Interviews

We use the potential That Poland offers in the area of business services and R&D

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We use the potential That Poland offers in the area of business services and R&D

Interview with Michał Kasprzyk, Head of Alcon Global Services Regional Center, covering the development of the Warsaw branch of a leading global company in the ophthalmic industry.

FOCUS ON Business: From 2020, the Center for Advanced Business Services (Alcon Global Services) has been operating in Warsaw – what processes does it support?

Michał Kasprzyk, Alcon Global Services: The Alcon Global Services Center (AGS) in Warsaw was established as a result of the separation of Alcon from the Novartis Group, which took place in 2019. As part of the separation, Alcon decided to build its own centers of advanced business services in India, Mexico, Malaysia and Poland. According to the original plan, we were assuming to operate in our centers financial and accounting processes, human resources and payroll processes as well as IT processes. However, as a result of the business transformation that Alcon began after separating from the Novartis Group, the scope of operation of the centers has changed significantly compared to the original assumptions. To the original scope of services we have also included processes such as customer operations, complaints handling and adverse events reporting, supply chain management, procurement, marketing and R&D.

I think that what also distinguishes us, apart from the wide range of processes carried out, is the fact that a large part of the operations was created as a result of insourcing. Currently, in Warsaw,we support processes in the following areas of finance and accounting (travel & expense, receivables, general ledger, FP&A), human resources and payroll, procurement, customer operations, complaint handling and adverse events reporting, supply chain management. We also implement IT processes to a very large extent (from IT infrastructure support to application development and data analytics), and our newest area is digital marketing.

After two years of operating in Warsaw's Mokotów district, how do you assess the decision to choose such a location?

From the perspective of last two years, as a company, we are very pleased with the choice of Warsaw as our location for AGS. We decided to go to Warsaw due to the fact that it is a city with an extensive infrastructure and an easily accessible pool of talents – qualified employees with good knowledge of foreign languages and specialist education. A very important aspect when choosing the location was the fact that the commercial part of Alcon in Poland is located in Warsaw's Mokotów district, and we wanted to be as close to the business as possible. Collocation and cooperation with the business part was, in my opinion, a very good decision that brings tangible benefits to both parties. For example, the joint organization of various events, e.g. in the area of CSR, allows AGS employees to get to know people working in the commercial part better, and thus better understand the specificity of their work and the mission of our company. Additionally, to get to know the products and services offered by Alcon, we organize training courses for Alcon Global Services employees at the Alcon Training Center, which is located in our office. Our employees can also take part in eye tests, which are regularly carried out by colleagues from the commercial part. Another aspect is the development opportunities for employees – we already have cases of employees moves from the commercial part to AGS, and I hope that in the future there will be also transfers in the other direction.

What is Poland's place in the global structure of Alcon? Is our country, in the opinion of a company with over 70 years of history, an attractive place for investments based on R&D and creating modern solutions for business?

We started the project to build the center in Warsaw at the beginning of 2020, i.e., just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak of pandemic did not change our plans and did not stop the investment, which in my opinion shows how important this project is for Alcon, and therefore also the place where the center is being built.

Poland was one of several options considered by Alcon, which is why in my opinion choosing Warsaw is an appreciation of the potential we have as a country in the area of modern solutions for business and R&D. The number of people who already work in this sector, as well as the educational potential of Poland, make Poland an attractive place for investors looking for a place to build their center. This is also evidenced by further investments and the continuous increase in employment in the business services sector.

Additionally, Alcon is a company for which diversity and inclusion is very important, which is why locating the center in Warsaw allowed us to build a very diverse organization, both in terms of gender and nationality – currently over 30% of employees in the center are foreigners from all over the world.

What are the company's development plans in Poland? Are there any future investments in new service centers?

As far as part of Alcon Global Services is concerned, we have certainly not reached the final stage in terms of employment levels. There are still a few interesting projects ahead of us that we will be implementing in the coming months, mostly in the area of finance and IT, but not only. In addition, we are constantly analyzing the possibilities and looking for processes that could expand the activities of our center. I think that in places such as shared service centers, there is always something going on, new areas are being searched for in which the centers can support business, and the COVID-19 pandemic has additionally opened the possibility of transferring processes that would seem impossible to transfer to the centers before the pandemic. As for new locations, we are currently not planning to open new service centers elsewhere, but rather we will focus on the development of existing locations.

In the era of the employee market, does Alcon have effective ways to attract talent? What benefits can your employees count on?

In fact, the current situation on the labor market is difficult for employers and it is not easy to attract workers and keep those already employed. In the last two years, we managed to hire over 200 people, so I think this is a success. We offer our employees a nice, modern office and a wide range of non-wage programs and benefits, such as private medical care, pension program, various types of insurance, surcharges for public transport tickets, culture cards or sports cards. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned benefits are already mostly standard on the labor market, therefore we are constantly looking for new solutions to keep being attractive for employees.

During the pandemic, we introduced a comprehensive wellbeing program "Well with Alcon", supporting our employees in leading a healthy lifestyle and providing assistance from various health specialists. Another element that we care a lot about and which I hope will help us in recruiting employees is building an appropriate organizational culture in our center, which will be based on mutual respect, trust, cooperation, and innovation. We promote diversity in our teams, we also give employees the opportunity to organize themselves into employee resource groups within which they can pursue their interests.

We support our employees in their professional development – we develop individual development plans and training programs. All our activities are confirmed by various certificates, e.g. Top Employer Polska, Top Employer Europe or the Diversity IN Check certificate awarded by the Responsible Business Forum.

Thank you for the interview.

This article comes from magazine:
FOCUS ON Business #5 July-August (4/2022)

FOCUS ON Business #5 July-August (4/2022) Check the issue