Yuliia Dankova, Chief Financial Officer of Metinvest Group, and Oksana Zaremba, General Director of Metinvest Business Service, presented at an international level the experience of stable and uninterrupted provision of services by MBS employees in times of crisis and against the backdrop of uncertainty, in particular during blackouts and missile and drone strikes.
The forum was held by Deloitte University (Westlake, Texas). The theme of the event was "Opportunities without restrictions": Global Business Services (GBS) participants discussed the need to rethink existing operating models in the era of GenAI and ongoing business change. The focus was on specific tools that will help businesses survive and succeed amid an unstable world. More than 30 executives from companies across various industries shared their ideas, real-life examples and lessons learned.
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A year and a half ago, in Amsterdam, at the Deloitte Shared Services Awards 2024, MBS has already presented its experience in restructuring approaches to supporting enterprises in a global crisis. Then the company won in the "Resilience in Shared Services" category. And this year, the organizers of the GBS Executive Innovation Forum 2026 approached MBS with a proposal to share with American participants their experience of conducting activities during crisis events, in the face of constant air raids and missile and drone strikes.
At the forum, the managers presented the company's experience in transforming business approaches and adapting to new conditions in wartime
We told how our approaches to decision-making have changed, how our interaction with people has changed – both with our own staff and with customers. About our created and highly professional team that was able to adapt to changes, restructure and learn how to manage productivity, efficiency and make appropriate decisions in new conditions amid the crisis.
Representatives of Metinvest Group emphasized the importance of maintaining constant communication with the company's employees in times of crisis, maintaining their mental health, and organizing the provision of professional psychological support – group and individual – if necessary. The desire of young people of the company to unite, develop and do good deeds, such as volunteering and donation, is also supported. The families of the defenders also receive assistance.
The next important topic is our veterans. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, more than 10 thousand Metinvest employees have passed through the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We have now introduced rehabilitation programs for demobilized employees and their family members, adaptation and retraining programs, as well as trainings for line managers. We also have support packages for our mobilized colleagues.
As for the physical protection of the team, protective shelters have been set up at all MBS sites so that people can work safely during air raids.
The main requirement for everyone in times of uncertainty and chaos is flexibility, predictability, stability, readiness to pick up a certain front of work and quickly readjust.
"Productivity was another significant challenge. Despite the challenges of the war, in particular, the loss of the assets, we managed to maintain efficiency. We have returned to the usual practices of continuous improvement. We have retrained employees from uncontrolled territories or shut down enterprises to provide jobs for displaced employees," said Yuliia DANKOVA.
"The developed and tested methods and approaches to work are great, but, as the crisis practice shows, neither they nor artificial intelligence will be able to solve urgent problems, for example, of a military nature," added Oksana ZAREMBA. "Only people! People and their management decisions, taking into account current risks. Because it is impossible to predict the human reaction to a particular crisis situation. Therefore, the priority role in such conditions is the balance of professional competencies and psychological stability of employeeы, the ability to maintain efficiency, balance and calmness even in chaos. And success directly depends on how quickly we react."
