quality & Compliance Director Mr. Rando Clemente adds, “Arnold makes things happen. He is more than a visionary… he is a doer.”
At present, a big chunk of the business involves the voice-enabled BPO (ie contact center) but future plans for the company include non-voice enabled BPOs such as those carried out by its international counterparts. In fact, as early as now, TRG offers customized software solutions given an in-house MIS group. A Design Outsource Team is also being set up within TRG Philippines, which hopes to service clients requiring web design & development and other creative needs. Such services set TRG apart from all others. As Arnold himself makes clear, “Contrary to what some people perceives, TRG is not just a contact center. It is a BPO.”
TRG is now currently undergoing expansion, offering thousands of career opportunities to complete its top-quality team for its Ortigas and upcoming Makati office. Marketing Director Ms. Caren Tiangco asserts, “Arnold truly believes it is the Talents that will make the TRG stand apart, not just the technology we develop. It’s great to be with a leader who truly inspires the employees.”
Superior talents, results and growth. That is what TRG is all about. And with a man like Arnold Bagabaldo at the helm, expect bigger things and a brighter future with TRG Philippines.
A New Year… A New Beginning
TRG is the recipient of the 2006 Philippine Marketing Excellence Award for Most Outstanding Call Center (Inbound).
The Philippine Marketing Excellence Awards is given to companies that have undertaken best marketing practices leading towards market dominance, goodwill, high-level customer confidence, and market acceptability. Engaging in best marketing practices ultimately come back to the benefit of consumers in the form of higher product quality, higher product value, and customer intimacy. Companies that engage in best marketing practices also set the benchmark for other companies in marketing professionals that aspire as well for marketing excellence. |
