The future of Polish BPO/SSC: interview with Scott Newman

How has the coronavirus pandemic already affected your organization and the BPO/SSC industry?

Like many companies in the industry, we conduct regular scenario testing as part of our ongoing business continuity planning and as such, most of our employees working in Poland already had the ability to work remotely. This helped prepare us for these unprecedented times and to deploy our global operating model. This, in turn, enabled certain activities to be transitioned to different locations such as Poland to ensure continuity in service for our global clients.

How has the way of working of people employed in such organizations changed? Has the industry easily adapted to the new conditions?

Through a combination of planning and preparedness, including tested business continuity procedures and operational resiliency actions, our day-to-day servicing commitments have been largely uninterrupted despite unprecedented market volumes.

As we continue to navigate COVID-19, we are all adjusting to new ways of working. As such, companies will likely adopt more agile processes, better leveraging of technology, and more innovation and global collaboration.

What effects can the coronavirus pandemic have on this industry? What could be the future of this type of organization?

The pandemic has forced many organizations to adopt a new way of working and fast. The way that we’ve performed and talked with our clients to overcome problems provides a roadmap to how we need to do this differently in the future. We all have disaster recovery plans, but there will be a greater interdependency of those plans going forward. In addition, it has fundamentally changed the way we view work from home from a productivity and capability perspective, and it will accelerate initiatives for digital transformation.

Many foreigners in Poland are employed in shared services centers. What significance can the current situation have for them?

There is no textbook that tells you how to navigate through a rapidly changing public health, economic and financial market crisis like COVID-19. However, the priority for all organizations when presented with this unique challenge is the health and safety of all employees. Communication is a vital tool to utilize in a time they can feel overwhelming. At State Street, we’re maintaining a heighted level of communication with teams and peers to ensure there is constant support for one another and to help prevent feelings of isolation.

What are the perspectives of employing foreigners in Poland? What are your predictions?

There will always be opportunities for expat workers in Poland due to the language skills and expertise they bring to an organization.

Our expert:

Scott Newman, Executive Vice President, Poland Branch Manager

Scott Newman is executive vice president, branch manager and board member of State Street Bank International GmbH Poland branch. In this role, Scott is responsible for leading the local management team, business development and governance. The State Street International GmbH Poland branch was established in November 2007 and has since grown exponentially, providing fund accounting, derivatives, securities valuation, hedge fund administration and performance & analytics.

Prior to transferring to State Street in Krakow, Scott was based in Munich where he led the research and setup of the new office in Krakow as well as relationship and project management roles. Scott joined State Street in 2003 through the acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s global custody business at which time he was based in Frankfurt, Germany and worked extensively on the aforementioned acquisition and integration.

At Deutsche Bank, Scott held roles in custody client service, product development and PMO.

He holds a bachelor of arts in business administration and is fluent in German.