A number 1 job.
Regional GBS leader (also called a hub leader or a site leader or a SSC leader) it used to be a number 1 job and it still is – at least on paper. My first professional job back in 2001, it was with Hewlett Packard, I was at the position of T&E junior clerk. I was studying at Warsaw School of Economics and started working already during my 3rd year of studies. My role in HP was part time i.e., 0.5FTE. And yes, my career aspiration was to become the site leader – similarly to the most other talented junior clerks in our industry. This role seemed to be at the top of the career pyramid in all means i.e., growth, authority, and comp & ben wise. Is it still the case today? I doubt it … Can it become a job no. 1 again? Yes, it definetely can.
Hub Leader as a key role during 2000 – 2015.
2000-2015, it was a build out phase of a near shore / offshore presence e.g., in 2015 Poland reached 150,000 Shared Services employees*. During that time, we created a scale and solid maturity including the overall shared services ecosystem, the basis for further growth. Regional leadership was a key success factor for a proper Shared Services set up at that time – greatly focused on local aspects and cooperation with local authorities or support functions such as Facility, IT set up, HR including hiring etc. It required extra attention for many reasons e.g. support function focused so far on core business, did not know how to approach this new workforce i.e., shared services professionals. The steer and guide from the SSC Leader was fundamental. Hub Leader was the one to also host business visits – travelling from US or UK and other on-shore parts of the world often with a degree of hesitation, not knowing what to expect. Plus, until 2015, Shared Services programs were mainly and only about cost decrease. The scope of our work was back office and low admin. The topic of going beyond cost only, it was at the baby steps. Finally, we operated with great attention to locations. We were global but, in many aspects, still very local. Concluding until ~2015, the role of a Regional GBS Leader – in most cases in a landlord model - was key to the industry build and key to every and each Shared Services mobilization. The sad fact is that during the last two decades, there have been very few promotion cases out of hundreds – from a regional leader to global head of GBS. Current environment can be a game changer in that space as well. To make this opportunity a tangible reality, we must only upgrade the role to the right level.
Today’s reality as a great opportunity for Regional GBS Leader role resurrection.
Today’s reality is totally different creating a great opportunity for top GBS Talents to join the GBS Leadership Premier League i.e.
a) Across most of the markets including Central Europe, we have a very mature ecosystem to leverage including support functions. No more full time Hub Leaders are required.
b) Cost efficiency is the reason for our existence, but we are expected to do far more than that to prove value add to the enterprise. Technology revolution is the reality. Market relevancy is a must.
c) After the globalization phase, at the macro level, we are experiencing a resurrection of regions including its importance in driving top line growth of the companies. Global business cases not capturing regional needs & expectations, are simply set for failure.
d) Being part of a greatly integrated global network today – and operating in the post Covid environment, the importance of the physical location as such decreased.
e) The scale and pace of change is the fastest ever, and it is only accelerating. It is tougher to remain relevant. Speed of response & solution is the king. Most of the industries are at constant disruption and re-invention. It makes a Global Head of GBS very busy with politics and great focus on keeping up to speed with all the changes. Global head can only see what she can see globally, and it is a sweet spot for a courageous regional leader to step in.
f) Finally, the battle for talents – the existing one and the new ones with new capabilities mainly Tech and Business acumen moved to a new level. There is no better way to attract and retain the Talents than Capable, Inspiring and at your reach Regional Leader – walking the floor – the traditional way - from time to time.
How does the Regional GBS Leader fits into it and why is this role key to GBS success?
First, the Regional GBS Leader must transform to a Business Leader. Regional GBS Leader primary responsibility shall be focused on capturing a pulse of regional Stakeholders and Customers, expected business outcome and most importantly, Regional Leader shall drive 100% integration with Business. No more separate strategy for GBS organization. Our primary and only purpose is to enable and support enterprise Strategic Goals. Focusing on EMEA, I don’t need to convince anybody that the region is complex and still often misunderstood by our Global Leaders. It is where the Regional GBS Leader role steps in. The middleman. The translator. The facilitator between what Global expects vs. what region can deliver. The region which often can do even more than global assumes but in a slightly customized way. Regional Leader responsibility – similarly to a global one is stakeholder management and politics. At the end of the day, it is about having more supporters than enemies for the transformation GBS Leaders are to deliver. Regional disruptors and enemies can be as painful as the global ones and vice versa, regional supporters can help you to do magic as well. Think & align globally but act regionally – it shall be in every Job Description of a GBS Regional Leader.
Second, change enabler and the rational Ambassador for global initiatives. Regional CFOs and country GMs – believe or not but they are often more confused with global corporate guidelines than you can imagine. I experienced it several times. In one of my roles, there was a global push for working capital maximization. Aggressive approach to payment terms extension and payment cycle rationalization was a way to make it happen. This change was imposed on all globally. During a design phase, I was the only one in global leadership – who raised a suggestion to have this approach regionalized. All my US based senior leaders decided differently. Preferred suppliers – excluded from this change – they were set globally. It covered only the top spending players which obviously did not cover several critical suppliers in smaller markets in EMEA or APAC. You can only guess what it all resulted with during the first few days. Yes, my PTP team was under fire, and Yes I was on a hotline with very unhappy GMs exposed to unhappy suppliers and the risk of service disruption – often critical for revenue generation. Before this situation got out of control, in partnership with GMs and regional CFOs, we created a business case to address it. Creation of a country-by-country list of critical suppliers was part of the solution. In the end, this list was shared with PTP and Strategic Sourcing to have it included for operations management. Within a few weeks the situation stabilized. The conclusion is that Regional GBS Leader, partnering greatly with country GMs and Regional CFOs can represent a very solid voice and can influence a global direction of travel. Think & align globally but act regionally.
Third, having a part time landlord responsibility is great – it can be a pathway to a truly Integrated Operations – multifunctional organism operating around the customer and around the process vs. traditional siloes only (F&A, HR, IT or Procurement). However, regional Leaders who don’t own operations and are not explosed directly to a top-line territory, they lose business relevancy very fast. Plus regional leaders who operate 100% in a landlord model by default position themselves into a back-office mindset and non-business acumen perception. A place where we must not be.
Finally, today’s biggest trap for the Shared Service industry is paradoxically our key strengths. We love saying that Process is the King, Framework is the King, Governance is the King. It is all great, but the world has moved on. We must transform our past strengths to new ones i.e., Business is the King, Enterprise Product is the King, Customer Experience is the King. We must transform to become the Entrepreneurs who love business disruption, who can deal with ambiguity, who can provide a relevant and timely answer, who operate by outcome only. There is no other path than to elevate Regional GBS Leader role to a Business Leader one.
Conclusion
Concluding, during my past 22 years in HP, Accenture, CBRE and Discovery I held a regional leader role several times. In all cases – my JD was never constant but on the contrary, it was very fluid. My key trigger to success, it was to remain relevant, deliver value to my stakeholders and ensure the role is challenging enough so that I can grow, and I am motivated. Back in 2016, I was hired by Discovery into a full-time role as a Warsaw hub GM – site leader. My mission was to mobilize a greenfield project – very pioneering at that time assuming company situation, the business context and very immature culture of shared services. Within 3 months, I realized that I shall expand my remit to a. leverage my full capacity, b. get me closer to the business, c. “monetize” better my capabilities for everybody’s benefit. Consequently, my GM role stayed at 30% of my time and the remaining 70% focused on leading PTP and Payroll functions globally. Within the next few years, this role evolved to a global head of GBS, with my teams being located across all continents.
I’d like to close with the message to all Hub and Regional Leaders in Nearshore and Offshore locations globally: re-visit your scope and transform it to 70% Business Integration / Stakeholder / Business Value creation to ensure the growth for your operations as well as your personal development. It is up to us to re-establish the importance of the Regional GBS Leader role.
*ABSL report 2022
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