Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work in one company for 15 years straight? In today’s A Day In The Life Of A Woman article, Mosbeau Corporation’s Maricar Martinez tells us the perks of growing with a company. 

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Whenever people ask me “How long have you been with your current employer?”, I normally pause, smile, and ask myself, should I be specific or can I just give an estimated number of years to avoid feeling awkward.

Don’t get me wrong, more than all the what ifs, I couldn’t be more proud of myself for being part of the growth of this SME company. It’s just overwhelming when people tend to expect a lot from you knowing that you’ve been working in the same company for the past 15 years straight.

Indeed, there are a lot of challenges that a long-tenured employee encounters. But I’d rather focus on the benefits that come with it.  Considering that I work for a Japanese company, it’s actually normal in the Japanese culture to stay in the company that long, surprisingly, even a lifetime.

Because of my job, I get to travel to different countries—combining work and leisure. Traveling also keeps me motivated to do well in my work. And this is what I always look forward to whenever I have free time or I want to reward myself. Through travel, I learn how to deal with people from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds.

There are many employees who have been working in our company for quite a long period of time. So we have built a strong, constructive working relationship. As the bond is more permanent in nature, we always make an effort to improve the team’s performance and reach our short-term and long-term goals.

Here is a quick preview of what a typical day for me is like.

6:00 A.M. – On Mondays and Fridays, I usually wake up around this time because of the heavy traffic. From Tuesdays to Thursday, I squeeze in another hour of sleep and wake up around 7:00 A.M.

The first thing I do in the morning is to turn on Spotify to listen to music or the TV to watch the morning news. Then I do my morning cardio for 15 to 30 minutes. It depends on how energetic I feel that morning.

7:30 A.M. – I have breakfast while browsing my emails or social media accounts. Sometimes, I skip breakfast and go straight to the shower and will just eat in the office since our company provides breakfast for all employees.

8:00 A.M. – This is my time to prepare for work. I must finish in an hour, including simple hair and makeup routines.

9:00 A.M. – I head to work.

9:30 A.M.- Time-in and have breakfast while browsing the emails I’ve read but haven’t replied to yet. I check sales reports from stores I handle and check if there are any changes from last night.

10:00 A.M. – I set my team goal for the day which I need to discuss with the team right after our general assembly.

10:30 A.M. – It’s time for our scheduled general assembly. This is where all departments share reports about yesterday’s activities and the plan for the day.

11:00 A.M. – I settle the team to their workstations and have few discussions and recognition for those who did well from yesterday’s set quota. I also give updates on sales targets.

12:00 NN – It’s time for the manager’s meeting. Here, I follow-up on tasks that aren’t finished yet. I work on the calls I need to make or receive, overlook what the account executives are currently doing, check incoming emails, and report directly to the president for updates from each team or any urgent matters we need to discuss.

2:30 P.M. – Lunch break. It’s a bit late for Filipino time but since we sell to people who live in Japan, this is the best to have our lunch so we can catch those who start work at 3:30 P.M.

3:30 P.M. – After our lunch break, I settle the team back to their workstation for the second half of the day. I check on how far are we from our daily goal and do minor adjustments if needed.

I also communicate with our staff members who are remotely assigned at Watsons Personal Care Stores and Mercury Drug Stores to check how they are doing inside the stores. I talk with the HR team for recruitment and training requirements. Then, I check on updates or requirements from our global partners since this is the best time to do it due to time differences as the majority of them are based in the Middle East.

5:00 P.M. – I break for coffee and resume work in 30 minutes.

7:30 P.M. – This is the end of my shift. I work on the sales report for the day and dismiss my team.

8:00 P.M. – I play badminton after work on Tuesdays and attend a boxing class every Thursday. Sometimes, I meet friends for dinner or movie dates. There are also days when I need to work overtime to submit reports to our president and CEO.

9:00 P.M. – I usually arrive home at this time. I check social media or watch YouTube and TV series. Sometimes I chat with family and friends who live abroad.

11:00 P.M. – 12:00 AM – After preparing the things I need for the next time, I tuck into bed.

What is the most challenging part of your job or day?

In sales, every day is like a roller coaster ride you wouldn’t know what to expect, most especially if there are extreme client concerns you must deal with.  There are also days when you must be flexible and get out of your comfort zone to surpass whatever challenges you will encounter. Managing a team is also a different story. You need to have a balance of compassion and hold people accountable, too.

What is your proven time management or productivity hack?

When setting an objective to become more productive, I usually follow the traditional technique called S.M.A.R.T which stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Through this technique, I get to evaluate my performance how far am I with my objective and be able to assess if I am setting myself to failure or if what I am doing is attainable considering the time frame and resources I have.

 

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