Outsourcing&More - issue 7 (november-december 2012) by Pro Progressio

No. 6 (7) November / December 2012 (bi-monthly magazine)

issn 2083-8867

AIG/LINCOLN BUILD OFFICES FOR BPO AND SSC Radom Office Park / 2 buildings: 10 000 m2 / Radom

• class-A office space • offices modules starting from 100 m2 • large floor plates – 1 670 m2 • in the direct proximity of Galeria Słoneczna, Aquapark, Osiedle Słoneczne • first office building ready for occupancy in 1Q 2013 www.radomofficepark.pl

The Park Warsaw / 10 buildings: 110 000 m2 / Warsaw

• self-contained campus-style office park • class-A office space • array offer of amenities on-site • offices modules starting from 200 m2 • large floor plates – 2 600 m2 • Building A (11 000 m2) ready for occupancy in December 2012 www.theparkwarsaw.pl AIG/Lincoln is a highly respected international developer with a first-track record. AIG/Lincoln has completed nearly 50 projects in Europe including a large portfolio of landmark office projects. Other projects include warehousing, retail and leisure and residential development.

More informations: AIG/Lincoln Polska, ul. Grzybowska 5A, 00-132 Warszawa tel. +48 22 564 50 00, fax +48 22 564 50 85 www.aiglincoln.com.pl

Editorial note Dear Readers, Free of charge magazine Editor-in-chief Dymitr Doktór d.doktor@outsourcingandmore.pl Art./DTP Jacek Cieśliński Maciek Michałowski Cover Jacek Cieśliński Commercial reklama@outsourcingandmore.pl Published by RIPOSTA Doktór S.J. ul. Dolna 21b/40 00-773 Warszawa www.riposta.pl Editorial address RIPOSTA Doktór S.J. ul. Dolna 21b/40 00-773 Warszawa Tel.: +48 22 213 02 45 Fax: +48 22 213 02 49 redakcja@outsourcingandmore.pl www.outsourcingandmore.pl Print: Drukarnia Jantar Subscriptions: Outsourcing&More is bimonthly free of charge magazine. See the website www.outsourcingandmore.pl for more details

We are quickly approaching the end of the year, Polish Golden Autumn behind the windows, a number of conferences and events are being organized, including the outsourcing industry (Vth European Economy Forum in Lodz, WorkGate in Poznan), and we have prepared for you a strong scope of news – this time we focused on HR Outsourcing. With the subject of HR management, employees leasing, interim management and many other HR related topics we are dealing on daily basis. In our regular conversations very frequently topics related to work experience programs, salaries, employee incentives, staff migrations and promotions are being discussed. To describe those subjects we have invited to the cooperation the Polish HR Management Association and leading HR organizations. Thanks to this co-operation we are pleased to present you a set of many interesting publications and reports. The region of Poland which is this time described by us is Lower Silesia. Comparing to other regions and cities we had a pleasure to work with in the previous months, the Lower Silesian public offices have presented „moderated” interest in sharing the information, which resulted the lack of comparable materials. Only Invest in Wroclaw has replied positively to our request for cooperation, and for example the representative of City of Walbrzych has informed our journalist, Walbrzych is not interested with new international investments – what is a brave statement in the global crisis times. Nevertheless, thanks to the local investors – we managed to present Wroclaw, as the city open for investments – including outsourcing projects. Special thanks we are sending to Ms. Anna Wójt from PwC, who is sharing her experience and knowledge concerning Wroclaw investment climate. On our pages you will also find interesting interviews, including new ABSL Managing Director – Pawel Panczyj and Wroclaw investors: HP and BNY Mellon. The regional HR report has been prepared by HAYS and Real Estate information has been delivered by CBRE.

Selected photos come from Fotolia.pl website.

Starting from the current issue of Outsourcing&More we are adding new set of regular publications concerning legal topics. Legal advisor Noemi Chudzik is describing the subject of “Outsourcing of human resources and remuneration related services and personal data protection”. This is another fixed column, which is following information delivered by Invest in Poland. With the beginning of 2013 we are going to introduce a number of new publications which we will share with you on regular basis. 2013 will introduce a number of positive changes in Polish Outsourcing world, new initiatives are going to be started and hopefully they will have positive impact on the industry and employees society. More details we will present to you already in January.

Circulation: 3000 copies

In the meantime, enjoy the current issue of Outsourcing&More, which PDF version will be delivered this time to over 35.000 recipients.

All rights reserved. No copying, reproduction or photocopying allowed without written consent of the publisher. The views expressed in this publication as well as the content of the adverts are not necessarily those of the editor.

With outsourcing compliments, Dymitr Doktór Editor in Chief

November / December 2012

Index 21

Interview with Paweł Panczyj

Interview with Małgorzata Jasińska

Outsourcing & More 6

News

Call Center Awards Report

7th Polish Outsourcing Forum Report

15 Important dates 16 PAIiIZ – Information 18

BPO in Kielce Business Centre Smaller city – more opportunities

Interview with Paweł Panczyj – Managing Director of The Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland (ABSL)

Few words about Wroclaw…

Wrocław’s unique platform for university-business collaboration

November / December 2012

Wroclaw as an adept in the fight for SSC/BPO investments – Interview with Anna Wójt, SSC CoE Department Manager at PwC

Interview with Agnieszka Orłowska– Managing Director of the Hewlett-Packard Global Business Center in Wrocław

Interview with Martin Ring – Managing Director of BNY Mellon (Poland) Sp. z o.o.

Wrocław participating the trend of outsourcing – Interview with Grzegorz Paszkiewicz, Vice President for Business Development of Casus Finanse SA.

Interview with Małgorzata Jasińska, CEE Corporate Accounts Directorat Hays Specialist Recruitmentt

Office Market in Wroclaw

Human Resources Outsourcing

Main Topic

Main Topic 46 50

Interview with Piotr Palikowski

Interview with Piotr Palikowski – President of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management

Temporary employment – a solution not only for hard times

Business with education as a remedy for the problems of the labor market

Outsourcing of human resources-and-remunerationrelated services and personal data protection

To train or not to train? This is the question! Are Polish companies use the services of external

It’s good to evaluate employees on flexible contracts

The development of human resources outsourcing in Poland

Process Outsourcing – a modern alternative to traditional solutions?

Co-sourcing with collaborative talent

training companies?

The private medical care market in Poland

Outsourcing of HR Development Functions? – Interview with Aleksander Drzewiecki, CEO of the House of Skills

The advantages of certified in-house trainers

Join us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/outsourcingandmore

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | News

News This is Warmia and Mazury! Promotional campaign of the Warmia and Mazury region in Poland and abroad This is going to be a strong end of the project which promotes the investment potential of the Warmia and Mazury region under the Regional Operational Programme Warmia and Mazury 2007-2013. The Marshal of the Warmia and Mazury Province – Jacek Protas and representatives of the regional government will highlight the greatest strengths of the province during three meetings with business leaders scheduled in Olsztyn, Warsaw and the capital of Austria – Vienna. The first meeting is a conference “Start locally. Plan globally. The importance of the investment potential of Warmia and Mazury for the success of local business” to be held October 26 in Olsztyn and co-organised by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. We give the same priority to supporting entrepreneurs as to attracting investments from abroad. That’s why we would like to encourage discussion, exchange of views to better understand the current needs of businesses in Warmia and Mazury and respond accordingly, especially during hard times – says Jacek Protas, Marshal of the Warmia and Mazury Province. “This is Warmia and Mazury! Unique potential for investment and support for international business in the Warmia and Mazury Province” is the title of another conference to be held November 8 in Vienna. What’s important, the partner of this meeting is the country’s largest and most important business organization – the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ). Source: Bluevine Consulting

More info: www.outsourcingportal.eu

November / December 2012

Universities-Business partnership made in Poznań – how to help firms with recruiting students to work at BPO/SSC sector

Since Poland became recognizable partner in the world of outsourcing, many international companies decided to locate part of their activity in here as BPO or SSC. Because of its specifics centers are looking for well educated, speaking many languages workers. That is why the centers are so often located in a neighborhood of the prestigious universities, which are used as very useful base of valuable, ready for an interesting challenge, potential employees. Unfortunately, such a fast development of the sector was not fully followed by the program of Universities and Business Partnership, which is a great pattern we can observe in West European countries. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to find it’s easy way to Poland. However the awareness of a mutual benefits that it brings strongly and constantly increases. Firms are happy to get their chance of being the first to recruit and teach the best graduates and the universities see the opportunity to become more competitive in the eyes of prospective students with offering them interesting job-creating programs. Recently City of Poznań in a cooperation with Poznań’s BPO/SSC centers such as Carlsberg ASC, Ciber, Franklin Templeton Investments Poland, IKEA Business Service Center, MAN Accounting Center, Wikia and the firm Grafton Recruitment came up with an idea supporting universities and business services sector partnerships.

They decided to organize a practical workshops for students – WorkGate2012. “The main intent of the project is to create a communication platform between companies and students entering the labor market”, says Marcin Przyłębski, Head of Investor Relations Department at Poznań City Hall. Workshops will take place in Concordia Design Center in Poznań on 29 November 2012. It will gather 450 students from the Universities and Colleges. Others, who won’t manage to qualify for workshops will be welcomed to come over and meet with representatives of the companies at dedicated stands to fulfill the application forms. WorkGate meets students expectations also at the level of communication. There has been introduced a great information and promoting campaign that will reach over 80.000 students. Moving with the times organizers decided to use Facebook as a main platform of communication and the medium handling recruitment process. Check it out at www. facebook.com/WorkGatePoznan

More info: www.outsourcingportal.eu

Outsourcing & More | News

V European Economic Forum in Lodz

On 7-8 November, one of the most important economic events in the Province of Łódź – V (EEF) was held at the Andel’s Hotel in Łódź. The meeting was of local importance but national and European as well.

was also visited by Sławomir Idziak with a trailer of his most recent production „Vermessung der Welt”; another guest was Robert Sowa who supported the panel related to nourishment with his authority.

The motto of this year’s Forum: “On the way to innovative economy of regions – development, competition, collaboration” was reflected in numerous seminars, plenary sessions, sectoral meetings and salons organised during both days of the event; they were devoted e.g. to the fast developing BPO sector, key importance of innovations in the sphere of bio- and nanotechnologies, issues related to infrastructure and transport, issues related to conscious consumer choices with respect to food, and many more.

One of the most important events at V European Economic Forum was the historic moment when for the first time in Poland the analogue TV signal was switched to digital signal which was organised courtesy of the Ministry of Administration and Digitalisation and TVP S.A.

The Forum was attended by many renowned and respected speakers, e.g.: Michał Kobosko, Tadeusz Mosz, Ryszard Petru and other. Sławomir Lachowski was a special guest at V EEF – with a very modern multimedia threedimensional presentation he presented his most recent book “The road is more important than the target”. The Forum

V European Economic Forum was accompanied by a number of other events, e.g. ceremonious hand over of economic prizes of the Lodz Province by the Head of the Lodz Province Ms. Jolanta Chełmińska and the Marshal of the Lodz Province Mr. Witold Stępień. Detailed information on the entire event with photographs will be presented in the coming December issue of “Outsourcing & More” which you are invited to get acquainted with.

Bać-Pol SA signs lease for warehouse space at Hines Polska’s Distribution Park Będzin Hines, the international real estate development and investment firm, is pleased to announce it has signed leases at the logistics warehouse located in Bedzin, at 115 Świerczewskiego Street. The new tenant is a company Bać-Pol SA, which has decided to lease 4,320 square meters for 10 years. Bać-Pol is one of the largest distributors of FMCG products in Poland. The tenant was represented by Colliers during the transaction. This is the first lease agreement signed by Hines, since finalizing the purchase of Prologis distribution facilities located in Poland. Estimated area of 220,000 square meters of logistic space has been acquired by Hines on behalf of Hines Global REIT fund. Projects are located in Warsaw, Wrocław, Bedzin and Sosnowiec. On behalf of Hines Global REIT, Hines Poland acts as asset manager and property manager. Implementing the global strategy adopted by Hines for logistics parks, the projects have been renamed „Distribution Parks” and each individual will be identified by its geographical location (Warsaw – Distribution Park Annopol and Distribution Park Okecie, in Bedzin Bedzin – Distribution Park, in Wrocław – Distribution Park Wrocław and similarly in Sosnowiec – Distribution Park Sosnowiec). Źródło: Agencja inplusPR

More info: www.outsourcingportal.eu

Źródło: Outsourcingportal.eu

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | News

Call Center Awards Report

Call Center Awards is an initiative that was established in the year of 2011. The initiator of the event was Institute for International Research, a leader among the companies organizing business conferences and training sessions for managers, operating on the Polish market since 1997. Call Center Awards is a prestigious event for the Call Center industry in Poland. The main objective of the competition is to honor, present and promote the best practices and innovative solutions in the call center, but also to build prestige, professionalism and create new trends in the industry. The competition is conducted in an open formulation and directed to private companies, public institutions and all those who represent the call center industry including, but not limited to managers, people who manage Call/Contact Center companies, departments of Call/Contact Center, those who are responsible for the development and are active in the Call/ Contact Center.

November / December 2012

Competition’s objectivity is ensured by the jury, a group of call center experts with years of experience from various industries, as well as competition’s auditor, which is the consulting firm KPMG. The second edition of the competition – Call Center Awards 2012 – is behind us. Experts, nominated, the judges and invited guests met on September 18th, 2012 at the Marriott Hotel in Warsaw, to celebrate the success of the winners, but also to discuss what are the challenges for Call/Contact Center managers and teams in Poland. It is sure that it is not possible to develop one effective method for all, that’s why invited experts tried to find different possibilities for development together with participants of the event. The first discussion revolved around employee engagement. How to motivate them? How to engage frustrated employees again?

Outsourcing & More | News

Answers to these questions gave among other Panel members: Mr. Michał Sawicki, Mr. Marcin Sosnowski and Mr. Dominik Towarek. The second debate was focused on the receipt for being successful manager. Which way to go? How to catch patterns? How to go beyond their comfort zone? Discussions was led by Ms. Joanna Pakuła and Ms. Magdalena Goławska. Of course, in spite of a very important part of the meeting, the participants eagerly awaited for the announcement of the winners. The great variety of the submitted applications, both in terms of represented industries, as well as the approach to the management of their department, meant that the jury did not have an easy task in choosing the winners. Ultimately, the results were as follows: CALL CENTER MANAGER 2012 Winner: Ms. Elżbieta Gierczyńska – Aviva Sp. z o.o. Honorable Mention: Ms. Renata Nepelska – Centrum Bankowości Bezpośredniej Sp. z o.o. CALL CENTER TEAM 2012

and I heard a lot of warm words reassuring me that the professional path that I follow is the right one. Being one of the winners of the competition also affects on my business relationships – this is independent confirmation of competence and professionalism.” – Ms. Renata Nepelska, Head of Customer Service in Centrum Bankowości Bezpośredniej Sp. z o.o., who was awarded as Call Center manager 2012. “Voice Contact Center is a company for which the priority is the highest level of customer service. The key for achieving this goal are Consultants with high skills. We decided to submit one of our teams in the competition Call Center Awards 2012, to promote best practices in the field of call/contact centers. This way we want to show that it is possible to achieve, even in the outsourcing industry, low turnover of staff, high levels of loyalty and identification of its members, both with the team and with the client, also that the team may be one functioning organism even in distant locations. The prize has confirmed the uniqueness of our team. It is important for both the consultants and the Management Team. The award in Call Center Awards 2012 is another

Companies with total employment of over 500 people Winner: Samsung Electronics Polska Sp. z o.o. – Ms. Małgorzata Brzozowska Honorable Mention: PZU S.A. – Ms. Paulina Chodzyńska CALL CENTER TEAM 2012 Companies with total employment of less than 500 people Winner: Sitel Polska Sp. z o.o. – Ms. Magdalena Małek Honorable Mention: Voice Contact Center Sp. z o.o. – Ms. Małgorzata Biernacka Call Center Awards Contest is increasingly recognized and is important for call center representatives. It also influences on a business partnership. The most accurate information on why you should take part in the event tell the winners and awarded. “The entry to the Call Center Awards 2012 Competition was a challenge for me. I definitely wanted to find out whether the values and principles that we follow in our daily work will be assessed as appropriate and desirable in our industry. Additionally, this year is my 10th anniversary of working in the industry, so it was a good time for a performance review. Information about awards was a great appreciation and satisfaction for me. I received many compliments,

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | News

proof that the model of the team in the Voice Contact Center is effective from the point of view of the organization and customers.” – Ms. Małgorzata Biernacka, Head of Trainings and Recruitment in Voice Contact Center Sp. z o.o. The Voice Contact Center team was awarded as Call Center team 2012. Ms. Małgorzata Dłużewska from Voice Contact Center was the winner In 2011 as Call Center Manager 2011. “I applied for the competition, because I think that we can and should share with other best practices to show that work in the call center is not only associated with temporary, part-time work. In the Call Center you can build good, harmonious teams, you can give the space to develop themselves, build commitment and achieve company goals. I work in such call center, with people who appreciate the work and a good atmosphere and who take care of building positive relationships with our customers at the same time. This is the reason why our clients appreciate and recommend us. The award is the culmination of my three years work in the call center and other managers’ efforts. Their support and commitment is invaluable, and I thank them for that. This is confirmation not only for me, that it is worth to do things differently, to see the diversity of people and consider their point of view. I have the pleasure of working with a company that appreciates people and I received a lot of congratulations and tributes from many of my colleagues.

November / December 2012

Several managers have asked me to share my knowledge of how to achieve such high performance of working with people. Of course, my bosses are very proud that my work has been appreciated by an independent commission. I see them as a part of this success, because they gave me the space to work and trust me, and I just have used my boundless energy. I would recommend taking part in the competition, because thanks to the materials that you need to prepare for the competition you can summarize a lot and have a moment of reflection on your own work.” – that is what Ms. Elżbieta Gierczyńska, Direct Customer Service Manager from Aviva Sp. z o.o. said. She is the winner in the category Call Center Manager 2012. The fact that the second edition of the Call Center Awards attracted more and more interest and variety of submissions confirms the belief that it is an event of high importance for the Call Center industry and allows building competitive advantage. We are very welcome everyone to participate in the next edition of the Call Center Awards in 2013! ■

Author: Rafał Szary Project Manager: training and conferences tel. +48 696 442 465 rafal.szary@gmail.com

Outsourcing & More | News

7th Polish Outsourcing Forum Report On 20th September this year, in Hyatt Hotel in Warsaw, the 7th Outsourcing Forum organized by Roadshow Polska in cooperation with ASPIRE, the biggest Outsourcing organization, took place. This best known Outsourcing event in Poland has had excellent reputation for years and has been attracting both Polish and international specialists. The media patronage is provided by Outsourcing&More and Forbes.

meaning and media. The host of the meeting was Wojciech Szeląg, Head of the Economic Editors Office of Polsat News. The welcome speeches were made by Andrew Hallam, Founder and General Secretary of ASPIRE and Andrzej Arendarski, President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce. They emphasized an important role of Outsourcing in dynamizing economic growth and social well-being, but also they admitted that many factors, including mental factors, were still present in Poland, thus preventing the sector development. The first presentations during the conference were delivered by Paul Jasniach, PwC Advisory Shared Services and BPO Practice and Ryszard Petru, PwC Partner, President of the Polish Economists’ Association and DemosEuropa Economic Advisor. They presented conceptual frames of the model for separating processes out from organization structure and its benefits which are traditionally based on cost advantages being important when facing threat of crisis which is still real. As Ryszard Petru emphasized the savings which investors would reach for within next five years must cover more sophisticated and complex range of solutions than the range used in 2009. Thus, the Outsourcing sector will face more and more difficult challenges to be met.

As far as contents and organization are concerned the Outsourcing Forum has had a central position on the Outsourcing map of Poland for years. This edition covered all current problems but also anticipated the future to come, following the motto of the meeting “Shared Services and Outsourcing: Unlocking the Next 5 Years”. Among the guests there were representatives of university environment, government, self-governments, commercial service buyers, companies offering Outsourcing services in their broadest

Then, during two panel discussions, experts contemplated the role of Poland in Shared Services and Outsourcing as well as benefits and threats resulting from Outsourcing for Polish entrepreneurs and organizations. They clearly emphasized the fact that Poland aspired to becoming the most attractive location for outsourcing activities, which is supported by good location of Poland and considerable resources of still relatively cheap and highly qualified personnel. However, the urgent matter is

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | News

to improve innovation of Poland compared to European countries by increasing R&D expenditures. Roman Lubaczewski, Partner PwC Advisory Shared Services and BPO Practice, who was a moderator of the second panel discussion, referred to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and drew attention to the fact that, as it is in the case of living organisms, the Outsourcing companies have to continuously adapt to new conditions in changing business environment to survive. Not only cost effectiveness, but also trust, flexibility, quality of services provided and continuous improvement may guarantee competitive edge on the market. The above is backed by capable, hard-working employees who focus on problem solving and who should distinguish Poland from among other countries. This opinion was confirmed by Al Brown, Chief Technology Officer from BMS Bankruptcy Management Solutions in Canada and Oktawian Jaworek, Management Board Advisor for RUCH Business Process Optimization. The other speaker, while presenting an interesting case study, emphasized that the success of implementation of Accounting Service Centre and ERP system projects in his company was largely possible due to high motivation and morale of the team. The large part of the event covered discussions related to Outsourcing in public sector. Andrzej Arendarski indicated 3 Outsourcing development barriers in that sector, such as no control of costs, unwillingness to share power and risk incurred by public institutions, including economic risk and liability risk. Dymitr Doktór, Editor in Chief of Outsourcing&More, drew attention to the fact that the liability risk is associated with all business relations regardless of a sector. Piotr Rutkowski, Managing Partner of SourceOne Advisory, shared examples confirming that during the last few years

November / December 2012

the perception of Outsourcing by representatives of public sector changed definitely and positively. The above was confirmed by Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik, Director of the Foreign Investment Department of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. The debate focused on presenting the most extensive range of benefits which can be obtained as a result of using Outsourcing services in public organizations, which is still unpopular in Poland.

...Poland aspired to becoming the most attractive location for outsourcing activities, which is supported by good location of Poland and considerable resources of still relatively cheap and highly qualified personnel. The session was continued during a separate panel where participants had an opportunity to trace a cycle of public and private partnership based on the example of Great

Outsourcing & More | News

Britain represented by Darren Owens, Head of Krakow Business Centre, Capita Polska. The English model of public cooperation becomes a target which Poland aims to achieve in the years to come. The part of the conference which was impatiently awaited by guests gathered in Hyatt Hotel was the VIP panel titled “Position of Poland in global economy”. Dariusz Rosati, Janusz Steinhoff and Ryszard Petru presented more general, macroeconomic and political background in relations to the issues contemplated during that day. The experts presented opinion that several years of dynamic development, political stability and pro-European politics of the government improved the reputation and image of Poland in Europe and contributed to locating our country on the map of economic north. However,

there is still a lot to be done as economic ratios do not confirm that our country is able to maintain the title of “green island” in long-term perspective. Afternoon debates were carried out during simultaneous sessions. The first workshop concerned chances and barriers for implementation of Outsourcing model. Szymon Kubiak, Legal Adviser of Wardyński&Partners, Konrad Korczak, Director of Fixed Assets of Accounting Operation Centre of Orange Polska and Wojciech Glapa, Vice President of Arteria S.A. answered, for example, questions of whether there is a temporary Outsourcing agreement, what threats are associated with the model of contract settlement based on results and what conditions have to be met to make sensitive data available to the public.

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | News

Due to practical nature of the panel the 7th Forum participants could confront solutions used in their organizations with experience of other specialists in the sector. While referring to practical aspects of business, we have to refer to the knowledge of graduates from Polish universities. Is the knowledge sufficient to allow young personnel to efficiently work in BPO and SSC? What can the Polish universities offer to future and current employees in the sector? Does the selection of faculties and courses available on the training market correspond to market demand and students’ interests? What is the role of the government and benefits from the cooperation with universities? Those and other questions were answered by panelists of the session focused on strengthening the business model in Poland. Professors of the Łódź University, prof. dr hab. Stanisław Szukalski and Szczecin University, prof. dr hab. Piotr Niedzielski as well as Elaine Barnes, Centre Head at Farnell Element 14 Commercial Centre, participated in the discussion. The leading position of Cracow on the Polish market of Outsourcing services is beyond any doubts, but do other cities have a potential to compete with Cracow? During the session related to the selection of SSC and BPO locations representatives of self-governments represented by mayors of cities such as Szczecin, Opole and Radom, presented their position. Parties to the contract consider attractiveness of the centre location including many aspects, not only employer but also employee. Currently the decisions are more and more often determined by social aspects. This criterion was also emphasized during the presentation of Indian Business model. Quests learnt about

November / December 2012

premises having a decisive impact on location of operation of Indian companies in Central and Eastern Europe and perception of the local market by Asian players represented by such global companies as HCL Europe or Wipro Technologies. It turns out that there are many non-economic factors which are shared by Poland and India, which will lead to even closer cooperation of those countries in the years to come. A special guest of the Forum, Marek Kondrat, excellent actor, director and entrepreneur, added splendour to that day. Wine testing and cocktail party were an excuse for less official talks. All participants of the 7th Outsourcing Forum indicated a solid content component of debates, reliability of discussions and opportunities to establish new contacts which emphasize importance of that meeting for expanding knowledge and sharing experience among various parties of the Outsourcing relation. ■

Author: Joanna Soczówka Cracow University of Economics

Outsourcing & More | Important dates

13.11.2012

Rozwiązania IT dla sektora użyteczności publicznej

Organizer: TMI Holdings Sp. z o.o Location: Kraków (Poland)

14.11.2012

Mechanika i utrzymanie ruchu

Organizer: TMI Holdings Sp. z o.o. Location: Kraków (Poland)

14.11.2012

Nowy wymiar Call/Contact Center

Organizer: Business Media Solutions Sp. z o.o. Location: Warsaw (Poland)

CRM GigaCon

Organizer: BNT Konferencje Sp. z o.o. Location: Warsaw (Poland)

24.11.2012

Kariera Testera - Targi Pracy dla Specjalistów

Organizer: BNT Konferencje Sp. z o.o. Location: Warsaw (Poland)

29.11.2012

Facility Management & Property Management

Organizer: Grupa Medialna Nieruchomości Location: Warsaw (Poland)

29.11.2012

NETWORK GigaCon

Organizer: SW Konferencje Sp. z o.o. Sp. k. Location: Kraków (Poland)

03.12.2012

Call Center GigaCon

Organizer: SW Konferencje Sp. z o.o. Sp. k. Location: Warsaw (Poland)

Kraków

Warsaw

15.11.2012 Warsaw

Warsaw

Kraków

Warsaw

November / December 2012

PAIiIZ | Information

The number of projects assisted by Foreign Investment Department at Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) steadily remains high At the beginning of October there were 143 projects in the pipeline which represented over 5,1 bn EUR in value. Predicted number of new jobs thanks to these projects was over 36 thousand. The majority of projects come from the US – as much as 34 serviced ones with total value of over 689 mn EUR and 6 149 new workplaces. The rank is also led by the German investors – 18 projects, 567 mn EUR and 3 919 new jobs. Other significant contributors are the UK, France, China and Sweden with total exceptionally high amount of planned capital expenditures – over 868 mn EUR. Attractiveness of Poland as the destination for Business Services Sector (BSS) projects increases year by year. Currently there are 46 projects from BSS, including IT and R&D ones totalling 311 mn EUR. Only from January this year, 15 out of 39 completed projects were from BSS and added 2 141 new jobs for the specialists. In the last 8 years a dynamic inflow of investments in the domain of modern services was strongly visible considering the major agglomeration areas. The current level of employment amounts nearly 100 thousand qualified employees, 45% of them stands for staff responsible for providing and implementing IT solutions. Furthermore, a significant increase of interest amongst the foreign companies in setting up or developing already existing IT center in Poland can be observed recently. It is estimated that IT market in Poland, including software, hardware and network infrastructure supply reached PLN 31 billion at the end of 2011, the services share amounted for ca. 30% of the above sum. Industries whose expenditures contribute to the highest level of IT market growth in Poland include: local and central administration (23%), financial sector (22%), telecommunications (15%), industrial production sector (10%), small and medium-sized enterprises – SMEs (8%), utilities and the others (14%). Whereas, branches recognized as the most actively developing already existing hosting services, IT processes administration, security implementation and virtualization include: pharmaceutical, FMCG, automotive and retail. Specific factors stimulating the market in the nearest future cover are: privatisation of companies and, thereby,

November / December 2012

unblocking decisions concerning the implementation of IT solutions in order to increase competitiveness, activation of central administration and self-governments in terms of public sector tenders. Moreover, the significance of the SME sector is growing, as such companies generate the demand for IT services and solutions, in order to increase their competitiveness, which can be achieved by boosting their activity efficiency through the application of management support software and enterprise resource planning tools. The above-mentioned factors, combined with the experts shortage in the Western European economies, will continue to determine Poland’s investment attractiveness in this sector in the forthcoming years. Foreign investment inflow and production transfer to Poland are also important factors creating a demand for discrete and process manufacturing IT development. In addition, it should be pointed out that access to European funds for entrepreneurs also had and still has an impact on the Polish IT market growth. Thanks to the EU funds, most of the companies have an opportunity to develop the infrastructure and improve professional skills of their employees, thus generating demand for IT solutions. Despite the global economic slowdown and IT projects suspension, Polish IT outsourcing sector, characterized by the availability of well-educated and fluent in foreign languages experts, is flourishing. The share of outsourcing services in the total IT field (currently 17%) is one of the highest in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and becomes more and more significant.

Currently there are 46 projects from BSS, including IT and R&D ones totalling 311 mn EUR. Case study: EnabledWare EnabledWare delivers software enabling sharing contents on many platforms, e.g. computers, smart phones or TV screens. Furthermore, the company offers cloud solutions (cloud computing), which allows media sharing and managing within an enterprise. The company services small and medium enterprises, as well as global giants. Among others, it cooperates closely with Japanese NEC – magnate in electronic production and American Cisco – one of the world largest producers of network devices.

PAIiIZ | Information

The investment project of a Silicon Valley company has been acquired by PAIiIZ on the beginning of May 2012 as a result of current investment projects servicing. The Agency has received the investor’s e-mail query regarding investment possibilities within software development area in Wrocław. PAIiIZ has provided the investor with information regarding the chosen location, including population, the city’s demographic trends, number of students and graduates with particular emphasis on exact sciences, including IT specializations, information regarding companies already operating in Poland, having similar business profile, as well as on the volume of employment, remuneration level divided into particular posts and the list of IT companies existing on Wrocław market. Moreover, as a result of investment mission in Great Britain that took place at the turn of May/June 2012, the representatives of Foreign Investments Department in PAIiIZ had the opportunity to present to decision persons in EnabledWare a package of investment incentives available in Poland. The next step of the investment process was to contact investor with the Agency of Development of Wrocław Agglomeration (ARAW) whose mission is to support foreign investment projects at the local level. After a visit in Great Britain, the representatives of EnabledWare were in regular contact with PAIiIZ and ARAW, which resulted in making an investment decision to open its software centre in Wroclaw in a close perspective.

Case study: Luxoft Luxoft company, one of the largest and most prosperous Russian holdings, which distributes innovative IT solutions

for such branches as: finance, travel, aviation industry, transport and logistic. By launching in 2010 a development centre in Krakow within the Special Economic Zone (Krakow Technology Park) Luxoft Group inaugurated its operations on the Polish market. The company targets further expansion connected to implementation of highly innovative IT services and software development dedicated to the telecommunication and automotive sectors. The estimated employment of the project covers another 200 jobs position. Currently, the company takes establishing an office in Wroclaw for major customer representing investment banking under consideration, as well as, in the long term plans, covering other important locations in Poland. New facilities opening depends, which should not come as a surprise, on such factors as: market position and overview, company development perspectives and public aid in the context of future projects. ■

The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency 00-585 Warszawa, ul.Bagatela 12 22 334 98 75 invest@paiz.gov.pl

The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency has been serving investors for 19 years. Its mission is to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by encouraging international companies to invest in Poland. It guides investors through all the necessary administrative and legal procedures along the way to setting up their business in Poland. The Agency promotes also Polish g oods and services abroad.

November / December 2012

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BPO in Kielce Business Centre Smaller city â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more opportunities

November / December 2012

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Smaller city – more opportunities

Kielce invites BPO

More and more BPO companies and other international enterprises, which would like to reduce their costs decide to locate their branches outside agglomerations. What is the reason?

Kielce is located centrally between Warsaw and Cracow at national road 7 (which was rebuilt for Euro 2012). A journey by car from Kielce to Cracow takes 1,5 hour, similarly to the distance between Kielce and Warsaw. What is more there are plans to open an airport in Radom, which is located 80 km from Kielce. It will surely improve the access to our area. It is worth mentioning that small charter planes can also land in Masłów, the airport located just 8 km from Kielce City centre.

In big cities the market is saturated. BPO centres compete with each other to gain the best employees which results in increasing in their expenses and recruitment time. Employment cost is lower by 20%-30% when we decide to locate our company in Kielce instead of Cracow. Furthermore, a monthly average net salary is 2310,00 PLN (520 EUR), unemployment rate in voivodeship is 15% (in age group 25-44 it is 25%). Rental rates in smaller urban centres are lower by several EUROs per square meter than rates in big cities. Availability to well qualified employees and graduates is of huge importance as well. For example in Kielce 50 000 students are being educated and high schools provide 13 700 graduates annually. Furthermore there is possibility to create specialized fields of studies for market demands of big corporations locating their companies in Kielce. According to the latest surveys Warsaw is one of the most crowded cities in Europe. Cracow, Poznań or Wrocław do not also differ from statistics. Smaller cities such as Kielce with efficient transport do not have problems of that kind.

Convenient location of the city is enriched by unique natural, cultural and entertainment values of Świętokrzyskie Region. The region has attractive offer for active rest (skiing, climbing, motor sports and mountain hiking). Kielce, like other medium-sized cities, can see its opportunity in participating in the developing BPO sector. At present in Kielce Business Centre two BPO companies exist: Call Center Inter Galactica and Medicover, which employ more than 1000 people. Recently two other BPO companies have decided to locate their activities in Kielce: Fast White Cat S.A. (IT) and UMCS Group Poland (financial services). Additionally Kielce Business Park is planning to build a new complex of six office buildings which will extend its rental space by another 36 000 m2 office space class A. Business Centre in Kielce Currently City Core LLC is the owner of 5 hectare area in the centre of Kielce and the office building class B with total

November / December 2012

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area 21 000 m2 which was bought from Skanska company 4 years ago. At present we can offer 1200 m2 rental area class B. It is open space but it can be arranged according to tenants’ needs in case of 5 years or longer contracts, Computer network and furniture can be provided as well. For the companies which have three-shift work system we can organise transport for workers during night hours (from 11.00 p.m. to 04.00 a.m.). The office area we offer now is sufficient for running good business. For those, who would like to make use of advantages of Kielce as a small city mentioned above, renting an office in our current building, can become just an initial stage during which the company can deal with building their structure, finding proper staff and educating them. On completion of our new investment the fully-organised company can easily relocate and continue their activity. Rental rates are lower by 30%-40% than in Warsaw and in Cracow; moreover in case of long term contracts prices are subject to negotiations. The tenants can use memory 60 TB (and 36 TB for backup) at 4 servers HP Blade generation 7. We also offer archive rooms: bookshelves COMPACTUS OFFICE and SYSCO, total lengths of shelves is 1703 m; they are placed in storeroom, its total area is 272 m2.

The Foundation I Choose Kielce is support for BPO in Kielce City Core LLC owners have established the Foundation “I Choose Kielce”, which aspires to create optimal conditions for BPO investors. “I Choose Kielce” is the only foundation which supports investors, who want to move their business to Kielce. The support involves: selection and training of executives, creating the environment for business, negotiations and talks with the City Authorities and economic zone. It will have a direct impact on creating economic and investment potential of Kielce and Świętokrzyskie Region, increasing professional qualifications, creating new jobs and opening to world and international business. Conclusion According to professional opinions Kielce is one of the most interesting office locations in Poland. If you require talented people, well educated staff and lower cost, it is worth considering to locate your investment just here. The details about Business Centre in Kielce can be found at: www.kieleckiecentrumbiznesu.com ■

Furthermore, our project will be covered with Starachowice Special Economic Zone operation which will result in many advantages for our future tenants. Business Park The modern Business Park will be located on 5 hectare area and surrounded by green areas. The complex will be consisted of 6 buildings class A, each 6000 m2, with total area 36 000 m2. The project will be completed gradually. The car park for 1500 cars will be available for tenants.

November / December 2012

For more information you can contact: anna.parkita@citycore.pl , tel. + 48 606 472 324 magda.staron@kongresowy.pl, tel. + 48 41 33 26 485; 512 402 451

Outsourcing & More | Interview

Interview with Paweł Panczyj

– Managing Director of The Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland (ABSL) O&M: Your carreer for many years has been related to the outsourcing sector and SSC centres. How did this all started and in what way your position in Ernst&Young has influenced your carreer in this field? PP: Since 2002 I have worked in Wroclaw helping its mayor, Mr. Dutkiewicz in attracting new investors. At this time they were usually from manufacturing sector. But since 2005 this trend has changed and more and more of them were from SSC and BPO sector. It was a new sector and at the beginning its perception was not very good. Business centress were usually associated with low wages and boring job in call centres. Only when such renowned companies as HP with its financial centre, Capgemini and IBM with its IT centres and Google with the R&D centre landed in Poland the potential of the sector was rightly re-adjusted. With such experience in 2008 I started working for Ernst&Young and in this job I represented the other side of this business: I travelled with investors first in Poland and then in CEE looking for the best locations for their projects. So summing up the Wroclaw experience and the business card of Ernst&Young helped me to offer my services for investors in this part of Europe. O&M: What are in your opinion the biggest challenges that the SSC/BPO sector is facing these days?

Outsourcing&More: Pawel, you have started your new job as Managing Director of ABSL in September this year. How do you feel in this new situation? Paweł Panczyj: Very comfortable. Since ABSL was created in 2009, I have been in close contact with this organization and now, when the sector of business servicess in Poland has developed so complexively I offered my services to run it.

PP: Answering this question, I have to present a short analysis of what happened in the sector in the last few years. A few years ago, Poland on the global map of business servicess was just one of the many locations, while today we are a real superpower! We will not be bigger than India in numbers but when considering the growth of the sector in CEE, which recently hasreached 19% we can compare it with the Indian one which is less than 10%. In 2005 we were just 7% of the Indian market in the business services sector and in the last year we jumped up to 14%. These numbers show how dynamically the sector has been developing in CEE in the last few years.

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This growth naturally requires new people, that can work in these centres. The second aspect of such fast changes is related to the nature of the processes that are serviced from Poland. Today noone thinks of us as call centres. Today the processes are more and more often knowledge based ones. The centres are more and more often R&D ones or of analytical character. The earlier mentioned Google, McKinsey or Credit Suisse are not offering dealing with invoices but analyisng financial markets, analysing processes that take place there and „inventing future”. So when talking about challenges that these centres are facing I would say, we have to be able to live up to the expectations of companies that want to provide these complex processes from Poland. Processes that up to now they were doing with students from MIT, Stanford University or in Oxford. Or even better: the processes that have not been provided at all… We have employees for them. And if we do not have them all here, we should create a situation, when such experts having to choose among USA, London, Berlin or Poland could choose our country knowing working here, is not much different than anywhere else in the world. O&M: One of the challenges for the BPO/SSC sector is building its proper recognition among students. Even today when one googles the term “BPO” one gets “Office for civic suport”. What would you do to make sure, that students know what the business service sector offers?

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PP: You are right: the sector is still not well know. During our September conference Prof. Buzek could not believe, that it is such a strong part of Polish economy and that we are growing so fast. Only the recently collected data from our annual report and information from several mayors of Polish cities made him realize that we are the fastest growing sector of Polish economy with annual growth on the level of 20% for the last couple of years! Former President Walesa when looking at the logos of our companies at the conference called us jokingly “The Filthy Capitalists”. But when leaving he asked to keep him informed about our development because it was so interesting for him. As far as students are concerned I think they already know a lot about our companies. The bigger challenge is to convince them that the jobs we offer are not simple, dull and boring as it may seem. And that the money, they can earn working for us, are not that small. An average wage in the BPO/SSC sector based on data from our report is approx. 4500 PLN, which is much more than the country average! Thus when headhunting for new employees at Polish universities we usually tell them, what we do and how much they can earn with us. This usually helps in recruitment. O&M: Students and graduates of Polish universities constitute the vast majority of SSC centres. But not only them… What is, according to you, the ideal profile of an SSC/BPO employee?

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Prof. Buzek could not believe, that it is such a strong part of Polish economy and that we are growing so fast... that we are the fastest growing secor of Polish economy with annual growth on the level of 20% for the last couple of years! PP: This profile was naturally created by the local market. Maybe, it is not ideal, but when looking at it we can see that it is usually a young person, average age of 29. More often a woman than a man, though in the IT centres it is the other way around. It is usually a university graduate, though the profile of the studies is not necessarily related to the job. In Wroclaw at Google or McKinsey centres one will not find IT graduates. These companies hire linguists, psychologists, students of sociology or economy. They are supposed to diagnose the needs of clients and answer them. Of course, in HP centres you will find mainly economists and in IBM centres IT graduates, but this is due to the nature of the processes that these centres provide. Average wage, as I already mentioned, is higher than the country average, so after a few years these young people are able to get a bank credit for their first appartment. After yet a few more years they can afford more… Due to the character of their jobs these are naturally very enterpreneurial people. They travel a lot. They constantly educate themselves, not only in the field in which they work. If there exists an ideal description of such a person it should also mention that he is an active member of the social environment in which he lives, getting involved in local initiatives and participating in CSR activities. He cares both for his company where he works and for the place where he lives. O&M: Are Polish companies ready for a modern model of BPO? Or are they rather trying to do it all by themselves without involvement of outsourcing partners? PP: More and more often we can see that Polish companies are reaching out to SSC or BPO solutions. An internal F&A, IT or HR department in large Polish corporations is still a dominating model but slowly and gradually some of these activities are transferred to a partner outside of the corporation. SSC is a more comfortable model from an HR perspective, as outsourcing is more often associated with cutting down the numer of jobs. But still we do not see enough of such

positive examples. When discussing the issue of outsourcing, I would include into this picture the public sector such as ministries, municipalities and marshall offices. These institutions have a huge potential for outsourcing solutions. We can find first exapmples of such activities but it is still not enough… O&M: For many years you have been working for and in Wroclaw. This interview is published in the issue that presents investment opportunities in the city and the Lower Silesia Region. Why is Wroclaw so attractive for investors? Is it its modern character, is it qualifications of available labor force or investment grounds or maybe something else? PP: Wroclaw has a few qualities that make it unique, but to tell the truth, it is not that much different place than any other Polish city that investors consider for their locations. The uniqueness is related to the fact, that since the end of the 90ties the city authorities have been creating the strategy for its development that is best decsribed in the promo slogan “Wroclaw the meeting place”. One could read it only in the tourist dimention. But the business meaning lead first to the creation Foreign Investment Support Unit and in 2006 to the establishment of Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency. This unit since its early days has been an example to follow for many Polish cities how to suport investors. But Wroclaw went even further, when with the diagnosis that the main issues of the investors will be related to the labor force, created the Office for Coordination of Cooperation with Universities. This unit coordinated the needs of investors and the supply of graduates from Wroclaw Universities. One may say that similar cooperation exists in most of other cities where investors work indicvidually with universities, But in this case, the key word is individually. In Wroclaw the individual level of cooperation is supported by the ideas that are going to work not just for the next 2 or 3 years but for 5 to 10. Such approach to investors needs is still unique in Poland and this is the only but also the main difference between Wroclaw and other Polish cities. O&M: In recent years Polish cities are in a race to attract investors from BPO sector. Would you be willing to create the list of best Polish locations for BPO. And, if not a list would you be able to name the cities that in the near fututre can join the ones already hosting BPO investments? PP: Creating any list of best BPO location is difficult as the situation in this sector is so dynamic, that in the next 6 months a new leader may arise. That is why I would propose to look at the current situation and analyse

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the potential situations in the future. The unquestionable leader and No 1 in Poland is Krakow. Not only because of what has happened there and how many companies operate in this city. But also because the current international rankings show that it is still No 1 location in Europe considered by the highest numer of potential investors. There is of course Wroclaw and Warszawa. But the biggest advantage of Poland is that, we have in our country not a few but a multiple locations for SSC/BPO centres. We have such well established locations as Tri-City, Lodz, Poznan, but also the ones getting bigger and bigger recognition as Katowice and Silesia Metropolis or Szczecin. We also have locations such as Olsztyn (Citi), Lublin (Genpact) or Bydgoszcz (Alcatel Lucent) where without much publicity big investors have been operating for many years. And just recently Opole and Bialystok have joined this list. We also have Pila, Kielce, Zielona Gora, Koszalin, Rzeszow. And just a few months ago, there has been an information, that one of foreign companies operating in Sandomierz has decided to open its SSC centre there! This complex situation makes it impossible to create any type of popularity rankings… O&M: If you were to describe your goals for the next 12 months, what would they be? PP: Currently ABSL operates in 6 cities. Strange enough, there is no Warsaw chapter of ABSL though there is the largest numer of companies from our sector registered there. So one of the goals is to initiate the Warsaw chapter. As I mentioned earlier one of the biggest tasks that we have is to change the perception of the companies by

potential partners: governmental institutions, universities, employees. I will put a lot of effort into discussions with the representatives of the Government about existing labor law. Some of the paragraphs are very limiting for the quick development of our sector. And of course, I will concentrate on talks with potential new members of ABSL. I will talk to them about benefits of being a part of our Association such as workshops, knowledge sharing and best practices exchange. I know, I will travel a lot in Poland this coming 12 months. But as a former tour guide, I am used to it… O&M: So we wish you all the best in making your plans come true and on our part we will do all that we can to provide up to date information about your initiatives and interesting activities. Thank you for this interview. ■

Paweł Panczyj Managing Director at ABSL Poland. Extensive experience in negotiations with investors when choosing the location of projects, investor’s support in early stages of the projects, supervising legislative procedures related to registration and central/local support, advisory services experience in the field of local grants, incentives, construction procedures, support in application process for special economic zone benefits. subject-matter professional in designing and enhancement of business processes, shared services centre environment, Main clients: LG Philips, Heesung, Fagor Mastercook, Volvo, Whirlpool, Koelner. Hewlett Packard, Credit Suisse English Philology, University of Wroclaw, Poland. Certified Local Government Clerk. Author of publications on offshoring and BPO investments.

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Few words about Wroclaw… Wrocław is one of the fastest developing cities in Poland. Dynamic inflow of foreign investment to the City, starting from the year 2004, increased the City’s income from taxes, making it possible to further invest in the city’s cultural, infrastructural and economic development. Growing with each year interest in Wrocław enabled diversification of sectors represented by companies that have decided to set up in Wrocław agglomeration. Recent years have brought to region a large number of companies from finance and service sectors (BPO, KPO, ITO, SSC, R&D). According to ABSL report (Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland ) “Business Service Sector in Poland”, the capital of Lower Silesia is the only city in Poland characterized by the largest number of R&D centres. In a different report prepared by Tholons (2012 Tholons Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations) Wrocław was clasified for the second time, this time as the city of most dynamic increase in interest among offshoring investors: starting from the position 84 in 2011, it advanced to position 78 in 2012 on a global list of offshoring destinations. Similarly, ABSL in its report notes, that recent years have brought

November / December 2012

a noticeable increase of Middle-East Europe share, (including Poland), in a global services offshoring market; „(…)Poland is the definite leader with respect to the number of employees in the sector in Central and Eastern Europe”.

...the capital of Lower Silesia is the only city in Poland characterized by the largest number of R&D centres. The report enumerates seven most important offshoring centers of business services in Poland, where Wrocław is mentioned as the third largest, just after Warsaw and Cracow. It is not a coincidence, that companies that offer advanced services willingly establish their quarters in Wrocław. Among the factors in favor of investing in the agglomeration, the most important one is the highly qualified workforce. Wrocław Universities educate approximately 150 000 students yearly. It means that every year a great number of graduates of numerous sectors and specializations leave the institution’s premises. Wrocław University of Technology

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is a leading University in Poland educating engineers. From the Wrocław University of Economics graduate respected on the market marketing, finance and banking people. Specialist in philologies, mathematics, physics or chemistry graduate from the Wrocław University, just to mention a few higher education institutions from the whole range of trustworthy higher education schools. Altogether in Wrocław there are over 15 000 people studying IT and approximately 10 000 students at finance and accounting departments. It is important to mention that academia is very much open towards business, which is a great added value of the city. Universities are willing to conduct numerous projects in cooperation with given foreign companies, allow the companies to present themselves on the campus, support organization of dedicated workshops or lectures. Advantages of such actions are on both sides, because students get a chance to get to know his or her future employer while participating in internship or apprenticeship programs, and start working immediately after graduating from the University. The University itself, on the other hand, increases its standing and regard due to the presence of such reputable, well known international or local investors on the Campus. The City itself is playing a huge role in promoting cooperation between academia and business, allocating some money from its budget to special promotional campaigns, programs and activities. Coordination of such projects, using potential of Universities for the development of the city, is in the hands of Wrocław Academic Hub (WAH) – a body specialty designed for such purposes by the city of Wrocław. It also important that the popularity of local Universities maintain on the high level, thus a numerous promotional campaigns are carried out, that promote Wrocław Higher Education institutions within the country as well as abroad. Some Universities, as for example Wrocław University of Technology, take a step further and open their doors (labs and auditoriums) to the pupils of elementary, middle and high schools from the Lower Silesia. Important aspect taken into consideration by a potential investor is the support of the city during the whole investment process. Wrocław can boast a very clear message in this matter: a foreign company that considers opening its activities in the Wrocław agglomeration, receives support not only during the investment process but also later on during its regular functioning. In 2004, especially for this purpose a Municipal Company called

Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency was created. Its main activity is complex advisory and support of foreign investments, with the emphasis on the onestop-shop management and post investment care. Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency prepares dedicated investment offers, reports and analysis. Throughout the years the agency has created an impressing network of cooperating business supporting institutions and gathered knowledge and know-how, so that a team of specialists efficiently prepares a set of most suitable offers for a given investor and then lead a given company throughout the whole registration process. The Agency also supports investors during the recruitment and PR campaigns. Another crucial aspect influencing investor’s final decision on the company’s destination is the quality of life of the researched city. Wrocław’s policy in this field is easy to define: a constant improvement of living conditions for the regular citizens of Wrocław as well as others using the services of the city including the expats. Having the latter group in mind, as an example what can be done for the community, there have been created three international schools and the International Friends of Wrocław Club, which even has its own newspaper (The Wrocław International).

Universities are willing to conduct numerous projects in cooperation with given foreign companies, allow the companies to present themselves on the campus, support organization of dedicated workshops or lectures. In the city there are also numerous revitalization or construction projects. Renovation of old historic buildings, road modernization and construction of new routes (including the Motorway City Bypass), improvements in public transport functioning (Tram Plus and the Intelligent Transportation System), construction of new parking spaces and modern airport terminal are just a few examples of investments from recent years. Going further in the direction of improvement of the quality of life in Wrocław easily noticeable are such projects as

November / December 2012

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the construction of the National Music Forum, one of the largest concert halls in Europe enabling organization of large scale musical events, expansion of the Wrocław ZOO, that is construction of the unique on the national scale complex of water habitats of Africa, or the construction of the Municipal Stadium, which has already hosted important sporting and cultural events. A few years ago, Wrocław became home to the New Horizons Association, the organizer of a large yearly “T-Mobile New Horizons” film festival. Additionally the Association opened in the City the largest in Europe Art House. There are many factors deciding about the investment attractiveness of cities. Wrocław has been able to work out a strategy that answers a broad spectrum of the foreign investors’ needs. Most vivid testimony to the efforts of local authorities is the fact, that the following brands have decided to locate in our region: Google, HP, BNY Mellon, Volvo, Bosch, Nokia Siemens Networks, McKinsey, Atos, REC Global, Tieto, UPS, Siemens Dolby or Qatar Airways. ■

Source: Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency (ARAW)

November / December 2012

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Wrocław’s unique platform for university-business collaboration One of the most important factors behind Poland’s spectacular success in the last twenty years has been upward mobility of young Poles. This phenomenon is illustrated in one crucial statistic: 500% growth in student count between 1990 and 2008. Poland’s academic student body hits 2 million, an exceptionally high figure considering the country’s population. While this exponential growth certainly came with additional strains to the higher education system, it exemplifies individual ambition of Poles’ that has been so essential for investors. Despite its growth, the higher education system has remained centralized in the sense that universities, autonomous as they are, strongly depend on national regulation in key areas of staff policy and assets management. One-size-fits-all approach to university governance and its modifications inherited from the previous decades have resulted in far-reaching similarities between all Polish academic institutions in all cities. This situation has been identified as a challenge for Polish higher education, which, according to OECD (2007), is characterized by “insufficient mission diversity” and “academic drift.” In addition, it has been often implied that there are gaps in the higher education system that will be difficult to bridge under current higher education governance model with its understanding of the limits of academic autonomy. Wrocław took up the challenges briefly signalled above in a unique effort to foster local strengths of higher education and support university-business relations. In 2008 the Mayor of Wrocław established Wrocław Academic Hub (WAH), an innovative platform designed to address critical challenges of university-business-government relations. The Hub designs and implements pilot actions bringing together university, business and government. Starting from 2009 WAH has ran workshops with employers and developed a work plan featuring on graduate skills, academia-to-business mobility as well as leadership skills.The plan materialized in specific projects involving

...the city has launched Poland’s first city-led platform for universitybusiness partnerships. direct contributions from business, such as “The Wrocław Graduate” and “Green Transfer”. Building on “Green Transfer’s” success in mobilizing academic talent for product development and high-end jobs creation, the city has launched Poland’s first city-led platform for university-business partnerships. Under this scheme city offers funding for partnerships involving an employer and a Wrocław academic working jointly on new products or services. Partnerships are expected to offer a long-term collaboration perspective, covering a range of issues such as graduate skills and research priorities in addition to a pragmatic core relation centred around a specific problem. Although, it is autonomous in its policy development, WAH in many ways complements support packages offered by ARAW. All WAH actions target two general priorities: labour market development or academic talent support. WAH is an element of the rapidly changing policy mix which today involves different levels of government, but which builds before anything else on developed and developing bilateral university-business collaborations. ■

Source: Wrocław Academic Hub (WAH)

November / December 2012

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Wroclaw as an adept in the fight for SSC/BPO investments – Interview with Anna Wójt, SSC CoE Department Manager at PwC Republic, but also other European countries, thanks to the newly-opened terminal. Aside from the location, a great advantage of Wroclaw is the easy access to intellectual capital – over 32.000 students graduate from universities of Wroclaw every year. The high language competence, including German, is also a factor bringing in more and more investments from the other side of the Oder River making Wroclaw an important place for German investments in this part of Europe.

Anna Wójt: Wroclaw meets all the primary criteria determining its placement on the list of potential SSC/BPO locations in Poland. Within such criteria there are included: human resources and cost of labour, office space as well as the availability of the location. Wroclaw successfully competes with such cities as Prague, Budapest or Cracow.

Wroclaw has for many years been developing its name as a city of meetings – “Wroclaw the meeting place”, as well as investing in cultural activities and programmes, making the capital of Lower Silesia an interesting place to live and work in. The effects of consistent activities are reflected, for instance, in the Antal International 2012 study, according to which even 52% of the surveyed managers in Poland would most gladly move to Wroclaw. The city has gained the reputation of a great place to live in, where one can combine interesting professional development with the balance of a private life.

Above all, the city’s strength is its location in the south-western part of Poland, with perfect road and airline connections to Germany, the Czech

O&M: What makes the city unique in terms of this type of investments? How would you describe cooperation with local authorities and universities?

Outsourcing&More: What main factors determine the selection of Wroclaw as the location for SSC/BPO investments?

November / December 2012

AW: Wroclaw is most definitely an adept in terms of cooperation with local authorities as well as activities aiming at creation a friendly investment atmosphere. From the investor’s standpoint, the city’s support in the course of selecting the location for a center, as well as during the first months after opening the office, are of key importance. A dedicated team of ARAW (Agency for the Development of the Wroclaw Agglomeration) supports the investor in such activities as i.a. preparation and conduct of the SSC/BPO center promotional campaign, cooperation with local academic centers or finding temporary space or lending own rooms if the target building is still not ready. Companies, which have invested in Wroclaw, emphasize that the open attitude of the city towards a series of concepts integrating the SSC/BPO environment, including the active support for events related to promotion of the sector, is very important to them. In the course of implementation of the city’s development strategy, Wroclaw ensures diversification of the SSC/BPO sector by conducting analyses of the local labor market and responding to the challenges signaled by the existing centers. Also of great importance is the putting of special emphasis on investments related to development

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of R&D (Research&Development) centers, which create jobs which are interesting to the highly qualified and specialized personnel, at the same time affecting the perception of work in this sector in Wroclaw. It is also worth appreciating the developed model of cooperation between the city, represented by ARAW, academic centers and the world of business. Wroclaw has decided to create an Office for Cooperation with Universities, which shall respond to the needs of SSC/BPO centers in terms of acquisition of specialized personnel, by means of adaptation of curricula or conduct of dedicated programmes. The willingness of universities to cooperate, including e.g. Wroclaw University of Technology, as well as their flexibility also significantly contribute to winning new investments in the city. O&M: What are the observed barriers for growth of the SSC/BPO sector in Wroclaw? AW: The positive assessment of the city does not mean that Wroclaw, and the local SSC/BPO environment within it, do not face challenges, which will affect the dynamics of development of this sector in the years to come. The most important barriers include the rate of development of the local labor market as well as the possibility of shaping the required skills, which would fully meet the demands of the SSC/BPO sector, including mainly foreign languages. One of the important factors is the increase in labor costs which stems from development of the

SSC/BPO sector in the city, competition between employers and the changing expectations of employees. Companies, which invested in Wroclaw in recent years, indicate new challenges which up until recently had been characteristic for the SSC/BPO market in Cracow, related mostly to keeping employees and meeting their growing expectations. Wroclaw, being the largest city of the Lower Silesian voivodeship, does not have large satellite cities which would constitute a resource of intellectual capital or the possibility of easy acquisition of new employees. In reality, more and more investors having a single center in Wroclaw look also for other locations for further growth. An example of this can be the recent decision of the HP Company, associated with Wroclaw since 2005, regarding the opening of another center in Lodz. One should not forget about the ever more resilient competition for Wroclaw either – both among Polish cities and those located in the whole region of CentralEastern Europe. The struggle for SSC/BPO investments is no longer joined only by capitals or the largest cities of the region – like Budapest, Prague or Cracow, but also cities which are relatively new to the SSC/BPO investment map – such as Kielce, Radom or Szczecin are beginning to show increased activity. Wroclaw, despite its remaining an attractive location for SSC/BPO, in the following years will have to show new initiative not only in winning new investments but also in supporting the existing SSC/BPO centers.

November / December 2012

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O&M: Does Wroclaw along with Opole stand a chance at creating an SSC “metropolis”? AW: The concept seems incredibly interesting; however, due to significant disproportion of strength and significance of the cities, I do not believe Wroclaw and Opole will decide on strict cooperation within the frames of building a southwestern SSC/BPO metropolis. Wroclaw is a mature location with numerous renowned companies such as HP, IBM, Credit Suisse or NokiaSiemens. In addition, the city is the fastest developing one in Poland in the field of R&D services and it brings in investments in the field of KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing). Opole, however, is a city which has recently been noticed on the SSC/BPO sector map thanks to its high German language competence level. Unfortunately suffers due to unavailability of A class buildings, which is one of the main criteria during location choosing process. Therefore, expecting that Wroclaw will be developing like Cracow and that Opole will match Katowice would

be unjustified. This does not, however, change the fact that close cooperation aiming at ensuring development of appropriate qualifications, exchange of experience in winning and maintaining investments, would be of great value to both cities. O&M: Thank you very much. ■

Anna Wójt SSC CoE department manager at PwC Anna Wójt has over 7 years’ experience in supervisory roles, including management experience in delivering finance processes in a Financial Service company, Shared Services Centre and Business Process Outsourcing environment. She has extensive knowledge of a wide range of Shared Services Centre activities, as well as of Credit and Collections processes. Anna also has knowledge of public sector, administration and local governance. In 2010 she received doctor degree in Political Science and Administration on University of Wroclaw.

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November / December 2012

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Interview with Agnieszka Orłowska – Managing Director of the Hewlett-Packard Global Business Center in Wrocław Outsourcing&More: When did you decide to open a center in Poland and why did you choose Wrocław? Agnieszka Orłowska: HP Global Business Center in Wrocław was set up in 2005 as one of the first business services sector investments in Lower Silesia. Today, the unit is among the five largest international outsourcing centers in Poland and employs a large number of managers and specialists who hold university degrees and have foreign language competences. The decision about locating the HP center was made by the global management after conducting a detailed analysis of the city’s resources, including human capital, infrastructure, and its geographic location, with regards to the proximity of the company’s European clients. The city’s investment climate, development potential and standard of living were also taken into account. O&M: How large is the Wrocław unit and what are your development plans for the next five years? AO: The HP Global Business Center (HP GBC) in Wrocław is planning to expand its portfolio of services. The unit, HP’s flagship center in the CEE region, will handle strategic, advanced projects in the areas of finance, accounting and marketing. This will translate into extending the profile and reach of recruitment campaigns and the creation of new jobs.

O&M: What functions/tasks/projects are handled by your organization? AO: HP GBC in Wrocław serves both international companies from the FMCG, clothing and pharmaceutical industries in Europe and the US, as well as other HP units. It offers Finance & Accounting, HR&Payroll, marketing and supply chain management

services. Soon, we will expand our portfolio to include advanced financial and accounting processes, as well as business analyses marketing and KPO services, based on expert knowledge. O&M: Did you receive any form of support from local or central authorities, if yes, to what extent?

November / December 2012

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AO: The main factors which persuaded HP to invest in Wrocław were the city’s status as an academic center, its investment climate and the local authorities’ openness to cooperation with business. We were searching for the best service center location in Europe and we found it in Lower Silesia. O&M: What criteria did you take into account while looking for office space, and where is your office located? AO: The first location of the Global Business Center was the Renoma building, famous for its architecture. After a few years, we opened another office in Globis. Our third office is located in Grunwaldzki Center office building. A feature common to all three offices is that they are located in the center of Wrocław, and therefore, have easy access to public transport. Other important factors we took into account were efficiency and functionality, as well as the possibility of adjusting the space to the needs of employees and our dynamically changing organization.

O&M: Do you cooperate with universities in Wrocław, and if yes, what form does this cooperation take? AO: The center cooperates with local universities and their academic career centers. A few years ago, we started the HP Academy program, whose aim is to increase students’ competitive advantage in the labor market. The program boosts their competence in all areas crucial for the business services sector. It includes such components as free of charge Microsoft Excel courses, English language courses, meetings with business representatives and soft competencies training. Since 2008, within the HP Academy Program, we have been organizing semesterlong SAP courses at the Wrocław University of Economics. Our specialists are involved in organizing soft competency training sessions, as well as lectures through which students can learn more about employers’ expectations, the current labor market situation and receive insight into the recruitment process. O&M: Thank you very much. ■

Interview with Martin Ring – Managing Director of BNY Mellon (Poland) Sp. z o.o.

Outsourcing&More: When was the decision made about building the Centre in Wroclaw? Why have you decided to choose this city?

at the same time consolidating a range of more common functions as we look to service what is an increasingly global client base.

Martin Ring: With a view to further optimising our global servicing infrastructure and to support our ongoing growth strategy, in March 2012 BNY Mellon announced our decision to establish a new Global Delivery Centre (GDC) based in Wroclaw, Poland.

O&M: Could you share key information about your Centre- type of processes you run, number of employees you have and languages you use?

That decision underlined our commitment to consolidating the high quality service delivery we offer our clients across a smaller number of global locations.

MR: Staff at the new Centre are working in highly skilled roles predominantly in the areas of Investment Accounting and Securities Transaction Processing. English is the predominant business language used, in addition to Polish naturally.

Here in Wroclaw that meant capitalising upon the new Centre’s proximity to a skilled workforce in a preferred time zone, and an economically attractive location, while,

The Wroclaw GDC handles fund accounting and investment operations functions across both our Asset Servicing and Alternative Investment Services businesses.

November / December 2012

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Core business activities include: complete range of accounting and administration services for complicated fund structures, daily reconciliation of trades and cash positions, trade bookings, cash reporting, trade execution and order management, trade confirmation processing, trade reconciliation and settlement, portfolio pricing, position and P&L valuation. The new Centre builds upon the success of our existing Wroclaw – based office, formerly operated by PNC Global Investment Servicing and acquired by BNY Mellon in July 2010. The office in Wroclaw currently employs just over 150 staff supporting our Investment Services businesses and has capacity for up to 350. Wroclaw is BNY Mellon’s sixth Global Delivery Centre (GDC) – the others continue to be located in Pittsburgh, Central New York, Manchester, Pune, and Chennai. The designation of Wroclaw as a GDC is testament to the key role Europe continues to play within BNY Mellon’s global strategy and represents a significant investment by the Company in supporting our future growth in this region.

O&M: What’s the plan for growth in next 5 years? MR: This will depend on business growth but – based on the experience of our other existing GDCs – we expect to ramp up staffing levels quite rapidly. There were circa 90 employees already employed in the existing Wroclaw operation when we acquired it. The Wroclaw office currently has capacity of 350 and we would hope to see this filled in the short/medium term. Depending on the speed at which we fill the existing premises, and based on new business demand, we are considering plans to expand our footprint in Wroclaw. O&M: What was the level of support you have received from local authorities? Was there any? MR: The business support framework established in Wroclaw by the Lord Mayor President Rafał Dutkiewicz is excellent. The Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency (ARAW) is very proactive and they have provided continual support to our business. The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) are also very helpful and supportive.

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We are in discussions with the Polish government to secure a special purpose grant for employment in relation to the development of our Global Delivery Center. This is naturally an important factor to be considered along with the other advantages that Wroclaw and Poland have to offer.

challenge. We have been pleasantly surprised how quickly employees have acquired proficiency in highly technical roles accordingly. Our Company places a strong value on employee engagement and these values combined with a competitive total rewards package promotes a highly engaged and successful team.

The ABSL (Association of Business Service Leaders) has recently established a local chapter in Wroclaw and this is also a great source of knowledge and experience. We have certainly received a warm welcome from all of these agencies, organisations and individuals and this has proved very beneficial as we grow our business here.

Employees have also been actively supported & encouraged to play a greater role within the Local Community. We build partnership externally with the local community through the provision of two days leave to each employee to perform voluntary community work, matching staff fundraising efforts by matching their donations etc. Through our Community Partnership Giving Program, employees have been able to contribute in a meaningful way to a local orphanage for children with special needs.

O&M: What’s your level of cooperation with local universities, schools? What’s your opinion on the local labour pool? MR: We have a great team here in Wroclaw and we have been very impressed by the high level of commitment and enthusiasm displayed by our employees. Wroclaw is a major university city and so has the demographics we were looking for; the close proximity of other, neighbouring university cities also offers a deep pool of educated, talented and motivated graduates possessing excellent English and other foreign language skills. We are seeking for graduates with a strong intellectual curiosity, good communication skills, enthusiasm and creativity. We are looking for demonstrated initiative and the ability to function well as a member of a team. Given the technical environment, strong analytical and numerical skills are critical. Knowledge of financial instruments would be desirable. Strong written and verbal English communications skills are essential. We are working closely with a number of universities at the moment including the University of Economics in Wroclaw. We would welcome applications from students who have studied business related subjects at universities across Poland. We are impressed with the quality of people we meet at interviews We recognise high potential and willingness to develop. We build partnership internally with our employees encouraging them to take ‘self-accountability’ for their own development & career progression. We provide a transparent framework to support this through ensuring equal opportunities, internal Learning & Development schemes etc. We provide a workplace where our employees are encouraged and supported to step up to meet the next

November / December 2012

O&M: Would you recommend Wroclaw as potential SSC/ BPO destination? MR: Wroclaw is a great place to do business and I would certainly have no hesitation recommending it as a destination. When setting up a business in Poland, it is very important to understand the legal, statutory and regulatory framework. Good taxation, accounting and legal guidance is essential when setting up a new business here. Wroclaw was carefully assessed (including numerous site visits) to ensure the location’s suitability in terms of meeting our specific growth targets. Talent, infrastructure and legal/regulatory considerations were all key criteria in the decision-making process as well as a financial incentive from the Polish government. In geographic terms, Poland is located in the heart of Central Europe and in time zone terms sits exactly between New York/Pittsburgh (minus six hours) and Singapore (plus six hours). This is in line with our ‘follow the sun’ operational strategy for supporting our clients globally on a 24/7 basis. Wroclaw has strong infrastructure with other EMEA countries where we have operations (notably Germany), as well as strong cultural/historical links with those countries and also the USA. And, as noted, the Wroclaw operation has already established itself as a proven success story for BNY Mellon. O&M: Thank you very much. ■

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Wrocław participating the trend of outsourcing

– Interview with Grzegorz Paszkiewicz, Vice President for Business Development of Casus Finanse SA.

Outsourcing and offshoring – as a method to optimize the company’s costs and to increase the possibility of focusing on operation actions – is rapidly growing in concern. Participating the trend of this phenomenon there are formed centers gathering companies of business process outsourcing sector, SSC (Shared Service Centers) and international companies R&D centers (research and development). One of the fastest spreading this type hubs in Poland and Europe is Wrocław, which for the past three years has become the most preferred place to establish R&D centers in Poland and in the whole region of Central and Eastern Europe. It is also one of the three most popular locations to establish Shared Service Centers in Poland. So far, companies like HP, IBM, Capgemini, Nokia Siemens Networks, Tieto have placed here their BPO and Shared Service Centers. About the reasons of Wrocław attractiveness to the modern service sector for business investors we are interviewing with Grzegorz Paszkiewicz – Vice President for Business Development of Casus Finanse SA, which is placed in Wrocław. Outsourcing&More: Why in particular Wrocław? Grzegorz Paszkiewicz: I come from Wroclaw, it is a city where I graduated my studies and always wanted to come back. Situation was so fortunate that I did not have to give up the sentiment, because this city had provided suitable base to construct a stable and modern business to me and my partners. Increasing development of the city and the influx of foreign investors in particular, made much easier for us to explore completely new business ideas, solutions and way of thinking – completely different from what we knew before.

At this point we conceived that the outsourcing could become one of the best export goods of our region. Our assumptions proved to be correct and Wrocław became one of the most attractive cities in Poland for BPO/SSC sector. It is worth mentioning that Wrocław is a leader in employment growth in this sector. In past two years we have marked almost 85% increase

November / December 2012

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of employment to about 9000 employees in 2011. Wrocław percentage participation in employment reached the level of 15% at the end of 2011 year. At the same time, as the only city from the lead, we have increased our participation level of employment in the country scale of almost 3% during the 2010-2011. Warsaw and Cracow participation level in employment decreased at the same time (respectively – 1,8% and 0,7%). O&M: What causes such a forceful development of BPO/ SSC sector in Wrocław? GP: I think, that the greatest impact comes from large academic background, ensuring many specialities. We have very good software developers, analysts, economists, HR-managers. Their main advantage, except substantive knowledge, is proficiency in foreign languages. Over 90% of students declare ability to speak English and over 43% can communicate in German. It should be stressed, that they also do not have problems in multinational environments communication what is one of the most important abilities for international companies causing the effectiveness augmentation. Next important matter which increases Wrocław’s attractiveness is proactive attitude of municipalities. It is very important for the foreign companies in preinvestment process. Through initiatives such as ARAW (Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency) the city creates an impression of being open for new investment assets, actively supporting located in it businesses through reliable data and recruitment support (eg. Mozart program). Other factor that is worth to notice is a very good traffic infrastructure, which is important for future investments. In my opinion is not without significance that nowadays is quite easy to reach Wrocław from every bigger city in Europe and Poland. Wrocław’s international airport gives the possibility to travel both ways to most cities in our part of Europe, coming back for the night to your own house, what I really appreciate. Last but not least is the big variety of possibilities for spending free time in Wrocław. Many cultural events and a vivid nightlife give a chance to rest and relax after a busy working day. O&M: BPO is relatively young trend in business, but more and more companies begin to see chances which are related with outsourcing. How Wrocław is seen in the world perspective?

November / December 2012

Crisis had actually missed BPO sector. Or maybe it will be correct if I say – we have more opportunities after crisis because every company seeks savings now which is in fact main idea of outsourcing. GP: In my opinion, companies of this sector are operating in BPO areas for years now, but we were not able to name it as “Outsourcing”. Since this market has began to be intentionally called “BPO” we have started observing it more, because we finally could consolidate data that were mostly scattered. Through this observation, I can state, that we are not far behind other cities in this sector in the world. Because of the size, we cannot match with cities like Bangalore, but we can compensate it being much more innovative, flexible and active. Nowadays we – Poles – educate our region in Europe in outsourcing benefits. For comparison – USA are currently re-educated in offshoring by India which offers lower costs with almost the same quality. Concluding, taking under consideration scale of BPO/ SSC sector in India with its strength impact in the world comparing with Polish scale and impact strength in Europe, there is much to be appreciated in international arena. Speaking more, it is our flexibility, that builds our advantage. Because of it we can react so quickly – not only in BPO/SSC sector. It is worth to stress, that after Lehman Brother failure we managed the crisis, while other European countries had to learn economics from scratch. O&M: If flexibility is so important – are there processes limits, which could be outsourced by Wrocław companies? GP: In my opinion, there are no such limits, if we are talking about know-how. We gained the knowledge how many processes could be improved and in various scope we manage it every day. At the moment, we do not have such investment abilities as HP or Infosys BPO, but we are definitely going in the right direction to suggest new BPO ideas as surprising as last information that NASA will outsource the process of deliveries to space station to SpaceX. It also highlights the newly created trend, that government agencies started to outsource some of their processes as well.

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O&M: What do BPO companies from Wrocław nowadays do? GP: Supporting business. Speaking about only companies without any connections to foreign consortiums I can state that our local specialty are services connected with call centers and debt management processes. There are a few top level companies in Wrocław operating in this two areas. I suppose, that particularly in this two areas, because of representing the highest service level we have the knowledge that could be shared by exporting our know-how to other regions. In this I can see our next specialty in close future. Some of companies, including ours, began doing it, both: in Poland and abroad. Effects are noticed quickly, what assures me that really gained this knowledge.

It also highlights the newly created trend, that government agencies started to outsource some of their processes as well. GP: On our own example, I think that our sector is in good condition and it is growing fast with wide perspectives. Crisis had actually missed BPO sector. Or maybe it will be correct if I say – we have more opportunities after crisis because every company seeks savings now which is in fact main idea of outsourcing. That is why our market (BPO) is growing so fast. We have great know-how, very good IT and technological support and we are able to guide many processes in cheaper, faster and often better way.

O&M: How Casus Finanse Group represents BPO sector? GP: We are mainly representing the two mentioned earlier areas. We provide to our customers complex and multidisciplinary management processes related with debts. In this fields we are focused on prevention and supplying Knowledge Process Outsourcing. In our Group we have developed few brands specialized it various debt management areas: Casus Finanse, Casus Kancelaria, Casus Detektyw. At the moment, we are also providing business with ultramodern call center services, which we proceed by our youngest brand – BPO Management. Since few months we are also a member of ABSL (Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland). O&M: How does your cooperation with client look in practice? How does Wrocław influence it? GP: We follow the WIN-WIN rule. Our mission is to support business, what determines trying to elaborate with every partner, cooperation formula that will guarantee benefits to both sides. In practice, most important are: respect, openness and transparency. It is very important to understand partner’s business goal. Knowing the target we choose suitable processes, tools – according to our main principle “We act in your matter”. That is the point which makes us able to use full potential of Wrocław and its biggest value – involved and great people. Our partners admit very often that they like coming to Wrocław very much, what makes us much easier to build honest partnerships being hosted in such a great city. O&M: Nowadays economy slowed down because of crisis, companies are reducing employment level. How did it influence BPO sector? How did it influence Casus Finanse Group?

In only past two years Casus Finanse Group has increased employment in 30%. Until the end of this year we are planning to have over 400 employees. It is possible because of mentioned flexibility and base of great professionals. With them we have understood the new mechanics of the market and new market needs and we are equaling them. O&M: What are the perspectives for Wrocław in nearest future? What are the plans for Casus Finanse Group for nearest few months? GP: I think, that Wrocław could vie with others cities to title of best place to make your business and that is, the way I suppose it should go. In nearest future BPO/SSC sector will accomplish over 100 000 employees level in Poland and meaningful part of this count has Wrocław. Having here all the matters, that I said about – Wrocław has great, well-educated people, good traffic infrastructure and much more. That makes Wrocław able to have its own specialty – highest quality BPO. Casus Finanse Group is going to propose new cooperation formula between businesses and people in our region. I think, that next companies will be able to use Wrocław’s opportunities much more. That is the way that we can contribute to region development, which gave us conditions to make business, whereby we reach our position. O&M: Thank you very much. ■ Grzegorz Paszkiewicz Creator and founder of Casus Finanse (1997), Vice President for Business Development. Responsible for development in the fields of leasing, factoring, car fleet management and Business Process Outsourcing. His latest venture is a newly established brand BPO Management.

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Interview with Małgorzata Jasińska, CEE Corporate Accounts Director at Hays Specialist Recruitmentt Outsourcing&More: Where does Poland figure on the Global outsourcing map? Małgorzata Jasińska: Poland can be called one of the leaders of the business services market, which encompasses both SSC/BPO and R&D services. According to Everest Group, the international consulting company, Poland ranks alongside China, Brazil, India and Philippines as one of top five mature locations for outsourcing worldwide. Moreover we are perceived as a country that offers a higher quality, especially when advanced services are taken into consideration. It is also worth mentioning that in the latest World Bank report, ‘Doing Business 2013’, Poland has taken a great leap forward climbing seven places in the rankings. Of particular importance is the fact that Poland came top when assessing the biggest improvement which has been made to facilitate the investment process. Therefore we can expect more incoming investment also from the BPO/SSC sector. O&M: You are responsible not only for the Polish market but you also cover Hungary and the Czech Republic. Where does Poland rank in the CEE? MJ: In recent years Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – has

November / December 2012

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Of the 225,000 people employed in the sector in CEE, over a third are employed in Poland. become a very important region for Business Services. International corporations have discovered that they do not have to outsource processes to Asia in order to lower their cost bases but can relocate their processes to CEE, where the service quality is on the same level if not higher. It is also considerably easier to find specialists speaking European languages other than English. What mainly differentiates Poland from other countries in the region is the extent to which the sector has developed. Of the 225,000 people employed in the sector in CEE, over a third are employed in Poland. Another difference is the number of cities, where the centres are located. In other CEE countries knowledge-based businesses are mainly located in the capital and one or two more cities. Poland counts eight leading metropolitan regions, specialising in Business Services, with Krakow, Warsaw and Wroclaw leading the way, followed by Lodz, Katowice, Poznan, Szczecin and Tricity. There are also a number of smaller Polish cities that are becoming viable alternatives for projects with simpler processes. O&M: You mention Wroclaw. How important is it a centre of outsourcing excellence? MJ: Wroclaw is a unique place on the Polish Business Services map. First of all, it is currently the fastest growing SSC/BPO location in Poland. According to ABSL data, 5,900 new workplaces were created there between 2009 and 2011 alone. The research company fDi Intelligence recently revealed that for the first half of 2012 (January-June), Wroclaw ranked third in terms of new workplaces created in the Business Services sector. The city also has the highest employment ratio in R&D and KPO centres among Polish cities with a third of sector employees working in centres dealing with advanced processes.

Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Crisil Irevna or the recently opened Dolby R&D centre. O&M: What do you think, are the reasons behind Wroclaw’s success? MJ: It is hard to pinpoint one. A factor is definitely Wroclaw’s brand promotion strategy as a city open for science and keen to attract such investment. It is worth mentioning that only very developed metropolitan areas, that can meet the needs and wants of such specialised investors, can opt for such a strategy. Very rarely is it possible to start attracting high-end investors from the very beginning. Advanced processes are usually associated with much higher financial contributions with potentially catastrophic losses for unsuitable locations. That is why it is so important to attract and gain the trust of foreign investors from all possible sectors and providing all kinds of services. The investor has a chance to find out more about the location and discover its potential. He can then come back with more advanced processes. This was the case of the Whirlpool and LG factories in Wroclaw. At first, the companies decided to only set up manufacturing processes and after some time the R&D centres followed. Hewlett-Packard followed a similar scenario. At the beginning the Wroclaw centre supported only simple AP/AR processes and now the employees’ of the centre manage financial, accounting and payroll processes for HP branches in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). They also support some of HP’s clients (among them Procter&Gamble) in marketing activities and strategic planning.

Graph 1. Number of graduates from selected faculties in Wroclaw 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500

The trend of moving from simpler to more advanced processes is very apparent throughout Poland, from simple AP/AR processes through to comprehensive bookkeeping and financial analysis for global clients and from simple 1st line IT support, to server administration and software development for the largest corporate clients in the world. Examples of such centres include Nokia Siemens Network,

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Source: Bank Danych Lokalnych, GUS

November / December 2012

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O&M: Is it therefore sufficient to just have the right strategy and count on investment to follow? MJ: Absolutely not! Strategy aside, Wroclaw has also a numerous and educated workforce. The Wroclaw University of Technology, the largest technical university in the region is, according to Perspektywy Ranking, the second best technical university in Poland. In 2011, almost half of its 32,000 students were on technical and engineering courses, such as Mechanics and Machine Building or Automatics and Robotics. Another 5,700 were studying in the production and processing faculties eg. Material Engineering. There were 3,200 Engineering graduates in 2011, an increase of 50% compared to 2010. Wroclaw also has the second largest number of IT graduates among Polish cities – producing around 1,600 highly skilled IT graduate s each year. It is evident that, Wroclaw is fast becoming an advanced services centre and is building a strong academic base, relying heavily on the Business to Universities (B2U) cooperation. One such example might be the facilitation of the acquisition of suitable candidates entering the job market. The Wroclaw Academic Hub, created in 2008, is an institution that helps to coordinate education policies with market requirements to meet the demands of both employers and graduates. O&M: In what other ways can the city attract more foreign investors? MJ: It is very important to build the widest possible network of cooperation. Acquiring a new investor is beneficial for many organisations and institutions and they can usually help the process along by providing relevant data or services. Another important factor is the general business environment and cooperation among the companies in the sector; for example, there are a number of associations that connect local SSC/BPO companies in Wroclaw. Their main aim is to support their members but also provide the necessary information for new potential investors. O&M: And what are the salary levels In Wroclaw? MJ: The main factor that determines salary levels in the Business Services sector is the job profile and the required skills, for example knowledge of certain technologies and systems or foreign languages. The availability of candidates with these skills in the local market is

November / December 2012

Table 1. Average gross monthly salaries in PLN for selected positions in Wroclaw

Position (only English required)

Salary Min

Max

Junior Accountant

2800

3500

Accountant

3300

4500

Accounting Team Leader

6500

10000

Administrator IT

3500

6000

Senior IT Administrator

4000

8000

(Senior) Java Developer

6000

10000

Source: Hays Poland, November 2012

also very important because it determines the difficulty of recruiting such candidates and therefore the associated costs. For example, Wroclaw has a greater than average availability of Dutch speaking candidates due to its philology faculty and so the cost of sourcing these niche skills is lower. Employer brand is also an important factor. Quite often jobseekers are willing to accept a lower salary in return for the possibility of gaining experience in a well-known and prestigious organisation. According to a recent Hays Poland survey, completed by 4,000 SSC/BPO employees, our findings revealed that that jobseekers prefer to work for companies that can offer variety and interesting projects and where they can develop their careers. These factors are often valued higher than a good base salary. Considering that the city specialises in advanced processes, employers typically do meet these requirements and is a major factor why Wroclaw can also offer a competitive advantage costwise. O&M: What advice would you give to a company wanting to set up operations in Wroclaw? MJ: First of all, never base your decision only on ’paper’ analyses. They are of course very important and investors should carefully examine all the preliminary forecasts, including the availability and costs of Human Resources. But apart from that, it is also important to get a feel for the ‘climate’ of the city and look at the region through the eyes of its inhabitants. I have been a part of a couple of investment projects, during which, after preliminary analysis, the city was considered only as a secondary location but evaluations changed following an actual visit and they fell in love with the place. Wroclaw is a very good example of this. O&M: Thank you very much. ■

Outsourcing & More | Report

Office Market in Wroclaw 2012 saw the completion of the Wroclaw’s airport expansion. As a result, an additional terminal has been added to the existing facility. To sum up, improving transport accessibility, labour force pool of the extraordinary quality, high level of economic infrastructure and friendly business and living environment work intensively in favour of Wroclaw and translated also into rapid development of the city’s office market. Office Supply

Wroclaw’s increasing economic role as a major financial and information technology hub guarantees the stable future growth in the service sector and, as a result, the constant development of the office market. The city is considered as the second, after Krakow, most attractive destination in terms of the number of shared service centres. Companies such as IBM, Credit Agricole, Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, Credit Suisse and Google, have already chosen Wroclaw. As a capital city of the Lower Silesia region, it is conveniently located in a close proximity to the Czech Republic and Germany. It is Poland’s fourth biggest city, with a large population of students (over 140,000 in 39 high schools). The local government continues the city’s development strategy, focusing on the creation of a favourable business and cultural environment for the inhabitants and new investors. The rate of unemployment is one of the lowest in the country (5,3% in May 2012). It is comparable to the other major Polish cities but much lower than the average for Poland (12,4%). The low unemployment is a result of strong inflow of foreign investments to the city and surroundings, thanks to a rapid expansion of Wroclaw Special Economic Sub-Zone.

The total modern office stock exceeded 425,000 sq m at the end of H1 2012. The most favourable business locations in Wroclaw are:

Graph 1. Office Supply by Location

3% North

2% East

7% South

53% Centre 35% West

Source: CBRE

Wroclaw’s biggest infrastructure investments concern the enlargement, improvement and modernisation of the city’s road system. Wroclaw, as a one of the cities hosting the EURO 2012 event, had to significantly improve the road infrastructure and to build a new stadium from scratch.

Fringe of the City Center, where the newest buildings are located such as Grunwaldzki Center, Bema Plaza and Globis. Currently over 50% of total modern stock is located in the area. The western part of the city, along Legnicka and Strzegomska streets up to the western ring-road, with the most recent additions to the market, like Green Towers or the newest phase of Wojdyla Business Park. Along Powstancow Slaskich St., in the southern part of the city.

The city’s ring-road has been completed in the middle of 2011, significantly improving the transportation around the city.

Additionally, new locations appear, such as northern part – Woloska Street, Promenady Wroclawskie or Psie Pole.

November / December 2012

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Graph 2. Office supply in Wroclaw (sq m).

Graph 3. Office Take-Up in Wroclaw (sq m) 100000

150000

80000

120000

60000

90000

40000

60000

20000

30000 0

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012F 2013F 2014F

New Supply

Under Construction

Planned

Source: CBRE / WRF

The majority of projects are stand-alone buildings, new schemes or refurbished tenement houses in the immediate centre. For a long time only local developers (Archicom, Descont, Devco, FIG, LC Corp) have been active in the market. However, the growing popularity of the city has attracted large developers such as Skanska, Ghelamco, GTC or Echo Investment. The economic slowdown of 2009, has substantially stifled the office development activity in Wroclaw. The city turned out to be the most flexible in comparison to other Polish agglomerations. As a result, the completions amounted to only 40,000 sq m in 2010-2011. However, in the light of a growing demand, developers have announced a number of new projects. Some of them were started speculatively such as Green Towers or Promenady Wroclawskie. In total, there is 95,000 sq m under construction and over 700,000 sq m on different stages of the planning process. Office Demand The inflow of off-shoring and service centres has again appeared in the city, which impacted the higher office takeup level and the low vacancy rate. The city has again become a popular destination for international corporations. There are not only BPO centres generating the demand, but also local or national service providers such as banks, insurance, financial companies, lawyers etc. The total take-up in 2011 reached 53,000 sq m. In the first half of 2012 it amounted to 17,000 sq m. Largest lease agreements registered in 2012 so far include the expansion of Tieto Poland’s pre-let in Aquarius Business House (3,800 sq m) and a new agreement of BD Europe in Green Towers (1,100 sq m). An average transaction size during the last two years oscillated around 800 sq m. The positive trend

November / December 2012

2005

2006

2007

Take-up (sq m)

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012F

Forecast

Source: CBRE / WRF

in terms of the demand for modern office space in Wroclaw is expected to continue in the upcoming quarters. The vacancy rate in Wroclaw is the lowest among other Polish cities and amounts to 5%. In most cases, vacant space is located in small units. In the end of Q2 2012 there were only two immediate options for companies looking for over 3,000 sq m of office space in one scheme. Given the strong leasing activity, the vacant office space should be quickly absorbed by the market. Office Rents Given the low vacancy rate and strong tenants’ activity, the headline rents in Wroclaw are on relatively high level of EUR 15-16/sq m/month, while the average rents are estimated at EUR 13-14/sq m/month. Investment Market Investment activity in regional markets has always been quite limited due to the low availability of prime assets. The yearly volume of investment transactions in Wroclaw has never exceeded EUR 200 million. The last offce investment transaction registered in Wroclaw took place in 2010. As a result, Skanska transacted Grunwaldzki Centre to RREEF Grundbesitz-Global for over EUR 70 million with the yield estimated at 7.3%. ■

Author: Konrad Heidinger Consultant, Consultancy & Research, CBRE

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Main Topic

Human Resources Outsourcing 46 Interview with Piotr Palikowski – President of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management 50 Business with education as a remedy for the problems of the labor market

59 Co-sourcing with collaborative talent 62 Temporary employment – a solution not only for hard times 64 Outsourcing of human resources-and-remunerationrelated services and personal data protection 66 To train or not to train? This is the question! Are Polish companies use the services of external training companies? 68 The private medical care market in Poland 70 Outsourcing of HR Development Functions? – Interview with Aleksander Drzewiecki, CEO of the House of Skills 72 The advantages of certified in-house trainers

51 It’s good to evaluate employees on flexible contracts 52 The development of human resources outsourcing in Poland 56 Process Outsourcing – a modern alternative to traditional solutions?

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | Interview

Interview with Piotr Palikowski – President of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management

Growth of the sectors of modern business services and outsourcing will largely depend on investments in human resources. Expanding collaboration with universities, practical education, popularization of the fields of study which educate specialists, who are in great demand on the labor market – these are key issues – states the President of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management – Piotr Palikowski. Outsourcing&More: In 2011, the value of the outsourcing sector in Poland exceeded PLN 13 billion. This was due to the inflow of new foreign investors and more multimillion contracts implemented by international business services centers operating in the country. In fact, Poland is a leading offshoring location on the global map of business services. Is HR services outsourcing in its full bloom too? Piotr Palikowski: Poland constantly attracts new investments from the outsourcing field. This is influenced by the high availability of suitable staff, relatively low labor costsas well asthe stable economic growth which is still slightly higher than in other European countries. Business

November / December 2012

When operating on numerous markets, companies mostly want to focus on their key activity. This trend will continue to develop especially within the scope of the services most commonly contracted to Poland such as financial, HR and IT processes. We can thus, without a doubt, speak of an HR services outsourcing bloom, especially of its key elements which are mostly constituted by HR and Payroll services.

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services centers in Poland more and more often act as nodes of process centralization not only for companies from neighboring countries but even other continents. Global development more and more frequently affects the making of decisions on transfer of specific functions to external suppliers. When operating on numerous markets, companies want to focus mostly on their key activity.

The crisis did not have a negative

This trend will continue to develop especially within the scope of the services most commonly contracted to Poland such as financial, HR and IT processes. We can thus, without a doubt, speak of an HR services outsourcing bloom, especially of its key elements which are mostly constituted by HR and Payroll services.

reduction. In a situation of an

O&M: Then, by HR services outsourcing, should we understand only the HR and payroll area?

more flexible solutions. High

PP: The most important players on the global HR outsourcing market are large companies whose key activity in fact consists in specialized HR and payroll services. But, apart from those, there also operate enterprises whose primary activity lies in HR consultancy while HR and Payroll services constitute one of the additional branches.

domain of our times.

O&M: Why do enterprises choose outsourcing for such important services?

impact on the situation in the industry because outsourcing solutions are mostly intended for process optimization and cost economic downturn, companies often resign extensive HR projects but, at the same time, seek specialization is, after all, a distinct Such high decentralization enables better HR management, more effective reaching of employees and thus a higher efficiency of HR administrators. Instead of creating several divisions in the organization out of which one is supposed to be the HR department, it is better to dedicate one HR specialist to each of them who, thanks to functioning inside a given structure, will better understand the needs of its employees.

PP: The answer is simple â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is about cost optimization. Outsourcing a companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s key functional elements which do not, however, constitute the basis of its activity, is more effective. When using e.g. the services of a temporary work agency, the employer gets rid of recruitment problems, additional costs and possible issues associated with the changing regulations and provisions of the labor law. HR Outsourcing allows to focus on strategic activities within the field of HR whereas particular administration of all the processes is dealt with by an external provider whom the company settles against the provided services.

O&M: Is this supposed to bring HR administrators closed to other employees?

O&M: Then what role do HR administrators play in companies which outsource execution of HR processes?

O&M: Are there any elements of HR which must not be outsourced?

PP: Currently, we are dealing with a tendency to slim down HR structures and to simultaneously rebuild them in the direction of hybrid organizational structures.A popular idea is the one of an HR Business Partner dedicated to a specific department â&#x20AC;&#x201C; sales, logistics or marketing. It is an idea constituting in bringing HR closer to the business activity of the company unlike the previous order i.e. separation of staff management as an individual area of the company.

PP: Yes, the strategy of human capital management must definitely not be outsourced. Despite the many advantages of outsourcing HR and payroll services and other functions, in an organization there must be someone who plays the strategic role and determines the objectives in the area of the HR policy.

PP: That too. Unfortunately, in Poland the role and importance of HR management is still not appreciated by the other employees. And so, in order to change this state of affairs, HR administrators should, first of all, be allowed direct contact with the other employees and involved in the work specificity of each department. This will enable them to better understand a given structure but also to manage human capital more effectively.

O&M: Then what, in your opinion, does the perfect HR structure model look like?

November / December 2012

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PP: In business there are probably no perfect solutions since every market and every organization is different. Personally, I am in favor of outsourcing because maintenance of extensive internal structures which are not associated with the primary business activity nearly always turns out to be less efficient.

PP: Growth of the sectors of modern business services and outsourcing will largely depend on investments in human resources. Expanding collaboration with universities, practical education, popularization of fields of study which educate specialists who are in great demand on the labor market are the key issues.

I also believe that in medium, and certainly in large companies, the HR director ought to be responsible for the human capital development strategy from the position of a board member. In my opinion, in an organization there should be HR Business Partners who are assigned to specific departments and who manage human resources in each of them. All the rest should be outsourced. Besides, in an organization there should be an HR director having the rank of a board member who oversees complete implementation of the entire strategy.

The sector of BPO and shared service centers begins to grapple with the problem of insufficient availability of specialized staff, all the more so because rotation indices in this industry have always been high. This is the biggest limitation for development of this sector in Poland.

O&M: Do you believe that the crisis has affected the HR services industry in Poland? PP: I believe, that the crisis did not have a negative impact on the situation in the industry because outsourcing solutions are mostly intended for process optimization and cost reduction. Naturally, in a situation of an economic downturn, companies often resign extensive HR projects but, at the same time, seek more flexible solutions. High specialization is, after all, a distinct domain of our times. O&M: Can we support development of the outsourcing industry and how?

November / December 2012

O&M: This seems to be a systemic problem which affects many companies. How do employers from the outsourcing industry cope with this issue? PP: Cooperation of business and education is the key element here, both in the context of exchange of information and in the form of practical presence of employers in schools and universities. Employers know who they need, what kind of employees they are looking for and who they will need in the future. This knowledge ought to be the primary source of information for universities and school and university students. The Polish Association for Human Resources Management realizes this problem as well as the consequences associated with lack of counteraction of this situation. Therefore, together with the Polish Agency for Development of Entrepreneurship, we have gotten involved with the

Outsourcing & More | Interview

HR industry in Poland. What form of cooperation can it recommend to employers from the outsourcing services sector? PP: We strive to realize our mission mostly through propagating and rewarding good practices in the area of human capital management. We invite all the employers, who are aware of the role and importance of human resources management, to become members of PAHRM. We bring together companies which treat staff management as a key element to building a competitive advantage on the market.

project entitled Business for Education. Over the next two years, we will conduct a number of activities directed to employers, managers and HR administrators, aiming at popularization of the cooperation of business with education. The education system does not prepare candidates corresponding to the needs of the labor market. This is why, together with employers, we want to contribute to solving this problem, support companies in preparation of qualified employees and help school and university students to actively prepare for work. O&M: Let us not be too harsh on ourselves. Does not the Polish business cooperate with education at all? We have a number of employer branding activities and good practices aimed at such cooperation... PP: True, I agree. The problem is that there is still not enough of them, although BPO and shared service centers are in fact very active in this area. In order to present and award those companies which truly go out to schools and universities, we have organized the contest entitled Employer of Tomorrow. The idea behind it is to highlight the importance of cooperation of companies with schools and universities in order to better professionally prepare future employees as well as to propagate the cooperation of business and education and its benefits. We invite all the companies which conduct wellthought-out activities aimed at recruitment of young people to work to participate in the contest. Building of the good employer image is one of the most important tasks for HR administrators who work in outsourcing companies. O&M: The Polish Association for Human Resources Management is committed to the development of the

PAHRM membership also allows to use many free tools for building the company’s image as a good employer. Our Members can, free of charge, undertake the Highest Quality HR certification test which confirms implementation of the HR policy at a global level. Such certificate may be of great value to companies which are looking for building tools of the good employer image. O&M: Thank you for your time. ■

Piotr Palikowski President of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management Philosophy graduate of the University of Silesia. Since the beginning of his career, he has been working for the benefit of integration and development of the HR environment in Poland. From 2002 – Office Director of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management’s Board, from 2005 – Board Member of the said Association. Co-author and Head of the Steering Committee of one of the first projects co-financed from the European Social Fund in Poland (the IW Equal project implemented in partnership by the Polish Association for Human Resources Management). Member of the Monitoring SubCommittee for the Human Capital Programme in the Mazowieckie Province and Chairman of the National Thematic Network for Adaptability in the Human Capital Programme. Author of numerous publications on HR, reports and studies. He is particularly interested in issues associated with adaptation of the education system to the needs of the labor market. A sailor.

November / December 2012

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Business with education as a remedy for the problems of the labor market Nearly 80% of employers looking for employees find it difficult to recruit people with proper qualifications. At the same time, the unemployment rate among young people is constantly increasing. This competence mismatch is one of the key issues of the labor market. The top list of problems of the labor market also includes the decrease in the birth rate, failure to adapt educational fields of study to the needs of employees as well as the economic downturn. Is there a good therapy out there that could be applied? The wave-like effect of the decrease in the birth rate is approaching companies. CSO predicts that the number of people of working age by 2035 will have decreased from 24.6 million in 2008 to 20.7 million in 2035, out of which 1.2 million is how many will be gone in the years 2015-2020 alone. Demographic problems, however, are not the only malady of the labor market. What is equally threatening is the growing competence mismatch which, due to the decrease in the birth rate, shall be constantly intensifying.

– Cooperation of business with education is one of the conditions necessary in order to provide for development of Polish enterprises, reduce the problem of competence mismatch on the labor market as well as to give young people a better head start into their careers – answers Anna Świebocka-Nerkowska, Director of the Department for Human Capital Development at the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. – This is why we have decided to launch the project entitled Business for Education which through practical examples presents how enterprises, regardless of their size, can get involved in education at the middle and higher levels – she adds. Held in all regions of Poland as part of the project will be seminars devoted to models of business and education cooperation, mentoring programs, internships at companies, employer conferences at education centers and activities aiming to promote the types of qualifications which are sought by employers.

– A majority of employers have difficulties with finding qualified employees in various areas of employment: workers, specialists, managerial staff – says Robert Żelewski, HR Director and Chairman of Program Council of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management.

– Not only do we want to inform employers that without their involvement in the education sector the situation on the labor market will not improve, but we also intend to show them how to take the initiative and, in a way, train their future staff themselves – comments Piotr Palikowski, President of the Polish Association for Human Resources Management, coorganizer of the project.

– In my opinion, the main issue of the education sector are the curricula which produce graduates with overly extensive general knowledge whereas they should have more specialist and practical knowledge. There are also not enough classes which would allow young people to practice the so-called soft skills such as communication, cooperation, project management or dealing with stress and challenges – he adds.

– It is the employers who know best what employees they need and what specialists will be indispensable in a couple of years. We must know how to share this knowledge with schools, students and their parents. Otherwise, the sociodemographic problems will intensify which shall soon have an effect on all of us – he adds. ■

This opinion is confirmed by the studies of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, which indicate that almost 80% of employers looking for employees have issues with recruitment of people with the needed qualifications. Paradoxically, the unemployment rate among young people remains at 24.9% and there is nothing that would give hopes for development in this area. So how to break this seeming stalemate?

November / December 2012

Source: Polish Association for Human Resources Management

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It’s good to evaluate employees on flexible contracts Nearly 30% of currently employed in Poland are not employees in terms of Polish law. According to the definition, an employee is only a person who works on terms of an employment contract. Those who have signed a contract for specific task or contract of mandate are not considered employees. In 2007 the civil law agreements were utilised by only 2% of employers. Today – almost five times more than that. A group of people working on temporary contracts continuously grows. This brings new challenges for HR management. Before the flexible civil law agreements became popular, most people had signed an employment contract. HR managers had a chance to observe how did they work to assess a personality type and monitor possible mistakes. The employees were tied to one job and one workplace and it was easy to evaluate their progress and manage a path of personal development. Currently, due to changes on the labour market, including the rise of new type of jobs, new ways of doing the work have been invented: remote working and contract of mandate. According to research, over 10% of Polish employers delegate work to remote workers. Apart from that standard contracts of employment are being replaced with temporary contracts and contracts for a specific work. Dynamics of change can lead to a conclusion that the evaluation is pointless. On the other hand, people are curious of how are they perceived by others and expect feedback, no matter on terms of what contract they render services. Choosing an adequate method enables the HR people to evaluate any kind of worker.

services sector. The company hired almost 200 workers. There were employees as well as people with contracts of mandate. A benchmark for the implementation was an analysis of assessment systems in world’s leading companies with a similar profile. On the basis of how similar systems worked abroad, the company created a scheme in which for each of the jobs there was a list of specific competences. The directors (with employment contracts) were evaluated by the managing board members, managers (with managerial contracts) by directors of respective departments and the remaining workers (contracts of employment and contracts of mandate) by the managers. Thanks to the cascade method of assessment, each worker – regardless of the type of contract – was encompassed with the evaluation system. Currently, the system works online, which enables both the assessors and the assessed have the access to the tool. The results of the worker survey proved the legitimacy of the implemented system. People hired on contacts other than the employment contract underline that the evaluation convinced them that they are treated the same way as the regular employees. Modern ways of hiring the workers as well as outsourcing many tasks makes it seem that in-house HR people are of less and less importance. This is not true. The HR departments are now more important than ever before. The more complicated the organisational structure the more aware of their role must be the HR people. ■

Recently, many companies decided to make a change from department to project organisational structure. It is a system well known in consulting companies which operate with project teams and they are very focused on flexibility of employment. Each team is built with sufficient experts and consultants for a certain task and after the project is completed, the team is dismissed. For instance, there was a project of implementing a system of periodic performance assessment combined with a motivational program in a nationwide company from the

Author: Bartosz Makles The creator of HR24.com.pl

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | Articles

The development of human resources outsourcing in Poland

Labor markets transform frequently. High competition and the volatility of labor market specialists and managers means that companies in Poland are looking for support in realizing processes in the areas of human resource management. These factors also affect the growth of interest in flexible forms of employment. Temporary work, external work, the use of the services of professional recruitment companies have all become natural for many companies as a regular part of their HR policy.

Recruitment Services

High competition amongst candidates and the difficulties involved in recruiting the best professionals and managers encourage companies to use external agencies specialized in obtaining qualified staff. There are several thousand recruitment companies on the Polish market, that are specialized in recruitment projects for different industries, different levels of positions, both in international and Polish organizations. At the moment, most recruitment agencies offer a wide range of services related to human resources management.

These aspects make the company more likely to use external recruitment services. Companies taking advantage of recruitment agency services expect fast effects in the form of recommendations of the best candidates that meet the criteria of the company.

November / December 2012

Most professional recruitment consultants are dedicated to projects in every industry, or in every discipline. In a short amount of time they are able to attract the appropriate candidates with unique skills. Large databases, an extensive web of networking, lead or direct searches are all important tools supporting recruitment projects. They allow for recruiters to reach candidates who are not actively looking for work and thus do not respond to employersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; advertisements.

Cooperation with experts ensures a quick response to your recruitment needs. Knowledge of the industry, a database of qualified candidates and a knowledge of their expectations from employers is the most important value of each agency.

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Consultants act as advisers having contact with both candidates and employers which allows them to have a complete picture of the current industry situations and market trends.

Acquisition of additional processes by the agency, and thus the complexity of cooperation in the field of human resource

Graph 1. Recruitment company metodology

management is a complete outsourcing, which is HRO. Analyze of database

Networking

Job advertisments

Direct Search

Source: Antal International

RPO Recruitment Agencies are becoming more capable in providing customers with comprehensive support in the human resource management sector. Companies that have large recruitment needs or are in the process of building or expanding their structures are usually interested in taking on an advanced level of cooperation with agencies and the deployment of all recruitment processes. Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is an advanced form of cooperation, which aims at a comprehensive and professional management of the acquisition and employment of staff by a specialist supplier. Agencies distinguish different models of cooperation depending on the needs of the company.

recruitment of a specific department or positions which are characterized by a high turnover. The most advanced form of cooperation with an agency includes the complete take over of the recruitment process at all levels by the agency. Consultants provide support in the planning of the direction of company development, advising on the developmen of key skills, and the profile of the ideal candidates. RPO includes both increased cross-cutting recruitment, and support recruitment in a particular area of expertise and guarantees a fixed number of staffing positions identified by the company. Companies that choose an advanced model of cooperation can count on the following benefits of co-operation: speed implementation, optimised costs, easier access to talent and flexibility in the area of HR solutions. Recruitment Agencies are also able to provide services related to the acquisition of additional responsibility for HR processes such as employer branding of the company, on boarding of employees or workers, or for example employee assessment. Acquisition of additional processes by the agency, and thus the complexity of cooperation in the field of human resource management is a complete outsourcing, which is HRO. Temporary employment

A parallel recruitment process carried out by consultants specializing in project management in a given discipline is the ideal solution for fast growing companies in need of a large group of middle and senior management of various specializations, especially when creating new branches. This allows a short response time during a period of increased demand.

Recruitment is only one of the elements related to the management of human resources. Companies whose business is seasonal in nature are eager to use the services of temporary work. There are many temporary employment agencies offering work on the Polish market. These agencies offer vacancies which deal with odd jobs and search for candidates for position that require physical labor or professional skills. Some of these companies are search for employees to work abroad.

If company recruitment needs are in one department, cooperation may include the recruitment of professionals from one area of expertise. Recruitment companies continuously support internal HR departments in the

Temporary employment agencies are able to provide the necessary staff within a few days of the demand for a given number of vacancies. The agency is responsible for obtaining the appropriate resources, as well as HR and

November / December 2012

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Contracting

Graph 2. Complexity of recruitment company services

Value xity

ple

m Co

HRO RPO

Recruitment Sreening of aplications

An outer form of employment may also be based on a partnership with a contractor, or a person who usually runs his own business. The agency shall cooperate with the candidate in response to the urgent need to establish cooperation with a specialist or manager who holds a specific expertise. The duration of the company’s cooperation with the contractor is pre-determined – a contractor is employed to carry out the task at the time.

Engagement Table 1. Complexity of recruitment company services

Source: Antal International

payroll services, and health and safety training. The service of temporary work is however a solution for companies that have not had group redundancies in recent months. The employer will also need to ensure that the temporary employee’s working conditions are the same as those which are guaranteed to other employees of his company, and 2 days of leave for each completed month. A temporary worker may also not be hired for work that is believed to be particularly dangerous. Employment of a temporary employee in one company cannot exceed 18 months during a 36-month period. Prior to cooperating with a temporary work agency, the company should study the law on temporary employment, which regulates the employment of flexible forms of employment.

November / December 2012

For contractor

For company

Access to a wide range of projects

Speed in finding a contractor

Proposals for new projects in accordance to the demand at a given time

Contractor responds to companies needs

Proposals for new projects in accordance to contractor’s preference

Time efficiency

Economic risk reduction

Reduction risk of employment

Recuitment company as a contrator’s agent

Recuitment company as a partner of company

Source: Antal International

Outsourcing HR in the SSC/BPO The dynamic of changes in the Polish labor market will lead companies from different industries to increasingly use the services of recruitment companies or temporary

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work in various areas of HR. A wide range of services and diversification of solutions, often tailor-made to the customer, will allow companies to optimize business processes in the field of HR. In particular, this will facilitate the recruitment processes in shared services centers, a sector which is still being developed and in which new employees are still being sought. Within recent years Poland has become a valley in the SSC/BPO sector. The reasons to choose Poland as a place for the development of a shared service center are many. From the consultants’ observation, Antal International has noticed that companies that decided to cut costs and outsourced business processes quickly noticed the benefits of locating shared services centers in Poland and eventually decide to outsource more processes, as well as more diverse business processes. Until recently, the most outsourced processes were in the fields of: accounting and finance, HR and payroll, customer service, supply chain management, supplier selection, and IT.

of the most competitive markets for companies from the SSC/ BPO, provides access to qualified staff that is able to take, keep and improve various types of research and development. Therefore we are able to observe the changes occurring in the market. BPO companies are re-emerging with KPO company profiles. A big demand for more skilled workers in the SSC/BPO means that companies in this sector are increasingly eager to use full service recruitment companies. Dynamic changes in the sector, rapidly changing trends, availability of candidates as well as advanced ratings systems, as well as talent development are all areas that consultants commissioned to one client are able to respond quickly and effectively. For companies this signals above all a cost optimization, identification of candidates in a short time and a range of flexible solutions. ■

At present, we are observing a transformation of the outsourcing services market related to the migration of more complex business processes to Poland. Poland, being one

Author: Daria Stefańska manager of Antal SSC / BPO Antal International is a member of Association of Employment Agencies in Poland (SAZ)

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Process Outsourcing

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a modern alternative to traditional solutions?

Using advanced outsourcing services has recently gained the status of a very important tool for strategic planning and business management at the Polish market. More and more often, this also applies to personal management process â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which is very important in a time of persistent talent short-ages. In the face of changes in the economy, both domestic and global, this solution is an effective alternative to traditional activities, allowing companies to achieve success in a productive manner. The world of work becomes more demanding, unpredictable requiring the complementary set of services. Currently, success is not based solely on the development of technology, infrastructure and capital flows, but takes on new meaning: it

November / December 2012

is driven by human determination, dedication and imagination. Every company, regardless the scale and scope of busi-ness, should consider using outsourcing solutions in the future. It is the necessity coming from the free market, economic growth and good practices drawn from the economies of Western Europe and the United States. With no doubt, there will be different actions taken. In a large companies The HR Departments are responsible for implementing the core HR functions such as recruitment and selection, incentive systems, payroll-salary, training and development, marketing, personnel, record-keeping personnel.

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Every company, regardless the scale and scope of busi-ness, should consider using outsourcing solutions in the future. It is the necessity coming from the free market, economic growth and good practices drawn from the economies of Western Europe and the United States.

Nowadays, to be competitive at the market, we should focus on the company’s core competencies. This meansthe significant reduction in the level of involvement in the so called around-production and support activities. Top business management from smaller organizations, they now it best. Because of their business scale they are mainly focused on one key area of activity – production. Within this group outsourcing of the processes such as accounting and payroll, departments, cleaning office buildings or protection is becoming widespread. This solution is cheaper, more convenient and more efficient. In addition, it allows them to completely focus on their core business and the company profile. Moreover, process management model, adopted by the majority of Polish companies, is highly fragmented. In practice, this means that different people are responsible for different processes, which often results in the apparent lack of overall control, unused synergy of activities and low cost structure transparency. However, having applied outsourcing – all stages of the process shall be centralized. We retain full control and synergies, as well as, what is important, you get cost savings and full transparency.

Outsourcing of processes and outsourcing of services, that are most popular at the Polish market, they have their use in time-consuming activities also those being outside of the definition of the core business. These processes typically require more labor, mass recruitment or staffing requiring rare competences, which in practice is not feasible for companies not specialized in search of talents on the Polish labor market. These is specific for mainly such sectors as call centers, energy, telecommunications or highly developing in Poland shared service centers.

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For small companies such a range of services cannot be implemented – it is usually just too expensive. In this situation, outsourcing is a good solution.

The use of outsourcing in these specific cases, improves the work in these industries. Responsibility for the management and execution of business objectives and targets is in fact given to the third party. Outsourcing: For whom and for what? The big advantage of outsourcing is focusing on individually designed solutions tailored to the needs of the company. The tool is focused on the final result through the sharing of risks and benefits between the provider and the recipient. The range of our solutions may include a range of services tailored to the current needs of the company. The decision to use outsourcing company is often taken for two reasons. On the one hand it is a desire to keep or recover the production flow and to focus on key business issues with centralized and integrated service management also with a guarantee of its low cost.

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Usually, because the remuneration is dependent on the efficiency and effectiveness of the project. On the other hand, the decision to apply outsourcing is taken based on significant reduction of the business risk now shifted to the service provider. It is particularly popular in areas requiring investment, such as maintaining their own administrative areas requiring employment team, cost savings and achieving full control and transparency. How best to prepare for Outsourcing? Polish outsourcing market is growing continuously for several years. Undoubtedly, the current market and business environment, also hard to avoid economic crisis and at the same time – promotes the businesses where more rational decisions to be taken by entrepreneurs are required. They behave more careful in the management of their own costs while maintaining continuity of production and service at the highest possible quality level. In this period the Polish outsourcing is gaining more strategic di-mension and pushes companies to seek for effective solutions, such as: the service of their customers in a more effective, direct approach.

Implementation of outsourcing services by ManpowerGroup always starts by creating a partner with a shared vision of the business, establishing the continuity of the process, its stability and quality, as well as cost management plan to be created at each stage of the process. Competitiveness of companies and guaranteed maintenance of the Polish suppliers: continuity of service processes and high security data, makes entrepreneurs in Poland – they will decide more and more often to apply this type of work, moving the responsibility and risk of the supplier. Outsourcing Benefits and Opportunities

Therefore, more and more often, entrepreneurs decide to use outsourcing companies specialized in selected areas that have full knowledge, human resources and relevant expertise and are thus ready to effectively support selected areas immediately. Their experience, methodology and best practices used in different sectors, appear to be essential for maximizing human capital. Implementation of outsourcing services by ManpowerGroup always starts by creating a partner with a shared vision of the business, establishing the continuity of the process, its stability and quality, as well as cost management plan to be created at each stage of the process. Effective assumptions optimizes and standardizes the process for the project life cycle.

The main benefits are: M anagement of the team implementing services. Responsibility for the results. Flexibility of employment adjusted to the changing needs and short lead time. Reducing the cost of permanent staff in the company and the risks involved. Moving from the category of fixed costs to variable costs. Responsibility, risks and legal obligations associated with the employment of staff and running processes transferred to the third party. Full administrative support and payroll. Maintaining procedures, keeping data security. ■

Companies using outsourcing undoubtedly significantly increase the possibility of its further development, can grow to a higher efficiency level of their services, operate the optimization process, also reduce problem solving time by switching to a new, more favorable service model. In Western countries, the cooperation model of this type is very popular. In Polish conditions is still emerging and developing “phenomenon”. We need to remember that it is mainly due to the growing all the time in Poland foreign investments. However, I am confident about the development of outsourcing in Poland – more efficient management processes and improving the quality of outsourcing services.

November / December 2012

Author: Artur Wawrzyniak ManpowerGroup recruitment agency expert artur.wawrzyniak@manpower.pl

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Co-sourcing with collaborative talent

The expertise of a service partner collaborating with an organisation’s internal culture allows the creation of synergies resulting in growth that could never be achieved independently. A collaborative approach allows firms to increase their overall value by expanding on their internal competencies through the use of a Talent Partner. Organisations’ clients can benefit immensely from this union, being recipients of enhanced services whilst minimising overall marginal costs. The fundamental principles of outsourcing stretch as far back as the early 1800s to David Ricardo’s theory of Comparative Advantage. Firms, like nations, are always interested in getting richer, and the simple view on that is to sell more of their products and services than they buy, at a price above their marginal cost. However, this view of trade can be interpreted as a zero-sum game, where trade benefits only the one who sells and where the size of the ‘pie’ stays fixed after trade. David Ricardo extended this view with his theory of Comparative Advantage, suggesting that where a nation or firm trades in those goods or services in which it has a lower marginal cost, and imports goods or services in which its marginal costs are high, it is then possible to increase the size of the pie between either firms or nations.

This is no different to outsourcing. However, even your outsourcer or your shared service centres don’t have a comparative advantage in everything they do, and hence the very real economic need for a co-sourcing solution. IBM, HP, and Microsoft are global providers in the IT arena and have been co-sourcing selected aspects of their core service offerings since the early 1990’s. Co-sourcing differs from outsourcing in that its purpose is to augment the firms’ core competencies, not contract them out. Their efforts have been successful, primarily because they carefully choose projects that are good candidates for co-sourcing and service providers who fit into their culture as transparently as possible, and who also have the necessary skills to deliver the desired outcomes. Cpl Integrated Services, as providers of co-sourcing services, have learned that integrating co-sourcing into the internal delivery of large multinational firms, choosing the team with the right cultural fit, and managing the arrangement properly are critical factors in ensuring that co-sourcing adds value to the organisation as a whole.

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So why not outsource fully? An uncertain, potentially promising, economic recovery, coupled with a growing demand in tighter operational controls and transparency are exerting pressures on companies across the globe. On the one hand companies have pruned workforces in the economic downturn, but on the other hand are now facing demands to bolster their workforces with higher levels of talent, at lower costs, so as to improve their scope and delivery of services along with the firm’s overall economic value. This type of demand can certainly lessen the appeal of outsourcing, which has risks that tend to be difficult to identify and mitigate. These conflicting demands are well known and given the magnitude of the effect an outsourcing relationship has, it comes as no surprise that a multitude of surveys, analyses and reports on the benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing have been compiled.

Co-sourcing differs from outsourcing in that its purpose is to augment the firms’ core competencies, not contract them out. An examination of these reports reveal that a large percentage of clients find outsourcing arrangements beneficial, but imbued with on-going problems and concerns. This is normal: nothing is ever perfect by any stretch of the imagination. There is a solution to this: co-sourcing. The ‘cosourcing’ offering was developed to provide enterprises with flexible access to optimal talent at an attractive cost without compromising internal service delivery controls. Table 1. Top 6 Challenges of Outsourcing

Retention

Lack of business knowledge

Lack of organisational knowledge

Time to manage staff

Internal knowledge

Cost Control

Source: Outsourcing Challenges Survey, Occipital ltd, 2012

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In addition to this, an effective and collaborative cosourcing model will help reduce new-hire costs, help train and retain staff, improve quality of service, reduce outsourcing costs and free up higher-level staff to tackle the more pertinent strategic challenges faced by organisations. Identifying partners and projects Selecting the right co-sourcing vendor and establishing an effective relationship are mandatory requirements for realising any benefits. Some of the questions that an internal team should ask in determining the best partner include: Have we used the service partner previously? Who are the partner’s references? Does the partner have the skills that are needed for co-sourcing? Are they reliable and honest? Will they be a trusted advisor to us? Is the provider adaptive enough to seamlessly integrate into our organisational culture? Do they have the “zest” we require in providing such services? Does the provider know our industry? Having the right co-sourcing partner is important, but so is choosing the right co-sourcing project to engage with them on. Let’s go back to David Ricardo and comparative advantage: What is it that you are exceptionally good at? What is it that drives your business forward on a continual basis? Our experience is that it’s rarely the day to day management of the service itself. In shared service centres, be it front line call centre staff, manufacturing operatives, financial administrators or data entry personnel, we would be surprised if you considered management of that aspect of your service as your core competence. Most likely those things that you are absolutely brilliant at, your distinctive competencies if you will, lie more in the direction of your ability to craft exceptional and innovative service offerings and the controls, technology and culture to support that. The front-line grind is critical to be sure, but this is where co-sourcing adds the most benefit, as it allows you to concentrate on those distinctive competencies that provide your competitive advantage. This could be the refreshing approach you have been looking for.

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The Advantages and of Co-sourcing The advantages of using co-sourcing arrangements are numerous: Precise expertise can be provided through borrowing talents when the areas require a level of expertise that is not viable to have as a permanent part of the staff. Co-sourcing does not require human resource transfer and employs a collaborative model that leaves the client in operational control of selecting the cost reduction priorities. Co-sourcing employs a more flexible consultative approach to benchmarking and identifying specific opportunities that can be more quickly implemented and competitively sourced, if desired, depending on the individual needs of each location. Co-sourcing and outsourcing both focus on headcount reductions, the creation of service standards, technology efficiencies and strategic sourcing as the four primary methods to generate savings; by design, co-sourcing can be more easily customised to meet the specific needs of each location rather than being limited to a singular approach that is typical of most outsourcing companies. Co-sourcing is far less risky due to the fact it is not based on human resource transfer and the associated negative impact on morale: it retains the ability and flexibility to customise cost reductions by site, and often the time to implement. Managing the engagement In order to keep a co-sourcing engagement on track the principles of partnership need to be established up front and managed throughout the term of the contract. Without clear-cut lines of responsibility and accountability the engagement can become counterproductive very quickly, and returns from specialising in your comparative advantages deteriorate.

3. Make the necessary introductions – ensure that your partner meets with relevant staff, particularly those who are going to be part of the governance team. 4. Establish clear communication guidelines, communication matrix, reporting matrix, and delivery task lists delineating roles and responsibilities. 5. Your selected partner will need training on the organisation’s infrastructure and overall supply chain. Your partner won’t be able to operate at maximum efficiency without this training. Ultimately though, your new partner needs to know if they are meeting expectations; thus giving and receiving early feedback regarding performance is essential to a project’s success. If there is a problem on either side it needs to be identified and addressed immediately. This will ensure that delivery remains on track in realising your desired returns. Realising the value A Gartner report had this to say: “Enterprises incorrectly assume that few, if any, internal resources will be required to manage the contract and relationship with an external service provider, and they do not build these resources into their outsourcing plans.” Our experience would lead us to agree. Maximising the effectiveness of any external relationship usually depends on the right amount of resources and the appropriate methodology being used to manage the partnership. Fundamentally, any partnership you develop with a third party needs to be managed as a co-sourcing relationship. Understanding the value, that can be derived from cosourcing and employing the right people and practices will help you reap the benefits from this type of partnership. Adopting this approach will help eliminate those internal questions about the value of external sourcing relationships. Open, honest dialogue will help cement the partnership and allow you to realise the returns you are seeking. This is a refreshing new approach. ■

Imperative in effective management of a co-sourcing engagement is the manner in which the first day of the engagement is managed. Our set of guiding principles for the first day includes the following: 1. Ensure your partner understands your firms’ corporate mission, vision, values and principles. Discuss these with your partner and include policies, procedures, methodologies and performance standards. 2. Ensure mutual understanding of the scope of the service contract. Reiterate performance standards including project deliverables.

Author: Ryan Williams EMEA Client Director Cpl Integrated Services ryan.wiiliams@cpl.ie

November / December 2012

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Temporary employment – a solution not only for hard times The history of outsourcing in our country is relatively short. In the Polish legislation, definitions of such terms as outsourcing or labour leasing are not present. The opinions on labour outsourcing in Poland are divided. On one hand there are two judgements of the Supreme Court which state that: “Within the employment relationship the employer may entrust to the employee the performance of the duties specified in the contract of employment to the benefit of another entity, which does not mean that thereupon the employee becomes the employee of the entity and that he/ she is entitled to remuneration paid by the entity” (judgment of the Supreme Court of 7th May 1998, PKN 71/98, OSNP 1999/8/282), “Performing works in a place designated by the employer, located in the workplace of another entity and being under its management, does not determine the employment relationship with this entity” (judgment of the Supreme Court of 5th November 1999, I PKN 337/99, OSPN 2001/6/186). These judgments allow the application of labour outsourcing based on statutory contracts. On the other hand, there is the Act dated 9th July 2003 on employing temporary workers which, in the opinion of some of the experts, is an answer to the entrepreneurs’ need to apply flexible employment. The Polish HR Forum, as an organization gathering employment agencies, focuses mainly on promoting two HR services: temporary employment and recruitment. Particular significance for the functioning of the labour market is attributable to temporary employment, which not only provides employers with greater flexibility, and applicants with employment opportunities, but first and foremost creates jobs.

overtime or given up on an additional contract at all. Only 26% would have created a full-time job in its organizational structure. Thus, temporary work does not displace full-time employment. It is a supplement of full-time employment in case of temporary increase of the need for implementation of a new project or an additional service.

Apart from the main reason, which is the maintenance of greater flexibility, employers treat temporary employment as a kind of a trial period, preceding permanent employment.

The discussion, observable in Poland as well, pertains largely to the definition of seasonality, which changes along with the increasing instability of the world’s economy.

According to the research conducted by Boston Consulting and Eurociett (“Adapting to Change” Report), 74% of employers would not have created a job opportunity had it not been for the access to the services provided by employment agencies. Most of them would have used

Currently, not only summer agricultural works, but also implementations of new projects, often lasting even a few years, areconsideredseasonal.Seasonalityhasthenbecomeanintegral part of instable economic development and forces employers to more and more often apply flexible forms of employment.

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Temporary employment allows entrepreneurs first and foremost to quickly adapt the scale of employment to the variable market demands. It provides opportunity to employ workers for short periods of time, which allows the implementation of additional tasks without the need to increase the number of posts. It is also a perfect way of checking the employee’s skills before offering him/ her permanent employment, which is currently practiced by approximately 20% of employers cooperating with the agencies of the Polish HR Forum. Additionally, through temporary employment employers lower the fixed costs and significantly relieve internal HR departments. All the issues connected with the employment of workers, keeping of personal files, calculating of remuneration, as well as other obligations resulting from the employer role are attributable to the employment agency.

Graph 1. Main reasons for using the services of employment agencies

Possibility of quick response to a change of business needs

76% 65%

Need for greater flexibility Checking the employees who may be employed on permanent basis

52% 35%

Maintaining Lower fixe costs Uncertain situation relating to the taxation of remunerations

Uncertain situation relating to health insurance

Other

4% 0

80 (%)

Source: Morgan Stanley Research

More and more often the agencies go further forward, assuming the responsibility for the implementation of particular tasks, e.g. in the logistics industry we encounter a situation when the agency not only employs temporary workers, but also takes care of timely implementation of the ordered task. The companies who make use of temporary employment cope with the crisis much better. The IW Consult study entitled “Zeitarbeit in Deutschland” pertains to the analysis of the German market in the period of 20092011. It compares the situation of the companies who do and do not use the services of employment agencies in the aspect of their adaptation to difficult economic situation. The growth of turnover of the companies who made use of temporary employment was 5 percentage points higher in relation to those who did not make use of such services.

Graph 2. Growth of income 2009-2010 (%) 20

Using the services of temporary employment Not using temporary employment 13% 11%

13% 11%

11% 10%

10 6%

10%

Small <50 Medium and employees large >50 employees

Scale of the company

10%

7% 5%

16%

15%

Industry

Services

Sector

No export With export activities activities

Export activities

No R&D budgets

<5% of income

>5% of income

IN TOTAL

R&D expenses

Source: IW Consult GmbH study „Zeitarbeit in Deutschland” 2011

More and more employers in Poland make use of this form of employment. In 2006 there were almost 7 thousand of them, while at the end of 2011 – more than 12 thousand. Increased interest in temporary employment is a consequence of more and more instable economic situation. However, it does not mean that temporary employment will become competition to permanent employment. Good and dependable workers are the biggest asset of the company and there will always be a place for them in the structures of the given organization. In order to be able to act effectively and to create new jobs, employers must maintain some flexibility. Ability to react to the quickly growing demand translates into quicker increase of income. More and more popular is the 80/20 model, where 80% of the personnel are permanent workers and 20% are temporary workers. Temporary work is more and more popular not only at production posts (its history in Poland is strictly connected with the development of automotive market), but also at non-production posts – where the market of call centre services is developing particularly well. The development forecasts of the market of employment agencies in the following year are very conservative – according to the experts of the Polish HR Forum, the value of the market in 2013 will increase by 10% at the most. ■

Source: Polskie Forum HR www.polskieforumhr.pl

November / December 2012

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Outsourcing of human resourcesand-remuneration-related services and personal data protection More and more often, businesses make the decision to outsource human resources-and-remuneration-related matters to a third-party entity. Apart from advantages like, for example, reduction of costs, decisions such as these carry with them a whole range of dangers, including in particular those pertaining to personal data protection. It is so because every company is the administrator of data related to persons employed by it. In accordance with article 40 of the Act of August 29th 1997 on Personal Data Protection (hereinafter referred to as the Act), all administrators of such a data must notify the General Inspector of the fact that they are collecting same, subject to undergoing registration by him. Thus, submitting this data for registration constitutes a rule, however some administrators, as listed in article 43 section 1 of the Act, are relieved of this obligation to register, including among others administrators of data being processed in connection with employment-related purposes. Any administrator may process this data by himself or entrust another entity with doing same, under the provision that the relevant contract specifies the purposes for which an entity which has been entrusted with processing such data may be process it, including also the range of data entrusted to it to be processed. The regulations of the Act do not obligate parties to civil-law contracts to include any other provisions related to personal data protection in such contracts. Further, entrusting data to be subsequently processed does not require the consent of the person whom such data is related to. However, it is the best interest of any entity making the decision to entrust personal data to another entity to be processed to specify the details relating to such matters to the fullest possible extent. This is so, because despite the fact that human resources-related matters have been entrusted to a third party company, it is the employer who nonetheless remains the administrator. This stems from the fact that the administrator is any entity which makes any relevant decisions connected with the measures and purposes for which personal data shall be processed. Thus, a company which has been entrusted with personal data by and another entity and is processing it on behalf of its principal, may not be considered the administrator of this data. Because it is the employer who remains the administrator of personal data, it is he who continues to be liable for any misuse thereof and for any resulting claims by any of his or her employees in connection with such misuse. Article 26 section 1 of the Act obligates the administrator of personal data to exercise due diligence in preserving the best interest of any persons whom such data is related to. The administrator is required in particular to ensure that any such data

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collected be meritorically correct and relevant to the purposes which they are being processed for as well as be collected solely and explicitly for legally-sound purposes and not be subject to further processing which may be in violation of these principles. Moreover, both the administrator and any entity processing personal data are required to make use of such technological and organisational measures which will ensure a level of protection relevant to any possible explicit and implicit dangers and to the category of data being processed, and in particular to protect any such data from being disclosed to any unauthorised persons whatsoever, from being intercepted by such persons, from being processed in a manner that is in violation of the Act and from modification, loss, damage or destruction thereof. As advised by the General Inspector, employers should also endeavour to make it impossible for employees to be able to learn of the level of salary of other employees. The above-discussed obligations which employers are bound by as administrators of personal data should also be made applicable in contracts outsourcing human resources-and-remuneration-related services to contract and it should be made explicit that should the employer suffer any damages as a result of such services being provided incorrectly or insufficiently, the contractor shall be required to compensate for such damages to their full extent plus to reimburse his principal in terms of court proceedings-related expenses. It ought not to be forgotten that, as a result of the fact that employers retain their status as administrators of the person data of their employees, it is necessary to provide the entity which is being entrusted with providing human resources-and-remuneration-related services with the relevant documents authorising same to process personal data entrusted to it. Under article 39 section 1 of the Act, administrators of data are required to keep a register of persons or entities authorised to process their personal data, which must include information such as the full name of such persons, the duration period of the authorisation as well as the scope in which personal data may be processed by same, as well as identifiers, if the data is being stored and processed in a digital system. The above-discussed register must be kept in writing. An employerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entrusting of human resources-and-remuneration related matters to a third party entity does not relieve the employer of the obligation to keep this register. Settling the above-discussed matters in contracts with companies providing humanresources-and-remuneration-related services will allow the employer to protect him- or herself from any potential claims by employees as well as to avoid fines in case of an inspection by the General Inspector of Personal Data Protection. â&#x2013;

Author: Noemi Chudzik, LL.M. Legal advisor Partner in Chudzik & Partners Legal Advisors that specialise in legal support regarding outsourcing issues

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To train or not to train? This is the question! Are Polish companies use the services of external training companies? There are two ways to look at the subject of trainings. On the one hand there is demand as companies and individuals using the training and on the other hand companies providing wide range of training services representing supply. Ideally, the demand should be equivalent to the market offer. But it is not. Training market in recent years has been dominated by sprouting like mushrooms after the rain companies based on EU funds. The economic downturn has contributed to the reduction of budgets spent on staff training, but also resulted in significantly prudent spending the money. Training – cost or investment? Companies and policy makers responsible for employee training can be divided into two basic groups. There are those who believe that training is primarily cost. Expenditure on education in many companies is the first item in the budget, where they try to save or which is completely deleted. Of course, there is awareness of the need for the development and training of employees in the company, but this is not necessary, especially when the future is uncertain. Sometimes the training budget is simply “frozen” until the financial situation improved. Those who are careful and skeptic, doubt the importance of the development and investment in human capital, quite often think short term.

capital development. This way the companies can motivate people, reward and benefit them, but also effectively build a competitive advantage and grow up. According to the report “End of Financial Support – the future of training in Poland,” prepared by the HRP Group, the groups of employees who will be trained in the coming years include specialists (68,5%), mid-level management (54,8%), line managers (43,8%), top management (28,8%), line employees (28,8%), clerks (27,4%). Graph 1. The groups of employees who will be trained in the coming years

68,5%

Specialists 54,8%

Mid-level Managers 43,8%

Line Managers 28,8%

Top management

28,8%

Line employees

27,4%

Clerks 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Source: «End of Financial Support - The future of training in Poland» report prepared by the HRP Group

There are many reasons why people want to be trained, as well as the reasons why the decision-makers want to train their employees.

There is also a second group, which even during the economic downturn will enjoy and benefit from the various types of trainings, even if the budget is limited comparing to the previous one. However, most of these companies are changing their approach to the selection of personnel to be trained, themes and external trainers or training companies. Employee development is definitely long-term investment in building competitive advantage.

Due to the current economic situation and limited budgets the most important reasons include the development of skills needed for work, promotion, development processes, procedures and products, learn the most important changes in the law, procedural changes, statutory changes, enabling the development of internal coaches who train their colleagues. Increased awareness of training needs is evident, however it brings increased awareness of the expectations from the training company which offer education for their employees.

Who will be trained and why?

Outsourcing or…

Most often the companies which decide to train their employees are the ones that etched in their strategy human

The dilemma for many is the decision: who will train? Does the company use the services of companies that

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offer business training? Or are focused on their internal trainers? And at the end what kind of education form they choose? There has been noticed a decline in number of clients in outsourcing companies providing wide range of training services. These are not only trainings in open formula, but also trainings tailored completely to suit the customer’s needs. On the one hand this is due to a significant reduction in training budgets, but also because of the increased use of internal trainers’ services. Very often the internal trainers are trained “outside”, and then this knowledge is used in the company. It is similar with the group of employees specialized in a particular field who share their knowledge with others. There is still a constant need for the services of external training companies. Specific topics, highly skilled trainers, or a very small group to be trained cause that there is demand for the services offered by the outsourcers. External training companies’ offer is very rich – at least in theory. It is very important to select properly the contractor. With a limited financial resources, respecting the time led to the training of staff, or even caring about the development of your organization, you have to select properly. Neither color brochure, or extensive range of thematic are not a guarantee. So what to look for? First of all, companies are looking for a great coaches – huge experience and knowledge of the trainer who conduct the training is the first step to success. It is worth to ask the company for references issued by the previous clients – the feedback from participants of other courses offered by the selected service provider is enough. You should also look at the training methodology. In general, the lecture itself is not enough, it is important to be sure that there is a workshop formula, Q&A session, or even a follow-up session. Before using the services of outsourcer you should think over which method of the training suits you. Of course, e-learning courses are much cheaper, but mostly they are not the only-sufficient form of gaining new skills. They may be just entry or complete the offer. Experienced experts providing training services are focused on delivering knowledge through various channels, methods, techniques. With an experience on the market they can guarantee access to the best experts. What if the company needs the training for more than one small group of employees? Often uses the skills and

knowledge of the internal coach. However it is noticed the trend of development outsourcing services in the field of broadly defined tailored trainings and consultancy projects. An experienced company offering training services can bring a lot of benefits. It has extensive experience in the preparation of the appropriate form of training, ensures the highest quality, but also reduce the time that the client’s employee needs to spend on the organization of training. Crisis and what next? People say about the crisis for a long time, and according to the experts it crosses the plans of the traders. Will it affect the market of the training services and use of the companies offering these services? Skeptics argue that the end of free and subsidized by the EU trainings will cause that the it will be hard for the employers to get used to the prices on the commercial market for training services, while the others say that their training needs have been met. There are also those who believe that the training needs can not be satisfied in the long run, because the recruitment of new employees, changing customer needs, evolving market environment enforce additional training. First of all, the company will put particular emphasis on those topics that will be needed for their development and achieving competitiveness. The second important issue is attaching a great importance to the quality of service and also after sales service. How about the training companies? These will have to skillfully and quickly respond to the market needs. To survive they will have to put in their strategy flexibility – adapting to possibilities of clients, providing the highest quality of the services. Training services’ provider will no longer be just a training institution, but a kind of consultant, trainer – the main objective of the training will be to resolve a specific problem. If the external company succeed in this task and also will measure the effectiveness of the training for the customer with important conclusions – will secure itself long-term cooperation. ■

Author: Rafał Szary Project Manager: training and conferences tel. 696 442 465

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More Outsourcing | Articles & More | Sponsored publication

The private medical care market in Poland The market of medical services in Poland is one of the fastest growing markets in European Community. It’s dynamic of growth is estimated from 5% to 7% a year what combined with growing wealth of polish society and dynamic demographic changes guarantees unusual return of investment of this business. The European standards as well as market trends force the local legislations to changes. The implementation of tax reliefs for a citizens and business, the freedom in selection between private and public services and possibilities of funding public services by private insurers implicates the strong impact on the market of subscripted medical services as well as health insurances. The deepening collapse of public healthcare services results in increasing the value of the spending for nonpublic providers and interest in alternative solutions by significant part of society. Let’s take a look in to the market of private medical service providers. The majority of market is divided between insurance companies and corporations offering such services. The first ones offer the service based on the limited infrastructure of the second which results in unsatisfactory access to the tests and the specialists. Since a long time the he ratio between the numbers of subscribers of service and available infrastructure goes to the very bad shape what means a pure availability of medical services. The decreasing availability of medical services offered by above brings them to the level of public service what means no real benefits for a patient. The concept of AF-Medica comes from the idea of usage an existing high potential of the private, independent and local providers of medical services and tie them by integrated information system. As a result we can offer an access to the several hundreds of providers around the country with unlimited availability of services. We are the first implementing such advance solution in Poland guarantees an access to the modern and well organized providers. Our concept bridges a demand and distribution filling the gap at the portfolio of available

November / December 2012

services offers a unique character and quality of small privatively owned clinics. There is an undisputed advantage of small clinics against big providers coming from highly skilled personnel and advanced equipment helping them to build up a strong position in region and among the citizens. The extraordinary atmosphere and hospitality in small clinics support a special relationship between a patient and a Doctor raising a comfort of provided service. The permanently growing market with estimated current value about 30 billion PLN cause a number of consolidations. The business target like increasing a market share realized by acquiring the next service provider ends in accumulation of services in biggest cities where the subscription of medical services as a part of remuneration system for employees becomes usually implemented. Those facts have a direct impact on availability of medical service. The natural processes of costs optimization in the management of big net of institutions cause a disappearing from the market providers associated with high quality service. The attractiveness of the sector in light of economic targets turns the understanding of quality from the patient needs and satisfaction in to the number of “clients” and available medical procedures. The dynamic infrastructure demand and service. Does

growth of subscribes without adequate goes to the loosing of balance between supply exactly as it happens in public it mean we are back the starting point?

We believe, that satisfaction of all participants, private and public comes from balanced approach to the health as well as to the other segments of our existence. ■

Author: Katarzyna Marques Sales Manager AF Medica Sp. z o.o.

Outsourcing & More | Articles

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | Interview

Outsourcing of HR Development Functions? – Interview with Aleksander Drzewiecki, CEO of the House of Skills Outsourcing&More: Do companies in Poland decide to outsource HR development functions? What kind of functions are these? Aleksander Drzewiecki: Unlike an administration HR function that quite frequently is separated, outsourcing of HR development functions is relatively rare. This is because functions like recruitment, selection, staff appraisal, development, motivation, or talent management in the majority of enterprises are key functions or those that affect major competitive factors of a business. Naturally, businesses commission various HR services to external suppliers, however, full outsourcing happens extremely rare. As an advisory and training company, House of Skills receives enquiries concerning projects that involve outsourcing of the entire talent management system. It comprises activities relating to arrangement of talent selection (assessment), talent development planning & execution, (including purchase of training from third parties), preparation of superiors, internal communication in the company and assessment of results. The nature of these actions involves continuity or projects, provided, however, that talent development projects are longterm ones, usually taking a few years. Over the last few years we have also had customers who wanted to outsource an internal training centre, training teams (few or dozens of trainers employed in the company), and even the entire training and development department. In smaller organisations, outsourcing may also involve the function of the HR manager, too, and in larger corporations, also HR business partners.

an opportunity to co-operate with – one from the financial and one from the telecom sector. Their representatives approached us since the companies had resolved to spin off and dispose of training departments from their structures. In the first case, we had to deal with a training centre (facility and staff) and a group of dozen or so internal trainers, in the second, the outsourcing task involved a training department with several dozens of trainers. It is hard not to resist an impression that those enterprises actually operated training companies inside their structures. A declining demand for the services rendered by those departments resulted in a necessity to outsource them. O&M: What kind of benefits can companies expect from this type of outsourcing and how can the gains be measured?

O&M: What is the main reason behind such decisions? AD: Outsourcing is considered when a business comes to conclusion that an external provider may fulfil a specific function cheaper or better than an internal department (or cheaper and better at the same time). Such solution involves higher flexibility, too, and allows the company focusing on its core business operations, while working hand in hand with a specialised partner. Let me use an example of two companies that we have had

November / December 2012

AD: I believe that these benefits are the same like in case of outsourcing executed in other business areas. Depending on a specific solution pursued, these benefits include:

Specialised top quality service. Lower costs. Greater flexibility. Lower managerial burden (which obviously means lower costs, but also less challenges related to people management).

Outsourcing & More | Interview

Irrespective of the fact whether it is an internal department or an external company, HR performs the function of a service provider to business, so its effectiveness should be measured by the level of satisfaction with the quality of services provided to business. Thus, in my opinion, satisfaction of business managers with human capital effectiveness in the company is the basic measure of the development function effectiveness. Their assessment mainly accounts for such factors as: recruitment and training time within the company, adjustment of candidates to the needs, staff fluctuation, effectiveness of conducted training (development of competences, change of behaviour, greater effects), and, as a result, employee effectiveness measured by indicators at the workplace. O&M: What co-operation and settlement models are employed for the HR functions outsourcing? AD: Most often, it is a model based on a fixed fee for current services and additional charges for specific services and external purchases. O&M: How does the length of the contract affect relationship development? AD: Because it is necessary for an external service provider to become well acquainted with the company, its business needs, and the corporate culture, outsourcing of HR development functions should be reviewed as a long-term activity, so benefits should be planned and measured over such time horizon. Outsourcing of such an important function like HR requires very good relations between the company and a service provider and a high level of trust. An external service provider has access to volumes of confidential information that concerns both the company’s operational strategy, and sensitive human issues. I do not think that any company would decide on outsourcing pursued as an open market tender procedure. It would rather make an approach with a request to expand the scope of services to selected, known, and trusted business partners with whom it has been co-operating for years. Because of the same reasons, contracts for external HR services are long-term ones. O&M: What is to be outsourced, and what should be left inside the organisation? AD: This, of course, depends on the needs of the company and its business model. There are companies that are ready to spin off the entire HR, starting with the Personnel Director. There are companies that, quite contrary, pursue insourcing, i.e. include the tasks that have been so far performed outside within the organisational structure of the enterprise, e.g. instead of purchasing training externally, they would hire trainers, train

them, buy various courses and licence materials from external suppliers, and manage the training internally. As you can see, any option is possible. O&M: To what extent operations of the soft HR department have been described at the level of optimised business processes? AD: In large corporates we often see very detailed procedures of (internal and external) recruitment and selection, training into the company, training and development, career planning and promotions, staff appraisal, lay-offs, etc. These companies have their own models of operations that have been worked out for years, and which they believe to be optimal for themselves. In international corporations, such model is sometimes brought from the head office. Precisely described processes of soft HR facilitate outsourcing, providing for accurate valuation of services, setting qualitative parameters and efficiency assessment of actions pursued by an external partner. If activities performed by soft HR are not precisely determined and described, an audit of the HR function, mapping, and optimisation of processes occurring within this function are the necessary tasks to be performed before an outsourcing decision is taken. O&M: Thank you very much. ■

Aleksander Drzewiecki CEO and shareholder of the House of Skills from the beginning. Advisor to large and medium-sized businesses. He specializes in strategic consulting, strategic change processes, leadership and management, as well as public speaking and interaction. Is the Vice President of the Polish Association of Employers Consulting at the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan, a member of the Labour Market of PAEC Lewiatan, Vice-President of the Polish Chamber of Training Companies, a member of the American Society for Training and Development and the Polish Human Resources Management Association. Co-author of the book “Good Leadership. Best Practices of Polish business leaders”. One of the 10 most respected business advisors ranked by THINKTANK “Who is listened by Polish leaders?”, 2012.

November / December 2012

Outsourcing & More | Articles News

The advantages of certified in-house trainers Research by the Boston Consulting Group has found that during the previous wave of the crisis, cutting spending on training was the least effective of more than 20 measures aiming to reduce costs (it did not bring about substantial savings); furthermore, it adversely affected employees’ level of commitment. Meanwhile, by adopting a system of certifying managers to conduct licensed training, companies are able to reduce the costs of staff development programs by up to 50%, simultaneously increasing their impact on a company. In the United States, such a solution is now used by more than 70% of corporations, in which: coordination, effectiveness and the quality of changes has improved. The introduction of competencies and new behaviors is more effective when the role of in-house trainer is taken on by a manager who first instructs his staff by adapting examples to real situations, and then implements new behaviors in day-to-day work, at the same time setting an example himself; the solutions highlighted during training have become part of the corporate culture. Managers take responsibility for passing on information and for eliciting desirable behaviors from employees; the number of employees who have attended training courses has increased, as has the number of training sessions. This is possible thanks to the fact that internal trainers are more flexible in terms of when training sessions can be held. Moreover, they can repeat certain modules or conduct additional workshops; the costs of training courses have decreased significantly. In Poland, in organizations employing about 400 people, such savings can total almost 40%. Additionally, the project’s logistics costs should be deducted. Better results In the 1990s, comparative research was carried out in a big U.S. manufacturing company focusing on training conducted by external consultants and managers. It turned out that although employees liked external training more, in-house training was more effective and changes were

November / December 2012

introduced faster, says Kerry Patterson, an American lecturer and researcher and co-founder of the VitalSmarts company. Currently, of the 8,500 certified VitalSmarts trainers, 92% are in-house trainers. In Europe the figure is still 70%, but the number is growing. The tendency is the manager developing his skills as a trainer so that his team can achieve better results. On mature markets and in big corporations, it is the norm that intellectual property and copyright on development programs are highly regarded. This produces benefits for both corporations and training companies, says Piotr Sobczak, vicepresident of the DOOR Group. The managers involved in internal training know the ins and outs of the company, the market environment and what needs employees have – they employ tried and tested methods and use the resources of the content providers (who supply the methodology, training videos and materials, as well as advice from master trainers), in order to help employees to obtain new skills more efficiently. And although they often have to combine their new duties as trainers with their other work, they are highly successful. Thanks to certified client facilitators, the Walmart hypermarket chain, the world’s biggest private employer, is considered one of the most efficient companies in terms of implementing change. Similar results have been obtained by telecoms, power and pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.

Outsourcing Outsourcing& &More More | | Articles News

Training conducted by external consultants is usually requested only in two situations: when an organization is too small to make the certification of in-house trainers profitable, or when training involves the most senior managers in the organization, says Paula Asher, vice-president of Implementation Management Associates. Training in Poland Many companies operating in Poland have in-house trainers, but they have as yet rarely been certified to conduct licensed courses. Usually – in contrast to mature markets – companies in Poland create full-time in-house trainer positions, which often deprives such organizations of the biggest asset available to certified managers who train their own employees – the ability to set an example of model on-the-job behavior. Last year Real created a team of in-house trainers, comprising 800 people divided into 54 training groups assigned to individual stores. Their task is to train the company’s employees in customer service, a system that allows several thousand employees to be trained. An in-house trainer is able to oversee the training process not only directly during training sessions, but also outside them. By observing employees on an ongoing basis he can react to signals immediately. Also important is the fact that he can also build a support structure, which helps the trained person in the process of his or her development, as a result of which the process becomes even more intensive, says Małgorzata Dominiak, director of the sales network effectiveness and competence department at Crédit Agricole Bank Polska. There are around 50 people employed as trainers in the company. Selecting only one of these two forms of employee training is usually impossible and most companies use one type to complement the other. Everything depends on the specific needs of a given business and the priorities taken into account when planning to develop employees’ skills, she adds. Managers who conduct training courses for their own employees can achieve outstanding results even if they are not professional trainers, as long as they use a proven program. Of course, you can experiment, create your own program and test it out on employees, says Piotr Sobczak, vice-president of the DOOR Group. However, in order to achieve permanent changes in behavior that will translate into more competencies for employees and better business results, solutions based on research and proven in various companies from different sectors are necessary. The best results are obtained by certified managers, as it is they who have the largest potential in terms of eliciting desirable employee behavior.

Halving costs However, certification of in-house trainers is not always the best way to go. As far as savings are concerned, in Poland such a solution is profitable only when a certain critical mass, of between 150 and 200 people, is reached. If all that is needed is an intervention involving a small group of people, then certification doesn’t make sense, Piotr Sobczak warns. ■ Graph 1. Comparison of costs between internal and external training

Estimated costs -49% -38%

-51% external training

-45%

internal training

-15%

200

400

600

800

1000

Number of employees attending courses Source: DOOR Group S.A.

DOOR Group certification process Certification for in-house trainers usually takes the form of dedicated courses for a specified company. The certification process for people with experience as trainers is divided into four stages. First, the trainers take part in a standard course, then study additional materials, training tools, a textbook and videos. Then, a certification course is arranged and – in the last stage – they facilitate a training session themselves, supervised by a master trainer. After obtaining certification, when conducting training or coaching, in-house trainers can turn to a master trainer for help. At present, DOOR Group can certify trainers for: implementing change using the AIM method, Top Manager, Motivation 6.0, Talking to the Client: Tactics, nEGOtiations, Influencer and Crucial Conversations. The last two are available under a VitalSmarts license.

Author: Dorota Kalinowska

November / December 2012

Województwo Dolnośląskie Lower Silesia Voivodeship Głogów E65

E65

Legnica A4

E65

Jelenia Góra

Wałbrzych

Wybrane firmy / Selected Companies Wrocław BNY Mellon

McKinsey & Company

Capgemini

Microsoft

Casus Finanse

Nokia Siemens Networks

Credit Suisse

Randstad Payroll Solutions

Diehl Controls

Santander Consumer Bank

Ernst & Young

Tieto Poland

Geoban

UPC

Volvo

Google

Whirlpool

IBM

Wipro

E261

Wrocław A4

E67

Kłodzko

Parki przemysłowe / Technoparks ChemiPark Technologiczny Sp. z o.o. w Brzegu Dolnym Dolnośląski Park Technologiczny „T-Park” Noworudzki Park Przemysłowy Park Przemysłowy Bukowice KGHM LETIA Legnicki Park Przemysłowy Wrocławski Medyczny Park Naukowo-Technologiczny Wrocławski Park Technologiczny