Financial management helps organizations plan, organize, and govern financial activities to keep businesses moving and maintain healthy profits. In banking, one of its most important functions is decision-making, which takes into account the short-term and long-term goals of the business.
One such organization that has just recently been given the official job of making sure that banks and financial businesses act responsibly and do not break the law is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has recently secured accreditation from the London-based standard-setting organization Investors in People (IiP).
(Seated, from left:) SEC Commissioner Javey Paul D. Francisco, Investors in People (IiP) CEO Gerry A. Plana, SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino and IiP Chairman Janet Patricia Webster-Watson, with members of the SEC Human Resources Department, during the conferment of the IiP accreditation given by the London-based organization in a ceremony held at the SEC headquarters last February 7, 2024.
The accreditation was bestowed to the SEC in recognition of its high-level practices in promoting the welfare of its employees through engagement, communication, and organizational culture.
This attestation from the IiP makes the SEC the first in the government financial sector and the third national government agency to receive international recognition for people management.
Demonstrating high-level good practices in managing people
The IiP accreditation is given to organizations which demonstrate high-level good practices for leading and managing people, where employees have opportunities to grow and develop.
The Commission ranks 98th out of 1,115 organizations with an employee size of 250 to 4,999, and fourth out of 98 organizations in the Public Administration and Defense sector, both locally and abroad.
“At the heart of our mandate as corporate registrar and securities regulator is creating a culture committed to excellence, continuous improvement, and delivering unparalleled services to stakeholders,” said Emilio B. Aquino, Chairperson of the SEC, in a press statement.
“These efforts lay the foundation for continual enhancement and show our unwavering dedication to quality,” he further stated.
Promoting best practices inside the workforce empowers the SEC to push for more reforms in the corporate sector as it enables the commission to deliver services more efficiently to its stakeholders.
The SEC has consistently been recognized for upholding both local and international standards in its provision of regulatory services. It received the ISO 9001:2015 Certification in 2022 for its core services over the corporate sector, the capital market participants, the securities and investments instruments market in the Philippines, as well as the protection of the investing public.
The certification further covers the provision of registration of partnerships and corporations doing business in the Philippines in all SEC Extension Offices in Baguio, Tarlac, Legazpi, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga.
The SEC has also received the Bronze Award of the Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME HRM) from the Civil Service Commission. PRIME-HRM seeks to assess the maturity level of an agency’s practices in the areas of recruitment, selection, and placement; learning and development; performance management; and rewards and recognition.