From Free Lunch to Branch of the Year

Inspired to take on an OJT post in Standard Insurance because of the free lunch, the head for this year’s Branch of the Year 2021 made it from Free lunch to someone who gives out lunches.

When the highs of the Awards Night dies down and we are back to the daily grind, it makes you think “what was that all about”?  Why aim for an award that will be yours for a year and could be gone the next?  This year’s Branch of the Year Awardee reminisce her team’s journey towards the glorious awards night and how a moment of glory can sustain another year of hard work.

Eileen Tulio, Olongapo Branch Manager for Standard Insurance was always an achiever.  In school, she had a scholarship to maintain, merits to earn and multiple awards and honors to work on.  An on-the-job (OJT) offer at Standard Insurance did not interest her because she has plans how to spend her limited time.  That was, until she learned they offered Free Lunch.

Attracted to the free lunch offered to OJTs, she took on the OJT role even when it meant spending eight hours of work in the branch.  “The associates were friendly because they allowed me some slack, specially when they know I have exams or when I have reports due”.  In return, she spent extra time on days when school was off or on holidays.  Eileen was like that – work was life and life was work.  She found joy being with people, leading small tasks or big jobs. She even enjoyed failing, if it meant learning.

Initially hired as a Claims Evaluator and later moved as Branch Accountant, Eileen wants to be challenged continuously so that when the opportunity presented itself, she asked to be moved to Marketing even if doing so meant a demotion. At that time, SBMA was just beginning to flourish and Eileen saw the opportunities in store for the team.  The gung-ho Eileen took the plunge and brought the team with her to success!

Fast-forward to her promotion to Branch Head. She was eager to deliver and kept the Olongapo motto to heart “walang tamad sa Olongapo”.  The Olongapo team has an attitude to Win, believing that winning starts with a winning spirit. “To win is to focus on our own improvements and by really working hard for the things the team would like to achieve. A healthy attitude of winning is being COMPETITIVE but not being into COMPETITION”, said Eileen.  She also keeps her father’s advice to heart “ when you stop looking for alternatives or short cuts for success, you are already a winner”.

For the Olongapo team, being awarded Branch of the Year 2021 is an honor and a privilege. The recognition of their hard work and excellence is a strong drive to go even further in this industry, to  push boundaries and reach new goals. They consider each annual target or goal as a journey, part of a destination to reach.  As Eileen puts it “Awards and recognitions are important because they are signs that say we have arrived at our destination”.  It serves as a milestone, because the next goal is another journey.  The Branch of the Year award was the team’s ultimate destination for 2021 and it fuels their desire to achieve even better in 2022.

Eileen, the strong and determined leader recognizes the importance of a team, which is why she is thankful for having found a talented and diverse group of people she has the privilege to work with.  They know no short-cuts, and they perform according to each one’s strength.

The team has Michelle, the patient co-leader, with laser focus attention to detail. Madelyn,  the ant worker--never stops until it's done.  Princess Anna, calm and mindful, sang like an angel, always collected like her task in credit and collection. Princess Angela, our pregnant type monster, highly energetic & productive. Ina Joselle, our vibrant material editor, best in grammar and best in English. Julie can build anything from scratch, says yes to anything. Vic, very detailed and task oriented. Carmen, our hard-working muse who is there at every sales activity, charming her way to a sale. Roxanne, our "lucky girl", greatly admired for two things, loyalty and resourcefulness. Gwayne, the honest, and silent team player.  Brian our big man--for big tasks, he is our man. Benny, our handyman, loyal, supportive and a very dependable team member.

They make up Team Olongapo. We thank God for putting these amazing people together for we had created the right culture that generates great results year after year.

This team is likewise thankful to all its customers, agents and intermediaries for without them, the branch cannot continue to exist.

Working with Standard Insurance,  we are feeling "purposed" .  That's the reason why we are more willing to wake up early, stay late and pursue, pursue, pursue. When you have a purpose and you love what you do, there is nothing negative about the word hard work and dedication.

We all love what we do. All the things that we do, we do it with love.