“We are a group with a strong centralization of operative models, recruiting and sales models, partly centralized for a concept of service homogeneity,” observes Stefano Tomasi, the Global Head for International Sales and Temporary & Permanent Staffing Practice, and Country Manager for Germany and The Netherlands. “Two thirds of our two billion EUR turnover are realized providing services to major groups and multinationals.”
These clients increasingly work through international tenders: in 2011 the Gi Group participated in three, last year they reached 120 tenders. The group provides absolutely customized services such as candidate selection, workforce management, technological solutions to share all necessary information with clients on a periodical basis, and on-premise solutions for production activities.
Gi Group’s success is due to strategic decisions made from the start, such as a focus on specific markets, and the development of additional services and solutions over time. The group has several brands for various activities in the labour market. For instance, Gi Group is both the holding and the brand for temporary staffing, INTOO is for outplacement, Gi On Board for outsourcing, Tact & TMI for international trainings, OD&M for HR consultancy and training, EXS for executive search, Wyser for mid level search and selection.
For years, the sector of search, selection and permanent placement focussed on covering more and more branches to be well-suited for the future. But now the market will be focussing more on technological solutions and the use of social media.
The group set up the Gi Academy, dedicated to training and informative activities in every country, and focussed on developing the interaction with applicants. Having changed over time, clients now interact with the Gi Group and applicants through the same media.
“This means that technological innovation for the interaction with applicants and systems for applicant management are key elements going forward,” Mr. Tomasi explains. “We act very flexibly in the market and are open to innovations; as a dynamic and young company we are quite ready to catch the opportunities that the market provides us with.”
The company was founded as Générale Industrielle in 1988 by Stefano Colli-Lanzi, CEO and owner. Starting out as a local firm supplying temporary staff for small companies, today the group has more than 200 branches in Italy. The acquisition of WorkNet, the employment agency of the Fiat Group, was a major milestone in 2004. Four years later the companies merged into the one brand Gi Group. International expansion through other acquisitions was initiated in 2007, and currently there are subsidiaries in many Western and Central Eastern European countries, Asia and South America.
In Brazil the Gi Group is among the top three in its sector. From the headquarters in Milan the activities in all these countries of all these subsidiaries are coordinated. In the near future the group will expand into the North-American market with a significant investment. “Due to the fact that we cover so many countries and territories, we are already among the world’s market leaders,” Mr. Tomasi states. “Interesting enough, in our home market Italy we are still growing a lot as well; over 20% growth is very uncommon in our sector.”
