{"id":204,"date":"2011-09-08T18:35:17","date_gmt":"2011-09-08T18:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/articles\/?p=204"},"modified":"2022-04-06T21:23:37","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T21:23:37","slug":"driving-employee-engagement-and-development-in-shared-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2011\/09\/driving-employee-engagement-and-development-in-shared-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving Employee Engagement and Development in Shared Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than technology or processes, the foundation of a solid Shared Services organization is its people. It\u2019s critical for leaders to create an environment and culture that keeps the team engaged, customer-focused, and innovative. While evaluating various sourcing options, striving for standardization among customers with differing perspectives, and reacting to changing levels of upper management support, consistently driving employee engagement can be challenging.<\/p>\n

Peeriosity<\/a> features a \u201csenior executive only\u201d research area in which Shared Services leaders can collaborate on strategic issues<\/a>. A recent webcast featured a highly interactive discussion among Shared Services leaders<\/a> in which employee engagement and development were discussed.<\/p>\n

A poll of participants indicated that about half make it a priority to keep employee engagement front and center on their leadership agenda, regardless of current challenges, while the other half indicated that it is a priority, but acknowledged that with all of their other priorities, the focus tends to ebb and flow.<\/p>\n

\"focus<\/p>\n

Very clear from the start of the webcast was that there is no \u201csilver bullet\u201d or magic template to follow in regards to keeping employees engaged, happy and productive. Through the presentations and discussions, three common themes did emerge as key pillars for driving engagement.\u00a0 These are strategy, culture, and development.<\/p>\n

Strategy related to the alignment of Shared Services to the Company mission and the objectives of the lines of business it serves. It is the role of leaders to communicate the mission and the \u201cwhy\u201d as to the critical role Shared Services has. Each employee should be able to see the direct line of sight between what they do and the value creation it brings. Using the timeless story of vision and engagement, when the unengaged employee is asked what they are doing they say \u201ccrushing rocks\u201d while they engaged employee doing the same role will answer \u201cbuilding a cathedral.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education of the business lines and how the \u201cback-office<\/a>\u201d is relied upon to ensure external customers receive value from the Company can assist in having employees envision the \u201ccathedral\u201d. Understanding a day in the life of the \u201cfront-line\u201d can go a long way not only in having \u00a0Shared Services employees connect the link between the front and back office, but it will also bring customer service to life for them and why it is so critical that they perform so their colleagues can deliver. The lines between \u201coffices\u201d blur and the work process and output are a result of activities, many of them performed in Shared Services but aligned to the same mission and objectives \u2013 building a cathedral.<\/p>\n

Creating a culture in which this alignment exists and can self-sustain itself takes a concerted effort by the leadership team and it was agreed by the leaders that the head of Shared Services must walk the talk and be the example. To win over hearts and minds for full engagement, employees must see the leader exemplify the values and culture expected of the organization. The collaboration identified many tactics that can accomplish this, with the caveat that leadership can\u2019t be delegated, true empathetic listening must occur, and an honest feedback loop exists.\u00a0 Those tactics include:<\/p>\n