Як змінилася робота ІТ компанії за рік війни. Досвід Метінвест Діджитал.

The full-scale war in Ukraine continues to affect both the personal life of every Ukrainian and business across the country. General Director Serhiy Detyuk and Nataliya Lukash, Director of Human Resources, talk about how Metinvest Digital was able to show flexibility, adapt and ensure smooth operation of Metinvest Group enterprises despite heavy losses and difficult times.

2021 was one of the best years for Metinvest Digital: the company received high profits and planned to work in conditions of stable business growth in 2022. How was the year of the company's work during the war?

Serhiy Detyuk:Last year was extremely difficult. War – this is a terrible and tragic event, which was clearly reflected in the work of our company. After the loss of control over the enterprises in Mariupol and the conservation of production in Avdiivka, which were key clients of Metinvest Digital, we lost 42% of the revenue from the sale of our services.

In a short period of time, we had to make difficult strategic decisions: we reduced some investment programs, changed personnel requirements and introduced a new format of the company's work. We balanced the workload of employees as much as possible. Unfortunately, in the conditions of a critical decrease in the company's income, we were forced to lay off part of the staff, but we paid them monetary compensation for the period of searching for a new job. I admit, losing part of the team was very difficult. From all sides, it was work in difficult and tragic conditions.

However, analyzing the previous year, I see that the company has shown itself to be extremely resilient, professional and united. We kept our business, became stronger, more engaged and responsive, team-oriented and valuable. They learned to be even more responsible for their actions and stayed in touch 24 hours a day to perform their work efficiently. But we not only worked a lot. We supported each other: the volunteer movement within the company has been going on since the first days of the war. In addition, some of our employees are currently defending the country in the ranks of the Armed Forces, and we, on our part, provide them with the necessary equipment, warm clothes and ammunition.

So, I have two feelings: on the one hand, it was an extremely difficult and tragic year, but on the other hand, we, as a team, reached a new level of awareness. After a year of working in war conditions, we have become like hardened steel, which is melted at extremely high temperatures.

What was the peculiarity of business processes in new realities?

SD:When the company made record figures in 2021 and planned to exceed them in 2022, at the end of February, it was as if we ran into a wall at full speed. Not only we suffered losses, but also our counterparties working with the Metinvest Group, as the Group's enterprises were unable to fully conduct financial operations as before. The damage and loss of control over some of the Group's enterprises due to the war also affected the work of our company. We did everything possible and impossible to pay salaries to employees on time and pay taxes to the state. Also, Metinvest Group allocated and continues to allocate significant funds to help the Armed Forces, regional communities and forced migrants. I would like to note that the financial burden on the Group remains extremely large.

Also, one of the challenges for Metinvest Digital was the need to find the right approaches in the anti-crisis management of the company as part of the Metinvest Group. On the one hand, we were able to consolidate making important decisions and made them faster, and on the other hand – gave more powers and independence for rapid current response.

How did the blackout affect the provision of IT services to Metinvest Group enterprises?

СД:Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Metinvest Digital switched to a remote work format in just one and a half weeks: it adjusted all internal work processes and uninterrupted provision of IT services to clients. This is our absolute advantage over those companies that began to switch to a remote work format only with the beginning of the war. Therefore, we were already technically prepared for such a level of disaster as a blackout. Since ancient times, procedures for emergency IT support and recovery of servers of enterprises that lose power and go into forced downtime have been worked out. Before the war, such cases were extremely rare, but now the unstable regime of electricity supply not only to the household, but also to the industrial sector, is our reality. Metinvest Digital experts are ready for any duration of forced downtime of the Group's enterprises due to power outages and can quickly restore the operation of all IT services. Since the beginning of the war, the workload on our specialists has increased significantly. However, the use of modern IT technologies, the ability to work remotely, creative thinking and tremendous efficiency help us find solutions even in such difficult conditions as war and blackouts.

Natalia Lukash:Metinvest Digital – it's a company that works to stay ahead of the curve. We are ready to quickly use all useful developments. Our advantages are: the speed of reaction to changing circumstances and the ability to make tough but effective decisions that contribute to business stability and move the company forward. The way our team decently and effectively overcame the challenges of war and blackout throughout 2022 proves its professionalism. Professionalism – this is a strong feature of Metinvest Digital.

Any business processes are managed and controlled by people. How did the war change the company's employees and affect their work?

SD:The war became the trigger that triggered a certain revaluation of values in people. Being part of a certain community has become much more important than it was in pre-war life. One such community that has a significant impact on a person's life is the company they work for. During the year of the war, we managed to create a fairly high level of corporate comfort and offer employees workplaces in Ukraine where they can work relatively safely and without interruption. This strengthened the desire of our employees to stay working at Metinvest Digital and perceive the work team as one of the important life communities. Employees appreciated not only the benefits of being involved in corporate life, but also the risks of losing their jobs in our company. We see that our employees are ready to integrate even more into the corporate community and give more of their potential to the company.

I also note a decrease in disputes and ambiguity in making important decisions at meetings. It's no secret that in companies, a certain conflict of interests is often created between different functional areas and processes for balance and containment, and on such a conditional "conflict" the company is developing and moving forward. And if earlier it was difficult to find a solution that would satisfy the expectations and requirements of different managers, now managers make decisions that benefit the entire team much faster, and their implementation has become efficient and fast. Team involvement, willingness to cooperate, and focus on the overall result have noticeably increased.

NL:The evolution of the Metinvest Digital team during the year of the war took place in super-fast mode. This was facilitated by incredible team involvement and the level of personal responsibility, that is, the understanding that the result of the entire team depends on each person. When only collective responsibility is provided for in the team, no one is responsible for the result. During the war, almost every employee of our company had a deep understanding that he is part of the team and bears personal responsibility for the result. During 2022, our teams were able to ensure all important processes of the company, as well as timely and fully fulfill obligations to customers.

Man's first reaction to war – fear, confusion, not understanding what to do. In the first moments of the war, the company quickly reformatted work schedules and enabled employees to come to their senses from the events. But very quickly the employees got involved in a full-fledged work process, continued not only to perform their work qualitatively, but also to show initiative, to help the army and colleagues. This allowed us to implement a number of bright projects during the year. In addition, employees quickly learned and mastered new functions for themselves in order to provide support for colleagues and not interrupt work processes if necessary. I am very proud of these surprisingly qualitative changes in the consciousness and work of both individual employees and teams.

What were the results of this year?

SD:Due to the loss of control over some of the Group's enterprises and a significant decrease in the volume of orders, we at Metinvest Digital were forced to adjust and shorten the business plan for 2022. We suspended a number of projects and postponed their implementation to a more stable period. At the same time, in 2022, we fulfilled all our project obligations to the key customer, which nevertheless received financing. Metinvest conducted several in-depth audits of our company's work on the effectiveness of anti-crisis management and our activities in general. According to their results, Metinvest Digital did not receive serious comments, as it implemented the necessary changes in work processes in advance and acted as effectively as possible in wartime conditions. Also, according to the results of an internal sociological study, we increased the level of satisfaction of users and management of the Group's enterprises compared to the pre-war year, and also increased customer satisfaction with our project activities.

I want to note that the ability to quickly change and at the same time work effectively – is a strong feature of our company. Back in the spring of 2022, we worked out two scenarios for the development of events: what we as a company do in the new conditions of war, and what we will do in the event of a significant deterioration of the situation. As a result of working out these scenarios, we saw the expediency of their use, and at the end of 2022, we implemented deep functional and organizational changes in the company. And now we are getting the first positive results – increasing the efficiency of service and delivery directions.

What did the company plan to accomplish in 2023?

SD:An existential task for the top management team of Metinvest Digital – this is to preserve the company as a whole and the expertise of key employees who are the core of the company and after the end of the war will help to restore our activities on the necessary scale as quickly as possible. I see "survival" company in 2023 not only in the control of financial flows, but also in the development of corporate culture, in the involvement and cohesion of employees, in effective interaction with the Group's enterprises, both our customers and with the company's stakeholders and partners. This requires high-quality managerial involvement and difficult routine work. I am focused on a positive scenario in which Metinvest Digital will be able to work, and in the near future will restore its functions and increase the scope of its activities. However, we must also be prepared for any negative scenarios if the war does not end so quickly.

NL:An equally important task is maintaining the atmosphere in which our employees will want to stay. Most of our employees have already noted that the company has done enough and even more than expected over the past year. For me, this is a good marker of the success of my HR team's work in the direction of corporate culture, training and employee support. A task with an asterisk for 2023 for me and the entire company – it is to work anticipating the expectations of employees, customers and partners, to create an island in this difficult and uncertain situation on which you want to stay and confidently move on.

What specialists does the company currently need?

NL:For me, first of all, the person himself is important, and only then his sidelines. First Who, then What? I am sure that if a person has a desire to develop, he can be taught. The match at the value level of the person and the company is also important, and if it is – this is great. Otherwise, successful and long-term cooperation is unlikely. The most important competencies that an employee of our company should have today – it is to be flexible, adaptable, have a high focus on the result and maximum self-organization in the conditions of remote work. Regarding the specific specialists that the company needs today – these are developers with the Microsoft stack, IT infrastructure specialists: network engineers and system administrators.

What do you think will happen to the Ukrainian IT industry and what will happen to the labor market after the victory?

SD:Everything will depend on the wider context: what will happen to Ukraine after the victory, in what format it will be, what will happen to the economy and politics in the country. These are quite interrelated things, since already now the decline of the Ukrainian economy, according to the results of last year, exceeds 30%. This annual drop is the largest in the entire history of Ukrainian independence. And after the victory, it will be a completely different economy and reference point than the pre-war one.

In the conditions of globally positive movements and signals in the country, there is a chance that the IT industry will recover and develop quickly enough, since there is a certain base that can be used. Base in the form of companies, people, attitude, perception on the world stage of Ukraine as one of the IT centers. On the other hand, this is only a certain probability, because now the processes are completely opposite – companies are relocating, a large percentage of customer companies refuse to give their contracts to IT companies if the main part of their specialists is located in Ukraine, because these are risks associated with the lack of electricity and other military dangers. They want stability. Accordingly, IT companies are trying to move their centers to European countries as much as possible and reduce their presence in Ukraine.

NL:A recent study of the Ukrainian IT industry suggests that currently 79% of companies have relocated their offices abroad, but 82% of those companies plan to return if there is a positive environment for this. Regarding specialists – 24% of IT specialists who went abroad have already returned to Ukraine. At the same time, if we talk about desire, then 38% of IT specialists want to leave Ukraine as soon as the opportunity arises. Therefore, such turbulence will still await us.

SD:Compared to other industries, the IT sphere is probably the least affected directly by war, but in general depends on the state of the economy in the country and the development of other industries and industries. If there is a decline in industry – the IT sector will also decline. If the infrastructure in the country is broken and will not be restored, if there is no comfortable living, then IT specialists will not want to live and work here. If educational institutions are destroyed and there are no professional teaching staff left – the country will not produce young IT specialists. Therefore, everything will depend on the general situation in the country. I hope that the countries that help us fight the enemy will also be able to help us rebuild the country, and we will be able to develop Ukrainian IT.

What exactly did the war teach the Ukrainian IT industry?

SD:Through war, we learned how to make effective plans for sustainable development. I believe that the ability to reduce the risks of delivery centers and increase fault tolerance has become critical for IT companies. Big business pays a lot of attention to sustainability and ensuring the continuity of business processes, but a medium-sized business can often not think about long-term prospects as long as there are customers and orders. Accordingly, in moments of crisis, it is small and medium-sized businesses that suffer first. The war became a demonstrative litmus test of the endurance and vitality of businesses, including IT. It is this experience of survival and the ability to plan for the long term – will become one of the most important lessons for many IT companies.

What personally allows you to stay in shape and maintain your integrity at a time like this?

NL:Faith. I believe that this period will end. And I do everything in order to leave after this stage not devastated – continue to live "Charge your batteries" – look for something that will fill and inspire you. Currently for me – it is care and creativity. Self-care comes first: what I feel I need, how I can do it. Once you feel alive and fulfilled, you are able to create miracles, take care of family and friends, colleagues and those who need help.

SD:I learned to react correctly to events, gaining certain experience from them, and I also have certain scenarios in case of different developments and adjust them depending on the situation. Caring for a family is also a powerful motivator. I do what I can and in the conditions where I am. I also see that I provide the value and result that they currently need from me. Metinvest Digital – this is generally my achievement and I want the company to develop and be stable, because I bear full responsibility for it. Probably, this allows me to maintain my integrity in this difficult time.