Monday, January 29, 2007 Echaves: Crossing the divide By Lelani P. Echaves
TWO ladies I recently got to know better are both executives at a leading construction firm. One is Zenaida “Zeny” Novabos; the other, Felma Ruiz-Yap.
Guesting on Mom’s Radio (dyAP) last Thursday, they shared a substantive lot for women working, or thinking of a career, in male-dominated industries like construction and engineering.
For starters, neither Zeny nor Felma is an engineer. Yet, both are executives at Metaphil, a division of the Aboitiz Construction Group Inc. (ACGI). Zeny is AVP for procurement as well as chief information officer, while Felma is AVP for marketing.
Still, competence counts a lot. A B.S. Math graduate, summa cum laude, from the University of San Carlos, Zeny started her career at ACGI as EDP manager and further on to her AVP last year.
Felma rose from the ranks. A B.S. Commerce, major in Finance, graduate from UP, she started as an executive secretary. Her rise up the corporate ladder began when she headed general services, traffic and shipping, and later, as marketing/administrative manager, prior to her present post.
Any experience in gender bias, particularly against women and especially in a male-dominated industry? Zeny didn’t think of the issue, until asked. “I didn’t really feel I was in a male-dominated industry.” An understandable reply. Since college graduation, it is the work environment she has always known, starting off as an actuarial researcher in the then-male dominated insurance industry, to computer instructor/consultant, software developer, software support systegrammer, computer programmer and school administrator at a computer training center.
For Felma, any bias was apparent only when she was younger. Some male clients have the wrong mind-set that women in sales and marketing get their contracts through sexual favors. Also, she’s come across male applicants who backed out upon knowing they’d be working with a lady boss. While she appreciates the honesty, she laments their missing the chance at a fulfilling career.
Any case of being underestimated, or being deliberately misdirected to test their competence and ability? She has no such experience, Zeny says, because “they (associates) know nga buotan ko, so magbinuotan sad sila nako.” Still, for women in such testing predicament, she lightly advises, “Pasagdi lang na sila. Makita ra man na later on sa output.” (Let them think anything; anyway, performance always proves our worth.)
As for rewards for working in a male-dominated industry, Felma says “honesty and straightfor-wardness...”Men are down-to-earth, true people; with them, you don’t need to go liko-liko (beating about the bush).” “True,” says Zeny, “because I myself go straight to the point.”
Moreover, respect begets respect. Show them that and it goes back to you. Most of all, Zeny says, they’re “lucky that in the Aboitiz Group, the Aboitizes have respect for women. Our topmost leader, Bobby Aboitiz, always says, `My favorites are women, because they are generally reliable, hard-working and honest.’”
Small wonder that procurement, universally considered to be any company’s “gold mine,” and marketing, often equipped with generous budgetary support, are entrusted to these two fine ladies.
