Expats and local managers in BCRes new team

The presence of expats in the management of a bank purchased by Erste does not have to be a “permanent solution”, but the minimum period for knowledge transfer to be performed is three years, says Rupert Dollinger, head of Erstees human resources department, the BCRes majority shareholder. He says the secret to have an efficient management team in a branch of an international group is to find the “right blend between a local team and the foreign one.” For the banks in the region, which are members of Erste Group, there is no specific model to follow. In Hungary, the branch is headed by a local management team, in Slovakia the CEO is Slovakian, but two Austrians are part of the management board, in Serbia the bank is headed by a “Bulgarian who transferred from Vienna,” according to Dollinger, and in Croatia, the management of the bank is handled entirely by a local managing team. So far, Martin Skopek from Ceska Sporitelna has been brought on board as vice-president for Retail Operations. Helmut Hintringer, ex-CFO of Erste Bank Hungary, is expecting the approval of the NBR (National Bank of Romania) to become part of the board of management, where he will be in charge with risk management, currently being an adviser in this field.