Hungarian Shared Services Survey 2017

Analysis

Hungarian Shared Services Survey 2017

Trends and Predictions

Hungary is the second largest market for shares services in the Central Eastern Europe region. Business centers employ more than 40 000 employees and are present in 90+ companies on 100+ SSC sites in the country.

Considering the size of the market and remaining open to Hungarian shared service leaders' interests, during our survey we focused on insights and trends related to the growth and evolution of the Hungarian shared services industry.

Trends to focus on

  1. Emerging centralized governance with functional focus
    In the quest for enhanced efficiency and improved controls, shared service operators tend to organize their shared service portfolio by functions reporting to the central management for each function.
  2. Focus on complex activities to create insight and high value for the business
    In nearshore locations labor arbitrage has started to lose significance while the quality of workforce with several years' of experience gained importance enabling the centers to import complex, high value-add activities.
  3. High-end automation with the help of robots
    The shared service sector has been a pioneer in implementing robotic process automation and several sectors have their own robotic software.
  4. Talent acquisition and employer branding - the key to managing recruitment and rertention challenges
    Recruiting and retaining talent are the key challenges that shared service centers face. Creating an attractive employer brand increases competitive advantage and puts the center on the cutting age.
  5. Further expansion of the shared service sector
    SSCs are satisfied with Hungary as a location and as a result would choose Hungary again if given the opportunity. The majority of centers plan to expand their Hungarian operation.
  6. Going international to leverage recruitment and operational benefits
    Shared services are increasingly operating at an international level. It is also a trend to operate regional business centers where each center operates in different countries with a different focus under regional management.
  7. Developing the workplace of the future
    There are several factors that drive the shift towards atypical working methods in business centers such as the expectations of new generations and alternative workforce, the reduction of office space costs, the creation of more and more international teams and the scarcity of skilled workforce in the labor market.
  8. Millenials: Challenges of a new generation
    Generation Y or the Millenials have a dominant presence in the Hungarian shared service centers. As such it is essential to understand their needs in order to keep them engaged and ensure talent succession and ample workforce for this ever expanding sector.
  9. Develop, educate, train
    Complex service activities are increasingly gaining importance as opposed to the transactional activities of the past. As a result greater capabilities are required from employees, the significance of competent people with developed soft and technical skills has increased.
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