Integrated Management System (Quality and Environmental Management Systems)
LANDBANK pursues its commitment to quality and environmental sustainability through the adoption of an integrated quality (ISO 9001:2015) and environmental (ISO 14001:2015) management systems or IMS in its strategy, and to be at par with world-class organizations in its operations. The consolidation into an IMS was approved in October 2016 and was specifically aimed to integrate two or more management systems into a cohesive “single” system that will harmonize good practices from the ISO standards. The IMS Framework also intends to reduce cost by combining training and certification audits and maximize the gains from previous certification undertakings with emphasis on risk-based thinking.
In 2017, the IMS Working Team completed, among others, gap assessments, issuance of the IMS Manual as well as other documentation requirements for QMS and EMS. Trainings, awareness sessions and certification audit simulations took place in 2018. In November 2018, Certification International Philippines (CIP) was designated, via a proper procurement process, as the Bank’s certifying body.
During the first quarter of 2019, Stage 1 – Document Review of the certification audit was completed with 14 field unit sites and various head office units. One of the characteristics of world-class operation is that it must be documented. While there are opportunities for improvement cited, Stage 1 Audit of CIP reported that there is a good level of documentation in the Bank. During the last quarter of 2019, Stage 2 – Implementation Audit was completed where 29 field unit sites and various head office units were audited. Notable good points cited in the audit are well-established strategic goals and medium-term plans and commendable level of compliance to legal and regulatory requirements. With this, Mr. Renato V. Navarette, Chairman and President of CIP, confirmed the Bank’s certification to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 through a formal communication on 9 December 2019.
LANDBANK recognizes the need to be a dynamic and agile organization by embedding a high-performance culture. As such, the Bank will continue to benchmark and adopt global best practices in its operations. The IMS approach helps create that standard for the Bank to attain its business goals and mission.
Quality Circles Program
Among the Bank’s initiatives for work improvement through employee participation is the Quality Circles Program (QCP). As of end-2019, the program has produced a total of 63 quality circle projects composed of 152 individual participants with projects focused on the reduction of turn-around time or retrieval time, elimination of non-value adding days, enhancement or streamlining of processes, improvement of tools, optimization of resources, and improvement of knowledge, among others. For the year 2019, the program produced 30 projects.
During the second Bank-wide Quality Circles Competition, Southeast Luzon Branches Group’s (SELBG) “The Collaborators” bagged the first place with their entry “Auto-Opening of Deposit Accounts and Crediting of Agrarian-Related Payments”. The project reduced the processing time by 71% from 31 minutes to nine minutes.
The Human Resource Management Group’s “HRMG-Force” clinched the second place with their project “myHR App”. Accessing key policies and processes through the app resulted in increased employee awareness by 70.89% and decreased number of incoming phone calls by 17.72%.
The “Cost-Cutter Dynamism” of the Central Clearing Department, on the other hand, placed third for their project called “Electronic Balancing Summary Generation (e-BSG)”. The project enables all reports to be in PDF, instead of producing them in printed copies. This resulted in 85% decrease in supplies consumption and 83% decrease in printing cost. The project was also replicated by other Divisions of the Department.
As the QCP produces projects that further increase the Bank’s efficiency and competitiveness while constantly improving employee morale, it hopes to further develop solution-driven and quality-oriented individuals who will each contribute to the Bank’s growth and success.
