SeeNews is a business information provider which includes SeeNews.com - the first business information portal for Southeast Europe, SeeNews – The Corporate Wire, which is an independent real-time business and financial newswire providing coverage of the fast-growing companies, economies and markets of 10 Southeast European (SEE) countries, and SeeNews – Research & Profiles – a service delivering comprehensive company, industry, and market intelligence and corporate information and data on business entities from SEE.
The parent company, AII Data Processing Ltd, is active in three main lines of business: information services, data processing and business services, including credit management, telesales and telemarketing, and a BPO (business processes outsourcing) and KPO (knowledge processes outsourcing) provider.
Adriana Popova has been CEO of AII Data Processing Ltd., owner of regional financial and business information provider SeeNews, for 10 years now. Previously, she was Managing Editor for Daily Chronicle newspaper, News Graphics Journalist for Capital weekly and for about six years she held various positions at Reuters, including Media Sales Executive and Sales Executive for Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania.
Would you describe the business sector in which your company is active?
SeeNews is an operation which is active in sectors ranging from online news portals, trough real-time newswire, to research and analytical services. Under the SeeNews brand we also organize conferences and provide event management services.
What do you think about the Bulgarian labour market in your sector?
It is very competitive and changes fast. Human resources are limited and in recent years job seekers seem to be inadequately prepared in terms of education, knowledge and experience. On the other hand, people’s expectations are very high but in most cases they are not backed by the relevant capabilities and experience.
Do you think the Bulgarian labour market in your business area is competitive compared to the labour market of other EU countries? Why?
No, I do not think so because the quality of education in the country is worsening and the link between businesses and universities is missing. Bulgarian firms need to boost their productivity and the professional skills of their employees in order to compete with EU peers. In order to increase productivity firms need to innovate, to introduce new technologies, products and business processes, and invest in the education of their human resources and in the constant learning of their workforce. However, labour force in Bulgaria is much cheaper than it is in the other EU states and although it is not as efficient, it is sill attractive. Lower labor costs offer a substantial competitive edge but we are on our way to lose this advantage. The other issue we have to tackle is that Bulgaria continues to export highly-qualified personnel.
What should be improved in the Bulgarian labor market in this business sector?
The improvement should be an ongoing process, not just isolated efforts in one area or another. This process should include everything from the government’s education policy, schools and universities, education programmes, internships, cooperation between businesses and educational institutions and last but not least, increase in the companies’ investments in knowledge management, constant learning and developing of their workforce.
What is the demand for employees in your business field? What kind of staff is most needed?
Demand is really high. The staff which media companies seek to hire is expected to have experience in the field, command of foreign languages, journalistic skills or education.
In particular, when talking about SeeNews, we have higher requirements towards specific skills; we would look for very good English, at least one of the languages spoken in the region of SEE, business education background. We have long in-house training programmes in news writing, journalistic skills, economy, finance and others for the people we hire.
Do you think that foreigners would be able to fill a labour niche in your business field?
If we consider the SeeNews operation the answer is yes, because our end product is in English. Even at the moment around 20% of the SeeNews personnel are foreigners. We also have the practice to hire locals in the countries which the newswire is covering. Bulgarian-based media, however, should cope with the higher price of foreign-based labor force and language barriers but at least managerial positions can be offered to foreigners.
What does it mean for you to be a manager? What is the challenge in this position?
Being a manager is a round-the–clock challenge. Managers need to understand, and for me this is very important, that no matter at what level they are they are decision-makers and that their companies’ growth depends on them. A manager should be ready to bear the responsibility for the development of an organization and its people, as well as to lead their teams and inspire them and take care of the staff development. Managers should be ready to constantly learn and expand their knowledge and share it with the organization. I would also add that managers should bear the heavy burden of managing and sometimes balancing the contradictory interests of the business and the human resources.
What was your first job?
I started my carrier with the position of Media Sales Executive in Reuters.
What was your first managerial position?
It was Media Sales Executive in Reuters. In terms of managing people and an entire business operation I believe it is the position that I hold now as CEO of AII Data Processing Ltd.
What is your strategy for motivating people?
Young people, I will talk about them as in our company the average age of the staff is 23-24 years, are difficult to motivate. They have all the choices in the world, they are very ambitious, always unsatisfied with the thing they have and in a hurry to achieve their goals or dreams and ready to learn.
Part of the mission of our company is to develop our employees. Summing up the strategies and polices we follow I would emphasize on our efforts to communicate the business goals of the company to the personnel, to invest time and effort in engaging them in our company’s development and raising their awareness that our business is growing because of what they do.
Knowledge management is another very important tool for us to motivate and develop our employees.
Our policy is to ensure career opportunities to our employees, to provide opportunities for growth in the hierarchy or the profession and to delegate more and more responsibilities. The majority of our managers had grown in the company and was not “imported”. Appreciating of the efforts and achievements of the personnel is another way to motivate it.
How do you position your company in the market?
AII Data Processing Ltd. is an employer which gives young people without experience an opportunity to learn and develop professionally, to gather fresh knowledge. We are a company which invests in the people and this is mutually beneficial.
From a business point of view we position SeeNews as the business information provider for Southeast Europe which delivers comprehensive information and analyses to businesses, investors, financial professionals and media worldwide. SeeNews is a high-end reliable source of information, offering the best value for customers looking to take business decisions for the region of SEE.
The parent company, AII Data Processing Ltd., is a leading BPO and KPO provider in Central and Eastern Europe.
Have you been hunted by head hunters? Have you ever used the services of headhunting for filling key or managerial positions in your company?
No. We have never used the services of a headhunting agency. However, we use this technique for filling some of the managerial positions in the company.
What is your opinion about executive search / headhunting?
Sometimes I see executive search as the only way to find the right person for senior or top managerial positions in terms of knowledge and experience. The key to success, however, is the quality of the service and the efficient communication between the headhunting agency and the company using its services.
