Open makes more possible

Maja Blizińska and Michał Rudnicki, London Stock Exchange Group co-site leads, talk to the BPCC’s Michael Dembinski about its operations in Poland. LSEG is one of Gdynia’s largest private-sector employers, employing over 1,000 people of 60 nationalities speaking 40 languages. Michael Dembinski visited LSEG’s Gdynia office to witness the firm’s best practices that have brought success to the Polish operations of London’s centuries-old exchange.

MD: Please list the main functions carried out in Gdynia for LSEG, and tell us about the operations in Poland as a part of LSEG’s overall business strategy. Why did LSEG choose to acquire and develop the business unit in Gdynia?

MR: LSEG equips the global financial community with markets infrastructure and data. LSEG’s office in Gdynia, specifically, mainly represents our global Data & Analytics business.

MB: We have evolved from being an operational site to a hub serving our global business. The growth from 32 data analysts back in 2006 collecting and processing financial data to a key strategic location of over 1,000 employees representing different functions is a result of a few factors combined. Gdynia has an excellent talent pool with people having both economic and linguistic skills. There’s also potential for growth given the great quality of higher education in the TriCity. The location also gives us close proximity to our customers, and over time, we expect to continue to make successful contributions to LSEG’s strategic objectives. Teams in Gdynia currently represent the entire global financial ecosystem from data acquisition and processing, product, risk and project management through customer services, technology, sales, people and learning functions.

MD: LSEG Gdynia’s site has a leadership structure that’s most unusual, and yet something tells me that this may well be a portent for the future of management. You are the two site co-leads, with equal responsibility for running the business. How does this work in practice, and what are the upsides and downsides of such an arrangement?

MR: At LSEG Gdynia we follow a concept of a two-year assignment for co-site leadership representing two different business areas. As the co-site leads, we partner with the board members, people-leaders and country people-partners, as well as the admin and facilities team, and the Poland Employee Council. It is important that we meet and maintain connections with our colleagues during regular team meetings and events. Through our strong network, we build up Gdynia’s business proposition, promote our values, culture, and cooperate with local communities.

MB: There is a great value in the site leadership concept especially as it helps us to consider a diverse range of perspectives; 56% of the leadership positions in the Gdynia office are held by women. In our co-site lead duo, we bring in two perspectives, two different ways of working but towards the same goal – building LSEG’s brand both internally and externally in Gdynia. Business studies show that organisations that implement diverse and inclusive practices are far more effective that ones that do not. This effectiveness is reflected in our collaboration with Gdansk University, charity foundations and primary schools, the Association of Business Service Leaders and now our expansion of the one with BPCC – to name just a few.

MD: You have introduced many innovations into the way LSEG’s Gdynia site is run – one that I hadn’t heard of before is the skip-level meeting, where employees can talk freely to their bosses’ bosses. How does this work in practice?  What other tools do you employ to ensure that silos don’t form within the organisation?

MB:  Partnership is not only one of the LSEG core values but something that we live every day. This is how we operate daily – we remove barriers across the teams, divisions and senior management to ensure each voice is heard and that we come up with best course of action when developing a solution.

A skip-level meeting is a chance to raise your profile and share your ideas and achievements with your manager’s manager. Another example of breaking down the silos locally will be a local People-Leaders’ Forum, comprising of all managers across the different businesses, working together on the location strategy and common projects.

MD: Like several other major UK investors in Poland, you cooperate closely with higher education, in your case, with the University of Gdańsk. This eases the path to graduate recruitment, but what makes your model unusual is that the cooperation also runs the other way – your employees can benefit from courses at the University of Gdańsk. How does this contribute to their personal development?

MR: Attracting and retaining top diverse talent is important to us and we consistently look for ways to strengthen our connections with the community including academia. Since 2008 we’ve built a strategic cooperation with the University of Gdansk reflected in internship programmes, lectures delivered by our experts, sponsoring the LSEG Research Grant Competition for the most talented students, equipping the Faculty of Economics in LSEG Lab to enable certifications in our flag product, LSEG Workspace. Our colleagues have also had the opportunity to join lectures and workshops in finance at the University as part of their personal development. We truly believe that partnership between universities and business is necessary to address dynamics and needs of the current labour market. We would like to express our gratitude to the dean at the Faculty of Economics, Monika Bąk, deputy dean, Magdalena Markiewicz, and the local coordinators, Urszula Mrzygłód, Joanna Adamska-Mieruszewska for their openness and engagement to build these bridges.

MD: You place a high importance on talent flow as a KPI for your managers. What’s the average time that an employee can expect to spend in one role before being promoted or otherwise given a different role?

MB: ‘Grow and flow’ is not just a buzz-word, but a key objective for each people leader. There are several tools that each employee can leverage to find the next career opportunity: high impact coaching, a Career Navigator tool where colleagues can analyse their skills profiles and identify learning that would support the move, mentoring with senior leader and on the job learning within own or a different team. Preparation for more senior roles usually take a few years of experience before promotion.

MR: We started our careers 18 years ago as data analysts in the Operations teams. Since then, we have held many different roles. Our Talent Acquisition Team, and our people-leaders consider an internal talent flow as one of the top priorities. For example, we regularly organise coffee events with hiring managers who promote open roles onsite during Q&A sessions. Also, many succession plans have been implemented successfully.

Starting in 2023 the LSEG Customer Connect team has grown in Gdynia with 32 account managers. It’s been a brilliant opportunity for many our colleagues to step into sales world and to drive account revenue retention and growth. More than half of our job opportunities are filled with internal colleagues moving roles and growing their careers at LSEG.

MD: You offer your employees a wide range of benefits designed to mitigate stress in their lives outside the workplace; bereavement, trauma, carers’ days – how does going that extra mile to ensure employees feel secure at work?

MR: Indeed, our benefits package is crafted to address the diverse needs of our colleagues.   We want everyone at LSEG to feel valued and supported, especially when our employees go through life’s most challenging moments. For example, LSEG has introduced additional global leave offerings, carers’ leave, with ten days annually to take care for anyone who relies on you for care arrangements, Bereavement leave with up to six weeks, and Gender Transitioning leave which gives colleagues six weeks to cover time off for a transitioning journey including medical appointments and recovery. Also, as of July 2024, our new offering will give everyone who’s worked at LSEG for at least 12 months the opportunity to take a minimum of 26 weeks parental leave, regardless of parent, gender or method of parenthood.

MD: Diversity, equity and inclusivity (DE&I) is now a widely used term across corporate HR in Poland; LGBT, disability, gender pay gaps and neurodiversity are taken seriously in your business. How does this affect your ability to recruit and retain the talents that you need?

MR: Equity, diversity, and inclusion is at the heart of our culture. At LSEG, international employees represent 25% of the entire community in Gdynia with 60 nationalities, 40 languages and diverse skillsets. There are different generations represented too. Our Women Inspired Network is very active onsite. In June, as usual, we celebrate Children’s Day organised by our Parents at LSEG network as well as celebrating Pride Month. We believe that friendly work environment, focus on work-life balance, mental health, and empathetic leadership help to attract and retain talent and drive business growth.

MB: It’s worth mentioning that for the first time in May this year we have been present at inclusive job fairs, Beyond Labels, in Gdansk, targeted mainly at the LGBTQAPI+ community. Moreover, our new office has been designed to be a comfortable place for neurodiverse employees with quiet zones, adjustable lighting, special colours, fabrics, space arrangement and a separate meditation and multi-faith room. I think the fact that the majority of our new joiners and recruitment comes from current colleague referrals speaks volumes.

MD: You have Great Place to Work certification. How hard is it to achieve, and what benefits does it confer in terms of employer branding? How does ‘London Stock Exchange Group’ resonate as a brand among your target group of employees in Poland?

MR:  We are proud of this achievement. Earlier this year we invited everyone at LSEG Gdynia to participate in the Great Place to Work audit, sharing insights on LSEG’s workplace culture. 89% of people acknowledged that we actively promote inclusive behaviour and avoid discrimination, which underpins our core values of integrity and partnership. Also, 84% agreed with the statement: “I can be myself here”.  This is really motivating. Our aspiration is to be a leading and reliable contributor to the global financial ecosystem and a great place to work and grow. This is possible thanks to our colleagues and their unique skills and engagement.

MB: In my view, this prestigious certificate is the most important recognition a company can get since it is solely based on its employees’ independent opinions and feedback. Michal and my ambition is to live up to our colleagues’ expectations and address the feedback received in the survey. With the new office and the Great Please to Work certification we have started a new chapter in our organisation, and we will keep on building on that.

About LSEG:

LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) is a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, playing a vital social and economic role in the world’s financial system. With our open approach, trusted expertise, and global scale, we enable the sustainable growth and stability of our customers and their communities. We are dedicated partners with extensive experience, deep knowledge and a worldwide presence in data and analytics; indices; capital formation; and trade execution, clearing and risk management across multiple asset classes. LSEG is headquartered in the UK, with significant operations in over 60 countries across EMEA, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. We employ 25,000 people globally, more than half located in Asia Pacific. LSEG’s ticker symbol is LSEG. 

For more information about LSEG www.lseg.com

For more information about LSEG career opportunities in Poland Gdynia, Poland | Where We Work | LSEG.