How to Retain GBS Talent

Editor's note: Welcome to "Ask the Expert" where each week, a member of the SSON Global Advisory Board answers a common question in the shared services/GBS space. If you have a question you'd like to ask the advisory board, let us know by emailing info@ssonetwork.com.

How we (hope to) retain AkzoNobel GBS colleagues across our five locations. 

Retention approaches of our GBS employees vary across our five centers (located in China, Malaysia, India, Poland, and Brazil). Each of our sites has a different level of attrition and different challenges demanding dedicated site-specific plans.

What all our sites have in common, in terms of approach, is a focus on active listening, transparency and flexibility.  

1. Frequent and active listening – we want to know what is on your mind!

Earlier this year, we started a quarterly pulse check with three questions, including an eNPS score. Last month, we launched a new listening platform that enables online and real-time listening (accessible through a mobile app). We are creating a culture for two-way feedback on what we are doing well and what we need to do better. The action plans that follow the pulse checks are immediate and help the leadership teams to direct their energy and time to what is important to our teams today. 

2. Visibility to work plans, events, visits, and celebrations – This is YOUR workplace, and we want you to know what's coming your way.

All process towers, each tool\technology we use, and every site have a roadmap. We acknowledge where we are today (on 4-5 topics), we define where we want to be in a year from now (in every one of these topics) and we show how we are going to get there! We do it by outlining what initiatives and activities we are planning on a quarterly basis. We use these roadmaps on many occasions, so every colleague has a complete view on what happens in their professional domain and locally in their work environment. Transparency fosters trust and loyalty. 

3. Flexibility in Work Environment – Enabling remote work and creating meaningful office interactions.

Like many other GBS organizations, we allow our colleagues to work from home a few days a week. We encourage (and even insist) that when they do, they turn on their cameras during meetings. We believe that really seeing each other improves collaboration and allows for much better communication. Our remaining challenge is how to create a different and meaningful office experience on the days people come to the office. We don’t believe that work from home should be the same as work from the office. We are already creating office environments that encourage collaboration. We plan the space to allow people to informally connect and work together. In the coming months, we will also explore different work dynamics that will make the effort of coming to work worth it to everyone!