UnionBankers showcase what #ownthefuture means to them through Virtual Background Designs
Being virtual does not have to mean distant. In an organization like UnionBank, where cross-functional squads and teams have broken down work silos and started building friendships and strong bonds among groups, the remote work setup might challenge keeping the culture alive.
UnionBank HR Group launched the #ownthefuture Virtual Background Design Contest in February 2021 following the success of its first-ever virtual Bank Anniversary dubbed as ‘Full Throttle: Onward to Enduring Greatness”. This activity sets a platform for UnionBankers to showcase their visual and written storytelling talent through their original virtual background designs.
Virtual backgrounds are integral in video-based meetings and conferences. Allowing UnionBankers to use backgrounds that would best represent them as an employee and take pride in their employer brand can boost a sense of pride and belongingness. It would also help gain the employees’ confidence to turn their cameras on, bring their personality in the call, and make conversations more human and authentic.
After receiving thirty entries, the judges have chosen ten best virtual backgrounds with their #ownthefuture stories:
Grand Winner – Carl Cordero
Agile is an Enso Circle
Agile Ways of Working have taught me that progress, no matter how small, is better than the “potential” of perfection-much like what the Enso Circle – a circular brush stroke that is sacred in Zen Buddhism- symbolizes.
Also called the Circle of Togetherness, it also represents many things: the beauty in imperfection, the art of letting go of expectations, the circle of life, and connection- all of which resonate with my experience of Agile.
When I first encountered it as a system for organizing work and maximizing value, I understood the resistance to Agile. Like many others before me, I initially found practices like sprints, daily scrums, and keeping Trello boards tedious and unreasonably strict.
Why do I have to share my tasks and challenges with my team everyday?
Why do I have to document all my to-do’s on a Trello board instead of just doing them?
Why was I being asked to produce concrete results every two weeks?
With the help of my fabulous friends from the Organizational Capability – Center of Excellence and the larger HR group, I came to answer these questions myself.
Transparency with your tasks isn’t about micro-management; it’s quite the opposite. It’s about facilitating real-time collaboration and self-organization. It’s about being honest about what you can accomplish, asking for or offering help when needed, and being empowered to make decisions to create value for your clients.
Of course, all of this is easier said than done. And just like the Enso circle, I don’t claim to have perfected the practice of Agile- I don’t think anyone has. And therein lies the power of Agile- imperfection is simply another reason to iterate- to learn and grow and get better- one sprint at a time.
Joanna Mae Cordez
𝙎𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙒𝘼𝙑𝙀𝙎
UnionBankers hears out to deliver Best and Advance Digital Transformation. Fast and efficient because we care about your time!
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟏 (𝘽𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙍𝙔 𝘾𝙊𝘿𝙀𝙎)
Awarded with the “Best Digital Bank” assures that your data is encrypted and secured to avoid information leak and bank online safely with ease!
𝙊𝙒𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙐𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙀
Digital Banking for a Better and Advance experience, emphasizing the term future in your fingertips because 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘽𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙐!
Lirio Castillo
We are living in an era where technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate.
Almost all companies in the industry are disrupted by technology; from farming to the market, employment to education, food services to medical services, media to transportation. The way we research, evaluate, interact with customers, purchase, deliver, experience and pay for products and services is changing faster and more fundamentally than at any time in history.
UnionBank is greatly engaged in such speed and scale of changes, changes of information technology as fast as lightning. Technology grows rapidly.
UnionBankers are innovators. We create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. We take risks and are ready to take on the challenge for excellence!
CHANGE IS INEVITABLE!
Nothing is impossible!
EMBRACE. BELIEVE. DISCOVER
Angel Alvarez
Every day gives us a new opportunity to learn and grow. Likewise, being bolder gives us more confidence to stand out.
Each element on this virtual background design represents a meaningful analogy:
The circles represent “togetherness” (Ubuntugether), the line waves represent “path”, the different shades of wave shapes represent “technology” and the originally-made cartoon representation of UnionBank building represents “a home where banking innovations come alive”.
In UnionBank, we collaborate to provide meaningful banking technology for our clients and lead the path to seize bold opportunities to grow not only within us but also for our customers. We innovate because we want to make a difference to elevate lives and fulfill dreams.
Lyn Alburo
This year will mark my five years as a Unionbanker. Aside from the awards and recognitions that Unionbank has received, I can say that UnionBank’s DNA (Purpose, Vision, Values, and Brand) is something to be proud of. With our products and technology, it will truly ‘Make the Diff’ in our customers’ lives. This is our advantage to help and change the world to be better.
Glenn Nolasco
Living and working for a greater purpose is what energizes and sustains people — HOME!
Home means family and life.
Home is a happy place where you can live, laugh and learn.
Home is wherever you’re surrounded by people who love and cares.
Home is a feeling of belonging, comfort, and security.
Home means future, opportunity, and stability.
Home is any way we grow and change.
Home brings us to a better version of ourselves.
UNIONBANK IS OUR HOME! 🏠🧡
Allen Raceles
Agile culture is a commitment to adaptability and flexibility. UnionBank, as an organization that is committed to an agile culture, is dedicated not only to the way the organization chooses to work in delivering outcomes but also to promoting adjustments as needed by every member. These times have been overwhelming and challenging for us since we cannot have a work-from-home setup.
The adaptability of space is a good place to start. This art shows how we can incorporate work-related items to move things around and organize our furniture at home. Building an agile environment in our own space at home can be a bit challenging but balance this by providing yourself space for privacy and peace at the same time. There are times when people just need to get away to focus. Elements seen on this art promote a brighter outlook on how we can organize our environment to achieve productivity and success. This shows that the environment where we are in is vital on how well we thrive to attain achievements.
Jerick Salgado Bravo
The world is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. And for UnionBank, being able to adapt to this change is not enough. As an organization that prides itself on a culture of innovation, we always strive to be at the forefront of making change happen. We are the future builders. We disrupt the way things are traditionally done by introducing thoughtfully crafted solutions that are customer-centric and are of real value to our clients.
We do not simply innovate for innovation’s sake. We innovate and offer products and services in the hopes of fulfilling our purpose of co-creating a better world by advancing businesses and communities. With this virtual background, we will always have a reminder that being a smart changemaker entails a responsibility to create transformations that would help us move closer to our goal of inclusive prosperity so that no person, and no community gets left behind.
Karen Ambas-Cruz
UnionBankers are my ultimate inspiration since I joined Talent Acquisition Unit in 2010. UnionBankers know no boundaries, only purpose. They know no other direction, only forward. They know no dissimilarities, only convergence.
My virtual background creation is all about how fellow UnionBankers inspire me to thrive in an agile team environment driven by success!
That is how we #ownthefuture.
Patrizia Marie Aguilan
Unionbank continues its journey to innovate and bring forth new ideas in this fast-paced industry. This goes to show how we, the Unionbankers, are eager to develop good products and services for our customers continuously.
My artwork highlights wavy arrows pointing from different directions that lead to a straight and directional path of lines because this symbolizes Unionbank’s process of “Creative Thinking.” It showcases our successful digital transformation, which is a smart move done by the bank. With this, we assure all of our customers that everything that we do is now even better, from delivering good quality services promptly to assisting them with other specific needs, especially during these trying times of global pandemic. As a result, our customers are able to bank the way they lived.
I also literally disrupted the background to emphasize the bank’s key message and make it even more unique and smart.