Every year, a special day is dedicated to honor women around the world, their empowering stories, and achievements while also highlighting important concerns and issues surrounding gender equality in society.
In line with this, tech-enabled express logistics company, Ninja Van Philippines, celebrates International Women’s Month by acknowledging the many women in its workforce who, in one way or another, are responsible for providing hassle-free deliveries and excellent customer service to shippers and shoppers nationwide.
Five women shared how they hustle hard everyday, on or off the road, to achieve success in their current roles in the company and demonstrate leadership and resilience despite the challenges that come their way whether it’s at work or in life.
Mothering for success in the industry: Working moms make it work!
Ivy Bautista describes herself as a natural born leader. She has been working as a Sort Training Officer for Ninja Van Philippines since November 2020 where she is tasked to develop training materials for the Sort Team as well as prepare guidelines and incident reports. As a working mom, she has to balance her schedule between work and family duties, which can get challenging sometimes since her job requires her to travel frequently to train Sort Officers in various locations.
Thanks to the support of her husband and colleagues, Ivy is able to stay on top of her responsibilities as a mom and employee, earning the trust of her superiors and teammates and impacting positive changes in her department including standardizing the orientation journey for new personnel.
Account Manager Karla Dasig is also a working mom who has been with Ninja Van Philippines since 2016. She currently handles clients in the finance and retail industries. Being a single mom, she is grateful that the company allows her to work on a flexible schedule, which gives her the chance to spend more time with her son.
Working at Ninja Van Philippines enabled Karla to step out of her comfort zone that resulted in tremendous improvement and growth in her professional career. Now, her goal is to enhance her leadership and managerial skills to help her entire team thrive. She also wishes to share her knowledge and expertise to new hires who will be under her supervision so they can better manage and address the problems that may arise on the job.
Female Ninjas on the road, driving out the stereotypes
Delivery riders play an important role in making sure that parcels get delivered to customers on time and in the best possible condition. And while we have grown accustomed to seeing male riders on the road, it’s great to also acknowledge the efforts of women who take on this difficult job, rain or shine.
Sheina, Michelle, and Mercie are just three of Ninja Van Philippines’ female delivery riders who embody the company’s promise of Todo Hustle, No Hassle deliveries and services.
Four years into being a delivery rider, Sheina Janalul prides herself for consistently receiving good standing for her performance. While she admitted that there can be a handful of difficult customers who tend to lash out on delivery riders like her, she tries her best not to take things personally and as much as possible, not to absorb the negativity from the situation. Of course, not all customers are the same as she has also encountered those who are kind and understanding, even becoming friends with some of them.
Michelle Ynigo is another female delivery rider who has been with Ninja Van Philippines since 2018. Given her years of experience on the job, she has encountered her fair share of bumps in the road such as rude customers and lost or damaged parcels that she deals with by keeping a calm disposition when communicating with those involved. All in all, Michelle finds fulfillment in knowing that what she does as a delivery rider contributes value to the lives of Ninja Van’s customers.
From a Ninja Van rider in 2018, Mercie Abundo has been promoted to Assistant Station Head of her hub in Mindoro and is now training to be the Station Head soon. According to her, dealing with problematic consignees and riders has been one of the most challenging aspects of her job. However, she has always shown willingness to help with the resolution of any delivery-related issues and ensures effective communication with customers. Because of this, her outstanding performance has been recognized by Ninja Van Philippines, specifically for managing a hub with no parcel backlog – a feat she considers to be one of her proudest career achievements to date.
Time and time again, women are proven to thrive and succeed in industries that are traditionally seen as male-dominated, including logistics. For Ninja Van Philippines, the hard work that its female employees are dedicating to the commitment of putting customers’ needs and operational excellence first will always be recognized and celebrated every day as part of its efforts to push for more inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.