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Utilization of a Global Help Desk for Shared Services

To help improve the accessibility of their Shared Services operation to both internal and external customers, as well as deliver a more consistent and higher level of customer service, a number of companies have implemented a Global Help Desk as their “front end” for key processes. For the purposes of this research, a “Global Help Desk” means to have one number or a set of numbers, that international employees, ex-pats, and/or foreign nationals, can call to receive help.  With this design, Tier 1 employees typically handle the majority of the incoming customer inquiries, with a Tier 2 organization in place with highly experienced team members to provide support for more complex or unique issues.  In addition, some sort of case management solution is normally utilized to help track the resolution of customer issues and gauge the overall efficiency and productivity of the Help Center organization.

Recently, a Peeriosity member from a major computers & electronics manufacturing company created a polling question for the Shared Services Leadership research area in regards to the use of Global Help Desks using Peeriosity’s iPollingTM technology.  The poll question addressed how the Global Help Desk was structured, with the regional design being the most prevalent response with 35% of the votes.  This was closely followed by companies that are global in scale but do not use a Global Help Desk structure, at 30%.  It is of significance to note that just 13% of these companies currently have a design where all calls go into one central location across the globe.

how is the company's Global Help Desk Utilization implemented and structured for shared services ipolling

Poll comments shared by the participating Peeriosity members provide additional insight:

Computers & Electronics Member: Our T&E program is global and centralized. All T&E processes, including corporate card roll-out/administration, audit & compliance, Concur deployment team, and help desk are centralized. The entire unit operates out of the same center.

Manufacturing Member: We are in the process of establishing a global process – supported regionally in local languages – that will triage, track, and resolve employee inquiries for Payroll. We are using use the 3rd party to implement and maintain this.

Computers & Electronics Member: We have regional help desk centers, but apply a “follow the sun” shift pattern to cover the globe over designated time frames. This is for all employees globally and not strictly for Shared Services employees.

Manufacturing Member: The IT Global Help Desk follows the sun with individuals in different locations supporting all domestic and international employees. The HR Help Desk supports only domestic employees.

Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Biotech Member: Our Shared Services organization supports both internal and external customers and is, hence, geared to respond to both. All contacts (regardless of the source) come in through the same methods.

Manufacturing Member: Our Global Help Desk is for HR Shared Services.

Does your company utilize a Global Help Desk design for Shared Services?  Is there an opportunity to take your Shared Services customer support to the next level with this type of structure?

Who are your peers and how are you collaborating with them?

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“iPollingTM” is available exclusively to Peeriosity member company employees, with consultants or vendors prohibited from participating or accessing content. Members have full visibility of all respondents and their comments. Using Peeriosity’s integrated email system, Peer MailTM, members can easily communicate at any time with others who participated in iPolling.

Peeriosity members are invited to log into www.peeriosity.com to join the discussion and connect with Peers.   Membership is for practitioners only, with no consultants or vendors permitted.  To learn more about Peeriosity, click here.

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