International Service Centre Vilnius - Observatory of Public Sector Innovation

To accommodate the growing foreign talent pool in Vilnius and support the city’s economic development, the Lithuanian Government established a unique one-stop-shop style service centre for foreign talent. Specialists representing various important state institutions gather in one place to provide services to foreign talent relocating to Vilnius. This is the first centre of its kind in Lithuania and comes as a great relief for foreigners while improving Lithuania’s image and increasing its attractiveness to foreign talent.

Innovation Summary

Innovation Overview

According to data gathered by Go Vilnius, the city’s economic development agency, Lithuania’s capital could easily employ at least 8,000 more IT specialists to sustain the ecosystem’s growth recorded in previous years. Similar numbers can be seen in the fields of Fintech, Biotechnology and Lasers. After multiple discussions on how to accommodate this emerging need, we established International House Vilnius (IH Vilnius) with the clear goal of providing soft landings for international talents. We started by conducting research to understand the needs of foreigners relocating to Vilnius and establish the pillars on which to construct IH Vilnius. The most important institutions were then invited to join the project – the Migration Department, Tax Inspectorate, Social Insurance Agency and Employment Service. Specialists from each of these institutions work on-site at IH Vilnius serving foreign clients.

In addition to providing foreigners with all the services they require in one visit, the specialists from different agencies can consult with each other and jointly identify the best solution to unusual situations. Continuous improvement work is carried out with partners using customer feedback to indicate processes that are not running smoothly and pinpoint emerging challenges. This helps identify systemic problems that can only be solved when institutions work together.

IH Vilnius focuses on foreigners who create high added value – qualified employees, start-ups, entrepreneurs, scientists. In addition to services and consultations, we also facilitate online and offline informational seminars, workshops, job fairs, networking events, Lithuanian language courses and a mentorship programme connecting foreigners to locals. All IH Vilnius services are free of charge and available to everyone relocating to Vilnius. We have been operating for less than a year, but have big plans for the future. We are constantly looking for the best ways to inform foreigners about procedures and opportunities in Lithuania – be it through informational videos, group sessions, in-depth one-on-one meetings, or community meetups.

In the coming months we plan to launch a specialised “spouse programme” to help international spouses find employment. When foreign specialists relocate to Lithuania, it is very common that their partners struggle to find a job. Our programme will help these people understand and prepare for the Lithuanian job market, explain the best way to look for a job and provide assistance finding one. Another idea we are currently working on is an integration package for each foreigner moving to Lithuania. We are developing a product that will consist of informational material useful for starting a life in Vilnius, as well as some perks – discounts for touristic products, free-of-charge SIM cards, and maybe even a free public transport card for their first days in Vilnius.

IH Vilnius created a unified system to integrate foreigners in Vilnius and is always looking for new opportunities to meet the needs of our clients and exceed their expectations.

Innovation Description

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

International House Vilnius is the first joint service centre of its kind in Lithuania. Previously, talents relocating to Vilnius had to visit several public institutions to undertake the procedures for smooth relocation. Now, all they need to do is come to IH Vilnius and get all the information and services in one place.

International House Vilnius has also increased the quality of customer service. All our specialists go through customer service training, as well as intensive English and Russian language courses. Unfortunately, this is not the norm for most Lithuanian public institutions – foreigners used to name lack of foreign language knowledge in public Lithuanian institutions as one of their biggest obstacles when relocating. Being greeted with a smile and being understood is very simple but at the same time a big step forward, which makes foreigners feel welcome and appreciated.

What is the current status of your innovation?

IH Vilnius will be celebrating its first anniversary on 11 November 2022. Influenced by external factors that are constantly changing (war in Ukraine, changing geopolitical situation, arrival of a heterogeneous talent pool), IH Vilnius has learned to adapt and act accordingly. We have numerous proven services: individual consultations by our specialists, informational workshops, networking events, Lithuanian language classes and a local mentorship programme. However, we are constantly seeking new ways to meet the needs of foreigners, listen to their feedback, adapt our current activities and add new ones accordingly.

Innovation Development

Collaborations & Partnerships

Our partners include official institutions and companies that employ foreigners. The official institutions with which we have partnerships are the Migration Department, Tax Inspectorate, Social Insurance Agency and Employment Service. Previously, they have been widely spread out and had no communication or cooperation with each other. Now they work as a team and jointly identify solutions in difficult cases. IH Vilinus engage with companies employing foreigners by listening to their needs, offering relevant services, including individualized workshops, free excursions for newly relocated and custom information packages.

Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

Stakeholder: Invest Lithuania - Investment Promotion agency. Our aligned goals meet Lithuania’s strategy of attracting foreign investment. We used the numerous common connections to increase overall public support.
Beneficiaries and users: Foreign talents relocating to Vilnius: newcomers are provided with relocation and integration support – all under one roof.
Vilnius: IH Vilnius has improved Vilnius’ image among foreign talents and strengthened its position in terms of foreign investments.

Innovation Reflections

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

We set the following KPIs for IH Vilnius:

1,000 clients served per month
1,500 participants in IH Vilnius seminars per quarter
4/5 client satisfaction rate

All these indicators were reached and exceeded within the first months of opening IH Vilnius.

14,000 foreigners were served in less than a year (on average, 1,500 per month)
Over 2,000 persons participated in IH Vilnius online and offline events each quarter
Over 100 people have taken free Lithuanian language lessons
Over 400 pairs have been matched through our local/foreigner mentorship/buddy programme
Average satisfaction with IH services: 4.8/5
Average satisfaction with workshops and events organized by IH Vilnius: 4.7/5

Challenges and Failures

Numerous challenges were overcome when launching IH Vilnius, among which the main ones were:

1. Unifying specialists representing various institutions. We had to quickly improve specialists' knowledge of foreign languages, create a unified customer service standard, and most importantly, build an atmosphere of trust and cooperation.

2. A physical one-stop-shop amid the pandemic. However, the decision to open a physical service centre paid off – customers, when they are greeted with a smile and positive attitude, feel more welcome and appreciated.

3. The war in Ukraine. After Russia attacked Ukraine, we realised that we could not simply continue our planned activities calmly, but that we had to be proactive about helping Ukrainians. Two days after the war started, we launched a hotline for Ukrainians, had our website translated into Ukrainian a week later, and launched a mentorship/ buddy programme for Ukrainians within a month.

Conditions for Success

Beyond conducting research on our target audience, we use their feedback to help develop our services, adapt our activities and stay relevant. We use client needs to direct our processes and evaluate whether one client’s specific needs can help others.

Shifting our operations from a traditional institutional mindset to a contemporary one-stop shop model. Understanding what was important to our target group helped us make our processes and services less bureaucratic.
Having an inclusive and diverse team with strong leadership is the engine of our project. This helps us ensure no client is left behind and operate as a unified institution representing various government agencies.
Adapting to developing needs, like immediately hiring a Ukrainian project manager to help us better understand the context of the current war, implement relevant activities for refugees and choose the best channels to reach them.

Replication

IH Vilnius is a firm believer in cooperation and mutual assistance. Throughout this short period of time, we have established a strong network that spans past Vilnius to include other big Lithuanian cities – by sharing our expertise in the field. The success model of IH Vilnius will now be implemented by similar agencies in Lithuania’s third-largest city of Klaipėdaand the second-largest city Kaunas (in 2023), where similar one-stop-shops will be serving relocating international clients. We strongly believe that our highly valued customer service is an example to other public institutions. Cooperation among representatives of different organisations, fast case-solving, addressing changing situations in a timely manner and our daily efforts to offer top-notch service are what make International House Vilnius an example to follow.

Lessons Learned

1. Being ready to adapt to the changing situation (war in Ukraine, refugee crisis, new waves of the pandemic) forced us to shift our initial plans multiple times. By focusing and prioritizing needs, we always had the feeling that we were doing something relevant and impactful.

2. Translating “bureaucratic” language into everyday language. Even though it seems that what is written in official documents is clear enough, people usually need a “translation” into everyday language. And the best way to present it is through tools like social media channels and platforms, simple visuals and informative workshops.

3. Communication channel selection was appropriate for the target group: It took us some time to realize we had to use very different channels to identify and reach our target audience (i.e., we use Telegram for Russian speakers, Facebook groups for Ukrainians etc.).