The FINANCIAL — BSI Georgia, the local representation of Brain Source International (BSI) - an international recruiter, has become the winner of Golden Brand 2007 awards.
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The company claimed to have recruited 70 top management professionals at different companies in Georgia over the last year. During the first year of operations the investment cost of the company was returned, with a substantial growth of 45%. The FINANCIAL interviewed Michael Lelashvili, Head of BSI Georgia, regarding the recruiting business development potential in the local market and the company’s competitive assets conditioning its very “Golden Brand†status.
Q. It’s the very first time for BSI Georgia to be nominated for Golden Brand awards. The company is a big success abroad, especially in Ukraine , where it’s actually based. How do you think winning the Best Recruiter award could further help the company’s image promotion in Georgia, which is a relatively new market for you?
A. For the third year in a row BSI has been a winner of Choice of the Year rate in Ukraine , the results of which were audited by Deloitte. For the second year in a row BSI has been winner of on-line voting, conducted by the Kyiv Post newspaper Best of Kyiv.
BSI is among the five Best Employer companies in Ukraine in the middle and small businesses category according to a study of the Hewitt Associates in 2007.
Since 2006 BSI has been operating in Georgia and this very early period of the company’s activities has already resulted in winning the Golden Brand 2007 awards. Within a year’s period we have managed to achieve impressive results in the country. By means of its European standard management approach, BSI was able to fully meet the requirements of the local market and moreover, incite the growth of market requirement.
Being the winner of Golden Brand 2007 means very much for BSI Georgia and will further contribute to the company’s successful development in the country.  Â
Q. Inquiring deeper, what are the major features you regard to be the motivation for the jury naming BSI Georgia the winner brand?
A. First of all it’s a decent assessment of the international expertise BSI has brought to the Georgian market. The jury became convinced that the company relies on the highest standards of quality regardless of the location factor. We successfully use the most effective methods of search and selection such as: our own database of high quality candidates, regularly updated since 1999, job advertising in the mass media, including the internet, a wide network of reserve candidates who are not actively searching for new jobs, direct search and headhunting.
BSI work goes beyond what is its direct job; we’re more than just recruitment specialists.
The company’s services are not limited to search and selection only. BSI experts will help clients to precisely define the goals and requirements of the search assignment.
At the client meeting BSI consultants provide general information about the job market and compensation packages of local personnel. Upon client request our experts conduct tailored compensation research of specific markets.
In terms of Management Assessment BSI’s team of trained and experienced Management Assessment consultants assist owners and top managers of client companies to solve strategically important issues such as: succession planning, internal promotions, training and development planning, recruitment and downsizing. As a result of Management Assessment the clients receive objective reports on leadership and other capabilities of their personnel as well as training and development plans for key categories of personnel.
Each BSI Management Assessment consultant has an internationally accepted certificate of business psychology and a minimum of 5 years’ experience in Management Assessment.
BSI operates a network of offices in Europe and the CIS Countries. Our network of regional offices allows us to successfully implement assignments in most of the CIS countries, including Georgia, Ukraine , Moldova, Belorussia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Our wide network of business contacts makes it possible to identify potential candidates in other countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. BSI partnership with the international recruitment network AIMS International will help to attract candidates from the rest of the world.
Q. The recruitment business in Georgia is about to get into a rather mature period of development. What are the top features according to which BSI is ambitious to remain a competitive brand in the country?Â
A. BSI is the brand that attracts the best. The company pays attention to its own image when considering professional candidates. BSI is widely known among middle and top managers as the agency offering positions to the most successful and famous employers.
In our search efforts we place high-profile job advertisements in the most popular press and internet job portals. BSI regularly sponsors and attends job and career fairs.
Long-lasting relationships - that’s the other advantage about our company. At BSI we put our clients first. We do our best to build long-lasting relationships. Our corporate culture allows us to develop healthy relationships with our own professionals. That allows our clients to work with the same consultants long-term, sometimes for years. Here at BSI we carefully select the personnel who become our recruitment consultants. They must be able to offer service of the highest quality. Internally we have developed and applied unique training and development programs for our own professionals. We create real opportunities for career growth.
Industry specialization is an ace about BSI. Today our consultants gather expertise in the following business areas: FMCG, Retail Networks, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Financial Services and Real Estate, Advertising, Media and Entertainment, Energy, Heavy Industry, Construction, Agriculture and Chemistry.
To cover all the above areas, BSI consultants are organized into three business units: B2C, B2B and Services.
Business unit B2B works with job requests from industrial enterprises that produce their products for other companies.
Business unit B2C works for companies from the consumer goods sector.
Business unit “Services†gathers expertise for companies in the Financial Services, Consulting and HORECA sectors.
As for International Technologies, in this respect, we use technologies developed by the leading British recruitment training company ARBP.
Q. What do you think is the best means for image promotion for a recruiter and how much is the company’s annual budget in this respect?
A. BSI pays great attention to its image promotion. Our cautious attitude in this respect is well depicted in the corporate values of the company. We’re the professionals launching world accepted business standards and indeed, take relevant care of the company’s positions in the market. BSI is actively engaged in HR activities including organizing events and participating in different presentations. As a rule, the company’s advertising budget makes 10-15% of the total turnover.
Q. The recruitment business is well developed abroad, how difficult is it to convince local companies of the need of recruitment services?
A. BSI has successfully introduced to the Georgian market a totally new business of Executive Search and Recruitment. During the first year of operations the investment cost of the company was returned, with a substantial growth of 45%.
In parallel to the rapid development of Georgia’s economy and fast flow of FDI to the country lately, the demand on top management resources has increased to a great extent. Companies do realize it’s essential to attract qualified professionals and provide them with suitable conditions. Considering the tight market competition, there’s an amazingly big demand on every single professional regardless whether it’s a local or an international company.
At the very early stages of our operations in Georgia, the company’s clients were mainly multinational companies who were included on the list of BSI clients in other countries and intended to enter the local market. Though, today Georgian companies are well presented on our client portfolio. These local companies have perceived the bare necessity of hiring professionals in order to remain competitive in the sector. BSI Georgia turned out to be the very means for finding the right candidate as well as saving time and expenses.
In 2007 BSI Georgia employed around 70 top management professionals at different companies. I’d like to note that all of these people have been a great success so far and no single failure case has occurred as yet.
Q. Philip Morris, Kiev Star, ING bank, UniCredit Bank, Saint Gobain, Dyckerhoff, a very short list of BSI clients in Ukraine , delivered to The FINANCIAL by Tatiana Kolombet, Commercial Director of BSI in Ukraine . Could you please provide the list of the top local and international companies who are your clients in Georgia?Â
A. Our clients in Georgia along with the above mentioned are: AREVA T%26amp;D, ABB, Development Solution, Kraft Foods, Silk Road Group, Nemiroff, Philip Morris, J%26amp;J, major banks in Georgia and many others.
Part of our clients is the segment of companies with who we’ve been in long-term relationships with in different countries including Georgia.
Q. One of the first innovations of BSI Georgia in 2008 was the launch of outsourcing services. What are the company’s priorities going to be this year?
A. The major direction of BSI activities is Executive Search and Recruitment. Besides, we offer a complete portfolio of HR Management services including: Workforce Management (Staff Leasing/Outsourcing, Temporary Personnel, Outstaffing), Payroll Outsourcing, HR Administration Outsourcing, HR Audit, Confidential Payroll, HR Assessment, Staff retention, Training “Assessment Interviewâ€, Developing job descriptions based on a Competency model, Coaching, “Employer of Choiceâ€: PR strategy design.
Q. As Kolombet told The FINANCIAL, recently the services market has been developing very fast. And of course recruitment services are in great demand now, especially concerning financial structures: banks, investment and insurance companies. What are your thoughts about the Georgian market?
A. These sectors are much demanded in Georgia as well, though in parallel to the development pace, professional sources are more intensively required in this respect. FMCG, communications and construction are the best developed sectors in Georgia nowadays.
Q. How would you evaluate the sector development and market competition in Georgia in 2007 and relevant outlook for 2008?
A. We believe the potential, professionalism and 9 years of international experience in this field, makes BSI an ultimate leader of the sector. Though, the fact doesn’t exclude the chance of other new players appearing in this very sphere. Still, companies prefer cooperating with old, experienced and qualified partners than dealing with amateurs. BSI is the very company capable of succeeding in any type of order and sets no geographical limitations in its activities.
About the company:
Brain Source International group of companies’ fact sheet
Managing company “Brain Source International†facts:
- Joint turnover of the companies owned by the managing company “Brain Source International†after 11 months of the year 2007 is USD 9 million.
- December 2007 - establishment completion of the managing company “Brain Source Internationalâ€.
- Offices network which belongs to the companies owned by the managing company “Brain Source International†as it is in February, 2008:
- The head office is in Kiev (Ukraine). There are 10 offices in the world: 9 offices in Ukraine (Kiev, Dnipropetrovs’k, Donets’k, Kharkiv, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Boryspil, Ordzhonikidzhe, Soledar) and one office in the Caucasus (Tbilisi, Georgia).
-Â The company employs more than 90 people at the moment.
Recruiting company BSI facts:
-Â Business field: Middle and Top Management Recruitment (professional recruitment service since 1999).
-Â Brain Source International is the biggest European recruiting company in Ukraine and neighbouring countries (except for Russia).
-Â There are 30 staff recruiting consultants at the moment.
-Â The company currently serves 150 clients.
- Every day we staff at least one new employee (middle or top manager’s level) to our client companies.
-Â The database consists of more than 50,000 CVs of middle or top manager level candidates and is constantly being updated.
-Â Since 1999 we have been employing recruiting technologies by ARBP.
- For the third year in a row Brain Source International has been a winner of “Choice of the Year†rate (the results were audited by Deloitte).
- For the second year in a row Brain Source International has been winner of on-line voting, conducted by the Kyiv Post newspaper “Best of Kyivâ€
- Brain Source International is among the five “Best Employer†companies in Ukraine in the middle and small businesses category according to the study of the Hewitt Associates in 2007.
Staff leasing company “Acumen Outsourcing†facts:
-Â Business field: Staff leasing, Payroll and HR administration (since 2002).
-Â The number of leased employees is more than 1,200 people at the moment.
-Â Since 2002 the number of our own staff employees has increased from 3 to 60.
-Â Work experience with personnel at the 5 plants in Ukraine .
- In 2007 Acumen Outsourcing became “Best Employer†in Ukraine according to a study of the Hewitt Associates.
- In 2005 - winner of “Choice of the Year†rate (the results were audited by Deloitte).
- In Europe staff leasing clients’ number multiplies 1.5-2 times yearly.
The complete list of the awards and certificates received by the company:
- Brain Source International - winner of the competition “Golden Brand of Modern Georgian Businessâ€.
- Brain Source International - winner of the competition “Choice of the Year 2006†in Ukraine for “Recruiting Company of the Yearâ€.
- Brain Source International - winner of the National Award “Brand of the Year - 2004†for “Impeccable Reputationâ€.
-Â Brain Source International - a full member of the European Business Association since 2004.
-Â Brain Source International - the only representative in Georgia, Ukraine , Armenia and Azerbaijan of AIMS International.
Michael Lelashvili
Michael Lelashvili is specialized in: general management/ office administration/ business consulting/management consulting/ recruitment/ business planning/ national and international law/ financial management/ marketing management/ brand management/ lecturing and training/ HR consulting.
Education:
1991 - 1996Â Â Â Tbilisi State UniversityÂ
                      Faculty: Law (Diploma)
                      Highest GPA: 5.0/5.0
1993 - 1995   Business Academy “UNIDO†(Tbilisi, Georgia)
                      Faculty: Economic and Business Relations (Diploma)
                      Highest GPA: 5.0/5.0
1994 - 1997Â Â State Customs Academy of Russia (Moscow, Russian Federation)
                     Faculty: Organization and Management of Customs Service (Diploma) Â
Work Experience:
2006 - Â Â Up-to-Date Brain Source International - Georgia LLC (Executive Search and Recruitment)
Position: Managing Director.
2002 - 2006   “Alliance Holding†- Mineral Water Distribution Company (Moscow, RF)                                      Â
                       Position: Operations Director
2001 - 2002Â State Security Council of Georgia
                      Position: National Economical Security Advisor
2000 - 2001 “Petromar Shipping Limited†%26amp; “Channel Energyâ€
                      (Transportation and storage of oil products)
                    Position: Operations Director
1998 - 2000Â State Customs Department of Georgia
             Position: Deputy Chairman of State Customs Department of Georgia
1995 - 1998 Â State Customs Department of Georgia
Position: Head of the office of Legal and International Relations %26amp; Adviser to Chairman
1994 - 1995Â State Customs Department of Georgia
                     Position: Deputy Head of the Office of Legal and International Relations
1993 -1994Â State Customs Department of Georgia
           Office of Legal and International Relations  Â
                    Position: Chief Expert
Written by Kate Tabatadze
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