stanton chase newswire june 2013 - sofia

JUNE 2013

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STANTON CHASE SOFIA NEWSLETTER

Darina Peneva,Managing [email protected]

During the last several years we are living in times when some of the most often used words are economic crisis, decrease of purchasing power, stagnation and even recession. At the same time companies in all sectors are targeting further development of their businesses as well as increase of both sales and work efficiency. How could this happen in such a complicated environment? The answer is very simple – the key factor for success is human capital. HR professionals are once again facing challenging times. The main request for them is to help business leaders manage successfully risks such as shortage of skills and skill gaps, succession planning, globalization of the labor market, managing virtualized teams and maintaining high level of performance. In addition, the task of building long-term loyalty is more and more related to the demand for developing alternative incentive schemes that would “touch” employees and motivate them to stay in the company. Among the key priorities for HR is focus

on the roles at all levels of the organization in regard to the expertise, skills and competencies needed to secure achievement of the strategic business objectives. The topic for talent management is as hot as always. However, companies start realizing that it is not always possible to retain the best talent in all functions. Thus their focus is gradually being adjusted mainly to the strategic roles in their organizations. Among the competencies most required from HR professionals are business understanding, development of business thinking and alignment of their language and actions with those of the business. Last but not least, technologies are becoming more and more important for the overall HR process in terms of the use of tools for information analysis and strategic decision-making regarding human capital.

Current challenges in talent managementEditorial


In tune with the local, connected to the world

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We are pleased to announce that Stanton Chase Bulgaria was awarded the regional Performance Excellence award for outstanding performance in 2012. Internally the company celebrated its best year by personal and team recognition awards. The award for target overachievement and billing went to the Industrial practice group team – Dobromir Minkov and Bissera Stoyanova.The Technology team celebrated highest rate of client satisfaction and team efficiency – Darina Peneva and Elena Rusanova.Two teams were awarded for highest placement rate – Life Science & Healthcare and Consumer Products and Services – Biliana Djambaska and Irina Andonova.

JUNE 2013

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During the last few years Bulgaria became an attractive destination for outsourcing of particular functions and activities such as: inbound and outbound BPO in call centers and support centers; software development; finance & accounting; payroll, HR, etc. In 2012 the outsourcing sector achieved its highest growth not only within the ICT industry but also in comparison to the other economic sectors in the country. The number of employees in the sector is app. 14 000 – 15 000 FTEs and is expected to increase up to 40 - 45 000 FTEs by 2017. Meanwhile, revenues in the sector are expected to double within the next 2 years. Bulgaria is among the preferred countries for outsourcing due to several factors: high level of education, strong technical competencies, competitive language skills, low level of both salaries and running costs, and last but not least, attractive geographical positioning close to clients’ organizations. All these boost opportunities for the sector in comparison to other typical outsourcing countries. However, expectations are very high both in terms of level of fees and quality of service. Thus local outsourcing companies are focusing their activities in attracting new clients from mature markets in Western Europe and US where they are facing extremely high competition. In addition, high demand for employees on the entry level of the organizations forces companies to search for a pro-active and long-term partnership with high schools and universities so to assure their successful development. According to the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association our country has very good chances to be among the top 10 countries for outsourcing in the word.

Outsourcing and software development companies have been very actively recruiting for the last several years. We have noted several tendencies for 2012: - outsourcing companies explored opportunities to start up offices in the countryside, in towns with

universities and relatively high level of unemployment; - bilingual professionals were needed for entry level positions at some newly opening BPO centers as

well as at already existing call centers;- sales positions for external markets opened at local outsourcing companies intending to widen their

range of services;- there was an increasing lack of competencies on operational management level, due to fast growth

and well-developed policy for internal promotions; - programmers, senior software developers and QAs with proven track record were mostly needed

at local software development companies; foreign competitors seemed to be more attractive to experienced developers.

- sales and marketing positions opened most frequently in telecoms due to the current regulation situation and the high competitiveness of the market.

- IT spending in all sectors was reduced and as a result vendors were devoted to optimizations. Our prognosis is that the market will be more than welcome for experienced professionals.

Darina [email protected]

Elena Rusanova, Research Associate, [email protected]

Bulgaria - a paradise for ITO and BPO services in the CEE region The opportunity, the challenge and the risks

The professionals needed

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JUNE 2013

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Consumer Products and Services overview and tendencies

An executive recruiter calls me - now what?

Despite the difficult market situation, 2012 was interesting and challenging for the Consumer Products and Services prac-tice group at Stanton Chase and the companies we partner. Тhis was the most successful year for the practice group since the business of Stanton Chase was established in 2006 – we marked a noticeable increase in recruit-ment projects in the sectors we service – consumer products (including manufacturing), out of home / B2B / foodservice, distribution services (including re-tail), luxury products and marketing services. Strong

competition for highly specialized financial and sales middle management roles, as well as for specific leadership roles in the manufacturing operations, was what we observed in 2012. Most of our assignments were within the supply chain and commercial func-tions.In 2013 companies continue to pursuit the right talents to drive their businesses, fo-

cusing not only on ex-pertise and experience, but also on attitudes and personal qualities such as independence, ability to influence and to drive changes. A challenge we continuously face is the low level of mobility of professionals within Bulgaria; yet, the tendency to migrate to the capital remains valid. Hiring decisions for 2013 in big FMCG companies, as expected, are driven by the following: changes in top-management teams, pro-

motions on a group/ corporate level, organizational alignments and geographical movement of regional hubs. We anticipate businesses to continue recruiting top- and middle-managers as well as experienced project managers for their commercial and supply chain operations. Supporting functions (financial, HR, etc.) are less often on demand.

Even if you are not used to these types of calls, act professionally and present yourself with self-respect. The last thing on the researcher’s mind is to make you feel uncomfortable and to jeopardize your relationship with your current employer. - Executive search firms work on behalf of their clients to help

them fill in key positions in their organizations - In order to do that, they identify the best match between the

client’s needs and your profile, which includes:• Workexperience• Areasofprofessionaldevelopment• Peopleand/orprojectmanagementskills• Personalitymatchwithcorporatecultureoftheclient

- The role of the executive consultant is to be as open as possible about the company and the position. Have in mind that sometimes a search might be confidential.

- It’s up to you to validate the attractiveness of the opportunity. Do not take it personally if you do not make it to the next round. If the preliminary research identifies 200 prospects, in most cases probably 50 to 60 will make it to the so called long-list and only up to five in the short-list. It’s up to the client to make the final decision. And it was them who provoked the search in the first place.

Irina Andonova, Senior Consultant [email protected]

Yuliana Popova, Research Associate, [email protected]

According to Business Monitor International’s report,

revised 29th April 2013, Bulgaria is expected to reach a

slight level of recovery in 2013, with forecasted real GDP

growth of 0.5%. The forecasted fiscal deficit in 2013 is

0.3% of GDP. The national debt is expected to continue fall-

ing from the current level of 17.8% of GDP to 12.6% by 2020.

A researcher at Stan-ton Chase pre-selects professionals with the necessary expertise and checks their in-terest in potential op-portunities for career change.A consultant at Stan-ton Chase leads the project and evaluates key competencies and professional mo-tivation and validates work experience de-tails

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During the last couple of years most manufacturing plants in Bulgaria have been forced to decrease their costs, on the one hand, in order to achieve lower prices of production, and to increase efficiency and productivity, on the other. There is a positive tendency in that direction – the GDP per worker increased with 3.8% for 2012 compared to the previous year. However, customers have became more demanding when it comes to delivery time, quality of production and overall service. As a whole, Bulgarian plants in the industrial sector produce mainly for foreign

markets. Most of the production is labour intensive, a kind of internal outsourcing of big international industrial companies. The rest are the so called “ex-socialist time” privatized plants that are trying

to adapt to the new local and global business environment. A slight, but good tendency during 2012 was that some of the international investors in the production sector started to outsource and opened not only labour intensive productions, but also more technological ones with focus on engineering and R&D activities.

Most owners and top executives try to decrease labor costs and believe that the big number of unemployed experts actively looking for a job will give them the chance to attract professionals on relatively lower salaries than it was possible several years ago. However, we still are in “the eye of the hurricane” and few top professionals have the experience and ability to go through the current economic situation. In that respect skilled and experienced people with the appropriate abilities to lead their companies though the crisis are not that easy to retain and attract. At the same time the employers are able to evaluate the abilities of their employees in real tough situations and find a lot of gaps in their skills. Employers are becoming more and more demanding and look for “super stars” without being ready to revise their salary policy regarding professionals of this calibre. Meanwhile these professionals are aware of their importance as key players in their current teams, which makes it more difficult to attract them. Employers are looking for better for less, while employees with outstanding performance are looking for safe, predictable long-term business relationships.The above described situation is a deficit of skilled employees and there is no equilibrium point in the demand and supply of top professionals.Some managers in the sector are still not convinced that in order to attract top performers they should sometimes pay even more than it was considered relevant in 2007 (before the so called Crisis). Of course, it is part of our challenge as consultants to identify the new leaders who could support and boost the business of our clients. The Industrial sector in Bulgaria is searching for professionals with multifunctional or cross functional expertise

for positions that require: financial and maintenance comprehension; project management and production/ engineering abilities; design or maintenance managers with soft skills abilities; business development managers with industrial engineering experience and very good financial understanding. The problem with the lack of foreign languages in engineering, production and maintenance teams still exists.Top managers and owners of the plants presented in Bulgaria should continue investing in their human capital to keep the company’s talents in their organization. They should continue their development programs, attracting the most appropriate leaders as a good example. In that respect employers could also create the appropriate business and working environment where their personnel feel sufficiently motivated: better on-boarding, clear succession plans/ career path and clear company structure with separated responsibilities.

Demand and supply of top professionals for the Industrial sector: no equilibrium point in 2012

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JUNE 2013STANTON CHASE SOFIA NEWSLETTER

Dobromir [email protected]

Bissera [email protected]

Statistical background – the official unemployment

for 2012 is 12.3 %; the annual economic growth

is 0.8 % , inflation - 4.4 % (Jan’2012 – Jan’2013).

The Industrial Тeam

Dobromir MinkovPartner

Bissera StoyanovaResearch Associate

JUNE 2013

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The Life Science & Healthcare Sector is one of the most stable sectors of the Bulgarian economy - it has remained at the level of 4% of GDP for more than 10 years. Although growth in sales of medicines slowed down in 2012 (to only 5.2%), it is obvious that the market continues to grow despite the crisis. Nowadays, the pharmaceutical business operates in a highly dynamic and challenging environment – it faces constant and on-going changes in state regulations, delayed payments of the state to the pharmaceutical manufacturers and decreased cash in the population, which considerably affects the direct “private” purchases. At the same time, the National Healthcare system does not function efficiently and effectively. Although a noticeable growth in sales of drugs is not expected for 2013, there are some anticipations that the hospital market will mark a rise up to 4%.Growth in sales of OTC products, generic products and food

supplements is also expected to continue. In 2012 a lot of pharmaceutical companies went through optimizations and structural changes at middle and senior management level. There are more and more legal and compliance requirements which means that in 2013 along with the typical demand for positions in Sales and Marketing, we also foresee vacancies for experienced professionals with legal, compliance and pharmacovigilance expertise and knowledge. The Market Access Manager role within pharmaceutical companies will become even more strategic.

Mrs. Biliana Djambaska joined the company in 2006. She has gained 7 years of executive search experience working as a researcher in assignments servicing multinational and leading local clients in 4 sectors – FMCG, Technology, Pharmaceutical and Financial. In 2012 Biliana took up the position of Consultant for the Life Science and Healthcare practice group.

Ms. Yuliana Popova joined the company a year later to support the administrative, marketing and PR activities of the company. During the years Yuliana supported different stages of the executive search process – mainly for FMCG, pharmaceutical and financial companies. Since November 2012 Yuliana has taken the role of Research Associate to support the Consumer Products and Services practice group.

Mr. Dobromir Minkov joined the company in 2008. He took up the role of Senior Consultant for the the Industrial, Natural Resources & Energy and Logistics & Transportation practice groups. This year, as a recognition for his efforts in the development and promotion of the local organization and services, he was promoted to the position of Partner in Stanton Chase International.

Life Science & Healthcare Sector Reality Today

Promotions in Stanton Chase Sofia


Biliana Djambaska, [email protected]

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JUNE 2013

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Key indicators according to local and global associations of executive search companies

• AccordingtoaglobalsurveybyAESC(theAssociationofExecutiveSearchCompanies),seniorexecutivemobilityin2013willbe powered by the following 3 factors: - Better role/ increased responsibility (75 % of 400 respondents)- Increased total compensation (59 %)- Change to a more stable industry (50 %)

• Intermsoffunctions,therespondentsidentifygreatestshortageoftalentsinEngineering,GeneralManagement/CEO/COO,Board of Directors and Business Development

Stanton Chase Sofia81B Bulgaria Blvd., floor 6, Sofia 1404

Tel: +359 2 962 2931; Fax: +359 2 962 [email protected]

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• The reason why organisations in Bulgaria hire executivesearch companies include the profile of potential candi-dates– top and middle management functions, confidenti-ality, current market overview, deadlines and professional execution.


Dobromir Minkov, Yuliana Popova

According to a global survey by AESC (the Association of Executive Search Companies), seniorexecutive mobility in 2013 will be powered by the following 3 factors:

Better role/ increased responsibility (75 % of 400 respondents)Increased total compensation (59 %)Change to a more stable industry (50 %)

In terms of functions, the respondents identify greatest shortage of talents in Engineering,General Management/ CEO/ COO, Board of Directors and Business Development

42%37%

32% 29%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

Engineering GeneralManagement/CEO/ COO

Board ofDirectors

BusinessDevelopment

Functions with greatest shortageof talent globally

According to a survey by BESA (Bulgarian Executive Search Association), conducted among130 top managers, the functions companies use executive search for are Sales, Finance andMarketing.

34%

15%12%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Sales Finance Marketing

Functions for which executive searchcompanies are most often hired Bulgaria

The reason why organisations in Bulgaria hire executive search companies include the profileof potential candidates– top and middle management functions, confidentiality, currentmarket overview, deadlines and professional execution.


Dobromir Minkov, Yuliana Popova

According to a global survey by AESC (the Association of Executive Search Companies), seniorexecutive mobility in 2013 will be powered by the following 3 factors:

Better role/ increased responsibility (75 % of 400 respondents)Increased total compensation (59 %)Change to a more stable industry (50 %)

In terms of functions, the respondents identify greatest shortage of talents in Engineering,General Management/ CEO/ COO, Board of Directors and Business Development

42%37%

32% 29%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

Engineering GeneralManagement/CEO/ COO

Board ofDirectors

BusinessDevelopment

Functions with greatest shortageof talent globally

According to a survey by BESA (Bulgarian Executive Search Association), conducted among130 top managers, the functions companies use executive search for are Sales, Finance andMarketing.

34%

15%12%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Sales Finance Marketing

Functions for which executive searchcompanies are most often hired Bulgaria

The reason why organisations in Bulgaria hire executive search companies include the profileof potential candidates– top and middle management functions, confidentiality, currentmarket overview, deadlines and professional execution.

• According to a survey by BESA (Bulgarian Executive SearchAssociation), conducted among 130 top managers, the functions companies use executive search for are Sales, Finance and Marketing.

Biliana, Yuliana, Darina Dobromir and Bissera – a successful team

“Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream”