Leading medical technology company builds GBS in Warsaw

Interview with Rob Bradford – VP of Global Business Services at Zimmer Biomet

Wiktor Doktór, Pro Progressio: Rob, I must admit I’m impressed with the dynamics of Zimmer Biomet GBS’ growth in Warsaw. Despite the COVID- 19 pandemic you have created a space for hundreds of people. Congratulations! But let’s take a step back. How did it all start? Can you tell us what kind of a company Zimmer Biomet is, what do you do, and where is the company present?

Rob Bradford, Zimmer Biomet: Wiktor, thanks for the kind words. We are truly excited about the rapid pace we are seeing. Zimmer Biomet is a leading medical technology company, whose mission is to alleviate pain and improve the quality of life for people around the world, through the use of our innovative products and suite of integrated digital and robotic technologies that leverage data, data analytics and artificial intelligence. If you know someone with an artificial knee, or hip, or shoulder, there is a good chance it is one of our products. We are a global, ~$8 Billion USD company, with over 20,000 associates, operating in more than 70 countries.

Thank you, that sounds great. Then, at a certain stage your company has decided to open a GBS centre. What did the location selection process look like? Was Warsaw the natural candidate for your centre or did it have competitors?

Yes, like many other large companies, we have grown both organically and thru acquisitions over the years, leading to a complex landscape of technologies and processes. GBS is one of the most popular strategies for driving towards global standards and efficiencies, as well as creating economies of scale by centralizing certain activities. We are opening shared service centres to cover each of our regions, with Warsaw servicing all of Europe and ME&A. The selection process evaluated 30+ cities in East and West Europe, against dozens of criteria. Ultimately, everyone is seeking that perfect balance of cost versus deep skills in the market, and for us, we found that situation in Warsaw. There is such a great depth of talent, language capability, and a very industrious attitude of the Polish workforce. We couldn’t be happier with our choice.

What kind of processes are already being ran in 2021 and what processes do you plan to migrate to the GBS in the coming years?

Right now, we have several key functions that have partnered with our centre in Warsaw, including Finance, HR, IT, Procurement, Quality, and Regulatory. In just a few months, we have grown from nothing to over 150 associates in our centre, and we continue to grow every week. And yes, there are several other functions who have shown interest. It is safe to say that everyone is taking notice of the talent in our Warsaw operation, and leaders who are looking for innovative ways to drive standards and efficiencies are lining up to talk with us.

Every GBS focuses on processes as well as on languages. What does it look like in your case? Is English enough to work for Zimmer Biomet GBS or you are also looking for other language skills?

We absolutely have a variety of language requirements. Like many companies, we have standardized globally on English for a lot of internal activities and as the language shared by senior leadership. However, we are not going to mandate that our customers, and vendors, and other external business partners speak English with us. We still need to conduct business in a variety of local languages. Groups like our HR team, service every person in our company, not just our English speakers, so we need to be flexible for large portions of our employee population as well. In all, we will likely service people in 12–15 languages out of this centre, and therefore finding a city with this depth of language skill was incredibly important. In our search for a location, Warsaw scored very high in most of the key languages we wanted to support, and so far we are finding fantastic linguistic talent.

We do live in very dynamic Times where office work is intertwined with remote work. What is your policy in that area? Do you give your employees choice to work from office or/and remotely? During the official opening ceremony of your GBS at the beginning of October 2021, I saw a lot of People in your office.

Great question, and I can tell you that we are leaning into the challenges posed by COVID. We had to adapt quickly last year to the safety needs introduced by this pandemic. While it put a lot of stress on the business, it also showed us that there was another way to operate, and that we could possibly save money in the future on facilities. GBS is leading the way in this. All of our facilities were designed and built during COVID, and we have included several innovations. First, we are only building to about 40–50% capacity, so we expect at least half of our employees to work from home on any day. We also have changed our office layout. If you are doing transactional work, we expect you to stay at home. The office is now specifically designed for training and collaboration, not rows of cubicles. And yes, after careful safety planning in accordance with local guidelines, you definitely saw a lot of people on opening day in the office. There was tremendous excitement to see our CEO and Executive Leadership team, so that was an unusual day, but a great one!

The GBS industry is a great place to start or develop business career. What advice would you give to people who may be thinking about joining your team?

You are so right. In fact, this is a key part of our mission and strategy in our GBS. We want to be a proving ground for future leaders in the company. GBS is such a fantastic place to be at any point in your career, because we are at the crossroads of almost everything going on in the company, so we are the source of so much information and value. Also, GBS provides a rich variety of career paths and learning opportunities. Finally, the core of our mission is related to fixing and improving process, which is a critical skill for any senior executive to have. GBS is a great way to start a career, but it’s also a great place for senior people to go to round out their experiences. My advice is DON’T come to GBS unless you are ready to make big changes and drive big value. It’s hard work, but it’s so rewarding, which is why I have stuck with it for 30+ years myself!

Thank you very much and all the best for the future. It’s really fantastic to see such a big brand operating a GBS out of Warsaw!