[2022 Trends in Business Services Industry] Cegeka

//[2022 Trends in Business Services Industry] Cegeka

Tom de Vos, Director Cegeka European Delivery Center

  1. What are the trends related to technology that 2022 will bring or will continue in our industry?
    How will they impact us? What opportunities and challenges should we expect? How do you plan to use them in your favor and to be ahead of the others?

It’s true, and we all know that technology is rapidly growing, allowing for speedier development and progress. But, let’s face it, technology has advanced even further in recent years due to our need to adapt and grow during the Covid era.

Therefore, since people work from anywhere, and customers expect their data to be safe, securing the digital workplace is a significant trend impacting how we work. That is why security, starting from the digital workplace, is a must.

Another trend that is interesting to mention, from my perspective, is productization and as-a-service. Both customers and colleagues want and need products as a service to be productive. A good example is delivering the digital workplace to remote colleagues without coming to the office. Here we can also add video calling and online collaboration, which create massive amounts of data, making 5G the preferred mobile network technology.

The concept of the human cloud enters the tech trends picture as well. Some say that we will no longer discuss cloud-based businesses in a few years but cloud-based workforces. People will be able to work from any location, on any device, and move seamlessly between applications, tools, and documents within their own ‘cloud’. The tricky part will be to find balance in the Human Cloud between the colleagues working from any location and the new generation, the Gen Z, plus the generation of millennials that are starting to take their spots in essential positions, giving purpose to their jobs. So, flexible technology is required.

Finally, we must balance all aspects of life, including human labor and artificial intelligence (AI), another emerging trend. As business leaders, we must prepare our companies and employees for what will become the new normal. Because, by gradually adopting these tech trends into our business, we will not only be better prepared to meet shifting client demands, but we will also be more able to attract and retain great people. Our main goal is to provide a good, safe, healthy, and flexible work environment for our employees to develop their IT skills while also enjoying their personal lives.

  1. Are there any trends in the customer experience area? Do you foresee any change in the way our industry delivers services? Is customer satisfaction affected by the pandemic? What opportunities do you see for this year? Did your company find any new solutions to improve the customers’ experience?

Companies are seeking to set themselves apart from their competition in terms of customer service by giving a superior experience. Clients also prefer to discuss the experience (XLA) at review meetings rather than the Service Levels (SLA), which they see as the essential minimum of delivery criteria. Cegeka values XLA because we are constantly working to improve our customer relationships by soliciting feedback on a regular basis, keeping them informed, and demonstrating a commitment to our customers in terms of service quality as well as a commitment to our employees in terms of changing workflows.

Another trend I’ve noticed is that the importance of Service Integration and Management ecosystems (SIAM) has grown during these times of rapid digital transformation. SIAM will become more critical in how customers connect services from various service providers.

Furthermore, when it comes to outsourcing, “slicing” is something businesses will begin to use. The next wave of outsourcing is not focused anymore on full outsourcing. Customers divide their demand into sections and look for a partner who can deliver that slice of their overall business demand.

These are some of the trends and opportunities I’ve identified for this year. Some of them are already in place at Cegeka, while others will be implemented this year. Finally, our primary focus is to provide superior customer experience through our actions and code quality while ensuring that our employees have an excellent work-life balance.

Andra Antonescu, HR Director, Cegeka European Delivery Center

  1. The way of working, recruiting, onboarding, and so on were probably the most affected by the pandemic. What do you think is here to stay and what new trends will emerge in 2022 when it comes to working? What challenges will companies face? How will companies as well as employees be affected? Does your company plan to implement new strategies for recruiting and retaining people? Do you intend to go back to the office? When? What changes should your employees expect to see there?

The main words for 2022 and onwards are “adaptive change” and by that, I do not mean change management that is top-down leadership-driven and follows a plan but change that iterates along the way and is bottom-up, employee-driven. In Cegeka we will continue with the hybrid approach and meeting face to face will be with a purpose: socializing, brainstorming, one-to-one conversations that require a different level of bonding.

In terms of challenges, I can think of the following:  external ones – I would mention the economic volatility, the health context which unfortunately does not allow us to properly implement hybrid, a very tight job market; Internally I would rather call them opportunities: we grow and we need a new manifesto to make this sustainable, thus employer branding is “at art”  – Work from anywhere is an important direction and the human deal when having colleagues all over the country is essential and we need to engage people in our culture and make them feel part of a bigger purpose, of a shared experience.

Furthermore, aside employer branding, the main corners to play within for us, are:

  • Re-skilling & up-skilling – creating career pathways, not career management but teaching people how to access various paths depending on skills and competencies
  • Wellbeing & corporate social responsibility – we care about our people, and we will continue to demonstrate this; at the same time, we care about communities, and partnering with organizations that have a common purpose is an objective; involving our colleagues into actions that have a societal impact is equally important.
  • Human centered leadership – leaders are expected to be empathetic, caring, understanding, good listeners, know how to run the business and empower people; being entrepreneurial is one of our values thus acting as one is a natural behavior; coaching skills are more and more embraced into Cegeka as well.
2022-03-09T06:49:36+00:00