Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[00:19]
Hello and welcome back to the HFS GCC Advantage. In this series, we speak with GCC and GBS leaders about how the GCC model is evolving, and enterprises move beyond scale and efficiency outcomes towards data, AI, and business value. Today’s discussion is focused on global business services and the next phase of enterprise value creation through them. To talk about it, I am joined by Steve Rudderham, Senior Vice President, GBS at Ecolab. GBS operates in businesses where efficiency, sustainability, customer outcomes, and operational resilience all are important. That makes the role of GBS very interesting because the question is no longer how long or how the services are delivered. It’s about how the GBS can help the enterprise make better decisions, use data more effectively, build future-ready talent, and create measurable value for the enterprise. So, Steve, welcome to the show.
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[01:21]
Great to be here.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[01:24]
Thank you. So Steve, the first question, before we get into the overall transformation journey, a little bit about you, Steve. Can you give us a brief overview about what you have been doing, and also at Ecolab, the overview of Ecolab, the role that GBS is playing within the enterprise, and your own perspective on how GBS itself has evolved over the years?
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[01:47]
Sure, well, I’m fairly new. I’m three months into my new role as GBS leader at Ecolab. Previously, I’ve been within kind of the GBS industry for the last 15 years with different roles at Kellogg, at AkzoNobel, and more recently at Carrier. And then prior to that, I was around the various BPOs, having grown up in GE and the whole GECIS, which is probably showing my age a little bit. But really exciting to be part of Ecolab now. Ecolab’s a global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions. We’re actually across over 170 countries around the world, and now you’ve heard the word Ecolab you’ll probably see us a lot in a lot of the public restrooms that you’ll go and visit with the soap dispensers, etc. I’ve had a lot of my family tell me that now. So GBS has been a part of Ecolab as part of kind of like shared services for several years, but it’s really started to ramp up in the last three years. And it’s an integral part of the “One Ecolab” strategy, which is looking at customers, our customer-facing teams, but also the company functions as a whole within there. So we’ve had to make this pivot from transactional and look out of the traditional shared service model to really into an organization that’s in charge of driving standardization, true end-to-end ownership. So not just looking at, you know, kind of, you’ve heard of all the cash or source to pay, we’re going out all the way to kind of lead to cash. So what we’ve done is we’ve divided all of the kind of the processes in the business into nine very distinct true end-to-end processes. And then GBS is going to act as that kind of connector between functions, between geographies. It helps scale the best practices within there. So, you also asked how GBS has evolved over the years. And, you know, I’m really excited to be part of Ecolab because I’ve also been part of GBSs that have just been about cost. It’s just been about, you know, transactional productivity within that. And I really see GBS, or GBS plus, as it’s called within Ecolab, as this real connector. We sit at the intersection, we’re to talk about data obviously, but process, data, people and technology now. We’ve got massive insights there, and that whole combination gives us an opportunity to be a true strategic partner, which I think a lot of companies have missed out on. And those that are really going to forge forward and be successful, they need GBS to be that connector, which is what I see at Ecolab.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[06:03]
Thank you, Steve, for sharing. In fact, even I was at GECIS for some time, so we both have the same genes in some way. My second question to you, Steve, is that many GBS organizations, they started with a focus on, like you mentioned, efficiency, cost, standardization. And today, much of the conversation is increasingly about enterprise outcomes. So how do you define value at Ecolab, and how has the role of GBS evolved in driving that value? I mean, what does enterprise value mean today versus what it meant many years ago?
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[06:44]
I think, you know, cost efficiency, we grew up with that within GECIS. They’re no longer differentiators. They’re expectations. They’re the table stakes. The real question now is, how does GBS directly move the needle on enterprise performance? And for me, within Ecolab, there’s a couple of things within there. One is obviously growth. How do we help support and drive the growth of the company out with the customer base? The cash flow, the growth enablement, how do we improve on those customer experiences, that type of thing? But we’ve also got value in terms of what can we give back to our own internal commercial team as well, and some of the tasks that they go through, but also the information that they need to work better with their clients as well within there. So I spoke earlier about this enablement of true end-to-end processes going right from the beginning, from the lead piece. And we see that it kind of mirrors a broader shift across the market where GBSs are, they’re positioning themselves more as a transformation engine versus a service provider. And you see in some GBS leaders as well calling themselves transformation leads. So the opportunity there is it’s really an extension of the business, not a function within it.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[08:16]
Great. Could you give an example, a very specific example of outcome enablement or improvement through the GBS? Enterprise outcome enablement or improvement through the GBS?
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[08:28]
Yeah, there’s a couple of things within there, I think, is those traditional metrics that we all love to talk about, the cost per transaction, SLAs, those are those table stakes that I talked about. But it’s that ability to influence the enterprise KPIs that’s within there. And I think about customer experience that’s there, but also growth. And when we can start looking at how are we actually driving better growth with clients, and think of the touches that we have, particularly in the lead to cash, the lead generation, getting the information to the clients. How do we set them up within the system, the credits, all the credit limits, those types of things? But then the experience that they’re having all the way through, kind of like order management as they go through the delivery, those types of things. And then the interactions that GBS is having there. So we all measured on a particular set of clients. We’ve got kind of the top 35 that, you know, GBS is very much involved in within there. So I’d say that’s probably one of the bigger measures. And then internally, the time that the customer-facing commercial team is spending with the customer, that’s a very clear measure, and GBS needs to help drive and increase that. The more time they spend with the customers, the better. So we’ve got to make everything as efficient as possible at the back end, not only on activities but on the data we provide as well.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[10:03]
Yeah, good that you ended on data because that would be my next question, Steve. At HFS, we often talk about the journey from reporting to decision support and ultimately treating data as an enterprise asset. So from a GBS perspective, how’s Ecolab approaching that shift? And how are data and AI helping drive better decisions and business outcomes?
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[10:26]
Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of excitement, obviously, around AI technology at the moment, but you’ve absolutely got to get your source data right. And I think what we’re seeing across the board now, and Ecolab, you know, included, is there’s this shift from data kind of being a byproduct of a process to a true enterprise asset that’s within that. And we’ve aligned, you know, some very senior talent around there to make sure that customer master data is correct, vendor master data is correct, the financial master data is correct, you know, so that we can do the reporting within that. And what that does is that then moves us into enabling kind of real time decision support. The information that the commercial teams have about their customers, we can start accelerating that to shape these business outcomes. You know, the one risk that enterprises always have is that they go so fast within AI and technology because that’s the sexy thing that everybody’s talking about, and they don’t look at data. So, you know, a critical enabler of this is ownership, but it’s also, you know, governance. And again, back to this end-to-end processing, we’re seeing a clear accountability for this, the definition, the governance, and then how do we standardize it, cleanse it, and then use it for, you know, an accelerator really for AI and technology as we go through. Because without these consistent processes, you don’t get the consistent data, and then you just can’t scale AI after that.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[12:04]
Any business decision that data was able to change or the work that you did, you were able to change the old way things were done? Any example?
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[12:16]
Yeah, I think a good example is the way that our collections team would be, I would say, behaving on a monthly basis. Obviously, you want to get as much money back into the business, you know, improve those collections, reduce your past dues, etc. Where you’ve got data on the clients on their actual paying behaviors, you start to see patterns on customers that may commit to paying, but they paid two days late, and they always pay two days late. Do you want to spend time getting those customers on the phone when you know and data shows the trend of when they actually pay? Or do you want to go after those customers that only pay after the third phone call? So once you’ve got that data and that behavior of each of the customers, you’re able to start strategizing on where you spend your resource time talking to the customers, seeing where there’s issues, any disputes that’s out there, which customers have a higher level of disputes during the month, that type of thing. So that’s where we’ve used it to really start driving some concrete business decisioning.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[13:29]
Thanks Steve, I think very relevant example. And moving on, as GBS organizations become more data-driven, AI enabled, the talent model also has to evolve. The kind of people you look for, the kind of skilling programs that you need to really build, build versus buy talent, capabilities, priorities are changing from a skills perspective. So what skills and capabilities are you investing today? And how are you building a workforce that can thrive in this environment today and in the future?
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[14:01]
Yeah, absolutely. It’s a great question because I’ve just come from kind of a world tour around all of our centers, and there’s such excitement about what Ecolab is doing with AI, with technology, with the whole data piece, and everybody wants to be involved. So this isn’t just a straight replacement of any talent that you’ve got in the past. This is about how we do the reskilling within there, but also how we bring some talent in as well. So you’re going to have to get, I would say, some more specialized expertise with things like advanced analytics, with AI, those type of things. But what we’re wanting from our own teams is things like problem solving, data analytics, proficiency in digital is another great example. And what we’re doing at Ecolab is then training all of our associates, not only in the traditional kind of continuous improvements that we’ve done in the past, but also on the basics in AI, automation. And what that does is that gets people thinking of how can I improve my own job with technology. So giving them the knowledge but then the tools as well, bringing some outside knowledge in as well, and then you see the whole organization evolving and driving forward. So it’s a really exciting time to be in GBS with what we’re helping people learn but also bringing in fresh talent as well.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[15:28]
Excellent. Steve, looking ahead, what does the next chapter of Ecolab’s GBS organization look like? I know you are new in the system, but you’ve been an old pro at this. As AI becomes more embedded in overall workflows, data becomes very important. How do you see GBS evolving as a strategic partner and value creator for the enterprise? What are you investing today to prepare for that future? And how will leading GBS organizations look like from the average organization, considering Ecolab to be in that category of a leading GBS? I mean, do you think your KPIs will change three years down the line as compared to what they are today?
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[16:08]
Yeah. And it’s not just about technology deployment and ensuring that we’ve enabled that, it’s about how are our teams working differently. And that will be not only using AI and data with everyday decisions, but we’re more connected to the business. We’re more connected to our stakeholders and we’re a lot more proactive. So I would say that, you know, one, two, even three years from now, it’s about having an organization that’s got the right talent. We’ve just talked about that. But we are a trusted partner and the stakeholders are seeing us differently. We’re connected with them and it’s not a support organization anymore. It’s one that brings ideas. It’s one that challenges the internal stakeholders, but also challenges the market as well. You know, if I look at successful GBS or GCCs versus kind of the traditional, I just see this gap is going to widen. You’ve got organizations that are really investing in GBS, which I see Ecolab doing, in making sure it’s an enabler for the organization, an enabler for growth, and an enabler for differentiation. And then that means that we’re embracing change and we’re really driving towards competitive advantage. Those that don’t invest and are just about cost out, they’re the ones that’s going to almost be a laggard and hold the business back if they don’t get that right within GBS. So exciting time to be in GBS, exciting time to be in Ecolab.
Achyuta Ghosh — Executive Research Leader, HFS Research[17:39]
Thank you, Steve. Your views align very well with what we at HFS also think about the evolution of the GCC and the GBS sector. Thank you for joining in and sharing your perspective. What really stood out for me is the way GBS is moving from service delivery to value creation. Their data, AI, talent, they’re not separate conversations. It’s a connected conversation that’s happening and that’s going to drive GBS. I also like the emphasis on building talent pools of the future, and, you know, technology alone will not change the model. Thank you again for being part of the show, Steve. Thank you, and to our viewers, stay tuned for yet another episode coming very soon. Thank you.
Steve Rudderham — Senior Vice President, GBS, Ecolab[18:16]
Appreciate it, thank you very much.
