SHELL BUSINESS OPERATIONS KUALA LUMPUR: A STRONGHOLD FOR HIGHER VALUE ACTIVITIES etting up their operations nearly tial. It sends a strong statement that SBO-KL • SBO-KL’s success in Malaysia two decades ago, The Shell Busi- does not offer a typical GBS location, but was attributed to three key ness Operations Kuala Lumpur offers an entire ecosystem that is constantly aspects – talent quality & (SBO-KL) which is located in growing and developing. availability, world class infra- Cyberjaya, has come a long way. structure, and govt support. SInitially known as Shell IT International (SITI), Frontrunner In The Field • Expansion plans are based on the company has reinvented itself into the Currently, SBO-KL is one of seven global busi- skills, not scale – hiring from multifunctional shared services company ness operations serving clients worldwide, different sectors and industries it is today. with the current focus of being a hub of allows for new markets to be expertise and centre of excellence. tapped into when it comes to Malaysia, Meeting All Requirements Amongst the shared services in Malaysia, creative solutions. The centre’s setup in Malaysia was attributed SBO-KL has the widest portfolio, comprising • High Performance Culture cre- to three key aspects – government support, of business partners and services in the areas ates employees that are holistic talent availability and infrastructure. Having of IT, Finance, HR, Operations, Contracting in thinking and have a desire been granted MSC status, support, and and Procurement, Downstream Business to improve the bottom-line of policies that was favourable, this was a clear (Order-to-delivery, Customer Operation, the organisation. indication of the government’s commitment Retail Centre of Excellence), Upstream • Malaysia’s sweet spots ac- to helping them grow and develop their Business Excellence, Global Legal Operation cording to SBO-KL are a business. With world class IT infrastructure, and Brands’ Centre of Excellence. multilingual and forward diverse talent pool and government initia- In their early days, SBO-KL focused on thinking talent pool, data tives to support the ecosystem, it boomed providing support and delivering outcome, analytics in both upstream and within five to ten years of their setup. with an emphasis on increasing volume. This downstream processes, and Shell also had a vision for the centre and gradually changed as the centre evolved to the government’s commitment its ecosystem in Cyberjaya to become a place become more multidimensional, positioning to grow businesses. that was inclusive and vibrant, modelled after themselves as the pioneer for IT and Finance a campus setting. The space in Cyberjaya in the region. Currently, the centre has allowed them to realise ventured into bringing in a range of higher their vision and thus, the value activities that would allow them to tap building housing SBO-KL into new markets. As such, they now provide was designed, increasing creative solutions and hiring people from its attractiveness to local various fields beyond their previous scope of talents. activities, to move beyond its core functions. Leveraging on the syn- Some examples cited include hiring tal- ergy and ecosystem they ent from advertising agencies to develop have developed here in creative minds in Asia Pacific in order to run Malaysia, the centre serves events in the region, as well as hiring those as another achievement in the legal field, in order to tackle complex – not just for SBO-KL, but legal issues globally. They also intend on Shell Malaysia as a whole – focusing in the technical space to cater to in showcasing the country the upstream spectrum of the supply chain. as a prime location that This can be seen through the setup of their is both conducive and data centre and the hiring of data analysts. sustainable for businesses The journey to this point, however, was and investments. no easy feat. SBO-KL’s story is one of con- Malaysia’s strategic lo- stant innovation, reinvention and the ability cation has also contributed to harness the full potential of Malaysia’s towards SBO-KL strength dynamic ecosystem. in terms of business con- tinuity. Safe from natural Harnessing The Power Of Language disasters or political insta- As their operations span multiple regions, bility, the Malaysian centre language has always been a focus point from is able to run its operations the very beginning. Over the years, SBO-KL smoothly, preventing busi- has built up this area to cater to 15 different ness disruptions. This in languages and continually expands to new turn, leads the centre to countries in the process. Now, the centre is command a larger percent- utilising this solid groundwork in language age of activities as clients capabilities to drive higher-value activities are ensured higher levels across its operations. of trust and a sense of This comes at a time where multilingual security. capabilities are being challenged. Languages With a rich legacy and are no longer just attributed to transactional 127 year footprint from its activities, but have become a key component parent company, SBO-KL’s in facilitating higher value tasks in areas such 20 year journey is a testa- as sales and marketing, finance, credit and Ngon Kam Yew, GM, ment to their commitment global compliance. Shell Business Operations KL. in utilising the benefits of The speed and progress of SBO-KL’s Malaysia to its full poten- language capabilities is largely attributed to the advantage of Malaysia having a Looking at the company’s dashboard, the upstream business, Shell was able to multilingual and multicultural talent pool. they no longer have a service level agree- improve the outcomes – be it higher success Having been exposed to multiple languages ment which is very transactional – it must be rate or greater speed of completion. With the from young, the locals are able to pick linked back to the market or business that addition of SBO-KL’s language capabilities, up languages faster and more efficiently they serve. The culture is such that its not the process can be replicated across Asia. compared to other regions. about personal KPI, but more of the value Data is also being used to build a strong With the Asian languages under their being added to the business. integration across Shell’s operations, and to belt, they are working to establish European With the understanding in place, em- connect each of their standalone functions languages here as well. Recently, they have ployees feel a strong sense of achievement in order to increase profitability. even included Arabic to their language offer- and inclusiveness every time they complete The biggest challenge that needed to be ings, allowing them to serve joint ventures a task. Productivity comes naturally as they overcome was getting existing staff upskilled in that region. By diversifying this language have the desire to drive meaning and pur- and providing the right technology, tools, component, they are able to stay ahead of pose in all that they do. It’s evident SBO-KL platform and ecosystem in order for them the game, and cover both transactional and recognised this drive and in turn, went about to embark on this Big Data journey, both in higher value activities simultaneously. implementing many of the measures men- the long run and holistically. This led to the tioned above in ensuring every employee birth of the Big Data Upskilling Programme Reinventing The Talent Strategy feel a sense of belonging and pride. which was well-received by the current staff. Besides harnessing language capabilities The implementation of a high perfor- As of today, SBO-KL has also developed a of the locals, SBO-KL has also reinvented mance culture has led them to reduce their Customer Innovation Hub which functions to their hiring strategy to bring in talent from attrition rate to only 9%. Significantly lower improve customer experience by leveraging other industries besides the ones currently than the market average, this is a positive on Big Data and innovation. The hub is able to under their banner, further strengthening indication of the ecosystem that SBO-KL has operate at a faster and more efficient pace, the centre’s blend of skills and value in the been trying to build here in Malaysia. cementing strong relationships with the process. The reason for this is that the line existing customer base and potential ones. between industries is starting to blur, and Forefront Of Technology SBO-KL has also implemented Workday, core functions may require expertise from As the centre continued to innovate, the a cloud-based software to manage their other fields in order to continue to provide need to ride the wave of emerging technolo- HR solutions and policies. Even in their innovative solutions and services for their gies and discover news ways of utilising the Order-to-delivery services, they rely on evolving customer needs. vast data network Shell had built up across its this technology to manage scheduling and As such, the centre has set its sights on global operations became even more crucial. logistics. Innovation is a big part of Shell and those from professional markets who have Malaysia’s sweet spot is its upstream area the X factor that it holds comes from the abil- been in the industry for some time, be it as it is a robust hub for oil and gas in Asia, with ity, space, freedom and culture to innovate lawyers, account managers or advertisers, 950 stations in the country alone and over new methods of delivery and experience for to name a few. This collection of differ- 5 millions customers. Hence, SBO-KL made their customers. ent mindsets tackling new ventures have the move to grow their big data analytics With their Cyberjaya centre growing in opened up new avenues in SBO-KL’s current space, with the mission of gaining insights strength year by year – having built up a syn- business model as well.