4 January 2021
B&M Global Services Manila, Inc (GSM), the first services center of leading international law firm Baker McKenzie, marks its 20th anniversary this year by being named as one of the Philippines’ best employer brands by the World HRD Congress and the Employer Branding Institute.
This is the third consecutive year that GSM has been included in the list, which recognizes companies that have used marketing communications effectively to continuously attract, retain and develop talent. Criteria for the selection of winners include linkage between a company’s people and business strategy, people practices innovation, penetration of HR initiatives, the impact of people processes on business and spectrum, and impact of talent management processes.
The recognition is a testament to the strength and effectiveness of the company’s operations, which have continued to grow progressively throughout its 20 year history. As one of the first knowledge process outsourcing centers of its kind, it has pioneered practices in the industry that continue to help drive Baker McKenzie’s profitability and serve as a blueprint for the firm’s succeeding centers around the world and the legal industry in general.
Since 2000, GSM has been providing international customers with high-value client and internal support functions, and local talents from diverse fields with an opportunity to excel and be recognized in the international arena.
Originally established to provide document support services to Baker McKenzie’s then 14 offices in Asia Pacific, GSM is today a strong organization of over 950 experts providing the firm’s 77 offices in 46 countries with a wide range of support functions that include finance support services, billing and collection, document services, meetings and events administration, industry and practice group support, knowledge management, marketing and business development, design services, core IT services, and talent management. It also delivers a unique business model that provides centralized support for the management of large-scale portfolios across more than 200 jurisdictions, enabling Baker McKenzie to be the largest trademark portfolio manager globally.
Driven by a robust and responsive employee program anchored on fostering employees’ continued professional and personal growth, GSM is celebrated as one of the best places to work and has been awarded the 2017 Asia CEO Award – Wellness Company of the year, the 2017 SSON Gold Award for Excellence in Culture Creation, and the 2017 PMAP Exemplar Award for People Program among others. In 2018 and 2019, SSON Analytics also named the company as one of the world’s 20 most admired shared services organizations.
The company’s CSR initiatives have also been honored by partner organizations. The Philippine Department of Education, for example, has cited the company’s involvement since 2015 in the government-initiated annual Brigada Eskwela campaign, which has benefitted countless communities across the country. Within Baker McKenzie, GSM is an acknowledged leader in promoting greater diversity and inclusion, with teams and programs in place to advance the rights and welfare of women, the LGBT+ community and persons with disabilities.
Lorie Barredo, GSM Executive Director says: “From its inception 20 years ago to where it is now, GSM has evolved and transformed to become an important and integral part of the wider Baker McKenzie firm. Our ability to adapt and to stay solidly focused in providing high quality end-to-end services that consistently help deliver exceptional client experience have earned us stronger credibility and good reputation through the years. Driven by our people, who are strongly committed to our culture of high performance, I'm confident that we will continue to have more success stories side-by-side with our clients as we journey on in the next 20 years.”
