Globalising Your HR Shared Services

CentrePresenter – Patrick Acheampong

September 2011

What do you mean by global? Start with the Why Key factors to consider (location, people,

culture, processes, technology) Change management strategies Managing your global centre Measuring and sustaining success

Todays Journey

What do you mean by global?

Which model?

Centralised Multi-location

Pros◦ Management easier◦ Single currency

Cons◦ Exposure to single

location◦ Management of shift

workers

Pros◦ Business continuity◦ 24/7/365 coverage◦ Multi-cultural/lingual◦ Labour cost arbitrage◦ Opportunities for captive

offshoring Cons

◦ Management challenges◦ Technology challenges◦ Collaboration issues

Start With The Why

Optimise economies of scale Flexible capacity planning “Follow the sun approach” 24/6 or 24/7 Risk management -Business continuity Increase outsourcing/offshoring options Inconsistency in global process Inconsistent client experience A multi-lingual approach Add value to your organisation

What problems need to be solved?

Key Considerations

Location There is an existing in-house infrastructure to support the SSC.

There is an existing management structure that can support the SSC.

Linguistic capability of a location

Local talent pool

Relative cost of setting up and running the SSC

Currency stability and arbitrage

Political considerations

Labour pool

Suitable available real estate

Local laws or cultures that inhibit your ability to perform effectively and efficiently

People - Who

Hire for will, not for skill

If you begin with “who” rather than “what”, you can more easily adapt to a changing world.

If you have the right people onboard, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away.

If you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won’t have a great shared services organisation.

Specific knowledge and skills are teachable traits. Traits such as character, work ethic, basic intelligence, dedication to fulfilling commitments, and values are more ingrained.

When you know you need to make a people change, actThe only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving.

When in doubt, don’t hire. Keep looking. Avoid hiring selfish, negative, or egotistical people – don’t make exceptions to this.

The right people want to be part of a winning team and contribute to producing visible tangible results. When the right people see a simple plan with a compelling vision, they are more likely to say “count me in.

Hire bi-lingual staff where appropriate Put your best people on the biggest opportunities, not the biggest problems

People - Incentives

It’s Who You Pay, Not How You Pay Them

If you have the right people on the bus, they will do everything within their power to help the SSC succeed, not because of what they will get for it, but because they cannot imagine settling for anything less.

The right people will do the right things and deliver the best results they’re capable of, regardless of the incentive system.

Compensation and incentives are important. The purpose of a compensation system should not be to get the right behaviours from the wrong people, but to get the right people on the bus in the first place, and to keep them there.

Hire people who believe who believe in what you’re doing, not people who just want to work for the money.

People - Training

What's worse than training staff and them leaving? Not training people and them staying

Working in a global HR SCC requires a different skill set and mind set

Top SSC’s provide 40 hours per year training on average Invest in cross cultural training Customer service Project management Technology skills Remote working and networking Language skills Lean process methodology

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Culture eats strategy for breakfast

Create a culture of achievement and continuous improvement

Instill a passion for metrics Cross cultural sensitivities Create a global identity and set of values Cultural exchange visits

Culture

Process- Guidelines

Process - Globalised Be

◦ Agile◦ Scalable◦ Sustainable

Do◦ Create efficiencies◦ Create value

Have◦ KPI’s◦ SLA’s◦ No geographical regulatory restrictions

Process– What About Outsourcing?Outsourcing will become a functional necessity.

As service providers mature, outsourcing entire business processes will become commonplace.

Based on the economic theory of comparative advantage, a specialist (an outsourcing provider) that provides a service to many has a far lower cost than an internal function that provides a service to a few. The end result is an economic advantage for both.

Progressive shared services organizations will integrate business process outsourcing—both full service and discrete— into their business strategies

A multi-location global SSC provides for closer vendor management of a low cost outsourcer

Technology Considerations Use technology to underpin well designed processes, not replicate badly

designed ones – Avoid automating failure! Clean the data and keep it clean through auditing. It makes for more

robust workflow, reporting/business intelligence and self service. Don’t try to make ERP do much more than they were designed to do.

Simple in-house applications can be cheaper and more effective, especially at upgrade time.

A modular rather than big bang implementation approach means a quicker ‘time to market’.

Web apps facilitate remote working. Leverage existing technology to keep costs down. Access to technology for your client base. Build internally, or buy externally? Shun technology fads AND pioneer the application of technology Technology should be subservient to the needs of your SSC operation, not

the other way round

Technology – the advantages

Automating routine processes reduces the need for manual intervention, errors, labour costs.

Provide a platform for growth without necessarily increasing cost. Cost per transaction should reduce as volumes increase.

Improved auditability and compliance with regulators. Manage risk through tighter control. Well-designed and automated

processes provide a perfect platform for implementing appropriate controls.

Consistency of process leads to greater data integrity. Lower training costs (eventually) Disaster recovery resilience Ease of use for clients. Fewer queries for the SSC Effective and efficient transaction measurement – “what gets measured

gets managed” The right technologies accelerate momentum towards your goals

Technology – Primary Applications

Payroll◦ Online payslips

Recruitment◦ Psychometric testing◦ Screening◦ Job applications

Self Service – Manager and Employee ◦ Updating personal data◦ Managing employees data◦ Viewing performance reviews◦ Kiosks

Business Intelligence/Reporting◦ Dashboards◦ Metrics◦ KPI and SLA tracking

Document Management◦ Increased staff productivity due to a reduction in time spent looking for documents as well as recreating, filing,

copying and scanning documents.◦ A reduction in the cost of storing paper documents◦ Better control of the security, monitoring and flow of information

ERM/CRM◦ Web portal - More effective management of client issues◦ Knowledge Base◦ Call centre/service desk◦ Consistent answers- Less shopping for answers

Collaboration tools – email is not your best collaboration tool! Project Management BPM/Workflow

Managing Change

Change Management - Startup

Utilise a structured change management approach from the initiation of the project

Have dedicated resources on the project, not part time

Create a shared vision at the beginning of the project, it is important to define common needs and drivers for transitioning from a local to a global shared services and how these are linked to the overall organisational vision.

Show the destination of the change journey and the benefits

Active and visible participation by senior leaders in all geographies

Advocacy by management levels including middle managers and front-line supervisors

Communications that describe the need for change, the impact on employees and the benefits to the employee (answering WIIFM)

Do your homework to avoid “yeah but we’re different syndrome”. Learn various cultural cues and work styles

Generate some quick wins

Change Management – Ongoing Operations

“If your company isn’t going through so much change you can’t stand it, it won’t even be around in 5 years” – Connie Podesta

Regular surveys Create a forum for regular SSC performance reviews with customers. Create a forum for regular SSC performance reviews with the SSC staff. The use of KPI’s and SLA’s to monitor SSC performance.

◦ An SLA for each process and task within the SSC.

◦ Specific measurable targets.

◦ Tools to allow reporting on SLA’s.

◦ Review the SLA’s on a regular basis to ensure they are still relevant. Comp and non-comp incentives to address staff morale and retention issues Regular, structured staff training. Primarily in the areas of:

◦ Process re-engineering

◦ Technology

◦ Customer service

Managing Your Global Centre

Example Global Structure

Global Employee Self Service

Governance Global Shared services head with a similar level of authority to

business unit heads

Run it like a business

Appoint a liaison, or “account manager for each country served

Global specialist networks to ensure global consistency

Have a clearly defined and communicated mission and vision statement

Service level agreements in place

Marketing & sales (for current and new business)

Annual strategic/business planning processes.

Beware of chargebacks (currency and corporate tax risks)

Measuring and Sustaining Success

So You’ve Done It, Now What?

Continuous improvement program Form quality improvement teams Robust Business Continuity Plan Adequate risk profile monitoring

Sustainable Success

Most of all…

Celebrate Success!!!!

What do you mean by global? Start with the Why Key factors to consider (location, people,

culture, processes, technology) Change management strategies Managing your global centre Measuring and sustaining success

Todays Journey

Q&A