The time in which companies would have all their staff under one roof has changed.

Technology, costs, and talent pools have driven companies to adapt and change. We now find dedicated IT services, call centres, and customer care stations based all around the world.

But what is driving this transformation? Market research analyst Jacob Nevins digs into some of the key factors.

Fragmented offices, technology, and affordability

Shared service centres and business process outsourcing centres are increasing in popularity, largely because they can be based anywhere.

Well-known for its affordability, Poland is a hugely popular location for such centres. These centres tend to be located where there is demand for talent and value for office space.

Talent is becoming an increasingly influential factor in where these centres are incorporated, because they now provide services that go beyond call teams and customer services.

They now host a range of functions, including HR, finance, and sales.

That means education standards, language skills, and working culture play a growing importance. Poland delivers on all these fronts.

A range of global companies have based their shared services in Poland. These include Marsh, Pandora, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered, Bain & Company, and the global life science company Bayer, for whom we’ve achieved 100% candidate satisfaction. Grants and funds also provide key incentives for establishing business service centres in Poland.

Outside of Poland, there is a push for dedicated business function centres closer to or even within the UK. For example, Lloyds Banking Group are opening a new IT centre based in Edinburgh. This will create 500 new roles, boosting Lloyds’ ability to compete against the digital banks such as Monzo and Revolut.

Another example of how important costs are when it comes to offices now is Channel 4. The company has moved from its London headquarters to Leeds, causing much disruption to the workforce.

They join a number of companies leaving London. TalkTalk has also relocated from their London HQ to Greater Manchester.

Virtual communications power lean working models

Technology plays a fundamental role in the adoption of remote working environments. We’re inundated with technologies that allow us to communicate effectively via email and beyond. Teams, Slack, and Skype comprise a seemingly endless list. This plays a pivotal role in the shift towards remote working and different office locations.

The push for cloud technology in which large amounts of data and files can be stored effectively and securely has also really affected the perspective that everyone should be based in the same location.

RPO = flexibility for HR shared services recruitment

Even when we look at the recruitment sector, including RPO, we see the shift.

RPOs were once thought of as a full solution, the need to come in and take over every function within the business when it came to the need to source talent.

This has also changed significantly. There are all sorts of flexible models available now, including project work and complementary recruitment solutions.

These can work together with existing internal recruitment teams, or even other RPOs.

There are cases in which an RPO could be in place but at capacity. The need to have another solution in place for such things include office moves and new location openings. RPO projects are becoming increasingly common, with business leaders keen to minimise disruption to existing processes and business activity.

We’ve got plenty of space in this area. In the past year, we recruited nearly 200 employees for a major High Street chain launching in a new market.

We delivered the launch — their first store in Central and Eastern Europe — allowing the retailer to concentrate on running their wider business.

The hiring project worked so well that the retailer is now partnering with us to support more store openings in emerging markets, including one in Poland.