Summary points from 1st ZOOM Roundtable for BSC Leaders in CEE

Summary points from 31 March ZOOM Roundtable for BSC Leaders in CEE

Summary Bullet Points:

• Need for frequent but brief communication (from Site Directors to their teams); one BSC – to keep social relationships within the team alive – is doing Friday afternoon “drinks” at the end of the day!
• One BSC said that they are emphasizing the company's financial strength and health – as that issue has come up repeatedly from nervous staff.
• Cybersecurity issues are taking centre-stage.
• Working-capital positions have become hugely important. This point was echoed by several BSC Directors, as HQ puts additional pressure on cash-generation. They have been asked to manage cash-flow tighter; and also have been asked to be “on-guard” for weaknesses among their vendors (if key vendors fail to deliver, they need alternatives).
• While one BSC is resisting requests from vendors to pay faster, another BSC is taking the opposite tack: reducing payment time from 30 days to 15 days, showing their vendors that they are keen to help them through difficult cashflow times. This BSC said this tactic is having a very positive impact on the perception of them during these difficult times.
• One BSC is applying for state-aid/subsidies related to employment costs, etc. Another has decided deliberately to not apply for state-aid, believing that they are leaving space for those SMEs that are in more urgent need.
• Staffing/Employment Levels: several BSC have imposed hiring freezes or salary freezes til May 1st; none of the BSCs on the Roundtable are cutting staff numbers right now. One BSC is offering psychological training to staff to deal with the transition to “home-office”. Another BSC is continuing to hire, using on-line on-boarding; courier delivery of computer/equipment to the new employee's home.
• HQ calling for Cost Savings: several BSCs said that HQ is asking how they can find cost savings in the range of 20-40%. HQ's likely to demand delivery of more services at lower costs.
• Real-estate/Offices costs: One Director said that surely Office occupancy costs will be under rigorous scrutiny in next stage. Flex work hours will become wide-spread; one BSC said that a permanent 4-day work-week is closely being considered.
• More Services: Several BSC Directors mentioned the “opportunities” from taking on more services from higher-cost locations (“like Western Europe”)
• Stage II BCP: While nearly all BSCs have navigated this 1st stage “Business Continuity Plan”, they are now considering Stage II risks: that Internet networks could go down, rendering home-offices ineffective. One BSC has looked at back-ups in India; another in Costa Rica. While this “full network down” looks unlikely, several BSCs are doing contingency-planning.
• Stage III: When these “stay-at-home” restrictions are lifted, most BSCs will be making even faster transitions to full Agile working.
  
  

We had 8 SSC Directors registered for the call:

• Allnex - Wim Vanderpoorten (Latvia/Belgium)
• DFDS - Radek Mierzejewski (Poznan, Poland)
  
• Schaeffler - Anna Berczynska (Wroclaw, Poland)
• Zoetis - Łukasz Wielochowski (Warsaw, Poland)
• Danske Bank - Milda Dzidolikiene (Lithuania)
  
• Danske Bank – Vilius Lukauskas (Lithuania)
  

Plus:

• Thom Barnhardt, CEE Business Media – Moderator (Warsaw)
• Oscar Reitsma, Transparent – Co-moderator (Holland)