Human resources or talent acquisition might be the most important aspect of any business, as the people they bring in essentially build the company itself.

For today’s DAILY TRIBUNE “Pairfect” feature, Shine Rodriguez, a Talent Acquisition Lead for Southeast Asia at Mondelez International, shared what she believes is the most vital job qualification.

“Resilience. It’s very important,” Rodriguez immediately pointed out, explaining that business performance will not always be positive. “There will be ups and downs when it comes to business performance,” she added, especially with the rise of new technologies and the fast pace of innovation.

When looking for new talents, she emphasized that it should be someone who can stand strong through adversities and not just someone who only excels during good times. “Just like life,” she said.

For young talents, there has been a common perception that the new generation easily gives up. But Rodriguez has a different perspective, highlighting “diversity” as a factor.

“They’re digital natives. So, they are really impatient by nature because everything is at their fingertips, fast and quick,” she said. As young people approach things differently from older generations, Rodriguez explained that it might simply be the expectations of the previous generation that differ. Another take is “not really utilizing the strengths that they can bring in,” she noted. It is a matter of diversity and inclusion, values that Mondelez International strongly promotes as part of its business mantra.

Noting the beauty of uniqueness in the workplace, she encouraged, “Bring zass. Bring spark in the workplace. It cannot be the same personalities.”

Rodriguez also spoke about authentic allyship, a topic she champions in her speaking engagements. For her, it means sincerely wanting underrepresented voices to be heard.

As a mother to a son with special needs, she values allyship deeply, not only by standing for people with special needs, but also through her advocacies in gender equality and women’s leadership, as studies still show that there are fewer women chief executive officers compared to men.