The rise of Global Business Services (GBS) in the Caribbean

The Caribbean is at the forefront of this growing business model with Trinidad and Tobago emerging as a hub for the service.

Scotiabank established the Operations and Shared Services Company Limited (OSSCL) in Trinidad as a free zone enterprise in 2012. The purpose of this operation was to provide back-office and operational support to Trinidad and Tobago and 18 other countries across the Northern and Southern Caribbean in which the bank operates. OSSCL presently employs approximately 475 full time employees and will be increasing this number by almost 200 persons within the next year.

The shared services company provides services like transaction verification and processing; accounting control, reconciliation and settlement services; merchant processing administration, settlement and reconciliation; clearing exchange; administration of cash processing units; accounting support/internal administration; and procedural guidance to branch networks.

Trinidad and Tobago was selected as the country of choice over other locations as a result of the highly skilled and available labour force, well-established infrastructure, robust telecommunications network, and it is a location, where English is the primary language, thereby ensuring ease of communication with the other territories.

The setting up of the OSSCL is a clear example of the TT economy moving away from relying on its commodities - the oil and gas revenue and towards economic diversification into the financial services.

RBC Royal Bank of Canada also consolidated its own support services and opened up in the capital Port-of-Spain.

Other organisations have implemented separate initiatives, both of which aim to boost the talent pipeline into the GBS sector and to take advantage of the growth of Caribbean jobs in this area.

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has been a key player in developing an initiative, having recently signed a partnership with Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre (TTIFC) to launch a Global Business Services programme at the ICATT conference to sensitise stakeholders about the availability of the qualifications locally.

This strategic partnership is great news for Trinidad and Tobago as it aids in developing more skilled finance professionals for its finance and accounting outsourcing industry.

The new programme offers a Certificate that includes an independently assessed online course and covers the knowledge and skills required by employees in the global shared services sector. . There is also a Diploma certification, which enhances expertise to ensure finance professionals are equipped for more challenging roles and processes. Additionally, there is an Advanced Diploma that places a greater focus on advanced financial management, management accounting and performance management, improving employees’ high end professional skills.

The programme became available to finance professionals in Trinidad and Tobago from 6 October and is presently available in countries worldwide including China, Malaysia and Poland which all have an established Business Process Outsourcing industry.

GBS is more than just meeting efficiencies. Through its implementation into organisations, it represents a fundamental shift in how businesses think and manage shared services and outsourcing.

The global business environment is challenging for many of today’s organisations. Finance professionals are vital to businesses to navigate successfully through these circumstances. Organisations must support these individuals as problems can occur if people working in senior shared services and transformation roles face additional barriers in making the transition to the top finance job of Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Finance organisations are most likely to see potential CFO talent among shared services pools that display shared service and outsourcing (SSO) models. Such organisations are consciously creating career pathways through SSO operations, realising that skills honed there are key to building a strong finance management base and top-tier talent.

CFOs today need to be able to bring real strength in areas such as transformational leadership and change, the ability to run finance operations efficiently and understand the value and use of technology to truly be assets for their organisations.

The future is only getting brighter for GBS roles as shared services models continue to evolve and interest in global business service initiatives grows.

For ACCA and many of its members worldwide, GBS represents a genuinely different way of running, managing and governing the back office operations, incorporating finance, to create more value.

But for successful implementation, GBS demands a culture shift. Barriers between processes must also be broken down to fulfil the promise of GBS. To lower these barriers, new capabilities must be developed, including influencing skills and the ability to compete for and manage resources in other functional areas.

This is a challenge, but with the right development and training, success can only be the end-game for those working in, or considering working in the GBS sector.