Having a talented and engaged workforce is one of the critical success factors in creating and operating a successful Shared Services operation.  While there is an abundance of real-life examples of companies that operate Shared Services at a sub-par performance level due to a disengaged team of employees, most savvy leaders realize that such an […]

Even when Shared Services is involved fairly early in the typically complex Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) process, carrying out the actual integration with an existing operation can be quite challenging, to say the least.  With often daunting issues faced in such areas as technology, culture, and overall change management, this type of transition carries with […]

Recognizing the successes of Shared Services employees can have a widespread favorable impact on the entire Shared Services operation, typically with just a relatively small investment of time and capital.  There are a variety of approaches to employee recognition, depending on the culture of the company, that include group and individual recognition and formal and […]

Without a specific and deliberate focus on the customer, a Shared Services operation is little more than an internal processing center, regardless of the type of services it provides or it’s level of proficiency in doing so.  The bottom line is that ultimately delighting the customer on a consistent and ongoing basis is the one […]

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 […]

While the benefits of off-shoring Shared Services processes are well documented, the transition can be challenging as companies deal with a wide variety of issues and obstacles, including those related to varying cultures, diverse regulatory environments, rapidly changing levels of labor arbitrage, and wide variances in the maturity of infrastructure.  The bottom line – transitioning […]

For companies operating in multiple geographies, effectively coordinating between Shared Service Centers can be a challenging exercise.  With the traditional approach, where center organizations operate as independent pyramids that at a higher level all report to the same person, leveraging ideas and technologies between geographies is still often a failed effort, with more than enough […]

The move to Shared Services for many large companies with multiple locations and business units has provided tangible benefits that go well beyond cost savings, with improvements to the accuracy and efficiency of many related work processes.  As Shared Services organizations have increased the scope of their services, they are increasingly including processes that are […]

While the achievement of significant cost reductions and high levels of productivity are both very important to every Shared Services organization, there is no disputing the fact that customer satisfaction is also a critical success factor to the overall health of the operation.  However, in the traditional back-office process areas typically found in Shared Services, […]

The nemesis of every successful Shared Services implementation is the challenge of maintaining momentum after transferred work processes become stable and routine.   While this is true for sponsors and customers, there is no group more critical to consider than the employees who work in Shared Services.  Creating enthusiasm, excitement, and motivation in a mature organization […]