Retaining and motivating our greatest assets

Our company, British Telecom’s European regional operation center (BT ROC) based in Budapest and Debrecen, has been present in the Hungarian SSC market since 2007. Today it employs nearly 1,000 qualified, multi-lingual professionals, and it is the strategic service center of BT for Europe. In the last seven years it has become one of the biggest and most complex business support centers in Hungary, serving BT affiliates, internal business partners and more than 3,000 customers across Europe.

During the past few years we have hired hundreds of new colleagues. Based on our recruitment experiences job seekers – especially members of generation Y – are attracted to big international companies because they identify them with prestigious brand names, stability, opportunity for career, training and personal development, superb work environment, an international community and good compensation packages.

The average age of ROC employees is 28; many are members of the Y generation. As employees they are more self-conscious than previous generations. They tend to express more openly their expectations. Work-life balance is very important for them: they would rather work in an interesting job for less money that allows them more time out of the office or home working rather than putting in long working hours for a higher salary. They are fast movers, and will change jobs if there is no progress within the company. They desire meaningful, stimulating work from day one, and are less interested in traditional career paths that promote slowly. They prefer work that gives them an opportunity for change and growth, both personally and professionally, and will not tolerate staying in the same position, especially if it happens to be monotonous. They don’t want to be cogs in a corporate machine, but to shape and be shaped by their daily work experience. They like working with friends in a casual and fun workplace environment.

We believe that employees are the greatest assets of our company, and the well-being and satisfaction of staff members is a top priority. It is a key task for us to maintain their motivation, interest and find new challenges for them. We regularly measure their satisfaction, asking for their feedback. According to the quarterly employee satisfaction survey, 85% of BT employees are proud of working for the company and plan their long-term future with us.

Our corporate culture, high-quality working environment, competitive salaries, various company events, wide range of training and benefits, and family-friendly provisions all serve the purpose of making the service center an attractive workplace for current and future employees.

There is an option for distance work and flexible work schedules. We support mothers returning to work to provide day-care and support for young children during the day. Employees have private health insurance, high quality health care, and they may also choose from a number of cafeteria items. To secure convenient working conditions we have furnished the offices with ergonomic furniture; a relaxation room, and free refreshments, coffee and tea are available.

A wide selection of work-specific and general training courses, e.g. language and soft skills, are available for our employees. Supported by local and global programs we identify, develop and retain talents. Our graduate program aims to prepare participants for a future business leader role. It lasts for two years and graduates rotate between business units every six months, where they delve into the details of each one.

Most of our team leaders are in their late 20s or early 30s, and are promoted from within the teams. Well-performing colleagues can move forward sooner than in other, less dynamic industries. We have 14 different functions in the ROC, so we can offer career growth not only in a vertical direction, but also in other areas of professional career opportunities as a specialist of a different area. Most teams are multi-national and expand across frontiers, so besides practicing languages, employees can get a sense of various other work cultures.

The telecom sector evolves fast, which gives our employees more chance to meet solutions using the very latest technologies than in a more traditional industry. We put a high emphasis on empowering our colleagues to take responsibility for improving their own area and the way they work to keep up self-motivation, which also increases work efficiency.

BT ROC intends to contribute with a growing number of job opportunities so that members of the talented Hungarian workforce can find their career path here in Hungary. At BT they can meet foreign cultures and professional, global working standards within the borders of Hungary.