Outsourcing&More - issue 6 (september-october 2012)

nr 5 (6)

September / October 2012 (bi-monthly magazine)

issn 2083-8867

Editorial note Dear Readers, Free of charge magazine Editor-in-chief Dymitr Doktór d.doktor@outsourcingandmore.pl Art./DTP Jacek Cieśliński Mateusz Budzisz 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 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.

Selected photos come from Fotolia.pl website.

Circulation: 3000 copies

The major theme of the newest issue is Call and Contact Center – the o ­ ldest form of organized outsourcing in P ­ oland.

The materials prepared by the i­ndustry’s specialists include among the others: Katarzyna Swatowska’a text on the ­ his­ tory of the Call and Contact Center market in Poland; Maciej Buś reports ­ on the estimated scale of the industry, Maciej Grygielski focused on the role of the social media in the customer service, while the representatives of Kontel and Jabra share their advice as to what one should consider when choosing headsets. Thanks to our cooperation with ­Outsourcing-Verband we also give some information on the German CC market.

This month our trip over Poland took us to Wielkopolska. Its capital city, ­Poznań, has been tempting foreign investors for years and in this issue we are going to show you the reasons of this situation. We present an ­interview with the Deputy Mayor of Poznań, Jerzy Stępień and with Wojciech S ­ krudlik, Head of MAN Accounting Center. The information on Wielkopolska is ­supplemented with HR reports of Grafton and CPL, while Savills gives an overview of the Real Estate market. Apart from Poznań, we also present the BPO ­potential in Piła.

The post-holiday time in outsourcing is abundant with industry events.

Among the others, such conferences as Roadshow and ASPIRE, ABSL, ­Nowoczesna Firma, IIR, IOP, Forum Call Center and IQPC are held. In t­otal, more than 700 delegates in Poland and the Czech Republic will discuss trends, standards, directions of development, risks and challenges in the field of ­business ­process outsourcing, call and contact centers, shared service centers and purchase processes. Outsourcing&More and OutsourcingPortal are this year’s patrons of the major events, where, along with the organizers, we have the pleasure to promote best practices of outsourcing.

The material is supplemented with an interview with Tomasz Podolak, head of Linkleaders – one of the leading PR agencies promoting the outsourcing industry in Poland. Furthermore, Piotr Boulangé acquaints us with the more and more popular issue of co-working.

I am also pleased to inform you, that Outsourcing&More has entered into ­cooperation with the Invest In Poland Agency (­PAIiIZ). From this issue on, PAIiIZ will have its regular column in ­Outsourcing&More, thus we will inform you on a regular basis about new foreign investments and all other important information related to offshoring and outsourcing in Poland.

In this year’s last issue (November/December) we will write on Wrocław and Dolny Śląsk (Lower Silesia), and the major theme of the issue will be HR outsourcing.

Dymitr Doktór Chief Editor

September / October 2012

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Index 30 Poznań knows how to attract investors

Outsourcing & More

14

Radom – Discover Poland’s Best Kept Secret

6

Important Dates

16

Coworking is different kind of working

8

Invest in Poland – Information

24

The Foundation ”I Choose Kielce” has started

10

Interview with Tomasz Podolak – Managing Director Linkleaders

26

Cross-Cultural Negotiations

16

Coworking is different kind of working

Join us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/outsourcingandmore 4

September / October 2012

Main Topic

58

Call/Contact

centers

In Poland

Poland vs Outsourcing 30

Poznań knows how to attract investors

36

Piła – rising potential in the scope of BPO services

38

Entrepreneurship? AIP in Poznań

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Office Market in Poznań – H1 2012

45

Business Process Outsourcing sector in Poznań

48

Business services sector in Poznań – analysis of salaries and employees’ motivation

53

Interview with Deputy Mayor of Poznań – Jerzy Stępień

56

Wojciech Skrudlik – interview with The Head of MAN Accounting Center in Poznań

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Call Centers in Poland... 20 years later

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Polish Call/Contact Center Market in 2012

68

Managing the quality and effectiveness of the work of telephone consultants at implementing outband and inbound projects

73

Headsets for Call Center – selection criteria

74

How to profit from choosing the right headsets for the Call Center

76

Communication in a loyalty program

78

New face of telecommunication – cloud services for companies

82

Case study – arvato’s solution

84

The German Contact Center Industry

86

Social media in customer service

53

Interview with Deputy Mayor of Poznań – Jerzy Stępień

September / October 2012

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Outsourcing & More | Important Dates

10.09.2012

The 3rd ABSL Annual ­Conference Business ­Services in Poland

Organizer: ABSL Location: Sopot (Poland)

11.09.2012

Warsztaty Outsourcing w farmacji

Organizer: Puls Biznesu Location: Warsaw (Poland)

12.09.2012

Bezpłatna Konferencja ERP GigaCon

Organizer: GigaCon Location: Warsaw (Poland)

12.09.2012

I Spotkanie Forum Call Center – Zwycięskie Strategie

Organizer: Contact Center Management Institute/Forum Call Center Location: Łukta (Poland)

16.09.2012

6th Shared Services and Outsourcing Exchange

Organizer: SSON Location: Prague (Czech Republic)

2012 Call Center Awards

Organizer: IIR Location: Warsaw (Poland)

VII Polish Outsourcing Forum - Shared Services and Outsourcing: Unlocking the Next 5 Years

Organizer: ROADSHOW POLSKA Sp. z o.o.

Location: Warsaw (Poland)

VIII Kongres Contact Center

Organizer: nowoczesnafirma Location: Warsaw (Poland)

Sopot

Warsaw

Warsaw

Łukta

Prague

18.09.2012 Warsaw

20.09.2012 Warsaw

24.09.2012 Warsaw

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September / October 2012

Outsourcing & More | News

September / October 2012

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Invest in Poland | Information

The number of projects assisted

by Foreign Investment Department at Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency steadily remains high.

In August there were 143 projects in the pipeline which ­represented over 5,8 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 32 serviced ones with total value of over 744 mn EUR and 6 219 new workplaces. The rank is also led by the German investors – 18 projects, 541 mn EUR and 4 445 new jobs.

Other significant contributors are the UK, France, China and the Netherlands with exceptionally high amount of planned capital expenditures – over 868 mn EUR. Attractiveness of Poland as the destination for Business Services Sector projects increases year by year. Currently there are 45 projects from BSS, incl. IT and R&D ones totaling 317 mn EUR. Only from January this year, 12 out of 31 completed projects were from BSS and added 2 526 new jobs for the specialists.

In the last months there was an increasing interest amongst the foreign companies in setting up multilingual call/contact centers in Poland. This comes as a surprising change as compared to the previous years. At that time, Agency had been receiving no more than two requests for assistance in those projects. We also noticed significant change in the profile and scope of services to be provided. Before, the aim was to focus predominately on telemarketing and sales sup­ port. At present, the center gravity is shifted to customer support, mostly in financial services and telecommunication.

­ mployees of the center E represent the company and are ­responsible for the brand perception amongst the consumers.

The projects are frequently meant to service West European, with particular attention paid to German speaking, countries.

Those centers start providing even wider scope of services, nonetheless all of them are built around helping clients by using different communication channels.

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September / October 2012

Consumers and clients of multinational corporations ­quickly get used to increasing standards of service. Time of ­reaction, accuracy in identifying problems, convenience of being ­remotedly supported – all of those factors induce the need to grow and develop contact center departments on the com­pany’s end. The next reason for this surely are ­labor costs, which in Poland are still lower than in n ­ eighboring Germany. Western Europe is affected by the problem of ­ ­ageing s­ocieties and shortages in access to skilled labor force. On top of all the above – mentioned, there is also an economic crisis which encourages seeking cost savings.

Call/contact centers in a nearshore model are almost ­always cost – generating units, which from managerial point of view makes this part of the corporation particularly susceptible to cost – cutting measures. That makes the idea of near­shoring popular. What definitely helps is a quality of Polish em­ployees who thanks to the level of service gain respect and ­ confidence. Call/contact center is the place where an ­end-user/ client meets his business partner, and most ­ likely in a situation that requires solving some sort of i­ssue. E ­ mployees of the center represent the company and are ­responsible for the brand perception amongst the con­sumers.

This is why, the proficiency in speaking languages is a must.

No wonder that big, multinational corporations l­ocate ­their centers in cities providing the best access to talented, skillful people, with sufficient number of students and gra­ duates. Client-driven demand for the language skills spoken by ­natives results in successful attempts to recruit foreign nationals. Interestingly, on the costs end, their ­employment contracts quite rarely include premium for being a foreigner.

Case study: a company from Egipt Due to confidentiality issues and the ongoing project s­ tatus, PAIiIZ cannot reveal the name of the investor. The c ­ ompany turned to the Agency in January 2012 and informed a ­ bout its plans to launch a call/contact center providing s­ervice in ­ Western European languages. As an alternative, the ­company considered either taking over an existing ­center or getting into partnership with established provider. This ­scenario was ultimately excluded. The project involves h ­ iring 50 e ­ mployees initially and ramping up to 150 people. ­Major language require­ments are: German, Spanish, Italian, French.

From January to March the company’s repre­sentative in­ formed PAIiIZ about the particular requirements. The ­Agency was told, there was no particular need for people with pro­ fessional expertise, language knowledge being the most important factor. In-house training related to products and procedures would be provided for every employee.

Invest in Poland | Information

The scope of a ­ ctivities r­ equires a commitment to create at least 250 new jobs, s ­ ince the requirement couldn’t be met, the Agency was not in a position to offer a cash subsidy to this particular ­company.

PAIiIZ Project Manager prepared an RFI (Request for Infor­ mation) which i.a. included macroeconomic data (unem­ ployment, GDP forecast, membership in Euro zone) and infor­ mation specific for chosen locations (cities). They ­included data on population, demographic trends, n ­ umber of students and graduates with particular focus on the ­philology faculties, the size and scope of activities of s­ imilar centers which suc­cessfully run their operations. In result of preselection, PAIiIZ recommended 4 cities to be e ­ xamined ­thoroughly: Łódź, ­Lublin, ­Poznań and Szczecin.

Based on the hard data, ­desktop analysis, the company chose P ­ oznań as the city to o ­ rganize a business trip to In March 2012, ­PAIiIZ orga­nized the ­visit. Main points on the “To Do” list were: meeting with the ­local admini­stration office (The ­Poznan City Hall’s ­Investors’ ­Servicing and ­Investment ­Promotion D ­ epartment), meeting with a ­Human ­Resources agency, meeting with a Real Estate agency and visiting existing office buildings which met the require­ ments and ­meeting with a repre­sentative of an existing center of similar type. Because the investor’s representatives travelled thru Warsaw, PAIiIZ o ­ ffered similar agenda for the capital city as

a reference point. Warsaw was ultimately put off the list due to comparatively higher costs.

As a follow-up to the visit, PAIiIZ prepared additional infor­mation comparing wages for similar roles across Poland in other call/contact centers. The company asked about available investment incentives, too. The scope of a ­ ctivities r­equires a commitment to create at least 250 new jobs, s­ ince the requirement couldn’t be met, the Agency was not in a position to offer a cash subsidy to this particular ­ company. The investor ­requested additionally information on the tax scheme in Poland.

Currently, the company analyses various oprions of s­ etting up the center in Poland and an impact on the financial s­ tructure of this endeavor incl. taxes. The investor leans ­toward esta­ blishing a cost – generating center (cost + m ­ argin principle), without direct sales to and end-user thru the Polish subsi­ diary. The decision is expected to be taken on Q4 2012. ■

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.

September / October 2012

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Outsourcing & More | Interview

Interview with Tomasz Podolak – Managing Director Linkleaders Outsourcing&More: We appreciate you taking time to talk to us, especially that the work in the PR industry goes on 24/7. Outsourcing&More writes about every aspect of the Polish and global outsourcing industry, promoting solutions, companies, educational campaigns and allowing our readers to get a broad understanding of the sector. Your PR agency – Linkleaders, for several years now, has been specializing in providing services for the business services sector. How did you come across the idea of focusing on this industry and is it the main area of your operations?

Tomasz Podolak: The idea appeared by chance as a result of putting together a few facts. A few years ago, I realized that there is a sector in Poland, which although wasn’t widely recognized, was developing faster than the others. It was an obvious niche. Outsourcing’s definition and business model was complex enough to virtually prevent it from appearing in the media. Additionally, it used all this „abstract” t­ erminology: offshoring, BPO, nearshoring… Two, three years ago

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September / October 2012

­ ut­sourcing was present in the media only in the context of o ­stereotypes presenting call center jobs as tedious and poorly paid. These stereotypes and a need for employer branding, has become one of the main drivers of PR acti­vities. For many of the sector’s leaders in Poland it ­became clear that some kind of intermediary – a PR agency – was needed. The role of such an agency was to „­discover” ­outsourcing for the media, and translate the complex l­anguage of busi­ness into clear and efficient communication. According to their vision, PR activities, through the media, were supposed to show the real strength and innovativeness of the sector as well as initiate a dialogue between business, state i­nstitutions and local authorities. Linkleaders’ outsourcing specialization has, in time, become a good platform for developing other areas of the agency’s expertise – IT, e-commerce and real estate.

O&M: Currently there are several organizations associating companies from the BPO, SSC, ITO, KPO and Call ­Center sectors. Which of these organizations do you cooperate

Outsourcing & More | Interview

with and why do you think they chose your agency? There is considerable competition in the PR industry, how did you manage to attract so many renowned representatives of the outsourcing sector?

TP: We cooperate with the Association of Business ­Service Leaders (ABSL), as well as with the Outsourcing Institute.

I think that in both cases the key factor was our unique expertise and experience in cooperating with outsourcing companies. I believe in specialization. It seems to me that PR agencies should gradually evolve towards providing ­consulting services – dedicated to a specific client group. I’m not by any means saying that large PR companies that serve all kinds of clients will disappear, but I think that such a large scale distracts and disrupts client relations. Linkleaders is a boutique consulting firm, which apart from traditional PR and e-PR, analyzes the global BPO/SSC/KPO/ITO ­market, creates reports, organizes conferences, and advises its clients on running recruitment campaigns. I can’t think of any other company that would invest so much in the knowledge of the sector. That’s what differentiates us from the rest.

O&M: I can only congratulate you on your growing client portfolio. Could you please explain which part of the sector today needs the most promotion? Is it BPO/SSC, or ­perhaps still Call/Contact Centers, which although are numerous in Poland, sometimes operate locally?

TP: What is crucial is employer branding and ­incorporating PR as well as online and social media activities into the ­recruitment process. Shared services centers, as well as huge BPO centers are based in Poland, where they employ several thousand qualified specialists. However, their market is located elsewhere. The services they provide are „con­ sumed” by the corporations they are part of, or by large ­international clients. Therefore, the service centers’ market is in fact the labor market, and the key process, ­determining business growth is recruitment. A substantial part of our ­advisory services focuses on employer branding and recruit­ ment processes support.

O&M: Within the outsourcing sector there is a d ­ ifferentiation between companies with Polish and foreign capital – what do their expectations concerning promotion and image ­building look like? Are there any differences, or do all organi­ zations have similar priorities?

TP: All companies prioritize incorporating PR activities into the recruitment process, with a special emphasis on online and social media presence. This is a leading trend, which we now observe and respond to with our offer.

O&M:. We know that apart from Linkleaders you are also connected with Prime Speakers. How are these two orga­ nizations different?

TP: Prime Speakers is the first Polish business speakers bureau. It operates within the same capital group as ­Linkleaders. In this case we have also chosen specialization, we focus on business, economy and international relations, and do not have a lifestyle offer. We are interested in projects which allow us to apply our speakers’ practical knowledge and expertise. Of course, within Prime Speakers we closely cooperate with speakers from the outsourcing sector. They are excellent managers with a great deal of international experience.

O&M: Such experienced speakers surely attract large audiences. In your opinion, is outsourcing properly pro­ ­ moted in Poland? Is the media coverage sufficient?

TP: The situation looks much better than three years ago.

Thanks to the determination of ABSL and the Outsourcing Institute as well as companies such as HP, Infosys and X ­ erox we have developed a greater awareness of the ­sector. In the business context much has been a ­ ccomplished. The business services sector is now present in the n ­ ­ational economy debate. The media have an ­ ­ understanding of ­outsourcing and, more importantly, are aware of its con­ tribution to our economy’s innovativeness. Poland is one

September / October 2012

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Outsourcing & More | Interview

s­uperior? What is important from the perspective of the ­participants of such events ?

TP: Outsourcing is still a very „young” sector. That’s why knowledge sharing and building relationships with partners such as the media, state institutions and local authorities remains crucial. Conferences are the best platforms for building such relations. The participants are interested in ­ practical knowledge and case studies presentation. P ­ oland is a E ­ uropean leader. It is here that the majority of largest business service centers from our region are located. We are also becoming a regional center of networking and ­know­ledge sharing. This drives the intense deve­lopment of ­various conference formats dedicated to the sector. T ­ ogether with ABSL we organize an annual conference, which we hope will become the most important event of its kind in this part of Europe. We invite you to come and join us in Sopot in September.

O&M: Let me ask you the last question concerning the ­publication of reports dedicated to the sector. Is it an efficient method to promote the sector? If yes, do we have access to a sufficient number of reports? Who should prepare this kind of research and why?

of the strongest global outsourcing locations. That’s a fact.

Still, plenty remains to be done when it comes to employer branding. We are still dealing with old stereotypes… In my opinion, we have had a good start, we have achieved the objectives of the first phase of our information campaign but there is still room for improvement.

O&M: Two short questions to finish. The first one ­concerns outsourcing events, such as business breakfasts, confe­ rences, local meetings, either closed or open for a ­wider audience, presentations etc. They are hosted by local autho­ rities, organizations including ASPIRE, ABSL, or the Outsourcing Institute, conference organizers such as Roadshow Poland, GigaCon and many others. Which ­ of these forms of the sector’s promotion do you consider

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September / October 2012

TP: This is the best source of knowledge. Consulting companies such as Hackett Group, Tholons or Everest ­ periodically compile reports concerning global business ­ services sector. For us they constitute the basis for PR ­ ­activities in Poland. By drawing attention to the sector on a global scale, we can better promote it locally, especially in the light of the fact that Poland is increasingly recognized in this kind of research. The Everest Group named Poland as the most mature offshoring location in Europe and one of the top five in the world. Without a doubt, this kind of information helps us. The most important research of this type in Poland is the annual ABSL Report, according to which, the sector’s employment in Poland will reach more than 100 000 by the end of the year. ABSL, as a leading organization ­associating major companies from the business services sector has the best tools to conduct this kind of research and its appli­ cation is wide. It is excellent to use when in contact with the ­media and for marketing purposes of service centers and out­sourcing companies. It also makes us feel more confident and optimistic, as after decades of experiments, Poland has finally found its business specialization and is among the ­global leaders.

O&M: Thank you very much. We are waiting for further ­effects of your work and new research concerning the o ­ utsourcing sector in Poland. ■

Outsourcing & More | News

September / October 2012

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Outsourcing & More | Sponsored publication

Radom – Discover Poland’s Best Kept Secret Radom offers a Warsaw suburb location at half the price.

Both labor costs and lease rates can be up to 50% lower than Warsaw and 40% lower than Kraków and Wrocław, the other BPO/SSC hubs in Poland. With 20 institutions of higher learning and 7 existing BPO/ SSC operators, Radom deserves a closer look.

Why Radom?

Radom is an ideal destination for growing companies ­seeking to reduce their overall cost of business. It is the second ­largest city after Warsaw in the Mazovian region. Radom is located only 98 km and a one hour’s drive from ­Warsaw’s C ­ hopin International Airport via the new four lane S7 e ­ xpressway.

Moreover, completion of the moderni­zation of the r­ ailway line connecting Radom with Warsaw and K ­ raków is planned for 2013 and will reduce travel time by rail to only 55 m ­ inutes to the capital city. Why Radom and why the outsourcing ­sector? – “Because Poland is one of the top destinations in the world for the outsourcing sector and ­Radom is one of the best destinations in Poland for this ­sector. The concept of Outsourcing is based on lowering c ­ osts and delivering value for organizations. Radom is the perfect place for com­ panies – our citizens are dedicated, smart and hard working people and our significantly lower cost of living means that Radom operations will cost com­panies less” – says Andrzej ­Kosztowniak, President of Radom.

www.radomofficepark.pl

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September / October 2012

Destination for your business Average salaries in Radom are up to 50% lower than in the nearby capital – that is why Radom has generated ­significant interest in the dynamically growing BPO and SSC sector in Central and Eastern Europe. Not only are labor rates l­ower in Radom, but also the cost of living and costs of o ­ ffice space here are much lower. In Warsaw, office space lease rates ­range from 13 to 26 EUR/m2, in Kraków from 12 to 15 EUR/ m2, in Łódź from 11 to 13 EUR/m2, and in Radom from only 9 to 10 EUR/m2. The pro-investment ­policy of the ­Radom authorities has already attracted seven com­ panies from the BPO/ SSC sector, among them are: the Data Processing Center of Poland’s Ministry of Finance (from ­ 2010), Europe Calling – international call center (from 2010), Iron Mountain – data processing center (from 2009), Millward Brown SMG KRC - call center and public opinion research center (from 2008), Telbridge – call center (from 2007).

The city authorities have prepared a special investment ­package which includes relief of up to 50% of the ­investment amount for small and middle companies and up to 30% of the invest­ment amount for large companies. Radom also ­includes a Special Economic Zone, the third largest in P ­ oland, with a complete industrial infra­structure and ­support of 50% (small and middle companies) and 30% (large ­companies) of the investment amount in the form of tax relief. “The fact that

Outsourcing & More | Sponsored publication

the Ministry of Finance has decided to ­invest in our city, is the best ­proof that we are a reliable business partner. We proved to many that there is nothing ­impossible for us and our city. For ­example, when the Ministry of F ­ inance Data ­Processing Center was planned to be built in our ­ city, we ­ issued ­ building per­ mit in one day.” – confirms the ­President of Radom, ­Andrzej Kosztowniak.

Our people – key to your success With more than 20 institutions of higher Wmurowanie kamienia węgielnego pod biurowiec klasy A Radom Office Park: Andrzej Kosztowniak, prezydent Radomia, Brian Patterson oraz Mirosław Szydelski, przedstawiciele inwestora AIG/Lincoln Polska learning and reco­gnized secondary tech­ nical schools, Radom is the second larneeds 40 accountants we are able to arrange this number gest educational and training center in the Mazovian ­region. of employees and a profe­ssional office where these people In total, 15 000 young people study in Radom’s ­ higher could carry out their tasks, of ­course outside the company’s ­schools of learning with 24% of the students are ­studying headquarters. Thanks to this busi­ness concept companies business and eco­nomics and 29% are studying engi­neering may save time and ­money. Radom has a bright future in and computers. According to the research con­ ducted Outsourcing b ­ ecause the city boasts a large number of very

by Hays in 2012, 96% of the ­students in ­Radom ­declare well edu­cated, ambitious and c ­ reative people“ – said Kamila Krawczyk-Strawińska from Europe Calling, the BPO com­ pany already operating in Radom.

Your future BPO/SSC location The existing BPO/SSC industry has thrived in Radom even without modern office space. However, in May of this year AIG/Lincoln Polska commenced construction of the first of two Class A office buildings within its 10-hectare C ­ entrum Słoneczne project in the city center. Radom Office Park, which will deliver 10,000 square meters of new office s­ pace is the next stage of the multi-use Centrum ­Słoneczne deve­ lopment, which includes the 42,000 square meter ­Galeria Słoneczna, Aquapark Radom, Osiedle Słoneczne and bike and walking paths.

know­ ledge of English, with German coming in s­econd.

Politechnika Radomska with its accredited labora­ ­ tories ­equipped in the most modern ­training equipment ­permits vital hands-on ­learning. ­Politechnika Radomska is also open to creating new, c ­ustom courses to properly prepare its ­graduates for local companies. For example the school cus­ tomized training and classes to ­prepare gradu­ates to work in the Data Processing Center of the Ministry of Finance. “­Outsourcing is nothing more than allocating ­services o ­ utside a company to save money. The easiest way to describe the potential benefits is the example of acc­ounting. If a company

“Why did we decide to bet on this ­ sector in Radom?

With ­ highly q ­ualified and ambitious employees, R ­adom is a ­cost-effective ­business suburb of Warsaw. We have found a tremendously supportive city leader­ ­ ship that is ­totally ­dedicated to supp­orting the growth of the BPO/ SSC industry in Radom” – says Brian ­ ­ Patterson, ­ Managing ­Partner of AIG/ Lincoln Polska. With convenient parking, nine bus ­lines abutting the project, large open space d ­ esigns and high capacity telephone and data lines, Radom Office Park has been designed to meet the specific needs of the BPO and SSC sector. The first b ­ uilding will be ready for o ­ ccupancy at the ­beginning of 2013. ■

September / October 2012

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Outsourcing & More | Articles

Coworking is different kind of working COWORK, what it is?

For some time, a popular form of work, especially in the ­so-called „Western World” is the way to work in the ­coworking offices. The idea which led to creation of the first ­coworking space was the need for doing one project by few independent individuals. This, working together once, often led to next cooperation.

Depending on the person telling the story, there are v­ arious sources of the history of the coworking movement, industry.

Personally, I have learned, that the first group of freelancers began to meet in coffee shops, where they have spent time working together on joint projects. After some time, one of those groups have rented an office for themselves and eventually began to sublet the area to other freelancers, ­ ­charging them only for the time spent in the office space, and not for renting the whole area, for the entire month.

It turned out that this form of work, cooperation and char­ ging, was what the people not needing the full time office where waiting for. According to the main source of know­ ledge of the 21st century, the Wikipedia, the first time that the ­ coworking phrase was proposed, was in 1999, and the word was used for the first time in San Francisco in 2005, to describe the space of work, for a network of ­people not e ­ mployed by the same company. Ever since, this kind of ­working was becoming more and more popular, as ­presented in the d ­ iagram below.

Graph 1. Year of opening

Reading this text, please keep in mind, that the data to which I refer is for the global market, unless I state otherwise.

COWRKING INDUSTRY, the Globe Referring to the report Published by the deskmag.com1, we know, that as of February 2012, there were 1320 coworking spaces worldwide, out of which more than 88% had been present for more than a year, and 1100 were located in the US and the UE. When compared to the whole Word and counting the ­number of coworking offices, the US with its 537 places, is number one. Second one is Germany with 124, and later on, there is Spain, Italy and the UK, having each over 60 ­coworking spaces. Poland, with just over 30 offices, with Japan and Australia is closing the world’s first ten countries.

Map 1. Number of coworkimng spaces per continent, as of ­November 1, 2011

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1311.jpeg Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1309.png

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http://www.deskmag.com/en/1320-coworking-spaces-worldwide-208

Outsourcing & More | Articles

As for offices, for which the main area of income is related to the cowork, most of them are located in New York, London, San Francisco and Berlin2.

Graph 4. How much do you like your coworking space on scale of 1 to 10? 10 = the highest grade – 1 = the lowest grade respondents: coworking space members

COWORKER, meaning who People using coworking spaces are referred to as co­workers.

Most of them are in their late 20’s mid 30’s. 1/3 is women.

Majority of them is related to the IT or Creative business, such as: programmers, computer graphics, ­advertising, and marketing. More than a half of global coworker’s popu­lation has average income (as for their nations), 1/3 earns more, and only 14% earn less than their country’s average. 75% have higher education (meaning, BA, MA or PhD and h ­ igher).

Graph 2. What is your highest level of education? respondents: ­coworking space members

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1607.png

Such a score might be an answer to, how much time they spend occupying the office. Most of them work 1 to 4 days a week, 1/3 uses the space on the daily basis, and only 15% of them visit the office less than 4 times a week. 2/3 uses the “hot desk” option, which means, that they don’t have a permanent personal space. 38% work in “office hours”, but more than a half of global coworkers have 24/7 access.

Only 15% travel to work more than 30 minutes.

ADDS & CONS, mostly positives

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1521.png

Graph 3. Age of coworking space members

All the coworkers like other coworkers - 80%. Other posi­ tives are related to: the localization, the operators of the ­coworking space (both more than 50% answers each), and almost half of them additionally named the price. As for things, that they didn’t like, they mentioned the noise, the lack of ­privacy, or incom­plete office infrastructure. But the “­unlikables” were m ­ entioned on average around 10 p.p.3 Graph 5. What do you like most about your coworking space? responded by coworking space members

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1515.png

2/3 Describe themselves as: Freelancers (54%) or as an ­Entrepreneur with employees (13%). More than half of all the coworkers work in the cities having over 1 million popu­ lation, and 1/3 in the cities ranging from 100 000 to 999 999 people.

Most of them have previously worked in home office or in tradi­tional office. On average, the coworker uses 1,54 of co­working spaces in their lifetime, meaning, how loyal the coworking customers can be, especially that only 4% uses more than one coworking space at a time. On a 1 to 10 ­scale, they grade their coworking area on an average of 8,44: 2

http://www.deskmag.com/en/the-birth-of-coworking-spaces-global-survey-176

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1611.png

Among additional profits from this kind of working style ­people name a chance of meeting other people just like them, with a possibility to make new personal contacts or even new business ventures4. Coworkers also give high or 3 4

http://www.deskmag.com/en/what-coworking-space-members-want-survey-211 http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1545.png

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Graph 6. What don’t you like most about your coworking space? responded by coworking space members

COWORKING SPACES, some data and graphs Most of the coworking offices (3/4) have a working space suitable for 20 to 99 desks5; divided more or less equally in categories of 20-29, 30-49 and 50-99 desks:

Graph 8. Distribution of coworking spaces by maximum concurrent capacity reported by members of coworking spaces (2011) & all ­coworkers inc. operators (2010) Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1615.png

very high scores on the answers related to the growth of ­their personal productivity, sense of personal self esteem and better ways of relaxing at home after work.

Sometimes even the chance to meet people who only rent the office space for trainings or business meetings without working in the coworking area.

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1661.png

Graph 7. How much has your work style altered Since you work In a coworking space? (positive impact)

If we look at the users of the coworking spaces in c ­ ategories: up to 9 people, 10-24, 25-49 and more than 50 people, we can see that those segments are also quite equally divided, with a little tendency toward the middle groups from 10 to 49 people.

Graph 9. Coworking spaces by number of members

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1545.png

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1341.png

The coworking spaces seem to have only the advantages: You don’t need initial funds for your personal ­enterprise, no investment in office space, and operational costs ­related to having own office (media, electricity etc.).

You have “your personal workspace” but don’t have to be there on the full-time basis, it is very flexible.

You can easily put a border between your work and ­personal life.

People with the same philosophy of work life balance, have a chance to meet other people just like them.

You can meet your Clients and business partners in the coworking space, and it doesn’t have to be coffee shop any longer.

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Now we can look at the source of income generated by the coworking spaces. Data related to this subject is related to the variables6: Number of coworking space users.

Number of concurrent coworking offices.

Time, the coworking space exists on the market.

The coworking “market” is the suppliers market, meaning, that the larger amount of coworking offices in one place, the 5 6

http://www.deskmag.com/en/the-development-of-coworking-spaces-213 http://www.deskmag.com/en/how-profitable-are-coworking-spaces-177

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higher their income is. We can see this best analyzing the data related to cities where each office has at least five other coworking spaces to compete with. Among such offices, more than half considers themselves as profitable, and little more than 1/4 as unprofitable. On the other side of this data, there are “lonely” offices in the city. Among them, almost half is unprofitable, and little more than 1/4 considers themselves as profitable.

Graph 10. Profitability of coworking spaces by number of other ­spaces In the same city reported by coworking spaces

Graph 12. Profitability of coworking spaces by age of all coworking spaces

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1335.png

As for the incomes, most of the coworking spaces earn from renting the workplace (desks) – 60%. Another 20-24 % of their income is generated by renting the trianing / conference space.

Graph 13. What proportion of your income do the following services generate? All spaces in general & by number of members Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1643.png

The same correlation applies, when we analyze the data for profitability and the number of coworking space users.

Amongst the smallest, or the newest (the report didn’t show, if the data was related to the number of desks, or the time the office was present in the market), those who have up to 9 users, only in 25% cases were generating ­profits, and 56% had loses. If the number of users grows, so does the ­percentage of companies gain profits, and drops the n ­ umber of offices generating loses. In the 10-24 users c ­ategory, profits achieved 36% of companies and 44% generates ­ loss, in the 25-49 category, profits had 41% companies, and only 19% reported, that they didn’t generate profit. And in the 50 or more categories, 70% offices report profit, and those that do not generate it, have similar as before 18%.

Graph 11. Profitability of coworking spaces by number of members

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1333.png

More than half thinks that they earn on the ave­rage level, 18% say that their income is low or very low, and 17- 28% considers their income as high. In the last g ­ roup, 4-5% has answered, that their income is very high. This last category

Graph 14. Income of space operators

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1343.png

The longer, the coworking space is present on the ­market, the bigger its chance to generate profit, especially if it is present on the market more than two years (70% were profitable).

Source: http://www.deskmag.com/img/articleimages/large/deskmag-coworking-1353.png

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represents coworking spaces having more than 30 users or places with up to 29 users, where the operator has additional job. We cannot be sure, if those answers related only to the incomes generated form coworking activities or maybe all of their incomes.

“WspółPRACOWNIE”, Cowork in Poland As for Poland, quoting the www.polskicoworking.pl p ­ ortal, most of the coworking spaces are located in Kraków and Warsaw (8 and 10), and the rest of the “larger” cities have 1 or 2 of those offices. In Kraków, the oldest ope­ rating co­working space is Studio Kreatywnej Współpracy (www. ­ studioprzylea. pl) since June 2010, and In Warsaw, present since 2009 is the Biurco (www.biurco.pl). The newest coworking space in Warsaw is the Clock-Work ­ (www. ­clock-work.pl), operating since May 2012.

The most thorough report concerning the coworking in ­Poland was published on 24th October 2011 by the Infakt and 4P research mix7 agency.

and 41% few times a week. So it is not a surprise, that 59% of them have a monthly subscription plan.

We also don’t differ from other markets, when we look at the reasons for using the coworking spaces. For 71% of the users it is the need of separating the private life from work life, and for 41% it is possibility of exchanging experiences with other coworkers.

In Poland, among the advantages of coworking spaces, its users name the prices, as well as, good atmosphere for ­business meetings.

Polish coworkers (62%), just like the global coworkers are mostly aged 26-35, and just few more, than the global ­average - 81% have higher education (bachelor’s, master’s or higher).

Graph 15. Age

After first glance at the Polish data, we can see that the Polish coworking industry doesn’t differ much form the ­ ­global market.

Thanks to the report, we learn that 73% of Polish co­workers learn about the coworking space from the internet, and ­another 36% from their friends.

60% use the offices in the period of 6 to 12 months. Almost half (43%) work in the coworking space on the daily basis, 7

http://www.infakt.pl/coworking_w_polsce_2011/aktualnosci

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September / October 2012

Source: http://www.infakt.pl/images/firma_aktualnosci/coworking/31.png

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Graph 16. Education

Source: http://www.infakt.pl/images/firma_aktualnosci/coworking/30.png

Just like in the world, in Poland; women also are 1/3 of the coworkers, most of the people work in IT, e-commerce, or media and advertisement related areas.

Polish coworkers differ a little when answering the question related to their income. Just as well 14% considers t­heir wages as lower than average (when comparing to their ­ ­national average), but only 11% answered, that they earn less than their national average. Unfortunately, we cannot assume that the rest earns more than the average, because more than 1/3 of Polish coworkers, denied answering the question related to their income. Nevertheless, almost 2/3 (65%) considered their income as satisfactionary or very satisfaoctionary.

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Graph 17. Choose your monthly income range from all activities:

Source: http://www.infakt.pl/images/firma_aktualnosci/coworking/17.png

Forecasting for coworking For me, surprisingly, the future of coworking spaces, related with the freelancing and entrepreneurship, might be ­closely correlated with corporations renting the same space for its employees (in the US, 35% of people using the offices, are full time employers – quoting the Wikipedia). The offer is m ­ ostly for people that travel often or live quite far away from the companies’ office, but need to have their own work ­space, or “The Office”.

Almost 3/4 of the coworkers judging their perspectives for the future, predict that their income will rise, 13% believe it will not change (what with the information about being

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Table 1.

Generally speaking is situation in our country moving in the right or in the wrong direction?

Indication of the respondents according to the dates of research III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

I

2010

II

III

2011 In percent

In good

33

42

37

39

44

35

33

31

33

37

29

23

23

In bad

54

38

42

42

35

47

51

55

53

48

55

59

65

Hard to say

13

20

21

19

21

18

16

14

14

15

16

18

12

Source: http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2011/K_025_11.PDF

Graph 18. How do you expect your income to change In 2010 ­compared to 2009 for All your activities?

If we put all those information together with the news about the “unhappy movements”, than we may realize, that young people don’t wait anymore for the “state” to help them out, but they actively look for their opportunities, and since they can’t find any alternatives in the surrounding world, they start to create their own socio-economical world, where the ­coworking spaces have a very big chance to perfectly fit in…

■

References Source: http://www.infakt.pl/images/firma_aktualnosci/coworking/19.png

s­ atisfied with their income, is a positive news), and only 8% believe it will drop.

This data, when compared with the “public satisfaction poll” from March 20118, time when the mentioned by me report was conducted (November 2010-March 2011), besides the New Year’s peak, show that in the social perception the ­future didn’t look as bright. Comparing those sets of data, we see that the coworkers are more optimistic towards the upcoming future.

The data used in this article comes from sites dealing with the ­ issues of coworking. Due to the relatively young age of coworking, information published in one place is quite frag­ ­ mented. For example, the international media run more profes­ sional services for coworking. Polish medias on the other hand, make you look in different places for the same information. Most of the time, the best information about cowork, can be found at coworking spaces sites and fanpages, (for example: Biurco or ClockWork). Polish services are comparable more to the phone book, than to newsfeeds. Just after giving my text to the print house, the Deskmag website has released the next edition of the: The Global Coworking Survey, which I wasn’t able to include in the amendments to the text. But I think, that for those who are interested, it might be a good reading comparison, especially with regard to the dynamic changes occurring in the coworking industry.

What are the perspectives for the coworking industry? How will it evolve? We will see in the upcoming future, but it seems that the coworking, or maybe outsourcing of the ­workspace, has a bright future. Looking at the first graph, I think that we can assume that the growth dynamics of newly o ­ pened coworking spaces will not change. After all, their most ­ ­precious asset is, that they allow to start up a new ­initiative with quite low initial costs what in the “crisis” related times shouldn’t be unnoticed, by the potential entrepreneurs.

Additionally, in my opinion, the future of this market is closely correlated with the young people, who are the majority of the coworking spaces users. In the entire world those are individuals that are more educated, better earning and more active, than the average of any nation.

8

Author: Piotr Boulangé Owner Quality-Outsourcing www.clock-work.pl

http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2011/K_025_11.PDF

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The Foundation ”I Choose Kielce” has started with ambitious plan to place Kielce at the list of 100 most attractive cities for BPO sectors.

Kielce is capital of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, and popu­ lation of voivodeship is about 1,3 mln. Kielce is an academic centre, where about 50 000 students are educated and high schools provide annually 13 000 well educated ­graduates who speak fluently foreign languages. Monthly average cost of work is 2310,00 PLN (520 EUR), unemployment rate in voivodeship is 15% but in age group 25-44 it is 25%. ­Therefore the Foundation I Choose Kielce has the mission to improve these parameters: to increase professional qualifi­ cations among young people and create new jobs.

Due to this fact the main objective of the Foundation is to place Kielce at global list of 100 best outsourcing cities. The objective is to be completed within 10 years.

The Foundation aspires to create optimal conditions in K ­ ielce for BPO investors. Now we carry on talks with a ­ cademic centres and secondary schools to adjust education pro­ grammes to market demands (now people who speak Scandinavian, Dutch, Spanish and German languages are in demand). The negotiations with Kielce authorities are being carried to adopt the resolution on tax reliefs for BPO sector. The letter of intent with Special Economic Zone has been signed to cover Kieleckie Centrum Biznesu area with ­economic zone.

Visualization of Biznes Park Kielce

I choose Kielce The aim of the Foundation I Choose Kielce is active impact on economic development of Kielce and Świętokrzyskie ­Region; moreover, the aim is also to increase living standard and professional qualifications of Kielce inhabitants.

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September / October 2012

I Choose Kielce is an idea to build investment and economic potential for Kielce and Świętokrzyskie Region, to increase professional qualifications, to create new jobs, to open on world and international business. The effect of this should be increasing standard of living for all inhabitants. Another important element of the Foundation is promotion of unique touristic attractions of Region, support of local initiatives and cultural development.

BPO in Kielce The Foundation is connected with City Core LLC which is a pioneer of placing BPO companies in Kielce. City Core

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Kielce Business Center

LLC bought a real estate from Skanska 4 years ago and transformed it to Kieleckie Centrum Biznesu. Now City Core LLC has 5 hectare area with 12 floor building class B (total area 21 000 m2).

Currently Kieleckie Centrum Biznesu can offer 2000 m2 ­rental area class B. It is open space or it can be arranged according to tenants wishes. In case of 5 years or longer contracts we can ensure adaptation of offices according to project which is provided by the tenant, we also ­provide computer network and furniture according to customer w ­ ishes. For the com­ panies which have three-shift work system we can ensure transport for workers during night hours (from 11.00 p.m. to 04.00 a.m.) Moreover, the tenants can use memory 60 TB (and 36 TB for backup) at 4 servers HP Blade generation 7.

company and next they can move to modern Business Park.

Our qualified advisors can offer mediation in obtaining grants for the companies which will create new jobs in Kielce. (The companies which create new jobs can enjoy the privileges of programme Polska Wschodnia; the grants shall be used for employees’ training and special-purpose projects).

Biznes Park Kielce City Core LLC will build a modern Business Park from 2013 to 2015. It will be located on 5 hectare area and surrounded by green areas. The complex will be constituted by 6 buil­ dings class A with area 6 000 m2 each. The car park for 1500 cars will be available for tenants. Rate of rent is about 10 EUR and lease time is minimum 5 years. ■

In Kieleckie Centrum Biznesu there are two BPO companies: Call Center Inter Galactica and Medicover. The companies employed 100 people at the beginning and now they employ 1000 people.

The office area which is offered can be initial stage for ­potential customers interested in investing in Kielce. First the companies can establish staff and build the structure of the

Source: Kieleckie Centrum Biznesu

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Cross-Cultural Negotiations Globalization eliminates the boundaries between the ­countries. If you want to open a company in Bangalore, go ahead! Want to sell outsourcing services in the UK, have a try! As the reality shows, it is not that simple and in many cases cultural differences, including cross-cultural nego­ tiation ones, can prevent the success of an excellent idea.

Companies of all sizes search for customers and suppliers all over the world. International competition, foreign clients and manufacturers may become a danger, but they may also create numerous opportunities to develop ­enterprises. ­Internationalization requires managers to approach the ne­ gotiation process from the global business person’s point of view and this approach includes aspects which are usually irrelevant in domestic trading.

New York Times columnist, Tom Friedman in his bestselling book “The World is Flat” said that “the global competitive­ playing field is being leveled…It is now possible for more people than ever before to collaborate andcompete in real time with more other people on more different kinds of work from more differentcorners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of theworld”.

Learning to work with people from other cultures in order to collaborate creatively is a vital skill in today’s business envi­ ronment, says Roy Y.J. Chua, an assistant professor in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School.

the two parties. The written contract may expresses the ­relations, but the essence of the deal is the relationship itself.

Asian executives (negotiating goal - creation of a r­ elationship), tend to give much time and effort to preliminaries, while North Americans often want to get down to business as fast as possible, which is why Americans often complain that deal-­ making can be painfully slow abroad. In many cultures in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, strong relationships are not only important to ensure proper execution of an agreement but are a prerequisite for entering into any formal or informal negotiations. To varying degrees, people will want to learn about your company background and capabilities, prior experiences, strategies and objectives, long-term plans, and so on and so forth. Some of them also want to get to know you personally before they decide to trust you. In number of cultures, people don’t want to conduct business with you unless you convince them that you are seeking a long-term engagement rather than just ‘pursuing a deal’.

In its basic form, negotiation is a method of conflict reso­ lution. Negotiations is a problem-solving process in which two or more parties attempt to resolve their disagreement or conflict in a manner, and through a process, that is m ­ utually agreeable. Whereas the general concept of negotiation is quite easy to understand, in practice it can be an extremely difficult proposition.

Negotiation is further complicated when the parties find themselves negotiating across dissimilar cultures. Culture is a powerful factor in shaping how people think, communicate and behave. Therefore it affects how they negotiate.

Negotiating goal: contract or relationship?

Managers from different countries view the purpose of a nego­tiation differently. Deal makers from some cultures focus first and foremost on a signed contract between the parties. Other nations consider that the goal of a process of ­ finding common ground is not a signed contract but ­rather the creation and taking care of a relationship b ­ etween

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September / October 2012

What is more, you need to realize that the definition of what makes a good relationship varies widely between cultures.

In certain European countries such as Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, frank and direct exchanges indicate

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trust and a positive relationship, which is opposite to cultures such as China, where politeness and diplomacy are virtues and where there is little trust in ‘objective’ truths. A puzzling fact in China may be that confidentiality is not a requirement of a trusting relationship, as many American companies have painfully experienced. Information is very often consi­ dered free and using it in one’s best interest is considered legi­timate. Confidentiality agreements may not change that but will be read as signs of mistrust and hampering the relationship.

in deve­loping any closer relationship with me. (Polish attri­ bution: people who maintain formal behavior after the first few ­meetings do so because they dislike or distrust the asso­ ciates so treated.) In fact, I have misinterpreted his ­behavior.

I have used the norms for Polish business ­behavior, which are more informal and demonstrative (I would say „Good morning, Mr Johann,” not „Good morning, Herr Schneider”), to interpret the German’s more formal behavior („Good ­morning, Herr Chmielecki”).

High/Low Context Communication

Personal style: informal or formal?

Personal style concerns the way a negotiator talks to others, how he or she uses titles, dresses, speaks, and interacts with other people. Culture strongly influences the personal style of negotiators. Negotiators with a formal style address counterparts by their titles, they tend to avoid personal anec­ dotes, and usually refrain from questions touching on the ­private or family life of members of the other negotiating team. On the other hand negotiators with an informal style start the discussion on a first-name basis and quickly seek to develop personal, friendly relationships. Negotiators must respect appropriate formalities. As a general rule, it is always safer to adopt a formal posture and move to an informal stance, if the situation warrants it.

When I meet my German client for the 10th time and he ­greets me as Herr Chmielecki, I can interpret his very f­ormal beha­vior to mean that he does not like me or is uninte­rested

The listener in a high context communication culture must combine messages portrayed by the speaker’s verbal commu­ nication and nonverbal behaviors to get the full meaning of the message. High context communicators ­ expect their listeners to read between the lines. Words them­ selves are not as important as context, which includes tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, posture and status.

Flowery language and humbleness are common for high context communicators. Low context communicators rely on direct communication which occurs when the speaker ­clearly relays his thoughts and opinion in his verbal message. Low context communicators prefer to use words that express the full extent of the intended meaning. ­Nonverbal and subtle behaviors are not considered. Low-context commu­nicators value logic, facts, and straightforwardness.

For example, a Japanese businessman wants to tell his ­European client that he is not interested in a particular sale.

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To be polite, the Japanese says, „That will be very difficult.”

The client interprets the statement to mean that there are still unresolved problems, not that the deal is off. He responds for example by asking how his company can help solve the problems. The Japanese, believing he has sent the message that there will be no sale, is mystified by the response.

Time – monochronic vs polychronic Negotiators from monochronic cultures prefer doing one thing at a time. They usually like careful planning and sche­ duling. Monochronic people tend also to be low context. In polychronic cultures human interaction is valued over time and material things, leading to a lesser concern for “getting things done”. Things get done in their own time. Polychronic people tend also to be high context.

Emotionalism: high or low?

Emotions, in fact, are quite a large part of our lives. They colour our life and our experiences. They give them meaning and relevance for ourselves and our well being. Recent labo­ ratory research has demonstrated the link between ­cultural display rules that govern emotional displays and cultural diffe­rences in judgments of emotion. Although facial expres­ sions of anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise have all a universal basis, cultures differ in the rules that govern how they are used. Cultural display rules dictate the appropriateness of emotion display depending on social circumstances. These rules are brought to the nego­tiating table as well and deal makers should seek to learn them.

A manager from a U.S. start-up was visiting a big German corporation. He wanted to sell them a new software appli­

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September / October 2012

cation. Since the application was quite new, there was no established pricing in the market yet, and the vendor was hoping to get a premium for their technological leadership.

The presentation went very well, and the decision maker on the German side seemed quite interested. Finally he asked for the price. ‘We think that this software will be well received by the market. We’ll be able to sell it to you at 5,99 dollars.’, the American responded. For a long moment, the German said nothing. ‘Well, if pushed hard, we will actually be able to go as low as 4,99 dollars with this product.’ The German still didn’t say a word. Twenty-five painful seconds later, the American couldn’t take it any longer: ‘Long-term, we are confident that we will be able to push the price down to 3,99 dollars’. The German now looked puzzled but pleased.

This example is interesting to analyze. In American ‘cultural language’, silence signals a negative response. Extended ­silence makes the message quite strong. In Germany and in various other countries, silence doesn’t mean much. In this particular situation, the German manager may have been thinking about the price or something else.

In the United States, negotiations commonly follow a logical and factual flow. Emotions are being read as an indication of the process going astray. In many foreign countries, the use of aggression and strong emotions may be viewed as a quite legitimate tactic. It is therefore wise not to let oneself be alarmed. If you continue to stay friendly and focused, the other side may drop the tactic as ineffective.

Deception and unethical tactics It is harder to deal with ethically ambiguous tactics when they are perpetrated by a foreigner because the n ­ egotiation team may lack certainty about the rules of deal making in a foreign

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land. There is growing evidence that there are ­cultural diffe­ rences in the use and perceived appropriateness of morally ambivalent negotiation behaviours.

If managers can understand what sort of differences in right-minded decision making are there across cultures ­ it can help them avoid the feelings of anger and mistrust ­toward the other party and help them avoid using tactics that might incite anger in the other party.

Those dissimilarities create moral dilemmas because nego­ tiators from different cultures emphasize contrasting beha­ viors as acceptable or unacceptable.

Starting a negotiation with an extreme demand is a common practice in some Asian and Arab countries as well as Russia.

There are two major ways to counter the technique: either counter-bid at the extreme other end of the spectrum (if they ask a ridiculously high price, you can offer a ridiculously low one and smile), or you can state firmly that if they indeed believe the value of their product or service to be that high, then there is no common ground for any further discussion.

It is worth stressing that in some cultures, people will be ­irritated and may even be offended by extreme openings. An example is Sweden, where people expect you to start with a close-to-final offer.

Team organization: One leader or group consensus?

In any negotiation, it is crucial to know how the other side is organized i.e. who has the authority to make commitments, and how decisions are made. Culture affects how mana­ gers organize themselves to negotiate a deal. Some n ­ ations stress the individual while others emphasize the ­ group. ­These values may influence the organization of each side in a negotiation. There are teams with a supreme leader who has complete authority to decide almost about everything.

Other teams stress group decision making. In the first type, the negotiating teams are usually small, in the second they are often large. There are numerous other differences like risk taking propensity, form of agreement or agreement building, negotiation attitudes, persuasion style and many others.

Long term – short term In the USA, negotiation goals are often obvious as the inte­ ractions follow a logical, factual approach. Obtaining ­lower-cost goods or services, extending one’s influence on markets through alliances, gaining access to technology or intellectual property, and so on, all share a common deno­ minator: the underlying goal is near-to-mid-term business success. Profit and growth are the ultimate motivators, and people will be quite flexible and creative in finding ways to

meet their objectives. Negotiators are prepared to ‘slice and dice’ the package of conditions being negotiated, willing to make concessions if they help advance the negotiation, ­given that the overall value of the package will still meet t­heir objective. Long-term aspects of the business relationship still matter, but rather play a secondary role. American busi­ nessmen may not engage in an agreement if it holds a long-­ term promise but does not offer an advantage in the near term.

Summary It’s obvious that different cultural systems produce different negotiating styles. These styles are shaped by each nation’s culture, history and other factors. Negotiators experience not only differences in language or dress code, but also in different perception of the definition of business goals and motivation. The aforementioned elements are just few pieces from a big jigsaw puzzle game.

When bargaining internationally, we need also to address the following issues: 1. Ideological differences.

2. The negotiating environment.

3. Foreign laws and governments.

4. Foreign bureaucracy.

5. Political instability and economic changes.

6. Financial insecurity due to international monetary factors.

Cross-cultural negotiations are becoming a vital part of ­Polish business life. Many companies are increasingly reco­ gnizing the value of training and expertise in conflict mana­ gement and resolution. Conflict and negotiation are ine­ vitable results of social interaction, so the skills including advanced commu­nication strategies, an understanding of conflict analysis and the dynamics of conflict resolution, as well as collaborative practice can be applied to a wide range of professions and career types. ■

Communication Corner info@communicationcorner.pl www.communicationcorner.pl

Author: Michał Chmielecki Negotiation Expert www.michalchmielecki.pl

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Poznań knows how to attract investors

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Poland vs Outsourcing | Articles

Poznań has the fifth largest population among Polish cities (approx. 552 thousand residents). Its metropolitan area is home to 877 thousand people. The greatest asset of the city is its economic potential: a favourable and secure e ­ conomic position and a high degree of entrepreneurship, but above all human capital. Compared to other Polish cities, Poznań stands out as having a favourable labour market, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Poland – 3.5% (as of October 2011). What is notable is that as many as 24% of the unemployed have completed higher ­education, which ­provides a source of highly-qualified employees. ­Investors

appreciate the high qualifications and effectiveness of ­Poznań’s employees. It is a city of young, well-­educated people, with fluent foreign-language skills. Nearly 140 ­ ­thousand students attend the 27 Poznań higher-­education institutions, with nearly 40 thousand graduates each year supplying the local labour market. The city also offers a very well-developed technical infrastructure, business infra­ structure and transport availability, especially international air connection through the modernised airport and the A2 motorway, connecting Poland with the network of western European motorways.

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Priority sectors for Poznań According to the applied strategy entitled “The strategy for securing investors for the City of Poznań”, promotional ­measures are primarily oriented at attracting investors from the following sectors:

high-tech production, outsourcing centres and shared-services centres, research and development, meeting and exhibition industry, recreation and entertainment infrastructure.

Poznań provides inviting conditions for investors operating in the sector of modern services [shared-services c ­ entres (SSCs) outsourcing centres (BPO/ITO) and research- and­ -­ development centres]. One of the conditions for the ­de­velopment of this type of investments is to provide highly-­ qualified personnel who are graduates of higher-education institutions. This knowledge-based potential is the greatest advantage that Poznań can offer to investors. They can find job candidates mainly among graduates with economics and financial majors, IT specialists and philologists. Poznań is a renowned centre of education in the field of philological studies. The Faculty of Neophilology of the Adam Mickiewicz University – the largest faculty of its kind in Poland – provides majors in nearly all European languages and most popular non-European languages.

A powerful academic hub In 2010, in the capital city of Wielkopolska there were 27 higher-education institutions, including Adam Mickiewicz University, the Poznan University of Technology, and the ­ ­Poznan University of Economics. The first-mentioned insti­ tution provided 49 majors and 183 specialisations in 2011, with nearly 40 thous. students enrolled (in Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses), and over 1300 PhD students.

In the ranking of higher-education institutions produced in 2011 by the „Perspektywy” magazine and “Rzeczpospolita” daily, Adam Mickiewicz University managed to take the third position for the third consecutive year.

In 2010, almost 20 thousand students took part in courses run in 10 faculties and 24 majors at Poznań University of Technology, and almost 11.5 thousand people studied at Poznań University of Economics. The number of students and graduates in a given region is a crucial factor when it comes to deciding the location of service centres. There are 136 thousand people studying in Poznań, which puts it in a high position among other Polish academic centres – ­above Łódź and Tricity. However, investors are interested in the number of students taking economics, IT and ­technical

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majors. Poznań, with 9.5 thousand graduates, comes 4th, after ­Warsaw Kraków and Wrocław, which is a great po­ tential for bookkeeping service providers. With over 4.5 thousand IT students, Poznań ranks fifth among Polish ­ ­cities in terms of enrollment in this field. When we take into ­account the ­number of graduates, Poznań tops Wrocław to take 4th place.

Modern business-services companies are also partial to ­graduates of language studies, especially those who can speak rare or exotic foreign languages. Poznań delivers the broadest range of language majors in Poland. In the aca­ demic year 2009/2010 there were 44 such majors, and they generated 2697 graduates. The highest proportion of the students, i.e. 28%, chose English studies. One cannot f­orget those majors where students can learn rare languages.

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań attracts its students with unique courses in Vietnamese-Thai Studies, Sinology and Japanese Studies.

Poland vs Outsourcing | Articles

Additional qualifications and advanced knowledge in a spe­ cialist fields are becoming increasingly important. This is due to the increasingly complex economy. People ­equipped with niche knowledge, which is rarely acquired during the course of studies, explore the ins and outs of a given field by taking part in extracurricular activities, e.g. research clubs. There are 120 research clubs of various profiles at Adam M ­ ickiewicz University alone. Poznań University of E ­ conomics hosts 63 research clubs, and Poznań University of ­Technology over 40.

Business and Science Collaboration between busi­ nesses and academic com­ munity is becoming more and more important to the m ­ odern ser­vices sector. In Poznań, both sides recognise the nece­ssity to enhance these relations and the resulting profits. Institutes and universities in Poznań provide high-­ standard services in the field of broad scientific research.

At the same time, univer­sities are a rich ­ source of well-­ educated employees, and companies ­ which employ graduates ­elevate the ­prestige of particular majors.

IT is as a good example of this, being very popular in Poznań.

Currently, over 4600 f­uture com­ puter scientists are studying at Poznań’s univer­sities, and 1200 completed IT studies in 2010. In response to the m ­ ­ arket ­ needs, universities are expanding their pro­ gramme with new courses, like bioin­formatics and The I­nternet of Things (a nationally uni­ que, inter-university ­course of studies developed by 3 univer­ sities in Poznań on the i­nitiative of Telcordia ­Technologies, an ­ American telecom­ munication company). The Institute of Computing S ­ cience in the F ­ aculty of Computing of the ­Poznań University of ­Technology is con­sidered to be one of the best in Poland, which is ­further ­proved by ­numerous awards and honours won by its students in international computing competitions (e.g. the Microsoft Imagine Cup).

Aside from the universities, there are around 50 research centres in Poznań. The city’s economy is, to a large extent, based on knowledge, a trend that is most likely to continue and develop. City Hall actively supports establishing and maintaining bonds between business and science. To this end, the Wielkopolska Innovation Platform was set up. It is a communication platform in the form of a webpage, where

people can find information on the current research and pro­ posals for private entrepreneurs (www.wpi.poznan.pl). The joint endeavours by the Poznań University of Technology and Microsoft can serve as an example of such good practice in business and science cooperation.

Another initiative of the city has been to organise a m ­ eeting of the representatives of modern services centres with Poznań’s universities. Among the 23 companies, which ­ ­accepted the invitation were representatives of global brands like MAN, Carlsberg, Franklin Templeton Investments, IKEA, Samsung, GSK and McKinsey & Company and other, ­smaller, research centres, like Mentor Graphics, Telcordia and Wikia.

Vice-Chancellors and Deans from 4 universities – Adam Mickiewicz University, the Poznań University of Technology, the Poznań University of Economics and the Poznań School of Banking – attended the meeting as well. These univer­ sities are a major source of employees for modern services centres. The goal of the meeting was to identify new areas of cooperation, especially in enhancing the qualifications of students that are required in the centres.

Closer cooperation between this sector and universities, e.g. in drawing up the curriculum, internship and practice ­programmes, is of crucial importance to the students. The centres provide interesting, well-paid and secure jobs with prospects. In response, the universities’ r­epresentatives pointed out the possibility of adjusting and utilising the ­ ­exi­sting “good practices.”

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Poznań – the city of BPO/SSC The first foreign centres appeared in the 1990’s; however, the great majority (63%) were established after 2005. Intere­ stingly enough, the only companies to invest in the Poznań metropolitan area were initially the outsourcing companies (BPO/ITO centres), mostly Polish or German. It was not until 2005-2006 that the first shared-services centres set up t­heir operations in the area (i.a. GlaxoSmithKline, MAN, C ­ arlsberg, Dalkia Services, Duni). Every year, several c ­ ompanies from themodern business-services sector decide to invest in ­Poznań, with over 30 centres currently operating in the city.

The main services provided in the SSC, BPO/ITO and R&D centres within the Poznań metropolitan area are finance and accounting (14 centres) and IT (12). Nine centres are devoted to HR services. These are followed by research (6 centres), which is pursued not only in R&D centres, but also in some entities providing more advanced IT outsourcing services as well. There are also six centres devoted to cus­ tomer services (including IT support). Supply management services are provided by four centres, and financial services in two. Other services not mentioned above (i.a. Decision Support, ­Knowledge Process Outsourcing, Documentation Management and other support services) are performed in four centres.

The geographical range of the services provided by centres in Poznań usually encompasses two or three areas. Most often these include Western Europe, Poland, North America or East-Central Europe.

Service centres in the Poznań metropolitan area provide ­services in over 21 languages, mostly European. Four of which (English, Polish, German and French) are used in more than half the studied centres. IKEA, Ciber and Duni take the lead when it comes to the number of languages used. In each of these centres, services are provided in at least 13 languages. One may find it interesting that the number of languages used does not depend on the size of the centre.

Companies from 12 countries invested in their business in the Poznań metropolitan area. Most of the centres (nearly 60%) are owned by companies from the European Union, and over a quarter by American companies. In this respect, the situation has remained mostly unchanged over the last few years. Five centres are owned by Polish and four by ­German investors.

The population of the Poznań area is characterised by an above-average competence level. Nearly 100% of the BPO/ SSC/R&D-sector employees declare a command of English, 50% of German, 30% of Spanish, Russian or French, 20% of Italian and 10% of Scandinavian languages.

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Similar results are observed among students: 90% speak English, 50% German, 10% Russian, Spanish or French, and 7% are well-versed in other languages.

Poznań in the centre of Europe Good transport availability is one of the most important factors to influence the location of a service centre. In ­ essence, this means proximity of key transport routes, ­ the presence of an airport providing a broad network of ­connections with m ­ ajor European cities, and the ability to quickly reach such an airport.

Poznań-Ławica Airport is connected directly to 30 other airports in 11 European countries. In 2011, the airport ­ handled 1.463.443 passengers. Notably, this meant 44 ­ ­thousand more passengers than the year before. The ­current flow ­capacity record was established in June 2012, when 200.000 passengers were handled. This demon­ strates the great ­potential of Poznań-Ławica Airport. The ­airport

Poland vs Outsourcing | Articles

is ­ con­ nected to such European airline hubs as ­ London, ­Frankfurt, Munich and Copenhagen.

Due to the organisation of the UEFA EURO 2012™ champion­ship, a series of investments have been comple­ ted to improve the flow capacity and the comfort of ­service at the airport. The most important investments were the construction of the second terminal, additional aprons for air­planes and the construction of parallel taxiway.

Investors are also pleased that Poznań is conveniently ­located by the A2 motorway, which is a fast and direct link between the Poznań metropolitan area and the motorway network of Western Europe (2.5h drive to Berlin and around 3h to Warsaw).

The Quality of Life As research shows, Poznań is among the top cities with the highest quality of life. In respect of this index, in 2011 the city ranked 3rd in Poland. There are many factors contri­ buting to such a good result, e.g.: a high sense of security, a well-­developed road infrastructure and public transport, the h ­ighest commercial area to resident ratio in Poland, abundant resources in cinemas, theatres and museums, and strong sport and recreational infrastructure, with a com­ plex on Lake Malta (a rowing track, the Malta Hot Springs Aquapark, and an artificial ski slope) and one of the stadiums of UEFA EURO 2012.

Incentives to Invest Poznań is an attractive place to run your business, both for international corporations and small entrepreneurs. Every

i­nvestor can count on the support of the local authorities.

A raft of incentives for investors has been devised, and it ­includes real-estate tax exemption and funds for creating new jobs for the unemployed (provided by the District Employment ­ ­ Office). Special support programmes have also been developed for investors implementing projects in highly-­ specialised and innovative sectors. Innovative ­investors can also benefit from a programme granting intern­ ships to students who can work for the employers who set up their operations in Poznań. Every investor receives sup­ port from the Investor Assistance and Investment Promotion Office, as well as the patronage of an “investment guide”, who is responsible for the servicing of specific investment projects.

All these assets, an attractive location, a good information and office infrastructure, a well-developed array of business services and support from the city authorities make Poznań an attractive place for the implementation of every highly-­ specialised investment. ■

Source: City of Poznań Investor Relations Department Fax : +48 (61) 878 5500 Direct : +48 (61) 878 5428 e-mail: inwestor@um.poznan.pl

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Piła – rising potential in the scope of BPO services Piła is the biggest city of the middle of the Northern ­Great Poland, an intensively and systematically d ­ eveloping eco­ nomic centre. The leading branches of economy i­nclude electronic, electric and printing industry, as well as HR/finance/accounting services.

The Leader of investment attractiveness (Forbes ranking 2007/2008), 16th position in the country in the nationwide ranking of the Self Government for Balanced Development under the aegis of the TERAZ POLSKA Promotional Emblem Foundation.

Piła is the Northwest Poland’s business-friendliest city – 1st position in Great Poland and 12th position in the country according to the 2012 “Newsweek” ranking. The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency awarded the with city the highest “A” grade in the category of investment attractiveness.

It is worth choosing Piła!

Perfect transport accessibility – location at the crossing of national roads (the designed expressways S10/S11), railway junction, airfield – in the Northwestern part of the city, 2 km from the city center, currently handling business and sport flights.

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Academic Center of the Northern Great Poland. Three higher education facilities: Adam Mickiewicz U ­ niversity Didactic Branch Department in Piła, State Vocational College, Business College, attractive majors, among ­ others: IT in business and administration, accounting and public finances, company finance management, l­ogistics manager, transport and shipping manager, h ­uman ­resources management and engineering science.

The education facilities of Piła are open to the needs of the labor market and they develop an educated and ­highly qualified staff.

Business-friendly environment. Support for the ­already operating enterprises, as well as for those just ­entering into the market is provided among the others by ­Inwest-Park municipal company in cooperation with the Northern ­Great Poland Chamber of Commerce.

Cooperation with, among the others, the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone and the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, promoting the local entre­ preneurs and the city’s potential in the country and abroad.

Wide range of real estate destined for investments.

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They have already chosen!

The first company to have situated its HR and ­ payroll competence center was the PZU Group – Poland’s ­ ­biggest insurer. Employee Operation Center handles all of the G ­ roup’s employees in Poland – in total more than 12 ­thousand ­people. “From the beginning of founding of the PZU Group’s Employee Operation Center the authorities of Piła have supported us, helping with the arrangement of the center’s opening. In this city you can indeed feel the ­authorities’ care for the development of business. Piła is a superb place to run financial/accounting/HR services. The process of centralizing the HR and payroll in PZU SA and PZU Życie SA Companies, initiated in April 2011, is about to finish”, Anna Oszczepalińska, Director of the Employee Operation Center, commented.

Philips company – worldwide Dutch concern, e ­ mploying in the city 4,5 thousand people, have decided, based on 20 years of positive experiences and proven practices of ­cooperation with the city, to establish a HR and payroll ­center in Piła. In the middle of the year one of the world’s five posts was launched; the post will handle the company’s employees from other European countries in the scope of payroll and employee affairs administration.

Tadeusz Winkowski creates an outsourcing center in the production/service/storage facilities, the total area of which is 60 thousand square meters, located at Warsztatowa ­street in Piła. These areas provide a wide range of oppor­tunities.

Around 60 people, mainly from IT and finance industry, will find a job there. Winkowski believes in the potential of Piła. There are grounds for it. So please feel invited to Piła.

Think green… welcome to Piła!

Piła – a city beautifully situated by the Gwda river which flows through the city center, with nu-merous lakes within the city borders, surrounded by forests and neighboring with the Kuźnik re-serve. A dynamically developing city of young ­people. Recreation areas. A perfect place for leisure and relax.

Active Piła…

Sport and recreation are very important for the residents of our city – and it is no wonder. The city is covered with a ­network of bicycle paths, hike, canoe and horse riding routes. Thanks to a wide range of sport and recreation centers and its location, Piła is a perfect starting point for practicing various sports. The 8-kilometer long Gwda river, snaking through Piła, draws an exceptionally attractive route for canoeing rally. There is also a Rope Park at Płotki, N ­ ordic

Walking Routes and, for the bravest, parachute jumping, ­paragliding and riding ATVs or motocrossing.

Those who are satisfied with only the role of spectator, we ­invite to the annual Philips International Half-Marathon. Fans of speedway, volleyball (also beach volleyball), basketball, motocross, artistic gymnastics – everyone will find ­something for them in Piła.

Piła after hours…

At evenings, in charming places in the city center, one may meet friends, drink some hot chocolate, mulled wine or have a romantic dinner. At night (not only Saturday one), dance fever spreads in clubs and pubs. Apart from ruling on the dance floor you may try your luck at karaoke or bowling, watch a movie, a spectacle or listen to some music. The calendar of periodic municipal events is equally impressive.

For years the city has been organizing many prestigious events, such as: the Nationwide Family Theater Festival “Theater – the family passion”, the International Folklore ­Festival “Bukowina Meetings”, the Dance Theater Festival, the Noteć Literature Days and many others. Popular and ­recognizable in the country and worldwide are also the B ­ lues Express Festival, the Music Festival & Master Class, as well as the nationwide Dance Tournament “Street rhythm”. The Valentine’s Day, the May Day junkets, concerts of pop stars, picnics, balloon competition, student festivals, theaters, spectacles, jazz and blues concerts, Christmas and Easter fair – there is a lot of pretexts for the integration of the inha­ bitants, regardless of their age… come and join them! ■

Source: Urząd Miasta Piły Plac Staszica 10, 64-920 Piła Contact: Beata Dudzińska tel +48 604 400 146, e-mail: bdudzinska.pila@gmail.com, www.pila.pl Photos: R.Judycki

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Entrepreneurship? AIP in Poznań Our experience tells us that a lot of people with good busi­ ness ideas refrain from opening their own companies, ­because they find such projects too difficult and complex to carry out. They are overwhelmed by the amount of f­ormal issues, that they would have deal with all by themselves.

AIP provides a perfect environment to test and develop a busi­ness idea. Our entrepreneurs can focus e ­ xclusively on ­ developing themselves and their businesses, without ­worrying about the formalities.

Companies that are set up w ­ ithin our struc­ture can benefit from a package of ­services, such as full accoun­ting and legal services, communi­cations ­services, as well as, the B2B program.

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AIP Foundation has more than seven years of e ­ xperience in supporting beginner entrepreneurs. Our goal is to s­ pread and support entrepreneurship nationwide, this particular ­initiative makes us a European and global market leader. This year we have also introduced a 2.0 version of AIP ­Program, through which entrepreneurs can set up ­their own start-­up in just an hour. Companies that are set up w ­ ithin our struc­ture can benefit from a package of ­services, such as full accoun­ ting and legal services, communi­cations ­services, as well as, the B2B program. What is more, ­running a ­business v­ enture within AIP significantly reduces the costs, because an entre­ preneur gets an access to the modern office s­pace with a fully e ­ quipped conference room and a ­co-working s­ pace.

A ­potential businessman does not need to register their busi­ ness, avoiding at the same time a lot of paper­work.

By ­ signing a contract with us, they are using our legal ­personality, which in turn means that setting up a ­company is faced with very minimal risk. AIP is not just a place that encou­rages and ­supports entrepreneurs, thro­ughout P ­ oland

Poland vs Outsourcing | Articles

the AIP organizes 1200 trainings per year, as well as we ­organize consultations to help raising funds from the EU. Companies that function within AIP often search for extra financial resources and therefore they participate in many competitions and seed programs, which are orga­nized by foundations or institutions associated with us. The most recent example in Wielkopolska region is the Start-Up ­ ‘­Qpony.pl’, which has received an investment of PLN 100k in the ­competition S ­ tartUp Clips – House of Walkers Project.

Who comes to AIP? People, who participate in the AIP Program, can be ­typically described as assertive, courageous and creative. Our ­office is frequently visited by students, but also individuals who have already started their professional careers and ­succeeded in their fields of expertise, which encouraged them to take the matter into their own hands. Businesses that operate ­within the AIP are innovative, their owners are determined and hard­working, however, at times they lack sufficient re­ sources to realize their strategies. Thus, they often begin with mana­ging smaller projects that help them raise some funds, at the same time they are often looking for alternative ways to raise capital. For this reason AIP Poznań is trying to keep in t­ouch with investors and experts from various fields, who can ­share their knowledge or experience in events, workshops and ­trainings organized by our team.

Furthermore, in recent years we have noticed a trend of growing self-employment. We have been approached by ­ many large corporations that want their staff to become their subcontractors rather than employees. AIP Program is a perfect solution to this situation, because the former em­ ployee straight away focuses on the task at hand ­instead of worrying about the formalities. The program makes it pos­ sible to issue invoices and helps making substantial savings compared to the normal company. In addition, AIP provides professional and personal development through the t­ransfer of new knowledge and experience in the form S ­ tartUp Kick-offs, mentoring and StartUp Trainings, so beginner ­ entre­preneurs can learn from the experience of those who have already achieved some success.

Currently in Poland, there are 40 AIP branches that operate at the sites of large Universities. There are nearly 1,500 com­panies that operate within our structure...

School of Logistic, Higher School Of Safety or the College of Education and T ­ herapy in Poznań, where we provide con­ sultations and lec­tures about setting up a business.

More commonly, we notice that there is a growing amount of students and graduates, who would like to transfer their knowledge gained at the University, especially during group projects or research projects for their dissertations. A vast majority of such projects are extremely innovative, h ­ owever, a lot of the times they are not taken into the business world due to the lack of essential funding and commercial ­knowledge. Therefore, AIP Poznań works also on attracting ­potential investors, in order to support and develop Polish technological thought.

AIP – the scope Currently in Poland, there are 40 AIP branches that operate at the sites of large Universities. There are nearly 1,500 com­ panies that operate within our structure, and that number is steadily growing. The profile of start-ups are very diverse, there are companies operating within the cleaning industry, along the way with the highly developed and complex IT pro­ jects. Our startups carry high potential for technological and innovative expansion.

We are always open to new and original ideas, as well as cooperation opportunities. You can reach us under the tele­ phone number - +48 515 061 878. If you want to start your adventure in the business world, please fill in the i­nformation sheet on www.inkubatory.pl. You can also talk to our staff in the office at the University of Economics in Poznań – ul. ­Powstańców Wielkopolskich 16 room 003. ■

AIP Poznań – local actions AIP Poznań closely cooperates with two major ­Universities in Poznań, it is the University of Economics and the Adam Mickiewicz University. At their campuses we organize ­ ­training sessions and informational meetings dedicated to entrepreneurial students, as well as beginner businessmen to deepen their understanding of market that they operate in. What is more, we are open to a less formal cooperation, like the one we have established with, for example, Poznań

Author: Krzysztof Michalski Marketing Coordinator and PR AIP Poznań

September / October 2012

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Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Office Market in Poznań – H1 2012 Introduction Poznań, the capital of Wielkopolskie voivodeship, with over 551,600 inhabitants is the fifth largest city in the country. The city’s location ensures convenient access by all ­means of transport: car, bus, train and plane as it is situated at A2 ­motorway ca 320 km West of Warsaw, 160 km East of Frankfurt (Oder) and 270 km from Berlin. Eight railways going through Poznań link the city, amongst others, with Warsaw, Berlin, Szczecin and Wrocław. Poznań has an international airport in Poland, Poznań-Ławica, located just 7 km West of the City Centre.

In 2011 Poznań for the sixth time and fifth in a row was ­ranked first in the ‘Rzeczpospolita’ ranking of the best com­ munities in Poland and second in the ‘Forbes’ competition ‘Cities ­ attractive for business’. In March 2012 ‘­ Financial Times ­ ­ Business’ awarded Poznań in the FDI ranking ‘­European Cities & Regions of the Future 2012 – 2013’ in three categories: ‘Large Cities – Best FDI Strategy’, ‘Eastern European Cities – Best for FDI Strategy’ and ‘Large Cities – Best for Cost Effectiveness’.

Poznań is the sixth biggest regional office market in P ­ oland with modern office space at 252,500 m2 as at June 2012.

In the close neighbourhood of Plac Andersa also Ataner’s office projects: Delta and Omega are located. Malta Office Park and being under construction Malta House are located close to the Malta Lake, in the eastern part of the city. Skalar Business Centre, which is one of the newest buildings in the city, is located in the southern part of the city. PGK Centrum office towers and West Point are located to the West of the centre of Poznań.

The city’s attractiveness has confirmation not only by ­those awards but also by economic indicators e.g. the lowest unemployment rate (June 2012) and the second highest GDP per capita (after Warsaw). Poznań is one of the most important education centres in Poland with almost 131,300 students at 27 higher education institutions with economy and administration, and art studies being the most popular.

Office market Locations There is no exact central business district in Poznań. O ­ ffice buildings are spread around the city, however, the most ­recognizable office destination in the city is Plac Andersa with Poznań Financial Centre and Andersia Tower – those two buildings are also the largest office buildings in ­Poznań.

Several other projects are either under construction or planned in the area, eg. Andersia Business Centre (under construction) and Silver Tower (planned) both by Von der Heyden Group and an office building by Restaura (planned).

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Malta Office Park

Supply Poznań is the sixth biggest regional office market in ­Poland with modern office space at 252,500 m2 as at June 2012.

Out of approximately 60 office buildings 22 are small ones with office space below 3,000 m2 whereas only s­even

Poland vs Outsourcing | News

September / October 2012

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­exceeds 10,000 m2 in size. The largest projects include: ­ oznań ­Financial Center by Von Der Heyden (16,000 m2), P Szyperska Office Building by Wechta (15,900 m2), PGK ­ ­Centrum II by PGK Centrum (14,300 m2), Skalar Office C ­ enter by ­Hydrobudowa 9 (14,100 m2), Globis by GTC (13,200 m2), Delta by Ataner (11,000 m2) and Andersia ­Tower by Von Der Heyden (10,500 m2).

The pace of development of modern offices in Poznań is moderate. The 11-year annual average of new supply is only slightly higher than 18,000 m2 with peak registered in 2003 (39,500 m2) and bottom a year later (0 m2). Despite the ­financial crisis new supply in 2009 and 2010 was high, ­total­ling 47,000 m2 in nine buildings, as the construction works that had commenced prior the crisis finished. The Graph 1. Stock & new supply in Poznań

An increase in tenants’ activity that we have observed across Poland since the end of 2010 resulted in decreases in vacancy rate to the current level of 10.4%. i­mpact of financial crisis in developers’ activity was observed in 2011 when only four projects totalling 14,000 m2 were given o ­ ccupancy permits.

Although in the first half of 2012 only three office buildings (7,900 m2) were delivered, the total volume of new office ­space added to the market in 2012 is expected to reach 54,000 m2. Two of the already completed buildings were refurbishments of Taczaka 24 and Victoria Business Centre both by Monti and new scheme Jet-Office by Mastern. The biggest projects due in H2 2012 are the new headquarter office of Allegro (a Polish online auction website) at Pixel (15,300 m2) and Andersia Business Center (14,500 m2).

In the following year new supply is expected to reach 42,000 m2 but the construction of only 15,700 m2 at Malta House has already started. SwedeCenter plans to develop the first two buildings of Business Garden Poznań in 2013 but construction works have not started yet.

Source: Savills

Table 1. List of selected office buildings under construction and p ­ lanned in Poznań Building

Location

Pixel Allegro HQ

Grunwaldzka/Babimojska

15,300

Garvest Real Estate Q3.2012

Andersia Business Centre

Królowej Jadwigi

14,500

Von der Heyden Group

Q3.2012

Okrąglak & Kwadraciak

Mielżyńskiego 14

5,600

Immobel

Q3.2012

Galeria MM

Św. Marcin/Marcinkowskiego

2,500

Ataner

Q4.2012

Temida

Młyńska/Solna

2,500

Wechta

Q4.2012

Piątkowska 165

Piątkowska 165

2,000

BTE Inwestycje

Q3.2012

Roch Office

Serafitek/Krzywoustego

2,000

private individual

Q4.2012

1,300

Nickel Development Q3.2012

Kamienica za Teatrem Dąbrowskiego

Office space (m2) Developer

Planned completion

Business Garden I & II

Marcelińska

22,000

SwedeCenter

2013

Malta House

Arcybiskupa Antoniego Baraniaka

15,700

Skanska

Q4.2013

Półwiejska 2

Półwiejska 2

GN Group

2013

Source: Savills

42

September / October 2012

4,000

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Malta Office Park

Graph 2. New supply & vacancy rate in Poznań

Vacant space Vacancy rate in Poznań was low at below 4% until the end of 2008. The impact of financial crisis was observed in 2009 when together with a drastic fall in demand and high new supply, vacancy increased by as much as 7.4 pp in just 12 months. Another rise, also a result of high new supply, was recorded in 2010. An increase in tenants’ activity that we have observed across Poland since the end of 2010 resulted in decreases in vacancy rate to the current level of 10.4%.

Source: Savills

It is worth to mention that there are a number of office pro­ jects which are subject to pre-lease. Building permits are or soon will be granted, but due to banks’ restrictions on pro­ jects’ financing, those projects need to be let in at least 50%.

With agreements secured, the projects may be completed within 18-24 months.

List of selected office buildings under construction and ­planned in Poznań is presented on the previous page.

Vacancy rate in the city at the end of H1 2012 was meas­ ured at 26,200 m2 which represents ca 10.4% of total office stock. The vacancy rate was slightly lower than 2011 year end data. Almost 60% of all vacant space is located in only four office buildings. Over 6,000 m2 is available in ­Szyperska Office Center by Wechta dated 2009. S ­ zyperska OC is a ­seven-storey building located at the Warta River.

The building was designed first as a residential building but was changed into offices due to a limited demand for apartments. Another building with high vacancy is the re­ cently ­modernised and refurbished Victoria Business Center

by Monti. VBC is located in the direct neighbourhood of ul.

Strzelecka and ul. Garbary, close to the City Centre.

Almost 3,000 m2 was ready to be leased at the end of June 2012 at Kupiec Poznański located in the City Centre at pl.

September / October 2012

43

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Wiosny Ludów. Kupiec Poznański was completed in 2001 and is a retail-office mixed use property with offices located on the upper floors.

Last but not least is Skalar Office Center with 2,000 m2 of vacant space as at H1 2012. Skalar was built in 2010 and on completion there were no leases signed. In only ca 18 months the project is commercialized in 85% with tenants like Enea, PZU, Polmed and Bridgestone.

In terms of BPO/SSC Poznań is dominated and the most popular with finance and accounting services over other ­ ­types of services provided in the city. Amongst Poznań’s BPO investors are: arvato Services, Carlsberg, Franklin ­Templeton, McKinsey&Co, KPMG, Ikea and Roche.

Higher office availability may encourage further BPO and SSC relocations from Western Europe. Such ­ relocations typically have a short lead in time and availability of acco­ mmodation is crucial to the process. Another important

In terms of BPO/SSC Poznań is dominated and the most p ­ opular with finance and accounting services over other ­types of services provided in the city. Amongst Poznań’s BPO investors are: arvato Services, Carlsberg, Franklin T ­ empleton, McKinsey&Co, KPMG, Ikea and Roche.

By year end we expect vacancy to increase as buildings that are to be completed during the second half of the year are vacant in almost 65%. Assuming a completion of only one project (Malta House) in 2013 the vacancy is expected to decrease slightly in 2013. But with greater new supply during the next year some further increases are predicted.

Demand for office space During the first half of 2012 almost 14,000 m2 of office space was let. Total gross take-up in 2011 amounted to slightly below 50,000 m2, mostly due to a 15,000 m2 Allegro lease at Pixel Office Park which will be the new headquarter office. The other major transactions from 2011 include ENEA (4,300 m2) and Bridgestone (1,800 m2) both at Skalar Office Center and Marshal’s Office at Szyperska Office Park (1,300 m2).

Poznań is an important location for BPO, SSC and R&D companies. The latter can choose not only from office ­buildings but also a number of industrial and technological parks in Poznań e.g. Nickel Technology Park Poznań and Poznań Science and Technology Park.

The main goal of those parks is, among many others, to support companies located there in developing relations with the business com­munity and acquiring funds for innovative ventures. In 2011 there were 6 exisiting research and development centres in Poznań and companies with such centres in the city include: Volkswagen, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, Roche or Unilever.

44

September / October 2012

f­actor from a BPO perspective is the availability of an ­educated and s­ killed workforce.

Rents Prime office rents in Poznań are stable at €14.00€16.00/ m2/ month which is a comparable level to Wrocław and Kraków markets prime rents. Office rents in the best projects in the city where availability of space is l­imited are even higher at €17/m2/month. Service charge range bet­ ween PLN 15 and PLN 20/m2/month in most office buil­ dings, however in some projects service charge amount to even PLN 25/m2/month.

We expect that rents will not change in the next 6 m ­ onths despite high pipeline. However, companies willing to sign pre-lease agreements in the constructed projects can expect significant incentive packages either in the form of rent rebates or fit-out contribution or both. ■

Author: Wioleta Wojtczak Senior Consultant in Research Department & Consultancy Savills

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Business Process Outsourcing sector in Poznań Poznań is one of the largest economic centers in Poland.

Over 98 thousand businesses1 operate on the local market, and the number of companies with foreign capital is one of the highest in the country.

The city is also considered to be one of the most attractive places to invest in Poland.

According to external assessments carried out by the Moody’s Investors Service rating agency, in terms of ­ ­reliability for investors, Poznań only slightly gives way to the ­significantly larger Warsaw, in 2011 being awarded an A3 rating with a stable prognosis. It means that Poznań posse­ sses a very high capability of fulfilling its incurred financial liabilities, and this reliability should not change anytime soon.

During the same year, also Forbes considered Poznań the second city in Poland in terms of investment attractiveness.

...at present there are 25 common services centers, hiring a total of circa 5 thousand employees, operating on the market of Poznań.

The main investing directions cover industrial production, commerce and services. Within the scope of services, deve­ lopment of the market of centers offering modern business services like BPO, SSC or ITO has recently been especially dynamic, in particular in the field of financial-accounting ser­ vices, HR, IT, design processes, as well as customer care and administrative-business support.

Table 1. Examples of common services centers operating on the market of Poznań Company name

Processes handled

Carlsberg Accounting Service Center

Finances and accounting, IT

MAN Accounting Center

Finances and accounting

Duni EFF

Finances and accounting, HR

Lorenz Snack World Services

Finances and accounting

Franklin Templeton Investment

Finances, administration and investment fund handling, IT, HR, marketing

IKEA BSC

Finances and accounting, HR

Bridgestone EBS

Finances and accounting

McKinsey EMEA Shared Services

administrative-business support, HR, accounting

Financial Center Jeronimo Martins

Finances and accounting, HR

Grant Thornton Frąckowiak

Finances and accounting, HR

Dalkia Services

Finances and accounting, HR, IT

Wikia

IT

GlaxoSmithKline Services

IT

Ciber

IT

Roche

IT

Samsung R&D

IT

Microsoft

IT

HolidayCheck

IT

Bertelsmann Media

Call center

Holicon

Call center

Source: own sources

Academic center, students and graduates According to the recent 2012 ABSL report, at present there are 25 common services centers, hiring a total of circa 5 thousand employees, operating on the market of Poznań.

Among the centers operating on our market, 6 are ITO, ­another 6 are BPO/R&D and the remaining 13 are typical SSC handling mainly financial-accounting processes.

Services at local centers are rendered in at least 14 lan­ guages. The most popular is English, which is used at n ­ early all centers. The next languages, in terms of popularity, are German, and then Spanish, French, Italian, ­ ­ Portuguese, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, ­Finnish and Japanese.

1 Statistical Office in Poznań (Statistical Bulletin of the City of Poznań – Q4 2010)

Poznań is the third academic center, in terms of the number of tertiary education institutions, in Poland. 27 tertiary edu­ cation institutions (8 public and 19 private schools), including 5 universities, operate in the city.

Among the major tertiary education institutions of Poznań, the following should be listed: 1. Adam Mickiewicz University – over 42 thousand students, 2. Economic University in Poznań – over 13 thousand students, 3. Technical University of Poznań – over 18 thousand students, 4. Poznań School of Banking – over 5 thousand students, 5. Poznań College of Modern Languages – close to 3 ­thousand students.

September / October 2012

45

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

In total, over 140 thousand students study in Poznań, with 39 thousand young people ready to commence work gradu­ ating from tertiary education institutions every year.

To ­compare, there is a total of 169 thousand students and 43 thousand graduates in the whole of the Wielkopolska Region.

Poznań and Wielkopolska have a very significant percentage of students and graduates in faculties related to economics and accounting, IT, management, as well as philological specializations.

Tertiary education institutions of Poznań have a very ex­ tensive offer of faculties and specializations. However, what investors find most important, is the number of students studying at economic and information technology faculties.

In the charts below one may notice that the number of stu­

Graph 1. Number of students and graduates of economic faculties in the selected cities of Poland (date from 2010)

dents in Poznań allows the city to occupy a high – fourth position in the ranking among economic faculties and the fifth position among IT faculties.

Another equally important condition for investors is the supply of the resources of the local labor market (emp­ ­ loyees), capable of speaking foreign languages. In this case, Poznań has a high number of students speaking foreign lan­ guages – nearly 90% of them declare speaking at least two foreign languages, with a level ranging from elementary to proficient, and close to 55% declare speaking 2 foreign lan­ guages at least at an intermediate level.

The offer of tertiary education institutions of Poznań in this regard is extremely extensive, offering a dozen language ­faculties to young people, including: English philology German philology Spanish philology Romance studies Italian philology Swedish, Danish and Finnish philology, as well as Portuguese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, ­Ukrainian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Korean, Japanese, Dutch, Chinese and Hebrew philology.

Market offer – employer needs and employee profile

Source: The Main Statistical Office

Graph 2. Number of students and graduates of IT faculties in the selected cities of Poland (date from 2010)

Poznań’s common service centers aim their offers both at ­employees who already have professional industrial expe­ rience, who may develop at their new jobs, and e ­ mployees just entering the labor market. The vast majority of ­employees of local centers are young people (age average ca. 2630 years old), with tertiary education, but also ­ students.

Students and graduates of economic, administrative, IT, ­engineering and language faculties have the greatest chance of finding e ­ mployment at the centers of Poznań.

Prospective candidates are offered a friendly working envi­ ronment, preliminary trainings, actual possibility of learning and honing knowledge and competences, as well as stable employment. Employees also often travel abroad, which is connected to transferring processes from other E ­ uropean countries to Poland. This is particularly the case at the ­beginning stage of a center’s operations. In addition, what is worth emphasizing, job positions are located in c ­ onvenient parts of the city, and work is carried out in comfortable con­ ditions, within fixed and foreseeable hours and is conne­cted to attractive remuneration. The amount of remuneration ­depends, of course, on the scope of responsibilities and the function in a team.

Source: The Main Statistical Office

46

September / October 2012

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Table 2. Average remunerations in common services centers in Poznań Financial-accounting processes

Average monthly gross remuneration in PLN

Junior accountant

2 900 – 3 500

Accountant

3 500 - 4 500

Senior accountant

4 500 – 6 000

Team Leader

6 000 – 8 000

Process Manager

12 000 – 16 000

HR processes Junior HR

2 900 – 3 500

HR specialist/payroll

3 500 – 5 500

Team Leader

5 000 – 8 000

IT processes Helpdesk I line of support

4 000 – 5 500

Helpdesk II line of support

5 500 – 8 000

SAP consultant – various modules

10 000 – 18 000

JAVA programmer

4 000 – 7 000

Source: own sources

Aside from basic remuneration, all centers in Poznań offer their employees additional elements of pay in the form of ­discretionary bonuses, vouchers, medical care, education co-financing, company cars, life insurance etc. Of course, the type and value depend on tasks performed, as well as ­ responsibilities and the position within the company structure.

The most frequent extra-pay benefits in common services centers of Poznań (occurring together or optionally):

private medical care, recreation and fitness center entry vouchers, lunch vouchers, co-financing or reimbursement for education – language courses, specialized courses, post-graduate studies, coverage of transportation costs, life insurance for the selected employees.

Centralization of common services, due to its ­ specificity, also often requires quick and flexible supplementation of personnel for the duration of implementations, process ­ ­migration, periodical increase in the volume of tasks, per­ sonnel replacement or document handling and archiving.

Along with the creation and development of SSC or BPO type investments, a need for temporary employment in the form of temporary jobs, internships or practices arises. The percentage of such employment within a single company usually amounts to 10-20% of all employees.

The candidates for such positions are graduates with se­ veral months of experience or immediately after practice, with good language skills in the field of a single language, and p ­ ossibly, good or at least elementary second lan­guage.

What is important – candidates are not always required to have substantial education. Substantial practice and ­proficiency in terms of foreign languages seem more important, therefore, persons with diplomas from faculties other than economic or technical have a chance at employment.

Employers them­ ­ selves, in this manner, develop and gain ­future personnel. The benefits are mutual and aside from permanent employ­ment, centers more and more frequently use other forms of employment.

Summary Compared to other cities in Poland, which ­ concentrate SSC/ BPO type investments, Poznań is perceived as a ­developing location, still with significant potential for mana­ gement. Poznań and Wielkopolska have huge human re­ sources, which combined with the stable dynamics of SSC/ BPO market development, makes the supply of candidates pose no such problems as the ones observed in other cities.

The high educational level of tertiary education institutions, foreign language skills, knowledge and competences of employees, are the key elements for employers to achieve business success. Without any doubt, the increase in terms of awareness of academic environments contributes to this, since the said academic environments more and more often direct their operations and searches towards these types of organizations, and tertiary education institutions more and more often declare support in their creation and providing qualified personnel. ■

Authors: Sylwia Wieczorek Regional Manager Grafton Recruitment Polska Sp. z o.o.

Ewa Brzykcy Team Leader Temporary&Outsourcing Division Grafton Recruitment Polska Sp. z o.o.

September / October 2012

47

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Business services sector in Poznań

– analysis of salaries and employees’ motivation Region Central and Eastern Europe has both an exciting and significant potential for growth within business ­services ­sector over coming months. The main advantages of the Polish proposition in terms of attracting such investment in­clude the favourable business climate, the high level of quali­fications among the Polish workforce and the develop­ ment of modern office space. At the moment, in the ­modern ­services sector there are almost 50,000 skilled workers spe­ cializing in IT, financial services, as well as within the w ­ ider finance and accounting sectors. The ABSL data indi­cates that P ­ oland is firmly ranked within the top five most i­mportant ­locations in the world and is successfully s­ ecuring ­investment ­against the likes of India and China. In 2011, E ­ verest Group ­found ­Poland to be the most mature off­shoring ­location for ­investment across Europe.

Over the past five years Poznań Agglomeration enjoyed ­rapid development in terms of outsourcing investment inflow and is now one of the fastest growing centres of this type in Poland. In 2007, the number of business service centres was less than ten. Wind the clock forward to today and that number has grown to over 30 representing a 300% increase over a five year term.

In 2011 approximately 5.8% of the city’s total employment was employed within the modern business service sector.

The combined employment figures for Poznań agglome­ ration service centres was approximately 6300 with a fore­ casted jump to over 8000 by the end of 2012 (Source: UM Poznań). Since 2008, companies located in the agglome­ ration delivered over 2700 new jobs.

Over the past twelve months many new centres have ­opened in Poznań. Among them are a number of bluechip com­panies and household names including: Sii, Samsung, Bridgestone, Jeronimo Martins and HolidayCheck. Furthermore the Office of Investor Services and Investment ­Promotion of the City of Poznań is currently facilitating a further 12 investment projects within the modern sector of business services. To date five of these projects have resulted in a positive decision to invest in the City. The Office of Investor Services also shows that the centres, which began operations in recent months, or are just planning to mobilise plan to employ at least 500 employees.

Research carried out by CPL Market Flash at the end of the first half of 2012, among fifteen selected companies in ­Poznań (SSC/BPO/ITO) shows a clear declarative increase

48

September / October 2012

in employment which is in the region of 20% (compared to the current level of employment in one centre, which is deve­loped in the Wielkopolska province at around 200 em­ ployees). This result represents a 5% higher rate in com­ parative terms to the increase declared for 2010.

30% of companies participating in the survey also said they intended to expand their range of language compe­ tence with Swedish and Finnish speakers topping the lists of ­requirements. The growth trend in demand is also noted for CEE language skills with 13% pointing to Czech and Slovak as the main priority.

Within Wielkopolska voivodeship modern sector centres the most common language English; however in addition to this the second largest group of foreign speaking professionals require German and French competence. According to the feedback from surveyed companies, the share of languages is broken down as follows: English 80% German 38% French 16% Spanish 6.6% Portuguese 2.2% Italian 4.8% Russian 4.1% Netherlands 0.4% Finland 0.2% Norwegian 0.1% Danish 0.1% Chinese 0.3 % Japanese 0.2% Lithuanian 0.3% Turkish 0.2%.

Remuneration and financial expectations of candidates In the case of business service centres, we can extract 4 ­levels of roles, which inform the remuneration of employees: Junior Specialist: Expectations of candidates for junior role related to the modern services sector are at a similar level. Candi­dates in most cases do not need to have work e ­ xperience nor education direction. The most important factors influ­ encing the recruitment decision on the employment of a worker are: language skills, soft skills and a strong mo­ tivation to work. In terms of younger professionals

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

­ xpe­rience in customer service or working in an internae tional environment is desirable.

Specialist: In the case of candidates for specialist roles financial expectations vary depending on the specialization.

People working in accounting positions or help desk ­ roles achieve higher wages than those working in Call Centre/Contact Centre environments. Candidates w ­ ithin ­specialist roles must have a minimum of 1-2 years work experience in a similar role, direction and education and often experience in the modern business services is ­required. The expectations of candidates often require ­significant negotiation and discussion as part of the offer/ acceptance process.

Senior Specialist: Senior Specialists must have several years’ experience (at least 4 years) and have had a focus on the development of the individual departments or processes.

3. Group III – niche languages (Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Hungarian, Chinese, Japanese) the ­Finnish, Dutch, Chinese and Japanese were and still are the most valued.

Table 1. Financial expectations of candidates PLN gross per month in 2010 Industry

Group I

Group II

Group III

Junior Specialist F&A

2000 – 2800

2300 – 3200

2800 – 5500

ITO/HelpDesk

2000 – 2800

2300 – 3200

2800 – 5500

Call Centre

2000 – 2800

2300 – 3200

2800 – 5500

Specialist F&A

3200 – 4000

3400 – 4300

3900 – 5800

ITO/HelpDesk

3000 – 4000

3400 – 4500

4200 – 5800

Call Centre

2500 – 2800

2700 – 3000

3700 – 5000

Senior Specialist F&A

4000 – 5000

4500 – 5500

4700 – 7000

ITO/HelpDesk

5000 - 5500

5300 – 6000

5700 – 7000

Call Centre

3200 - 3900

3800 – 4200

4300 – 5600

Team Leader

Team Leader/Manager: In the case of managerial roles language skills do not affect the level of remuneration. The most important ­ ­ranked ­requirement was the role of professional com­ petence and experience with knowledge of foreign lan­ guages generally regarded as an asset.

In recent years there has been a visible change in the level of salaries and financial expectations of candidates. Analysis across the last two years of the modern business service centres in Poland, largely reflective of the Poznań market, accurately reflects the direction and scope for development in the industry. Below is a comparison of the requirements and expectations for different levels of positions over the years 2010 and 2012.

F&A

ITO/HelpDesk

Call Centre

6500

7000

5000

Manager F&A

ITO/HelpDesk

Call Centre

8000

9000

6000

2012 In 2012, the financial expectations of candidates and offered rates as compared to 2010 increased significantly, espe­cially for those with foreign languages – and again speci­ fically for candidates with Finnish, Danish, Dutch or Norwegian competence.

1. Group I – English,

The wage increase also affected the dynamic development of the business services sector in Poland. Over the last 2 years Poznań, as well as other centres of offshoring and ­nearshoring services were enriched with new investments.

Increasingly companies are offering extensive relocation pa­ ckages, with candidates more mobile than ever. As a result, the competition for talent across the country and between cities has increased. However Poznań with its excellent geo­ graphical location places it among the most attractive p ­ laces to not only attract investment but in terms of candi­ date ­relocation. Companies from the sector are becoming incre­ asingly aggressive in the talent war with salaries ­reflecting this competition.

2. Group II – popular languages (German, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Russian, Lithuanian),

A detailed listing of salaries, see Tables 3A-3B. (Source: ­Analysis of CPL Market Flash)

2010 Financial expectations of candidates and offered rates in 2010 compared with 2012 were at a lower level. The reason primarily related to a reduced demand from employers and a smaller number of centres categorised as belonging to the modern sector of business services.

Financial expectations of candidates can be divided based on the 3 language groups:

September / October 2012

49

Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Table 2. Financial expectations of candidates PLN gross per month in 2012 Industry

Group I

Group II

Table 3B. Call/Contact Centre Agent – salaries in PLN gross in 2012 Language

Group III

Junior Specialist

Junior

Specialist

Senior Specialist

Team Leader

Manager

English

2 100 - 2 600

2 800 - 3 300

3 400 - 4 500

4 600 - 6 500

7 000 - ...

German

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

7 500 - ...

French

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

7 500 - ...

F&A

2100 – 3200

2300 – 3500

2800 – 5500

ITO/HelpDesk

2100 – 3200

2300 – 3500

2800 – 5500

Spanish

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

8 000 - ...

Call Centre

2100 – 3200

2300 – 3500

2800 – 5500

Italian

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

8 000 - ...

Portuguese

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

8 000 - ...

Dutch

4 000 - 4 500

5 000 - 5 500

5 500 - 6 500

6 000 - 7 500

9 000 - ...

Specialist F&A

3300 – 4200

3500 – 4500

4000 – 6000

Swedish

3 500 - 3 800

3 800 - 4 500

4 600 - 5 700

6 000 - 7 000

8 000 - ...

ITO/HelpDesk

3300 – 4200

3500 – 4800

4300 – 6800

Norwegian

3 800 - 4 200

4 500 - 5 500

5 100 - 6 000

6 000 - 7 000

8 000 - ...

Finnish

4 000 - 5 000

5 000 - 6 000

6 000 - 7 000

6 000 - 7 500

9 000 - ...

Danish

3 600 - 4 100

4 500 - 5 000

5 100 - 6 000

6 000 - 7 000

7 500 - ...

Czech and Slovak

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

7 500 - ...

2800 – 3300

Call Centre

3000 – 3500

3800– 6000

Senior Specialist F&A

4000 – 5500

4500 – 6000

4700 – 8000

Lithuanian

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

7 500 - ...

ITO/HelpDesk

5500 - 6500

5800 – 6800

6500 – 9000

Hungarian

3 500 - 4 000

4 200 - 4 500

4 600 - 5 700

6 000 - 7 000

8 000 - ...

Call Centre

3400 - 4500

3600 – 4800

4000 – 7000

Turkish

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

7 500 - ...

Russian

2 600 - 3 000

3 000 - 3 500

3 600 - 4 800

5 000 - 6 000

7 500 - ...

Team Leader F&A

Source: Analysis of CPL Market Flash

ITO/HelpDesk

Call Centre

8000

6000

2010 In 2010, business centre services offered basic benefit pack­ ages, which included mainly medical care, Sport or M ­ ulti card combined with the financing of language c ­ ourses. As a consequence of the relatively low business density and specifically Poznań market saturation, the expectations of candidates rarely went beyond what was on the table at ­offer stage.

7000

Manager F&A

ITO/HelpDesk

Call Centre

9000

10000

7000

Table 3A. Helpdesk Specialist – salaries in PLN gross in 2012 Junior

Specialist

Senior Specialist

English

Language

2 700 - 3 200

3 300 - 4 200

5 500 - 6 500

6 500 - 7 500

Team Leader

7 500 - ...

Manager

German

2 800 - 3 300

3 500 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

French

2 800 - 3 300

3 500 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Spanish

2 800 - 3 300

3 500 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Italian

2 900 - 3 300

3 500 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Portuguese

2 900 - 3 300

3 500 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Dutch

4 500 - 5 500

5 600 - 6 800

7 500 - 9 000

9 000 - 10 000

10 000 - ...

Swedish

3 600 - 4 100

4 300 -5 500

6 500 - 7 200

9 000 - 10 000

10 000 - ...

Norwegian

4 000 - 4 700

5 000 - 5 800

6 800 - 7 500

9 000 - 10 000

10 000 - ...

Finnish

4 800 - 5 500

5 600 - 6 800

7 500 - 9 000

9 000 - 10 000

10 000 - ...

Danish

3 800 - 4 500

4 600 - 5 600

6 800 - 7 500

9 000 - 10 000

10 000 - ...

Czech and Slovak

3 000 - 3 300

3 700 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Lithuanian

3 000 - 3 300

3 700 - 4 800

6 500 - 7 200

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Hungarian

3 500 - 4 200

4 500 - 5 500

5 800 - 6 800

9 000 - 10 000

10 000 - ...

Turkish

3 000 - 3 300

3 500 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Russian

3 000 - 3 300

3 500 - 4 800

5 800 - 6 800

7 000 - 8 500

8 500 - ...

Source: Analysis of CPL Market Flash

Comparison of salaries for the years 2010 and 2012 demon­ strates that the greatest increase in wages is across posi­ tions requiring knowledge of a niche language - wages incre­ ased by up to 1 000 PLN and in the case of specialist and senior posts a 1 500-2 000 PLN increase was common.

Wages of candidates speaking English only have increased approximately 100-300 PLN (professionals) and 500 PLN (senior roles) respectively.

2012 In 2012, feedback indicates increased candidate expe­ctation in terms of basic salaries and benefit packages. In addi­ tion to an attractive salary, candidates also count on a rich ­attractive benefit package. This expectation now extends to medical care and funding for recreational and sporting acti­ vities, (employees now consider this standard), funding for learning foreign languages or to further education, relocation packages and discount tickets to cultural events are also listed as important factors in delivering a positive acceptance outcome.

The most desired benefits are shown in Graph 1 (Source: ­Survey results, ­carried among candidates by CPL Market Flash, I-VI, 2012).

This increase in the expectations of employees is dire­ctly ­linked to the development of the market and increased com­ petition (local and national), with candidates consistently tempted by a growing list of non-wage benefits.

Benefits and social package Social benefits have increased their importance in tandem with the growth of the industry. The following is an analysis of changes that have occurred over the last 2 years:

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September / October 2012

Companies in the local market of Wielkopolska increasingly declare the need for workers with specific skills who most likely can be found abroad or from another region.

Poland vs Outsourcing | News

September / October 2012

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Poland vs Outsourcing | Report

Graph 1. The desired benefits and social package

Graph 2. The factors of employee satisfaction

Source: Survey results, carried among candidates by CPL Market Flash, I-VI, 2012 Source: ­Survey results, ­carried among candidates by CPL Market Flash, I-VI, 2012

It is clear from the surveys conducted by CPL Market Flash, among people applying for work in the field of new busi­ ness services that almost 47% of respondents are open to relocation. In terms of this group of candidates ‘relocation package’ often turns out to be the determining factor for acceptance of the offer submitted.

An alternative to the more costly benefits include: Assistance in finding housing and in the case of candi­ dates from other countries help in administrative matters (visas etc).

Access to a real estate agency that offers housing.

Chillout rooms.

Sponsorship/refunding of tickets.

Lunches vouchers or subsidies for meals.

Internal training.

Summary The development of modern business services growth has brought not only increase in the salaries of workers ­employed in the sector (BPO/SSC/ITO) but has also influ­ enced the ­ increasing importance of ‘the package’ and addi­tional ­benefits offered to candidates. It is indisputable that a company’s relocation package policy will gain more ‘­candidate’ importance when planning headcounts, espe­ cially in view of the projected increase in demand for pro­ fessionals with niche language competence – in particular Swedish or ­Finnish. Availability of professionals who possess niche language skills is small, so recruitment strategies will focus mainly on attracting candidates from other locations, including from abroad – an international talent mobility ­strategy will become increasingly important as the market continues to grow. ■

Employee satisfaction Employee job satisfaction a few years ago mainly related to long term employment, financial stability and medical care (insurance). In the current competitive market and in parti­ cular the struggle for quality candidates, decreasing job ­satisfaction and turnover of staff is becoming a real p ­ roblem for employers. It would appear some corporations report resorting to quite radical solutions such as ‘exclu­sivity con­ tracts’ and limitation clauses within contracts for employ­ ment. However this is deemed a temporary solution as the approach can damage brand reputation and candidate perception.

Graph 2 presents the factors, which in the opinion of the candidates rank subjective job satisfaction. (Source: Survey results, carried among candidates by CPL Market Flash, I-VI, 2012).

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September / October 2012

Authors: Magdalena Pałczyńska Team Leader (Multilingual, SSC & BPO) CPL Jobs

Katarzyna Witak Senior Recruitment Consultant Team Leader CPL Jobs

Magda Sienkiewicz Marketing Coordinator CPL Jobs, CPL Market Flash

Poland vs Outsourcing | Interview

Interview with Deputy Mayor of Poznań – Jerzy Stępień many roads that were built for EURO 2012. Just as impor­ tant is also the high quality of life – Poznań is a safe city that meets high standards as regards access to and quality of ­healthcare and education, and, at the same time, the c ­ apital of the Wielkopolska region provides numerous possibi­lities for spending one’s free time and hosts many signi­ ficant sports and cultural projects. All this creates the unique ­atmosphere of the city that is perfect to invest and to live in.

O&M: The sector of modern business services – BPO/ SSC industry – also figures strongly in the capital of the Wielkopolska region. This industry promotes the deve­ ­ lopment of the labour market – does the strategy of Poznań favour this type of investment, or is it one of the many sec­ tors that the city is interested in?

JS: Of course, the city creates numerous opportunities for business and Poznań is now home to representatives of most of the branches of services and production. Particularly well-represented are such sectors as high-tech production, outsourcing services centres, shared service centres, and R&D (research & development).

Outsourcing&More: Mr. Mayor, Poznań has attracted the interest of many foreign investors; for years, many potential investors have arrived at Poznań International Fair – what are Poznań’s greatest advantages for investors?

Jerzy Stępień: Poznań has been creating increasingly ­better conditions for business and for investors. One of its greatest assets is certainly very high human potential refle­ cted in the highest proportion of young people (25-34 years old) in ­Poland, and knowledge of foreign languages that is above the average, as well as the innovativeness of Poznań students. What is also significant is the easy availability of high-quality office space and the modern transportation ­infrastructure, with the new railway station, airport, and the

In line with the current strategy of securing new investors, we are especially interested in attracting foreign investors from the above-mentioned sectors. Lately, the sector of modern services BPO/SSC and also R&D, have become e ­ specially important. Such a selection of priorities results from the ­situation in the labour market in Poznań and the potential of the capital of Wielkopolska region, which offers well-­ qualified personnel who have knowledge of many foreign lan­guages and is highly innovative. What is also significant is the ­already-mentioned excellent business-support infra­ structure, the high quality of life, and good business climate.

O&M: The BPO industry pays special attention to the avai­ lable office space. What is the current office-space market in Poznań and what are the plans for the coming years?

JS: At present, the total supply of modern office space in Poznań oscillates between 250-260 thousand sq. metres.

A further 50 thousand sq. metres are being built. What o ­ ffice resources increase is both the development of new buildings, and restoration, as, for instance, is the case in ­Okrąglak

September / October 2012

53

Poland vs Outsourcing | Interview

(a department store building). The vacancy rate ­ remains ­below 10 %, which gives us a picture of the good adaptation to the expectations and preferences of the lessees.

parks to take part in important events within the industry.

The potential of the parks is also demonstrated at meetings with investors, especially from the IT industry.

Increasingly more often, investors are deciding to put up ­office complexes and parks, which are constructed in suc­ cessive stages. The following will be built in Poznań in the nearest future: Galeria MM, Andersia Business ­ParkSilver, Wilson ­Office Park (CBRE commercialisation), Corner P ­ oint, Business Garden, RochOffice, Malta House, E ­UREKA Technology Park, INEA Wysogotowo, and Kompleks ­ Grunwaldzka.

O&M: How does Poznań present itself in the international arena? We had the chance to meet your representatives at the largest outsourcing event in Europe, that is, at the SSON conference in Amsterdam – do you participate in other ­outsourcing events in Poland and around the world?

O&M: The influx of new investments is attributable to the ­possibilities provided by Industrial and Technology Parks also Business Incubators. How does the city cooperate with other organisations that support the development of invest­ ments in the region?

NASSCOM fairs in India (a series of conferences w ­ here the largest ICT and BPO companies from all over the world, mainly from India, the USA or Britain and also the new, emerging ­markets for the IT sector and BPO, including Poznań, meet);

JS: There are three industrial and technology parks in the city.

These are: Poznański Park Technologiczno-­ Przemysłowy (Poznań Industrial and Technology Park) (the initiative of the city), Poznański Park Naukowo-Techniczny (Poznań Science and Technology Park) (academic i­nitiative), and ­Nickel Technology Park Poznań, which was the first priva­ tely owned park in Poland. Each of them significantly fosters the development of entrepreneurship and innova­ tiveness, creating the development opportunities to a wide range of businesses and students. The city supports the parks, parti­ cipates in projects organised by them, and also invites the

CeBIT fair in Hannover (the largest European fair event in the field of ­software, computer hardware, and new IT techno­logies, where Poznań was promoted as the p ­ erfect location for invest­ments in the ICT and ITO sector);

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September / October 2012

JS: Yes, recently, apart from SSON, the potential in Poznań has been demonstrated at, among other events:

The Regional B ­ usiness F ­ orum in Poznań – Roadshow ’Regionalne Forum ­Biznesowe w Poznaniu – R ­ oadshow’ (the aim of the Forum is to sup­ port regional deve­ lopment, the development of the city and to support local entrepreneurs);

Poland vs Outsourcing | Interview

The Sixth Shared Services & Outsourcing Woche 2011 ­Forum in Berlin (a ­conference on the functioning of the BPO/SSC market was a good oppor­tunity to d ­ emonstrate the values of Poznań and talk with potential investors); World BPO Forum New York (a Forum presenting the ­potential of BPO on the most significant mar­kets and drawing the attention of large numbers of investors ­ ­looking for new locations for their centres).

O&M: With the city’s promotion successfully completed, you have to cater to the needs of the investors who come to Poznań. How is the Investor Service Team (Zespół O ­ bsługi Inwestora) structured? How many representatives does it consist of, and what does its work consist in?

JS: The structure of Poznań City Hall contains a ­dedicated unit – the Investor Relations Department (Biuro Obsługi ­Inwestorów i Promocji Inwestycji), one of the core aims of which is to take care of both the p ­ otential inve­stor and the companies that are strategic from the ­point of view of the city which already operate in Poznań. The Team is composed of eleven people, three of which are ­so-­called ­investment guides. Their task in the phase prior to the i­nvestor making the decision is to provide infor­mation and to organise and hold meetings with the investors that are already present in Poznań, with universities or with ­myself, as needed, and also to help get through admini­strative ­issues. The contact is of course not lost – the guide is assi­gned permanently to a ­given investor, and the coope­ration is multi­faceted, from the promotion to the help rega­rding ­actions aimed at bran­ ching out and development.

As one of the a ­ ctions aimed at the continuous improvement in ­relations and the forming of a symbiosis between b ­ usiness and ­science, the meeting of Poznań centres’ representatives with Poznań u ­ niversities should be mentioned. Business was represented by 23 com­panies, including MAN, ­Carlsberg, Franklin ­ Templeton ­ Investments, IKEA, ­ Samsung, GSK and ­McKinsey&Company, and others, and aca­demia was repre­sented by four Poznań universities – Adam M ­ ickiewicz University), Poznań University of ­ ­ Technology, University of Economics, Poznań School of Banking. The aim of the ­meeting was to engage in a dialogue about future coope­ ration, especially in the better preparation of students for working in the centres.

O&M: Mr. Mayor, business is not everything. One d ­ eserves a break after work – what is there to do in Poznań after h ­ ours and how can you spend a weekend in an interesting way?

Some foreign investors bring their key personnel t­ogether with their families - what can the foreigners expect in Poznań?

JS: As I’ve already mentioned, Poznań provides a lot of oppor­tunities for each family member to spend their free time in an interesting way and have a nice time. A wide ­range of theatres, museums, and movie theatres, some of them being the biggest ones in Europe. To those who love to en­ gage in sports I would recommend the sports and recreation complex right in the city centre, that is Lake Malta (Jezioro Maltańskie) with the Aquapark (recreational area, saunas, and Olympic-size swimming pool), an artificial ski slope and a rowing lane. One of the UEFA EURO 2012 arenas awaits football fans, and the only racing track in Poland awaits the motor-racing lovers. Numerous cultural events, concerts, and festivals also take place during the year, e.g. the Malta Festival (Festiwal Teatralny Malta) and the Transatlantyk Film Festival (Festiwal Filmowy Transatlantyk).

O&M: Now, to conclude, please provide a few statistics ­regarding outsourcing investments. Please tell us how many BPO/SSC/ITO/R&D and Call/Contact Centre investors are there in Poznań now, and how many people do they employ?

JS: At present, there are more than 30 centres of ­modern ­services BPO/SSC/ITO and Call/Contact Centres that ­employ over eight thousand people. This number is c ­onstantly ­growing, as new investors come to us each year. Recently, new centres have been opened in Poznań by, among others, HolidayCheck, Samsung, and another one whose name I cannot reveal yet.

O&M: Thank you for your time, we keep our fingers crossed for the new investments. We will follow the development of the market for outsourcing services in Poznań. ■

Jerzy Stępień Graduated with honours from Adam Mickiewicz ­University in Poznań, Faculty of Law and ­Administration. Prior to being Deputy Mayor of Poznań, he held, among others, the following positions: President of the City Council in Śrem (1994-1998), Deputy V ­oivode of W ­ ielkopolska (19982002), and Councillor in the ­Regional Council of Wielkopolska that dealt with the i­ssues of breaches of public finance discipline.

Since 2002, he has been performing a number of ­tasks as Deputy Mayor for Spatial Planning and ­Social ­Affairs.

Among these tasks, the following are worth ­mentioning: implementation of the city’s spatial p ­ olicy, archi­tectural and construction administration, and g ­ eodetic administration.

In his free time, he appreciates historical, autobiogra­ phical, nature, and travel cinema and literature. In addi­ tion, he likes to indulge in the culinary arts while listening to the blues.

September / October 2012

55

Poland vs Outsourcing | Interview

Wojciech Skrudlik – interview with The Head of MAN Accounting Center in Poznań Outsourcing&More: MAN Accounting Center is one of the biggest and leading Shared Service Centers which operates in Poznań. When did you arrive to capital of Wielkopolska Region and why did you choose Poznań?

Wojciech Skrudlik: The official opening of our center is ­ dated September 2006. There have been several key aspects ­ taken into consideration while choosing Poznań as an optimal place for our office. Availability of highly edu­ cated labour force with excellent language skills (with focus on German) was one of the most important factors. We also analyzed how many SSC/BPO companies already operated in Poznań at that time (Poznań scored much better than ­Kraków – our second best preferred location). Being close to an existing bus production plant (near Poznań) which ­meant ability to take advantage of the existing experience, MAN infrastructure, SAP and accounting know-how played an important role too. Our first employees come actually from that production plant and many of them have been with us until now.

Other factors taken into consideration were supportive ­attitude of the local authorities and convenient flight conne­ ctions between Poznań and our headquarters in Munich (4 direct flights daily).

O&M: When did you join MAN Accounting Center? Is this the first SSC/BPO organization in your career?

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September / October 2012

WS: I joined MAN over 3 years ago. I started my career path as an auditor at Deloitte where I audited financial statements of both small and large companies. Before joining MAN ­Accounting Center I had worked over 5 years at Capgemini (large BPO center) in Kraków.

O&M: You are fluent in Polish, English and German – are the foreign languages necessary to work for MAN A.C.? What kind of competences are you expecting from cadidates, who apply for work in your Company?

WS: MAN is a German company with over 250 years of ­tradition. Due to this fact German language is visible every­ where in our corporation. However the official language of the company has been English for more than 3 years now.

Language skills are key in this kind of profession. ­Accounting or controlling knowledge are certainly important too, ­however our employees can learn that during the on-­ boarding ­process, whereas learning foreign languages is a long term process and at the same time a key success factor when it comes to the relationships with our customers.

Other competencies that are important for us are attention to details, ability to work within a team, being open for changes and questioning the AS IS state which is especially important for continuous improvement process to which we encou­ rage our employees on a daily basis.

Poland vs Outsourcing | Interview

O&M: Poznań is also home for other SSC/BPO organi­ zations. How many industry investors are currently located in Poznań and what is the employment scale?

WS: At the time when we started our operations in 2006 t­ here were only a few SSC/BPO type of companies in ­Poznań.

Now, there are more than 30 centers which ­employee over 8 ths. employees. In case of Poznań we could observe a ­significant increase in the number of employees working in SSC/BPO environment over the last 2-3 years which is ­mainly driven by new investors (including IKEA, Bridgestone or Mc Kinsey). We cannot underestimate the development on the existing centers though. Based on the ABSL’s re­ search the existing centers generate, on average, the bigger growth of the sector than the growth being a result of new business.

As an example, our center used to employ at the beginning around 30 employees. At the moment we have more than 300 employees and we will continue to grow (by migrating processes from countries such as Russia or India).

The are new potential investors knocking at Poznań’s doors which is an indication that the number of SSC/BPO centers will most likely increase even more.

O&M: The employees, who are working for Poznań ­located operations centers are young, educated people. Also Poznań universities, colleges and high schools are pre­ ­ senting interest to support outsourcing industry – how does the cooperation with schools work for your Company? Do you have any suggestions for the universities in relation to education program?

of most common accounting systems cannot be ­ trained ­during the studies?

Summarizing, we are aware that there is quite some work to be done in this area however we already can appreciate first very positive examples of universities (for instance High Banking School in Poznań) which proactively try to coope­ rate with the business and are very open to adjust their study programs or organize open lectures that are conducted by business practitioners to be able to offer their students up to date educational know-how which will, in turn, help the students to find an attractive job.

O&M: In Poznań you are also in charge of ABSL. Several months ago ABSL has o ­ rganized the Regional Chapter in Poznań. What is the main purpose of those meetings and are they helping you to a ­ ttract new members to join ­Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland?

WS: True, ABSL regional chapters have been set up to intensify the cooperation between the ABSL members ­ in the r­egion, local institutions such as schools, universities and l­ocal governments. The key tasks of local chapters are knowledge and best practice exchange between SSC/BPO companies, promoting knowledge about the sector within local society, common CSR events as well as networking.

We’ve set up 6 local chapters so far: in Poznań, Wrocław, Kraków, Katowice, Łódź and Tri-City. I must admit that there is a lot of interest in this kind of very practical cooperation which as a consequence encourages next companies to join the ABSL association.

O&M: Dziękujemy za rozmowę. ■

WS: You’ve mentioned quite an important aspect. Before I answer your question let me ask a question myself: why is it so that despite the fact that several thousand new gra­ duates in Poznań try to enter labour market every year the com­panies representing modern business services (SSC/ BPO centers) face difficulties to recruit employees? We’ve openly discussed about this phenomenon with the repre­ sentatives of the city authorities and high schools d ­ uring the round table at the City Hall.

In my opinion, the outsourcing market is fairly a new market in Poland and the awareness among educational institutions and students is still quite law not mentioning about the s­ tudy programs that are not adju­sted to the market’s requirements.

As a result, if we manage to find a good candidate during the recruitment process, we need to invest a lot of time and money in order to teach him on how to do the work in this profession. Why project mana­gement, interdisciplinary team work, knowledge on cultural differences or practical usage

Wojciech Skrudlik Chartered accountant, graduated University of Economics in Kraków (Finance and Banking). He ­ worked several years at Deloitte in Warsaw’s and ­ ­Krakow’s branch as an auditor being responsible for auditing of financial statements and internal control ­ systems. He then worked for 5 years at Capgemini at various positions being responsible for migrations of accounting and procurement processes from various European countries and the USA to Poland as well as daily supervision, standardization and optimization of BPO delivery processes. Currently Wojciech is the head of MAN A ­ ccounting Center in Poznań. He is 36 years old, has a wife and two children. Hobbies: travelling, ­psychology and aviation.

September / October 2012

57

Outsourcing & More | Main Topic

Main topic

Call/Contact

centres

In Poland

str. 59 Call Centers in Poland... 20 years later str. 65 Polish Call/Contact Center Market in 2012 str. 68 Managing the quality and effectiveness of the work of telephone consultants at implementing outband and inbound projects str. 73 Headsets for Call Center – selection criteria str. 74 How to profit from choosing the right headsets for the Call Center str. 76 Communication in a loyalty program str. 78 New face of telecommunication – cloud services for companies str. 82 Case study: arvato’s solution str. 84 The German Contact Center Industry str. 86 Social media in customer service

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September / October 2012

Outsourcing & More | Main Topic

Call Centers in Poland...

20 years later 2012 – the Polish call centre market comes of age. This ­reflection and expediency to which I will refer in a while, have induced me to write this text describing in more detail the beginnings of this industry and the time of establishing the first service call centres in Poland. Expediency is the fact that more and more young people are interested in this market not only to gain valuable competence at the beginning of their professional careers, but also to explore... the ­scientific aspect. There have already been Ph.D. theses and M.A. ­theses on this subject in Poland.

connection with the first available consultant in the s­ hortest possible time. It was an ACD that contributed to the ­creation of the concept of a call centre in the dimension we know today. However, the first substitutes of the ACD system probably emerged in 1950 to handle calls by operators ­ (here, younger readers should be given an explanation: once all telephone calls were operated by telephone operators; one should call a telecommunications company or go to the post office and request a phone call). Unfortunately, as to the date there have been no concrete evidence of this so far.

One of the earliest examples of the existence of a call centre is The Birmingham Press and Mail in the UK. Telephone ope­ rators sitting in rows with individual phone terminals, taking and making calls can be seen in old photos from 1965.

Technology creates new services In the 1970s PABX systems were already integrated with an ACD, which enabled a significant increase in the scale of simultaneous connections. Thus, in May 1972, the New Scientist magazine reported that Barclaycard had installed a PABX at its data processing centre. An ACD allowed the simultaneous connection with 72 callers. The consultants were able to check the credit card records of 1.6 million ­customers of the bank.

It’s a common belief in the world that call centres as we know them today were created with the development of the Automatic Call Distributor – an application deployed in 1973 by Rockwell for Continental Airlines in order to sim­plify a ­telephone booking system. This is one of the myths about this market. Rockwell was indeed one of the first i­ntegrators of an ACD, but the first call centres were actually created a bit earlier, in the mid 1960s. It was the time when e ­ xchanges – Private Automated Business Exchanges (PABX) – e ­ nabling the management of large numbers of telephone contacts began to be used.

Nevertheless, an ACD has remained a key technology ­determining the definition of a call centre. It meets the most important criterion from the client’s point of view- it enables

At the same time, computerised systems allowing very fast access to customer records began to be installed. It was an indication of the direction of expansion of the call centre. The technological innovations introduced throughout the 1970s and 1980s consolidated the importance of call centres in the daily life of every human being.

In 1985, in the UK, Direct Line was established, becoming the first company to sell insurance entirely over the ­telephone. At that time, in the USA, Aspect Telecommunications was set up which significantly improved the ACD system. Then, it was possible to route calls made from touch-tone phones more efficiently, by distinguishing between types of calls.

This was of great importance for the costs, because most of calls were free. Consumers waited long in line for conne­ ctions, so the improved system considerably cut down call waiting times.

September / October 2012

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Outsourcing & More | Main Topic

The ACD’s innovative features also fuelled the ­development of new services. In 1989, First Direct owned by Midland Bank, the UK’s first direct-banking company was e ­stablished. ­Today, it is owned by HSBC and has 1.2 million customers.

Then, customers, fascinated with a novelty, which was a ­convenient way of purchase and direct contact with the company, were much more willing to buy various products or services in this way. This is how one of the British consul­ tants recalls his work in those years: “... I had been working at Yellow Pages since 1976, in the pioneering for those times telesales of ads to business. Splendid job, great money and fantastic atmosphere in the office, with like-minded, moti­ vated to work colleagues. Thanks to working in a call centre I could have afforded to buy a house before I was 21 and I’m grateful for that...”.

20 years later The beginning of Polish professional call centres is the ­early 1990s. It’s almost 20 years later than in the world.

One of the first service call centre companies was Kontakt ­Telemarketing founded by Jacek Barankiewicz.

“In autumn 1994, we received a proposal to set up a P ­ olish branch of a large international company. The e ­ssential ­element to conduct economic activities was our own call centre. As we would say today “in house”, recalls J­acek Barankiewicz, Member of the Supervisory Board, at ­ ­company ­DataContact which still exists today. “We didn’t really know what was ­going on then, but we eagerly ­started to act. Unfortu­nately, we hadn’t reached agreement with our foreign partner, so we couldn’t undertake cooperation, but we already had b ­ eautiful premises with good access to ­telephone lines, which was rare in those days and a ­group of employees willing to work and enthusiastic about our ­project. In one word, we had everything we needed, or so we ­thought, to set up a call centre. On the other hand, there wasn’t anyone with such an offer on the market then, so with Polish innate optimism we found it to be a unique oppor­tunity and we decided to use it. In January 1995, we l­aunched our first call centre in Wołomin near Warsaw.”

In the case of Kontakt Telemarketing, a call centre is a very pompous term. On the first day, the company had 10 ­computers, 5 phones and a lot of enthusiasm.

The year 1995 was a special time for the Polish telephone communications. Telekomunikacja Polska was developing dynamically and since 1989 the number of landline phones had increased from less than 3 to 5.5 million. This meant that almost every second phone in Poland was a new phone.

People did not have experience in using phones as commu­

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September / October 2012

nication tools, above all, they had no bad experience. Most consumers enjoyed receiving a call with information about special offers and nobody fought with telemarketing. „On the other hand, recalls Jacek Barankiewicz, we had a number of technical and technological constraints. ­There were no 0-800 or 0-700 numbers. There was no full identi­ fication of incoming calls, and many other facilities. ­Technology was our biggest problem. We devoted 80% of our time to discuss how to work around technical limita­ tions. Every visit to a call centre west of the Oder made us frus­trated. Hence, a strong need to improvise and find our own solutions emerged. Perhaps that’s why today we have ­centres in Poland which we are absolutely not ashamed. We often have solutions that are more modern and tailored to our needs”. Today, DataContact (formerly Kontakt Telemar­ keting, then AS Kontakt) has two locations, 320 seats and provides services on the Polish and European markets in many languages.

However, the biggest organic growth since its inception in 1997 was reported by Call Center Poland, a company ­founded by Jan Motz and Kinga Nowakowska. After several

Outsourcing & More | Main Topic

In the 1990s, the call centre market was still in its infancy, and in the West there was a boom for call centre services thanks to the Internet.

The role of the Internet in the development of call centres In the 1990s, the call centre market grew rapidly, additionally spurred on by the spread of the Internet. So-called “dot.com companies” attracted vast amounts of investors excited by the vision of great profit from the opportunities offered by the Internet. Websites became the central point of contact and sales for an increasing number of companies, and call centres were essential in dealing with customers, acting as service, sales and technical support points. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, and in the early 21st Century, in 2001, “dot.com.crash” makes many Internet-based companies go bust.

However, the call centre market was still on the rise.

By 2003, 5.320 call centres were set up only in the UK ­employing ­almost 800 000 people, including five hundred thousand tele­phone consultants. The main cost there were ­employees, so companies were looking for ways to cut the call centre operating costs.

years of stay in the USA, Jan Motz invested in Poland in one of the first call centres. CCP quickly gained the largest share in the Polish market. After five years, revenues were up to PLN 26 million.

“The first major client of CCP was tobacco company Philip Morris – says Jan Motz. – We launched on the virgin market, along with several other companies in this industry. Today, it is hard to believe, but in those days few people knew what a service call centre was. We had to devote much energy to educate the market, explain to Polish companies how a call centre may affect the improvement of customer service.”

Helpful was the fact that in the 1990s the western c ­ apital flowed to Poland quickly: international companies that knew this business model better opened their companies in ­Poland. The time when pension funds entered the market was a good period – infolines were essential for them. Today, after 15 years, Call Center Poland is still in the lead in service call centres. The company has trained hosts of p ­ rofessional managerial staff that now manages the largest customer contact centres in Poland.

In the early 21st Century, big companies tended to move their customer service departments overseas. Cheaper ­ ­labour costs, and sometimes better workforce skills caused a great boom in locations in India, the Philippines and South Africa.

Polish nearshoring But not only there. In 2004, already existing on the P ­ olish market, company arvato owned by Bertelsmann AG, ­opened its service contact centre on the already mature market in Poland. arvato made use of the then global trend of moving customer service as part of so-called n ­ earshoring or offshoring. “On the one hand, Bertelsmann AG had clients in its portfolio who had such a need, and on the other hand, it had locations in those parts of the world that were attrac­tive in this context, inter alia, in Poland” – says Joanna Rada, C ­ ontact Centre Director at arvato. – “arvato’s ­strategy ­includes m ­ eeting the needs of clients, so the only ­reasonable step was to take advantage of the competence of the d ­ ivision operating on the domestic market combined with the broad knowledge of customer’s processes at the headquarters of arvato, operating on this market for years.”

As we know, the growth of offshoring services in the world did not last long. Customers had problems with under­standing the English spoken by consultants from the Far East, and

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expressed their dissatisfaction with that. Also, b ­ ecause of taking jobs away from domestic markets. ­Therefore, in the second half of the 2000s there were spectacular returns of the biggest companies from the USA and the UK to their own backyards. arvato didn’t have such problems. The first contact centre in Szczecin started providing services to one of the leaders on the IT market. Due to the high requirements of the client in the maintenance of the global standards of service, arvato had to operate at a high international level from the ­beginning. This related both to the scale of operations – 100 seats – and the use of the state-of-the-art technologies, systems, safety rules, etc., which had to be compatible with the global expectations of the client. “We started with ­simple acti­ vation processes in 7 languages: German, Russian, Ukrainian, S ­ lovak, Hungarian, Czech and Polish” – recalls Joanna Rada. – “Gradually the scope of work extended and there were more specialised operations requiring higher and higher compe­tencies and skills of our employees.”

For Polish subsidiaries of global call centre giants, such as Teleperformance, arvato or Sitel, at the beginning of t­heir activities, the knowledge of customer service processes was quite a challenge, because they were something new for Polish employees. Participating in the creation of a call centre of mobile phone network operator Plus, I remember that if it hadn’t been the knowledge transfer from foreign shareholders, and foreign managers who guided us step by step, such a professional call centre would not have been established.

“Today, it is obviously different – says Joanna Rada – ­there are many people on the market who already have long expe­ ­ rience and high competence in the management

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of contact centres and they are more likely to migrate for work. Fortu­nately, there is a strong operational and contract ­knowledge transfer process in the group, so we quickly re­ medied the shortcomings. An additional difficulty for ope­ rations was the aspect of orientation in international servi­ ce processes, because, for example, a German citizen has completely d ­ifferent requirements, different expected talk time, and even the way it is hold than an Italian citizen. Now we use this unique expertise in providing services on the Polish market.”

Constant development Today, the call centre market is an industry that employs ­millions of people around the world. The increase in popu­ larity of social media and new technologies has signifi­ cantly affected its development. The reduction in the cost of e ­ ntering this market also has this effect - through ­virtual ­solutions, such as cloud computing (the use of software and resources of an external provider; no need to purchase a ­licence, installation or software administration), and thus also the possibility of remote working (telework).

The Direct Marketing Association estimates that every year nearly 200 thousand people “sit on headphones” in Poland.

According to the call centre market practitioners, we have integrated voice communications with an SMS earlier than many companies on mature markets. The Polish telemar­ keting market is quite specific: we suffer from the excess of outbound marketing. These are customers who set such a trend whom call centre companies must meet. Looking at mature markets, in Poland telephone traffic to – not from a call centre – has been developing much slower than it ­should. Of course, today there are no such funny cases like in the first years, when customers tried to order t­ elemarketing

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campaigns to customer bases without telephone lines. Con­ sumer awareness has also changed very quickly. In the past, on a hotline for software problems, first the consultant asked whether the caller has turned on the computer and the ­monitor. Today, it’s probably not necessary. Moreover, the awareness of law among consumers has increased; they know what they can expect and require. The difference in the advancement of call centre services between Poland and the rest of the world has been dramatically shrinking, but there’s still much to be done to match the western level.

Every day millions of people around the world call to ­different companies: banks, airlines, mobile operators, we order a izza, taxi, doctor’s visit over a phone. Despite new oppor­ tunities for communication, the phone still remains the ­dominant channel of contact. Direct contact is the most ­important. Let’s keep it that way. ■

Author: Katarzyna Swatowska Expert in marketing communications in new ­technology and call centre katarzyna@swatowska.pl

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Joanna Rada – Contact Centre Director arvato Polska „Thinking about an interesting event related to the beginnings of a ­ ­rvato’s contact centre operations, a situation comes to my mind in which a client came to visit our new location as part of standard audits conducted in service pro­viders. Of course, for this purpose it used the mea­sures appli­cable around the world. Thus, owing to such an audit for the first time I had the opportunity to visit the basement of the office where our operations were ­located. The client checked the condition of the ­installation s­ upplying electricity to the building, because ­maintaining business continuity was crucial for it. It was a completely new q ­ uality which was not required by our domestic ­customers. All the more, we are very proud that we have managed to meet these requirements and have been successfully serving this client for 8 years, expanding the range of operations and languages all the time.”

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Polish Call/Contact Center Market in 2012 Polish Call/Contact Center market is developing steadily. The forthcoming years are going to be a period of professionalization of the industry – the industry involving companies present at the market and managers leading them.

Polish market of Call/Contact Center (CC) services has been developing for almost 20 years, pursuing the markets in ­countries of the Western Europe. After years of rapid growth, reaching even 30% a year (as regards both the value and the size), the market came to a phase of maturity. Experts of ECCCO (European Confederation of Contact Centre ­Organisations) consider Polish Call/Contact Center ­market as belonging to a group of stabilized ones with ­ annual growth dynamics at a level of 4.5% a year.

...at Polish ­Call/­ ­Contact Center market there are about 1,500 active CC organiza­tions and structures.

What is Polish Call/Contact Center market?

In order to describe the market properly we need first to s­pecify what this market is. Despite the fact that the notion Call Center or even Contact Center is commonly ­ used, the meaning of it is equivocal. A market is a certain “­business space” where enterprises are present. But who actually functions on CC market? Generally speaking, area of ­Customer Contact Center plays in business a servicing role for other markets or industries. Thus, considering this functional definition, we include in it any organization which executes its actions with a use of remote communication channels. Polish Call/Contact Center market involves com­ panies, organizations and structures which, in an organized and planned way, execute processes of communication with their customers in order to achieve intended effect. Those processes can be sale or service actions, but also making appointments, debt recovery, verification of databases, ­service desk, booking services etc.

...at Polish market of outsourced Call/ Contact ­Center services there are about 250 active subjects e ­ mploying over 20,000 people.

Structure of the market The largest outsourcing Contact Centers: 1. Contact Center 2. arvato Polska 3. Call Center Inter Galactica 4. Holicon Contact Center 5. Grupa Call Center Poland/ContactPoint 6. Arteria 7. Telbridge 8. Voice Contact Center 9. Teleperformance Polska 10. Walter Services Poland Based on the Institute of Contact Center Management re­ search, the size of the Polish Call/Contact Center market is circa 1,500 active organizations managing circa 68,000 jobs. As any market it is chara­cterized by extensive diversity regarding the size of e ­ ntities and the pro­cesses which are executed. The largest e ­ ntities have over three thousand workforce, the smallest are several-­people departments. As the main feature of Call/Contact Center activity is its servicing role, the market can be divided into two forms of exe­ cution of this activities: in-­house and out­sourced. According to data of the Institute of Contact ­Center ­Management, in 2012 mid-year ­outsourcing com­panies held about 16,000 positions. 8,520 of them b ­ elonged to ten l­argest organi­ zations of this sector. It is esti­mated that at Polish market of outsourced Call/Contact C ­ enter services there are about 250 active subjects e ­ mploying over 20,000 people.

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Vast majority – 76% of processes is executed by own f­orces of organizations, that is, they are managed or led within its home enterprise or an entity specially appointed for this ­purpose. They hold about 52,000 positions where the job is done by over 75,000 employees. Most of Call/­Contact Center orga­ ­ nizations is closely related with the type of ­serviced m ­ arket. Majority of companies provide the c ­ ontact with their e ­mployees to the customers of mass ­ services ­market. Over half of positions in cc in-house is held by two sectors: ­finance (ca. 18,000) and telecommunication (ca.

9,000). In financial sector half of the positions work for ten largest banks, the other half are the other banking or para­ banking institutions, investment funds or financial ­brokers.

Although Polish call center market in telecommunications services sector is almost half as big as the financial, it is much more prone to outsource the processes. In effect, number of positions executing the processes in this section ­substantially out­numbers those who work for the financial industry. It must be remembered that in Poland we deal with almost complete saturation of the telecommu­nications ­market, and only 45% of population uses bank services.

An interesting trend is creation of call centers within ­public authorities. Own Call Center are run by the Municipal ­Office in Poznań, the Municipal Office in Wrocław or Social ­Insurance Institution.

Graph 1. Structure of In-house Call/Contact Center market

Source: Contact Center Management Institute

As mentioned above, Call/Contact Center market plays servicing role in relation to the main or ordered process. In case of in-house organizations we can observe a definite dominance of incoming traffic actions (mostly varied forms of customer services). Only 30% of processes of contact with a customer is executed as outgoing traffic. A ­ pparently ­those processes are most willingly outsourced because in the outsourced services sector the ratio is opposite, i.e. 40% of incoming traffic processes and 60% of outgoing traffic processes.

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Table 1. Number of positions in sectors of the market of ­in-house Call/Contact Centers Industry

Manpower

Banking

15.000

Financial services

3.000

Insurance

3.000

Telecommunications

9.000

Media

3.000

Pharmacy

2.500

Power industry

2.000

Commerce B2C

3.500

Other

9.000

Source: Contact Center Management Institute

Year 2010 finally brought the first industry standard for ­Customer Contact Center market – EN 15838.

Standards While creating Polish Call/Contact Center market in recent years, the managers were most often deprived of possi­ bilities to draw from good and tested examples in a scope of organization of operations and quality of executed proce­ sses. Branches of the multinationals or European companies established in our country were put in more favorable posi­ tion, as the companies developed standards of operational activity or adopted one of available systems in the industry.

Hence, today we have two organizations working in accor­ dance with COPC standard (arvato Polska and Teleper­ formance Polska) and one in accordance with CCA stan­ dard (SouthWestern BPS Poland ). ISO standards were also a certain attempt to standardize issues of organization and quality. Their implementation in most cases was motivated by process requirements and a strategy of a whole company of which Call/Contact Center was a part.

Year 2010 finally brought the first industry standard for ­Customer Contact Center market – EN 15838. The stan­ dard has a separate structure for COPC and CCA. First of all it is a standard of a public character created upon the order of European Commission as a response to a low q ­ uality of services provided by Contact Center organizations. It can be said that this standard (among available ones) is the best ­adjusted to Polish market. Within a year and a half of its fun­ ctioning in Poland, three organizations (BZ WBK, ­Polkomtel

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and home.pl) submitted to the process of certification of executed processes.

Change in consumers’ behavior influences visible changes in the way Polish Call/Contact Centers act. Standardization of processes should translate in a tangible way into effec­ tiveness and quality perceived by the customer, as well as create a signpost for the organizations starting business in this scope indicating how to run it efficiently.

Summary Polish Call/Contact Center market is developing steadily.

The forthcoming years are going to be a period of professio­ nalization of the industry – the industry involving companies present at the market and managers leading them. Undo­ ubtedly, a dialogue of the market participants, standards of a common character and competences of the mana­ gers for the best management of organization and staff are ­necessary. ■

Organization of the market Such a big and specific market undoubtedly requires an ­organization or structures which will represent the interests of the market and support its growth. For years this role has been being played by: Call Center Group attached to the ­Direct Marketing Association, Call Center Team attached to the Polish Bank Association. This year, in F ­ ebruary, a new ini­ tiative assembling the industry of Customer ­Contact ­Centers, Forum Call Center, came into existence. Each of the orga­ nizations plays an important role in creating ­ environment for functioning of Call/Contact Center business in P ­ oland through organizing the milieu, lobbying the legis­ ­ lative ­solutions at the level of government agencies, p ­ romoting ­knowledge and good practices.

Author: Maciej Buś CEO Contact Center Management Institute www.ccmi.pl

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Managing the quality and effectiveness of the work of telephone consultants at implementing outband and inbound projects According to the estimations of the Direct Marketing Association, nowadays, 200 thousand call center posts ­ operate in Poland, which, assuming that 2 persons work at one post in a two-shift system, results in the employment of about 400 thousand people. Due to the fact that in acquiring and maintaining customers the quality and stability of pro­ cesses gain significance, the key cell of each call center is the person who is responsible for the contacts.

At each call center, intensive actions aiming at managing the quality and effectiveness of the work of telephone ­consultants are carried out every day. What kind of actions are they? What does the training process in a call center look like? What are the methods of working with telemar­ keters? How does one improve the quality of customer ­service? How does one increase the effectiveness of tele­ phone ­sales? How does one increase productivity, avoid ­occupational burnout in the telemarketer job and how does one handle the stress?

rotation of workers, plus the increasing needs in the scope of developing customer service departments, it is a constant process. First and foremost, the call center workers recruit­ ment process should be effective! According to the research of the Gallup Institute, in companies where employees are able to make use of their strengths, a 50% decrease of staff fluctuation was recorded.

Kamila Krawczyk-Strawińska, managing director of an inter­ national call center and an experienced call center Trainer, speaks about what should be taken into consideration when recruiting consultants and telemarketers: “The features of ­telephone consultants working on sales projects, that should be taken into account are: a telegenic voice, a smile, a prag­ matic attitude, dynamism, emotional intelligence, listening ability, strong character, ability to explain and encourage, ask questions, clarify and paraphrase.

Working on an information project (hot-line) – operating a hot-line – requires different predispositions of the ­telephone consultant candidate. In this case the important features are: resistance to stress – quick reactions to surprising ­situations, the ability to control one’s emotions, determination in ­reaching aims, the ability to solve problems on one’s own.

Such a person should have a high level of language culture and be capable of listening; also voice predispositions are taken into account – first and foremost diction, voice tone and quickness of speech.”

Proper recruitment is the key to build an effective team, as probably everyone knows.

Preliminary trainings at call centers

Recruitment and building a call center team The recruitment of workers of telephone customer s­ ervice departments, telephone consultants at a call/contact c ­ enter, as well as telemarketers, is a challenge for Recruitment ­Departments and HR Departments. Seemingly not a difficult job; however, due to the fact that a telephone consultant and telemarketer’s job is not seen well, and the significant

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The aim of the preliminary trainings is to guide the employee into the work post and to introduce to him/her the standards binding in the company. This stage of the adaptive process usually consists of trainings of soft skills, product trainings and trainings at the work post aiming at getting to know how the call center, where the consultant is going to work, functions.

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Soft skills trainings, depending on the type of the p ­ erformed work, usually pertain to the techniques of profes­sional cus­ tomer service, problematic customer service and com­ plaints, televindication or effective techniques of t­elesales and creating a professional image of the company for which they work. Their aim is to create a customer-friendly and ­sales-friendly attitude.

During the trainings the persons get to know the standards of conducting telephone conversations. In many companies the beginning of the conversation, i.e. welcome, as well as the ending, are defined by a procedure and should be strictly observed.

During the preliminary trainings such skills as investigating the customer’s needs and managing the time and course of the conversation are practiced, and communication skills are developed in order to eliminate colloquial expressions, ­linguistic errors, black phrases, develop the ability to ask proper questions, paraphrase the customer’s statements, soothe reservations; the trainees will also get to know the tech­ niques of accepting complaints and, in the context of telesales, the language of benefit and the techniques of effective persuasion, overcoming objections, in particular ­ price defending techniques. Due to the fact that nowadays, the key factor of each company’s strategy is sales, even hot-­ lines are provided with projects aiming at up-selling ­services

or generating sales leads, which will be forwarded to the Trade Department (cross- and up-selling in the Customer Service Department).

Product trainings, as indicated by the name itself, pertain to forwarding knowledge from the scope of a given product or the specificity of a given service. If a project is simple and pertains to the sales of a specific service, e.g. a telecom­ munications license fee, the outsourcing training is very short in time – usually one training day. The most i­mportant features of the product in the context of benefit for the ­ ­Customer are discussed, so as the telemarketers know and are able to sell the given product quickly during the conver­ sation. In-house product trainings, i.e. companies’ ­internal call centers last longer – on average from a couple of days to one month, if the operation is complicated and the product complex (a consultant of an insurance hot-line of an asso­ ciation operating a wide range of insurances).

It is vital that the employee has a chance to get fami­ liarized with the working environment during the preli­ minary trainings. A frequently employed form is to show the new employees around the company, show them how others work, what the operation hall looks like. It is parti­ cularly important in the case of people for whom it is the first call center job.

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A good practice is to invite the immediate superior, ­manager or managers to the preliminary training, so as the p ­ ersons who are to start work at our call center know their co-­workers, have telephone contact with their superior and know what he/she looks like. Unfortunately, many c ­ ompanies neglect it, while it is one of the simple tools preventing rotation.

Preliminary trainings are carried out in different combi­ nations: they may be conducted in whole by the company’s in-house employees (Trainers or Leaders), with partial parti­ cipation of outer training companies – trainings developing soft c ­ ompetences; product trainings – with the participation of the Product Manager or the Customer’s Representative who thoroughly knows the product and its specificity.

E-learning and blended learning trainings Product trainings may be conducted in a direct version or through e-learning, though the more frequent and more ­effective form is mix, the so-called blended learning. Such trainings combine e-learning with traditional trainings.

The aim of the e-learning training – which our employees, after obtaining access to the platform, may even ­undergo at home – is to pass on knowledge about the product in a ­simple and intelligible manner, as well as to check on-­ line whether the knowledge has been adopted and to what extent. After the employee has passed the e-learning ­training, the traditional product training may be carried out in combination with training on operation or sales, with focus already on the professional service of the given customer and sales.

The advantage of e-learning trainings is saving time and money – the elimination of costs related to conducting ­ ­trainings in a traditional way – the cost of the Trainer who

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at the time may conduct the training improving results or indi­vidual coaching, renting a training center or reservation of own training hall, as well as optimization of the costs of printing the training materials. Another advantage is signi­ ficant time-saving. Moreover, trainees do not lose their time travelling to the training location and do not need to get away from their daily activities, and the superiors or Trainers may supervise the effects of the training and progress in their ­employees’ learning, and consult them on-line.

Support systems for the call center workers and ongoing development activities The work of the consultants is supervised by a staff con­sisting of operational leaders, quality leaders, quality specialists, as well as in-house training and the development department.

Several qualitative actions are carried out e ­ very day in order to improve the numerical parameters. Yes, everything comes down to numbers at call centers. Even ­customer service is encased in numerical parameters.

One of the monitoring actions is re-listening to the ­recorded conversations and assessing them, according to a p ­ reviously prepared and developed coaching card. The coaching card is a tool for assessing the factorized con­ versation, for assessing the competence of the telemarketer conducting the conversation and assessing the ­observation of the in-house procedures or legal aspects. ­Usually, this assessment is a component of motivation ­ systems and the bonus or commission depends on the results of the ­assessment. In many call centers it is the duty managers, as direct superiors, to re-listen and analyze about 3 conver­ sations daily and to conduct individual coaching on t­heir bases. In other companies, the Training Department or ­Verification and Quality Department are responsible for such actions. Coaching is periodic work with the given con­sultant

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on his/her development and improvement of quality and ­effectiveness results. As a model, each consultant, at least once a month, attends a 1-hour coaching session with the superior or a coach dedicated to this purpose at the call center. New employees attend coaching more frequently – even as often as once a week.

During work – particularly in the case of new employees, support in the form of working with the consultant at the work post (on-the-job training) – the Trainer, by means of relevant tools, hears the consultant’s conversation with the Customer and, in real time, may give the consultant verbal advice (obviously the Customer does not hear the Trainer) or written advice via an internal chat.

The call center is a dynamic environment where things ­change every now and then – the product is modified, the assumptions change, the reports provide data which ­should be reacted to rapidly. Often a specific piece of information must be forwarded to hundreds of people at one time.

A ­perfect solution for such activities is sending messages online via internal chats, integrated in the call center system.

A frequent event is when some people in the team do not cope well with some elements of conversation – e.g. with overcoming objections or working a problematic customer; however, there is no need to arrange a two-day training for the whole team. The activity that may increase motivation and support the consultants is retraining – a short, 2-or 3-hour long workshop training during the working day.

Overcoming stress and routine, counteracting the occupational burnout The biggest challenges of the job result from the very ­heart of the work at a call center, among others the ­ability to e ­ mpathize with the customer’s situation, to understand his/ her needs and expectations, as well as proper reactions to monotony and routine of the job, that should also be coun­ teracted. Many times, consultants must answer the same questions, which becomes burdensome for most people after some time – although each customer is different and should be handled differently. An activity that enhances work and motivates the consultants is the so-called “5-minutes” at the beginning of the shift. The group leader talks about the day’s objectives, but also introduces for example short daily contests, the aim of which is to relax the ­consultants and make them forget about stress. In many call centers, in the so-called social rooms, relax rooms are located, w ­ here during the break the consultant may quickly regenerate mentally, play foosball or darts. There are many non-payroll motivation activities, everything depends on the initiative and will of the manager responsible for the team.

When to employ an external training provider?

If a given organization does not have a complex system of trainings, Trainers or coaches, it is recommended to a ­ rrange a training – with the participation of a selected company working regularly with call centers – at least once e ­very 1.5- 2 months. These are companies, which can quickly improve performance and increase motivation; they have ­ many t­raining solutions as they regularly work with different Customers, and they have the best and proven Trainers ­ on their teams. An external training often means the intro­ duction of a new know-how to the company, and it is an investment that pays off. In companies where rotation does not occur and where internal training departments exist, it is worth a ­ rranging a training with the participation of an external ­ ­ Trainer every 3-6 months. Internal actions often do not bring effects any more, or performance after such ­trainings stands still.

We hear the consultants saying “It’s ­coaching time a ­ gain…

Training with Kate again…” – there is no atmosphere of ­waiting for the training, instead there is boredom and the em­ ployees know what to expect. There is a need to r­efresh the staff, but also to implement new tech­niques and ­solutions,

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which will encourage the employees to act, extract t­heir inner potential, strengthen their self-esteem and show ­ them ­simple, ­quick-in-use, and most importantly, effective ­solutions; and as we know success motivates.

Preparation of training and methods of workshop works When speaking of trainings at a call center we must not omit the tools used by the Trainer before, during and after the training. The thing that the Trainer must do prior to the ­training is to thoroughly get to know the speci­ficity of the work of the given department – he/she can do it by ­ becoming acquainted with the product, procedures and re-listening to about 10 conversations. ­Additionally, he/ she should v­ isit the operation hall, talk with the parti­ cipants and, obli­gatorily, with the managing staff, in o ­ rder to get to know the o ­ bjectives and the things the team is not coping with. Then the Trainer will be aware of the matters being problematic for the team, which result in the unwel­ come performance.

After such an analysis, it turns out that e.g. a “­problematic customer” was not problematic at all, but through ­improper service the consultant created a “proble­ matic customer” on his/her own. In such a case, the training consists in working on communication and expressions that carry ­ one and the same message, but in a different way. D ­ uring ­trainings, ­individual scenarios of con­versations, answers and a base of expressions are also created, which may be used in conversation with a g ­ iven type of ­customer or

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when selling a given product. During ­trainings a coaching ­analysis of a real recorded conversation may be con­ ducted – second after second. On the basis of the ­prepared expres­sions an exemplary conversation may be prepared, ­recorded, ­listened to and consulted with the ­Trainer. Nowa­ days, the preparation of a training fitted to the needs of the participants is vital, as is training on the sales of our product, the service of our customer, and not a general training on the sales techniques without reference to real situations encoun­ tered by the consultants.

After all the actions aiming at the development of the employees, numerical effects are virtually always ­visible; however, in time they are subject to natural decrease. At call centers the consultant must not be left alone. Pre­ liminary trainings are not enough. It is vital that every day the employee feels that it is not only he/ she that supports the company, but that the company also ­ ­supports him/her. ■

Author: Marzena Sawicka Managing Director HILLWAY Training & Consulting

Outsourcing & More | The expert advises

Headsets for Call Center – selection criteria

The contact center is a challenging work environment. Open spaces and a large number of positions aggravate noise, and as a result reduce the effectiveness of ­ employees. ­Concerning about the health of workers and services’ ­quality, companies from the CC sector are looking for ­ headsets that will increase comfort and deliver measurable business benefits.

hours of device’s wearing, it is also very important to take care of the convenience of using and hearing protection.

Our e ­ xperience shows that patented by Jabra protection techno­logies against sudden surges in a level of sound or reducing background noise, are appreciated by users. This has an impact not only on the ergonomics, but also on the ­quality of the recorded conversations, that often is expected by ­outsourcing companies’ clients.

Pay and use Mono or duo One of the most common errors that entrepreneurs make ­during investment process in IT devices for CC, is ­inadequacy of headsets to the real company’s business needs.

In this area we can talk about two extremes, inadequate functionality or too many options that due to the specific activities and organization of work, will never be fully used.

Both, in the first and second case, company can’t expect the return of investment in the scheduled time. So how to choose the headsets that meet our requirements?

It is worthily to analyze the final decision of buying devices under some basic criteria such as strength, tone, ­balance, comfort and safety of acoustic. The headset should be made of the highest quality materials, which on the one hand are movable and allow for adjustment depending on the s­ hape of the person’s head, and on the other are ­stable and ­ don’t put workers in annoyance. For this purpose, ­usually IT p ­ roviders are using surgical steel, leather imitation, plastic foams and satin items. Taking into account the long

Investment in the right device is also closely related to the environment in which it will be used. Mono headsets are ­recommended for less high-profile spaces, because they do not isolate the employees. For open space and the ­typical call center it is more effective to choose duo series with two earflaps. Functionality is an another issue that com­ panies should consider: do they need headsets that act only with landline or perhaps, regarding the future demands, a ­connection with Bluetooth may be a better option. ■

Author: Tomasz Miller Senior Account Manager Jabra

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Outsourcing & More | The expert advises

How to profit from choosing the right headsets for the Call Center There are known cases in ­Poland where choosing the right headset model determined ­successful implementation of the entire system.

When equipping a Call Center, one frequently concentrates on choosing the flexible system or reliable phones to ensure efficient communication while underestimating the impor­ tance of suitable headsets. As a fact, it is the right h ­ eadset that will influence the result of promotional c ­ ampaign and ­maximize customer satisfaction. They will allow for ­intimate and clearer conversation as well as developing closer relationship with the client. Nowadays, a headset is not ­ only a speaker with a microphone. We know of cases in ­Poland where choosing the right headset model determined ­successful implementation of the entire system.

We are frequently asked if we recommend headsets for one or two ears. It is more comfortable and natural to talk ­through binaural headsets as the noise and surrounding con­ versations do not distract the agent, and the sound spreads evenly, providing comfort throughout the day. Additionally, the overall noise level in the Call Center is lowered, as the person who hears better, begins to talk softer.

For regular agent work a conversation heard in only one ear can become tiresome after a while, particularly when one needs to listen intently and try to eliminate the noises coming through the other uncovered ear. It is a popular miscon­ ception that monaural headsets provide better comfort of usage than binaural ones. This may be the case in offices, but not within the Call Center environment. During face -to -face meetings and in daily conversation we all communicate in stereo. This is also the most natural communication when working on the phone. And this is what we observe to be the mainstream trend today - to use binaural headsets.

Cordless solutions are increasingly popular in Call Centers, as they cut the cord for the highly educated consultants, ­giving wireless freedom and better opportunities in group

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work thanks to the enabling remotely answering calls. They are a good choice for the team supervisor, especially when their work frequently takes them away from their desk.

The headset needs to be lightweight and comfortable for the users and provide them with a good quality sound throughout the day, as well as obeying safety standards ­ in force in Poland, according to “Noise at work” regulations for acoustic startle and acoustic shock protection at the level of 118dB. It is important to minimum verify if the headset is CE certified as CE is safety certificate required in Europe.

When planning new purchases we advise to compare different parameters as headsets purchased at a s­lightly ­ ­lower price may turn out to be well below the desired ­value.

The decision should be made as a combination of the ­desired noise reduction, sound quality and technology, expected ­durability and in the end available budget.

Many times agents value the headset by the look of it and the sound in the speaker, but here I would say is the most ­ common mistake. The microphone of the headset is the ­interface which determines the quality of the sound that the client is going to hear well before it is processed in the p ­ hone or switchboard.

A good microphone should have ­noise c ­ ancelling t­ echnology – developed years ago by ­Plantronics, now realized by many but on different levels. H ­ eadsets with the voice tube or omni­ directional microphone transmit all the sounds - ­voice and the surrounding environment are evenly transmitted through the microphone. The majority of micro­phones marketed as noise cancelling ­cannot reduce even a half of the ­surrounding noise.

Plantronics, however, is still the leader in this field – their microphones guarantee up to 78% noise reduction effecti­ veness in the SupraPlus model and up to 95% in the ­EncorePro model.

Choosing a headset is a strategic company decision of a ­customer relation quality and intimacy. It should not be left to agent’s subjective opinion. It is possible to easily ­assess the quality of the sound and power of noise reduction tech­ nology in microphone from different headsets by making

recordings of various headsets using a recording system and subsequently comparing the level of voice and noise cancellation.

Finally, when purchasing headsets you should bear in mind the durability aspect. Call Center environment requires ­ ­ headset that will withstand work in stress for 8-hour ­ shifts during workday. The headsets available in the r­etail shops are simply not suitable for the Call ­Center use as their ­estimated lifetime of 2 years applies to few hours a week at. Warranty period offered for the headset does not ­realistically reflect the physical ­durability any more. ­ Repetitive repairs and ­ replacements during warranty ­period cause rising costs and standstills.

As some of the existing Call Centers still operate on 10-15 years old Plantronics headsets and it is quite common to see 6-8 years old products in operation we expect it is worth checkingthe durability and making some a ­ llowance on the initial cost to achieve cheap operations in the future.

One of the highest market standards of durability are set by ­Plantronics which designs the two Call ­Center m ­ odels SupraPlus and EncorePro to product life 2-3 ­times longer than others.

I recommend having a look at the results of research conducted by the Swedish institute TCO Developments that standardizes safety norms in the field of ergonomics, emissions and ecology of production, usage and utili­ zation processes.Their certificates for headsets TCO’07 and ­latest TCO Certified Headsets 2 mean that products have passed independent testing for low emissions, ­superior sound quality and high durability. ■

Author: Andrzej Wiśniewski KONTEL –TELECOM

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Real Call Center communication headset is designed and tested for minimum 2 years for one full shift every day. It is worth looking around and asking in the companies we are on friendly terms with which headset models last longest.

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Communication in a loyalty program Acquisition of new Customers is still the most important goal given to the sales teams of various companies. To gain a ­Customer is a great success, but this success is not the end of marketing activities; the aim of the latter is, for a long while now, to keep the Customer.

„An important asset of loyalty pro­ grams is the constant contact with the customer and the individual attitude.

Such quick and simple process of com­munication of any contact is made available by Call/Contact Center tools.”

The most popular, and recently more and more expanded tool for creating positive relations of the service provider with the customer is the loyalty program. Taking on different forms in recent years, it constantly tries to tie the ­con­sumer to certain brand, make him do another shopping or use ­certain services permanently.

condition that the communication and promotion of the given loyalty system is appropriate for specific recipient. The aforementioned activity form schemes pertain to loyalty and consumer programs (the so-called B2C), but it is worth mentioning that such programs are also very effective and often used in business relations (the so-called B2B). Enter­prises, with great commitment, try to establish relationships with other companies, which consequently translates into better financial results. In this case, some of the tools fre­quently used by companies are various certificates, awards, trips, business meetings or trainings. All this is more oriented at the motivation system which, along with properly created partnership, may bring about the expected success.

In order to be successful, i.e. to realize the assumed goals of business partners, one should properly carry out the pro­ cess of communication with the program participants. They have to be aware that they have been chosen and, being ones of the few, they have a chance to get an attractive ­reward for fulfilling the assumed goals. Therefore, apart from an attractive reward, we have to be ready for a permanent and individual contact with the program participants, as well as when we want to remind of the rules and the reward, and when the participant needs any kind of information.

A basic element of loyalty programs

After all, all of us buy in shops, refuel our cars, have ­mobile phones – systematically bearing costs associated with ­these things. Which one of us does not have a point card or ­discount card in one’s wallet. If anyway we need to drive to a petrol station, we can use the same one as last time – adding some more points to our account. In time, it will bring some measurable benefits in form of a toy for our child, a navigation device or a power mower. The same situation is with shopping – points, discounts, rewards – the purpose of them all is to keep us loyal to a shop or a service outlet.

In our laundry chain you get your 5th washing for half the price! Buying coffee in our shop you get 6th one for free!

Using our credit card you get a discount in a fitness club chain! Why not take advantage of it, if actually we have to do ­shopping somewhere, have some latte macchiato and leave our c ­ lothes in a laundry – paying for it all with a card from a bank.

„The companies try to build a relationship with a ­Customer, they identify the Customer’s needs and provide him/with ­custom-made products. An important asset of loyalty pro­ grams is the constant contact with the customer and the individual attitude. Such quick and simple process of com­ munication of any contact is made available by Call/Con­ tact Center tools” – says Kamila Krawczyk-Strawińska, ­Managing Director of Europe Calling.

The effectiveness of loyalty programs is high and, with the activity of a given company’s marketers, it fulfills its task, on

Communication through loyalty programs reinforces the customer’s attachment to the brand and it consists in ­

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is supporting the com­pany’s actions through various channels (hot line, chat, sms, newsletter) of the contact center scope.

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­stablishing and maintaining positive relations with the e ­customer. Direct contact turns out to be a perfect tool for this purpose.

A basic element of loyalty programs is supporting the com­ pany’s actions through various channels (hot line, chat, sms, newsletter) of the contact center scope. The contact ­center, apart from providing information to Customers, ­handles the entire back Office.

Implementation of loyalty programs r­e­quires the creation of logistics service, among the others in the scope of sending the rewards, but first and fore­most in the scope of imple­ menting specialist IT solu­tions. The ­software should facilitate the access to databases and make avai­lable the creation of notices in the context of each cus­tomer.

A properly developed system provides the ­telephone con­ sultant with the information on the history of each c ­ ontact and transaction, and it calculates the collected points.

A ­widely expanded system guarantees the access to the product ­catalogue and to rewards, which significantly acce­ lerates the process of order registration.

The implementation of loyalty program is without a ­doubt an effective action in the marketing activities of many com­ panies. Yet the dimension of success will surely be ­determined by the communication method.

The wider the range of possi­bilities of contact with the program parti­cipants, the bigger the chance to define the needs of the Customers or busi­ness partners and the easier the building of close relations and attachment to the brand.

Therefore, using the expert s­ ervice of a call/contact center company may be very ­helpful, if not inevitable. ■

Source: Europe Calling

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September / October 2012

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New face of telecommunication – cloud services for companies ...in 2008 com­panies from all over the world spent 6,4 billion dollars on SaaS services, which constitutes a 27% increase in ­relation to 2007. Until 2012 the market is expected to achieve the value of almost 15 billion dollars, thus it is going to be ­twice as big... the problem of the lack of hardware that is suitable and compatible with the software requirements. The service can be operated via web panel from anywhere in the world and anytime, and all that one needs for it is a web browser. The customer gets constant access to the maintenance service and the latest version of software.

In order to optimize the costs and to modernize one’s own tele­ communications infrastructure, a growing number of small and medium-sized enterprises decide to i­mplement modern solutions, such as virtual telephone ­ exchange.

Entrepreneurs begin to notice the benefits from using ­ ­advanced tele­communications services, reserved so far for big companies with vast budgets. Currently, they are achie­ vable for smaller companies of the SME sector as well.

The key to understand this phenomenon is the SaaS model (­Software as a Service), also known as “cloud software”, on which the solution, consisting in offering a service via Internet only and administered via a web panel, is based. The em­ ployment of this technology brings about concrete benefits in the scope of economy, effectiveness and image.

The services available in the SaaS model successfully oust expensive, expanded IT and telecommunications solutions.

Simplicity of operation, easy access to advanced s­ olutions and, first of all, lower price together make using the ­programs available online more and more popular. The technology does not require the purchase of application and e ­ liminates

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Gartner consulting company informed that in 2008 com­ panies from all over the world spent 6,4 billion dollars on SaaS services, which constitutes a 27% increase in r­elation to 2007. Until 2012 the market is expected to achieve the value of almost 15 billion dollars, thus it is going to be ­twice as big, positioning SaaS among the commonly valid ­business standards.

Cloud company More and more innovative, custom-made ICT services em­erge on the market, and they oust the traditional and expensive solutions that are less cost-effective. Starting ­ from big stock concerns, like Asseco Poland, and ending on smaller, more flexible ICT operators, like Aiton Caldwell – each of them offers modern solutions available in the ­cloud computing technology. Recently, the Vanberg Systems ­offer emerged on the market. It is a very comprehensive tele­ communications system which displaces the hitherto, less effective and more expensive solutions available at various providers. The platform combines the telephone exchange

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services, a set of advanced office devices and handling of calls into one package. Within the monthly license fee the customers get the access to modern services which con­ stitute the so-called basis of the system.

Standard functions provided by the solution include phone numbers (municipal, fax), virtual exchange services, fax, voicemail, redi­rections ant transfers of calls, on-line billings etc.

Thanks to the ­virtual IP exchange the company has the access to ser­vices a ­ llowing to create automatic welcomes and interactive ser­vice of the calling person.

At the same time the customer gets the possibility to select advanced additional services adjusted to his/her individual needs (among the others call center, recording of calls, teleconferences and videoconfe­rences). Under the agreement the experts provide complete consultancy and support at each stage of cooperation. At the moment of the system’s implementation an individual a ­ dvisor is assigned to the company.

“The number of tools available within comprehensive tele­ communications solutions is unlimited and depends ­mainly on the provider’s innovativeness. However, thanks to the em­ ployment of the SaaS model, the providers are able to f­reely expand any system. In practice, the customers get new telecommunications tools, without the need to ­reinstall the system or implement specialist devices.” – Michał ­Mysiak, Vanberg Systems Business Line Manager, explains.

Such solutions, functioning in the SaaS model, allow a continuous and free development of any business – regardless of the scale and specificity of its activities.

pack­ages. ­Settlement of the due sums is made within the ­monthly l­icense fee, allowing more effective planning of one’s expenses.

The SaaS model, on which the system’s functioning was based, transfers all the obligations connected with mana­ gement, update and technical support to the provider. ­Simple and comfortable service is guaranteed by the cus­ tomer’s p ­ anel available anytime via a website. Depending on the ­needs resulting from the company’s development, the ­system guarantees unlimited scalability and flexibility in expanding and modernization of the system.

What are you gaining?

Telecommunications services in the SaaS model mean first and foremost significant savings. Using the system does not involve purchasing software or implementing ­expensive hard­ware. In order to be able to use the advanced functions of the platform, only Internet access is required. Conver­ sations within the system are free of charge. Calls to the numbers from outside the platform are charged under the ­lowest ­rates available on the Polish market. ­Moreover, the entrepreneur is able to activate a foreign number, thanks to which the c ­ustomer makes calls to other countries ­under local rates. The offer is completed with free-minutes

The highest q ­ uality of service is confirmed by the advanced customer care office, consultancy of individual caretakers at each s­ tage of the cooperation and comprehensive technical ­support. Security is also guaranteed by the highest stan­ dards of data storage and the high level of servicing. Such solutions, functioning in the SaaS model, allow a continuous and free development of any business – regardless of the scale and specificity of its activities.

“Our customers, within the monthly fee, receive a compre­ hensive telecommunications solution, that is services and all the necessary devices. The offer applies to the companies

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employing several, as well as several dozen of people. The service eliminates any initial investment costs, thus the solu­ tions which so far had been reserved for big companies, are now in the reach of smaller entrepreneurs.” – Michał Mysiak instructs.

Important thing is that, the functioning of virtual telephone exchanges is not limited to the office area only. The system is assigned to an employee and supports his work ­regardless of the place of his current presence. He can link up with an office number from home through the Internet or “call into” it when field working. Thus, unlimited possibilities of performing professional duties are offered, and, as a conse­ quence, maintaining high level of effectiveness thereof is possible. Numerous benefits of the available services affect the creation of a professional image of the company, which translates into increased trust of partners and customers, and thus increase of the standards of communication with the environment.

Practical use “An interesting example of the use is to implement our ­services in a hosting company which employs 30 people.

The launching of the telecommunications system allo­ wed to connect three locations of the companies to one ­municipal number. More than 2/3 of the company was in­ cluded in the Call/ Center structure and divided into three divisions: ­financial, customer care and technical. Thanks to the imple­mentation of innovative services, i.e. Call/Center, ­CallManager, MassDial and Fax, the quality of customer care improved significantly” – Michał Mysiak claims.

The reduction of the number of rejected and unanswered calls and the possibility to switch to other divisions p ­ ositively affected the company’s functioning. The CallMeet service made live consultations with employees possible. Moreover, through conducting conversations via Internet, the amounts of telephone bills went down significantly. The company only pays for the calls to the numbers not registered on the platform, the cost of which is not significant – from several ­groszes per minute. The new tools considerably affected the creation of the professional image of the company.

The aforementioned solution was also employed in a fur­ niture shop. When calling the company number the cus­ tomers were offered a possibility to choose the subject of the conversation. By pressing number 1 on the telephone they are redirected to the shop manager, and when pressing 2 they are redirected to the credit department. The solution provides comfort and time saving for both the employees and the customers. The calls are queued and the customer receives information about his/her position in the queue. All

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calls to the shop employees are recorded, and these records constitute the basis for trainings on telephone conversations with the customers, as well as the grounds for possible com­ plaints. Moreover, the solution made it possible to make calls from standard phones, as well as via a website, thanks to the WebConnect service, which allows to make a call to the shop, after connecting earphones to the computer, through one simple button on the website.

Requirements The only requirement for using the modern ICT system is ­having the access to the Internet with sufficient bandwidth, i.e. not less than 128 kb/s (per one user). Nowadays these are not exorbitant requirements, especially as the b ­ andwidths of most Internet operators is around 100 Mb/s. Along with the increase in bandwidth, the quality of services considerably improved.

SaaS is the services of the future and nowadays one of the most dynamically developing segment of IT market, both in the world and in Poland. According to the latest data the ­value of the SaaS market amounted to 12 billion dollars at the end of 2011 – it is a one-fifth bigger number than in the previous year, and it is estimated that in 2015 the global ­income will reach 20 billion dollars.

According to the research of the Gartner institute, in the nearest future 95% of the surveyed companies plan to ­ ­increase or maintain at the current level the use of the appli­ cations offered by the SaaS model. More than a half of the respondents intend to slightly increase the funds for SaaS, while 19% plan a “significant increase”. One-fourth plan not to increase the investment, while only 4% consider the l­imiting of SaaS expenses. Evident growth of the ­interest in SaaS solutions among entrepreneurs is o ­bservable ­ worldwide. ­Entrepreneurs have noticed that thanks to this model they can access modern solutions, previously ­reserved for big companies only, at much lower prices. ■

Author: Michał Mysiak Business Line Manager Vanberg Systems Aiton Caldwell SA www.vanbergsystems.pl tel. 801 090 090/22 100 2000 biuro@vanbergsystems.pl

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Case study The successful transfer of the internal contact centre to the outsourcing company

Poland is a very attractive place for the transfer of ­processes of multilingual customer service. This is influenced by many factors, including lower costs of providing services ­compared to Western European markets, the high quality of staff (many potential employees with higher education, ­language skills), which enable the implementation of i­ncreasingly ­complex business processes (so-called Knowledge Process ­Outsourcing – KPO).

The foreign language Contact Centre of arvato Polska has been constantly expanding its range of operations in the ­provision of services to global corporations for over 8 years.

The experience gained through a long-term presence on international markets, highly skilled employees and the use of advanced technologies make that arvato Polska not only provides services covered by the initial contract, but t­ ogether with the client improves and develops service processes to achieve the highest results possible related to end customer satisfaction.

Background situation The client is the leading airline in Europe offering a ­bout 600 destinations in 30 countries and serving 55 million ­passengers. In order to further enhance the quality of ­service, focus on the core business, namely the ­development of the route network, as well as reduce the costs of operations, the client decided to outsource its own contact centre.

The ­processes for handling, covered by the contract, inc­

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luded ­incoming transactions in customer service, sales and ­technical support in English and Polish. arvato’s solution In Poland, arvato recruited employees with proficiency in English, who took part in a 5-week training programme covering the service of all channels of communication with customers (phone, email, SMS, chat, social media). The outsourcer also prepared the entire infrastructure to take on ­customer service – call centre rooms currently with 200 seats and the integration with IT and telecommunications systems to make reservations, ACD, CRM and electronic documen­ tation. The services were provided in accordance with the client’s expectations, however direct talks with passengers often indicated particularly sensitive issues for their service.

These topics were carefully collected by arvato ­employees and presented to the client at regular meetings. ­Because the client specifically cared about a high level of ­passenger satis­ faction, the outcome of this process was the j­ oint d ­ evelopment of new procedures and policies c ­ oncerning on the one hand, new processes provided to the ­outsourcer, and, on the other, customer groups of the ­airline that ­required special service (such as passengers with r­educed mobility, group bookings in the B2B ­channel: t­ravel ­agencies, c ­ ompanies, schools).

Thus, specialist t­eams were ­created dedicated to the pro­ vision of additional ­ services, which ­ included a ­uthorising ­financial transactions and re­funds for customers, k­ nowledge

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base management, formal and ­ sensitive correspondence with European regu­latory auth­orities, civil aviation autho­rities, lawyers, insurance com­ panies, ­ organisations ­ protecting consumer rights, as well as ensuring effective service in so-­ called flight disturbing s­ituations (such as an extreme situation, which was the ­volcanic ­eruption in May 2011).

With the expansion of the r­ange of services, the number of ­languages increased in which ­specialist ­topics were handled and finally there were 6 of them: E ­ nglish, ­German, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish.

international COPC quality standards, according to which the outsourcer operates. In addition, the transfer of services to arvato has resulted in the reduction of operating costs by increasing the efficiency and productivity of employees on the one hand, and the increase in revenues from the sale of ­ancillary services, on the other. An equally important ­outcome of cooperation was ensuring a consistent com­plaints mana­ gement process, positive relations with ­regulatory authorities and avoiding possible financial penalties and potential image crises. ■

arvato successfully provides similar services related to the comprehensive management of customer contacts and sales support to the energy, telecommunications and IT industries.

Business benefits The main business benefits for the client, obtained during 5-year cooperation include the continuous improvement of the quality of contacts handled leading to an almost 40% i­ncrease in customer satisfaction (according to CSAT ­surveys implemented by arvato), and the compliance with

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Author: Joanna Rada Contact Centre Director arvato Polska

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The German Contact Center Industry A market abstract by Stephan Fricke, for Outsourcing&More, Poland The contact center industry is one of the leading ­industry sectors in Germany. More than 5.700 contact centers and 500.000 employees deliver inbound, outbound and help-desk services for the domestic and for interna­tional ­ markets.

level of efficiency of their agents and implement new quality-­ control solutions.

Today a number of international providers as eBay, S ­ ykes, Transcom Worldwide, SNT, Sitel and others operate own ­centers in Germany. In addition leading international com­panies like ING Bank, IBM, Dell, Cortal Consors or ­Oracle have established own support centers in Germany as well.

More than 5.700 contact centers and 500.000 employees deliver inbound, outbound and h ­ elpdesk services for the domestic and for interna­tional markets.

Since 1998 the contact center industry was s­howing a growth rate of over 10% per year and during the financial crisis the industry was still gro­wing with 4,5 % per year. An industry report from 2009 shows a continuous growth and expects an increase of the number of employees of more than 100.000 until 2014.

Driven by demand and government regulations the industry is focusing today on high value services and new quality standards. The German government has introduced a regu­ lation to protect callers from high telecommunication costs.

This regulation forces call center operators to offer a free waiting line for callers. As a result operators are driving the

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The German market for contact center services

The German market for contact center s­ ervices has an ­estimated ­value of about EUR 14 billion. The b ­ iggest segment provides the financial services ­industry with 38%, ­followed by the IT- and ­telecommunication industry with 16%. Trade has a share of 9%, transport/­logistics and u ­ tilities have each 6% market share.

A segment with interesting perspectives is the health care industry, including the pharmaceutical industry, medical ­ technology and health care services. These industries p ­ rofit from improved health care and an older population, opening up new business models. The US Company H ­ ealthways ­international has established a German branch near to B ­ erlin.

More than 100 agents are looking over 40.000 ­chronically ill patients over the Internet and the telephone.

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The workforce Today the industry advertises 20.000 open positions, with 40% in management.

The industry is testing and implementing new concepts and models to fill the open vacancies and to ensure the industry’s growth over the next couple of years. One of the initiatives is the vocational training with more than 1.000 trainees per year.

to establish own subsidiaries in Germany. ­ There are a ­number of investment support programs for both G ­ erman and ­International businesses. Investment packages r­educe significantly the costs for the set-up of operations, offer cash incentives and loan programs to reduced interest r­ates.

Further companies benefit from labor-related incen­ ­ tives and recruitment support as well as support for pre-­hiring and ­ on-the-job trainings. Employers can apply for wage subsidies of up to 50% of the wage cost, including ­social se­curity, which may be ­provided for up to 12 ­months. More infor­mation by ­Germany Trade & I­nvest under www.gtai.com

The German market for contact center services has an ­estimated value of about EUR 14 billion.

Despite these num­ bers, representatives of industry associa­tions such as the “Call-Center Verband” say, that contact center operators with a good external communication and image have no problem to fill open positions with the right people and on time.

In the light of those 20.000 open positions the industry h ­ oped the situation would relax with the new EU ­regulations about the freedom of movement for workers. Providers ­expected an increased number of immigrants from ­neighboring ­countries,

Example Dell With a strong growth of 24% in Germany and 23% in EMEA Dell sought a sales and customer care base with proximity to the local market and with a good cost-quality ratio. Dell started evaluations in August 2004 and could open already in September 2005 its first operation with 200 employees in Halle (South-Eastern part of Germany). With an excellent contact center operation in Germany, Dell was able to sup­ port its growth strategy and to extend its operation with 700 people in total by May 2008.

An interesting and lucrative market for foreign providers

Sources; GTAI, Call-Center-Verband, Deutscher Outsourcing Verband.

Picture: Flickr/telegate

The contact center industry is one of the strongest sectors of the service industry in Germany. Quality, innovation and new business models are the main drivers for the industry for the next couple of years. Due to market singularities and the preference for native speaker support, foreign service providers interested in entering the German market for con­ tact services might consider an own subsidiary in Germany.

Further information about market entry, support programs and contacts can be ordered via Germany Trade & Invest (gtai.com), The Call Center Verband (callcenter-verband. de) as well as via the German Austrian Swiss Outsourcing ­Association (outsourcing-verband.org/en). ■

that could be employed. Having passed June 2011 these hopes were not fulfilled and some experts even talk about a West-East movement of qualified workers within the EU. Incentives for contact centers in Germany Looking at a domestic market of more than 100 ­ million consumers (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and parts of ­ ­northern Italy) more international service providers ­evaluate

Author: Stephan Fricke Deutscher Outsourcing Verband e.V. office@outsourcing-verband.org www.outsourcing-verband.org

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Social media in customer service

The impressive growth of social networks in the last few years has made them the target of most business organizations.

From the business perspective, social networks are readily available groups of potential customers; to put it succinctly, a real goldmine waiting to be exploited. However, we have to remember that navigating online, just like mining, can be risky without preparing yourself first. Ineffective communi­ cation on social websites has ended in a reputation disaster for many well-known brands.

The key question, which should be asked by every company planning to operate on social websites, is the goal of these activities. Is it worth it to use this communication channel to build and support a given brand’s customer community?

And if so, how to start?

Customer service or marketing?

In a company, traditional customer communication channels – phone calls, e-mail, or fax – are handled by contact ­center consultants and are supervised by the customer service ­director. Is it different in social media? In order to d ­ etermine the place and method of using this new communication channel in business, together with COMMfusion LLC we conducted a short, informal survey in several dozen ­global organizations. We found that in most companies social ­websites are handled by the marketing department, often with an online marketing team. Marketing also responds to customer questions and complaints on social ­websites. ­There are several reasons why in this case marketing t­akes over some of the functions traditionally associated with ­customer service:

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Social media are based on the “one to many” commu­ nication model, which is usually what the marketing de­ partment specializes in. A bad message sent to social networks may have significant repercussions and impact on the company’s reputation, which is why marketing wants to have the final say in shaping the content of the message.

The channels handled traditionally by the contact center, such as phone calls, e-mail, or chat, are “one to one” communication, and relatively private; therefore, they do not expose the company to public fallout.

Due to the public nature of social media, answers have to present the organization in the best possible light, and this is something that marketing does best.

Customer interaction through social media requires c ­ lear, concise, well-written messages. This is also a task for marketing experts.

Studies show that most customer interaction on social websites is not about customer service, but about ­sales and marketing issues. In the area of after-sales service, customers still prefer traditional channels over social media.

Market trends This last statement is supported by market research con­ ducted by Society of New Communications Research (SNR).

According to this study, customers tend not to use social media to obtain after-sales service: 59% of customers use social media to vent their frustration, 72% check on companies on social networks before buying, 74% decide to buy on the basis of online opinions.

(Source: “Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation in the Age of Social Media” Nora Ganim Barnes, PhD, Senior Fellow, Society for Communications Research).

Moreover, according to a study by IBM Institute for B ­ usiness Value, only a small percentage of customers, approx. 23% of the surveyed, use social media to interact with a ­company’s brand. Even more meaningful are the actions taken by t­ hese people: 61% were looking for discounts/­ vouchers, 55% were looking for products to buy, and only 37% used ­social ­networks for the purposes of customer s­ervice. (­Source:

Outsourcing & More | Main Topic

“From social media to Social CRM – What customers want” IBM Global Business Services Executive Report. F ­ ebruary 2011). What conclusions can we draw? Customers use ­social web­sites to interact with the c ­ ompanies with which they want to do business, but in most cases it is the mar­keting depart­ment that supervises this type of communication.

say about their products and companies themselves. Com­ ments are usually answered by a marketing or PR employee.

Reponses may vary, from no response to a standard ack­ nowledgement to an invitation to interact offline by phone or e-mail.

Stage 2: automated monitoring and manual routing

Four customer service models in social networks Owner – marketing.

Although communication with customers in social n ­ etworks is a job for marketing, in my opinion, as companies’ ­business awareness and tools develop, contact centers will be ­increasingly included in these activities, in combination with d ­ evelopment of automation processes. The marketing department can begin the process by manually monitoring social media activity, filtering out the messages that need a response, and sending them to appropriate departments.

At this time, the customer service department joins in and responds to certain messages under the marketing depart­ ment’s careful supervision. Currently, there are generally four models of using social media for customer service.

Process – companies comb through social sources using automated monitoring tools, such as Radian6, Buzzient, or other applications of this type. These tools make it possible to monitor websites according to selected key words or phrases, and alert users in real time, enabling fast response to critical events. Comments are then manually rated and sent (usually by e-mail) to the employees responsible for the next stage. Depending on the specific interaction and ­question type, they can be sent manually to the relevant ­department, such as finance or customer service.

Stage 3: automated monitoring and automated routing

Stage 1: manually monitor and respond ad-hoc Owner – marketing with customer service participation.

Owner – marketing.

Process – companies monitor public social websites using free or low-cost tools, such as TweetDeck or HootSuite, and various Facebook applications that search for key words and phrases. By searching for key words, company names, and product names, and following hashtags on Twitter, as well as searching for words related to a company and its products on Facebook, companies can learn what customers have to

Process – instead of simply using monitoring tools, com­ ments are routed to the relevant person on the basis of key words and the skills needed to answer the customer. In most cases, this requires integrating social media monitoring tools into contact center technologies, such as skill-based task assignation. At this stage, contact center consultants are more involved in the process, and contact center techno­ logies also start covering marketing department users.

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Outsourcing & More | Main Topic

When social interactions are integrated into a contact center platform, they can be treated as any other customer inter­ actions: phone calls, e-mail, or chat. Companies can then analyze the reports submitted by their contact centers, which show not only how many interactions arrived through social media, but also how much time it took to respond, whether the customer’s problem has been solved, etc.

Graph 2. Stage of Social Media Customer Care

Stage 4: full integration with contact center platform Owner – customer service with marketing participation.

Process – the next stage is to combine monitoring and routing with the other contact center tools, such as HR, CRM, CTI, etc. Thanks to CRM integration, companies can obtain customer information from a CRM database and share it with the consultant who handles interactions. In addition, the consultant can check the history and context of the interaction. Customers often communicate through social media as a last resort, and the people handling such interactions have to be aware of the context.

Graph 1. Social Media for Customer Service Adoption

Source: COMMfusion LLC

and procedures should be implemented and how to p ­ revent potential communication slip-ups. After all, anyone can ­ ­imagine what impact an untrue piece of information may have when published by a consultant on a Facebook profile with many thousands of active users.

In the next few years, companies will increa­singly move on to Stage 3, automating the monitoring and routing of social media ­interactions and actively involving customer s­ ervice personnel in the process. We talked to an organization that several years ago, as one of the first, decided to include social m ­ edia in after-sales commu­ nication and realized that they were turning into the preferred com­ munication channel.

“We do not treat social ­media any differently than the other channels of communication with our contact center, but we respond more carefully, as we talk not to one person, but to all the people who read, for instance, our ­Facebook page. All of our consultants p ­ rocess any kind of interactions, from voice calls to chat, texts, and Facebook comments”, say the company’s spokespeople. ■

Source: COMMfusion LLC

Current situation In a short survey conducted with COMMfusion LLC for the purposes of this article, we also analyzed the extent to which social media are used in customer service by companies. At the moment, most organizations – approx. 90 % – are at the first stage, less than 9% reached the second stage, and only very few managed to get to the third and fourth stages. Most customers said that they monitor and handle social media manually, but expect that it will change soon.

At the moment, most companies focus on how to ensure customer service in social media from the marketing pers­ pective, but remain careful about handing the task over to their contact centers. Managers puzzle over which tools

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Author: Marcin Grygielski Regional Director Central and Eastern Europe Interactive Intelligence

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