A truly global business demands truly global, 24/7 support, and that’s exactly what we have, thanks in no small part to our team in Manila. The Reporter Quarterly investigates.

CARLO MATA, DIRECTOR FOR PHILIPPINE OPERATIONS

Our Global Operations Center was established in the summer of 2007 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of White & Case. Back then, it had five employees who were dedicated to supporting the Firm’s Finance team.

A little over 10 years later and our team, based in the Central Business District of Makati, is a fully mature and integrated part of our global Business Services group. With close to 450 people, Manila is now our third largest office.

Every year, the center handles more than a million requests from colleagues across the Firm, providing centralized back-office support for a myriad of functions, including Business Development and Marketing, Compliance and New Business, Finance, Global Technology Services, Knowledge, Office Operations, and Human Resources.

What started out as a small support function primarily designed to maximize cost efficiencies, has become a priceless asset for offices around the White & Case network.

Chief Financial Officer Steve Wrede says: “Over the years, the Firm has seen the benefit of investing more of its services in Manila, allowing us to expand into a truly 24/7 support function for a full range of functions in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas. Manila now offers around-the-clock support for the entire White & Case network.”

Carlo Mata, Director for Philippine Operations, describes Manila’s remit. He says: “We aim to provide vital support to people and functions across the Firm, enabling them to better focus on serving our clients. We provide superior service while decreasing Firm costs through consolidation, where we can.”

So why did the Firm choose Manila? Jennifer Parks, Asia-Pacific Regional COO explains: “The Philippines has become the location of choice for organizations who choose to take their shared services off-shore because of its young, highly educated, vibrant people, favorable government policies, and predominantly English -speaking workforce.”

Alasdair MacRitchie, Associate Director of London Facilities and Services, says: “The team in Manila is highly adaptable, values strong work ethics, and has a natural sense of customer service. It benefits from having a high proportion of English speakers, as well as people with other language skills, which is essential when providing a global service.”

Despite winning rave reviews from people across the business (see panel) the Manila team remains focused on ongoing improvement.

Carlo says: “We are constantly going through the process of improvement – reviewing the data we have and implementing the right initiatives. A large part of this process includes feedback, so I’d encourage anyone who contacts us to give us objective and timely advice on what we do well and where we can do better.”

A passion for the community

Our team in Manila is actively involved in several outreach programs, which have been carefully selected to provide a lasting and positive impact to causes close to the hearts of our employees.

We have chosen to partner with organizations that can give us the best opportunities to create programs that are sustainable and will engage our employees.

These include Dreambuilders, which aims to protect and empower children; environmental cause Earth Warriors; and Hope Scouts, which offers financial aid and assistance to help families in need to become more self-sufficient, happy, and productive.

Take a look at just a few examples of the way we contribute as global citizens in the gallery below: