Young Filipinos help fuel ING’s global growth
Imagine being barely 30, processing multi-million and multi-currency transactions from different time zones, collaborating with multicultural peers, and having your own cool desk in a modern office that overlooks the throbbing Bonifacio Global City.
Patrick Montes did just that and more.
He was already working for five years at another global bank when he decided to join ING Business Shared Services (IBSS), the shared services center of Dutch financial giant ING Bank. IBSS was still then known as ING Global Services Operations when Patrick be- came part of its first batch of employees and headed its pay- ments and cash management unit in 2013.
Patrick admits that he was initially lured by the prospect of being able to come home before sunset, unlike in some business process outsourcing (BPO) firms operating in the country. Eventually, however, he found a much bigger purpose in his work: the opportunity to prove that young Filipino professionals like him could excel in a multicultural environment and contribute to the growth of a global business like ING.
Steady growth
In 2000, BPOs were just starting to operate in the Philippines and the industry’s contribution to the local economy did not even account for 1% of its gross domestic product according to studies. By 2010, the country’s BPO industry has become one of the biggest and fastest growing job providers in the private sector, contributing five percent of its GDP, and emerging as a prime BPO location for multinational companies because of its young demographic and the availability of skills and talent. Three years later, ING decided to set up a shared services hub in Manila. “It was just a ‘proof of concept’ on how the global organization needs to align itself to provide a seamless and consistently high-quality service to its customers across the globe,” says Anna Garcia, who left ING Bank in Singapore to join IBSS and now heads the operations department.
During its start-up operations, IBSS in Manila offered lending, reconciliation, payments, and static data management services to ING Bank’s eight wholesale banking branches in Asia.
Leroy Rojas, who worked with local commercial banks for most of his career, was among the pilot team that faced the start-up’s initial challenges. His job entailed training 11 fresh college graduates without any banking experience.
Now he heads IBSS’ Lending Division, which has grown to 72-strong, working in three shifts to cater to ING’s clients in Europe, Asia, and North America, and handling a wide range of backroom processes such as actual payment to borrowers, payment processing, and loan booking.
IBSS ensures that the staff are properly trained to take up the processing tasks handed to them. “The pilot team managed to complete the tasks previously handled by other countries, and was already doing live transactions within six weeks from start of operations,” Leroy proudly says.
Talent war
Amid the fast-paced work environment, IBSS has managed to avoid the “scourge” that continues to afflict many BPO companies, which is the high attrition rate in this sector.
A 2015 survey by global professional services firm Towers Watson placed the attrition rate in the Philippine BPO sector at 50%. While considerably higher than in many local industries, the rate marks an improvement and the lowest since 2007.
In contrast, IBSS has managed to keep its attrition rate low (its highest was at 18 percent), largely in part due to its business model as a “captive” shared services center and the uniqueness of its combined Dutch-Filipino culture.
“As IBSS is a captive shared services business, our staff do not serve thirdparty vendors, only ING. So it’s easier to develop a corporate culture and build employee loyalty and pride,” says Cees Ovelgonne, its country manager. Proof that IBSS is succeeding in the talent war is its high employee referral rate.
Filipino-Dutch mix
Another reason for IBSS’ initial success is its hybrid culture.
Ryan Gillego, who heads IBSS’ Non- Financial Risk unit and has previously worked with another shared services center, says moving to IBSS was a “culture change” as the Dutch are known for being candid and very down-to-earth.
Forty-three-year-old Leroy says IBSS’ culture is a mix of Dutch and Filipino values. “The Dutch are direct and to-the-point and don’t beat around the bush while the Pinoys smile and turn to goodnatured humor when the going gets tough, but still manage to get things done,” he says.
The average age of IBSS employees is 26.5 years old. “For millennials to be exposed to this kind of culture is characterbuilding. They are expected to get the job done, and exceed expectations,” adds Ryan.
Maj Dizon, who heads Learning and Talent Development, says IBSS is also attracting young local talents who want to belong in an organization that has a sense of purpose and social responsibility. At ING, this is enshrined in its “Orange Code,” a company manifesto on how it stays true to its purpose and tradition of reinvention and empowerment.
While initiating corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs has now become a staple fare in many Philippine companies, including BPOs, as an employee retention strategy, ING has managed to take it to a higher level. Staff from IBSS and ING Bank’s Manila branch participate in various CSR programs that are supported by ING’s network across Asia.
One of them is the ING Orange Bike program, a three-year, region-wide initiative that has donated thousands of bicycles to poor but deserving high school students who used to walk for miles from their far-flung villages to get to school. ING staff from Asia also helped their colleagues in Manila to raise funds to build two ING Villages for displaced families, some even physically volunteered and flew to Manila for the construction of homes. Recently, ING and IBSS staff also participated in a joint sports fest and in the first-ever ING Learning Center Science Fair that involved child leaders regularly tutored by ING staff.
“Many in today’s generation want to make the world a better place, and this is one fundamental reason they gravitate towards purpose-driven businesses,” IBSS country manager Cees Ovelgonne says. “ING’s purpose is to empower people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. That’s why we make ING the place to be.”