{"id":2428,"date":"2015-12-09T23:03:53","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T23:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=2428"},"modified":"2022-08-04T08:19:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T08:19:00","slug":"lessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2015\/12\/lessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons Learned in Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">While the benefits of off-shoring Shared Services processes are well documented, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2014\/02\/how-to-implement-using-lift-and-shift-and-not-regret-it-later\/\">transition can be challenging<\/a> 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.\u00a0 The bottom line \u2013 transitioning Shared Services to an overseas location is challenging at best, and can often be overwhelming if not approached properly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">During a recent Peeriosity Peercast<sup>TM<\/sup>, the featured company shared its experiences in carrying out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2015\/12\/lessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location\/\">migration of existing processes to a service center<\/a> located in Eastern Europe.\u00a0 These processes were previously performed in other Shared Services operations in the United States, Europe, and China.\u00a0 The following is a timeline of the evolution of the Shared Services organization at this company:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>End 1990s:<\/strong>\u00a0 Started to consolidate simple back-office tasks on a regional level<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>2000-2005:<\/strong> \u00a0Consolidation and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/s\/standardization.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">standardization<\/a> of regional AP tasks<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>2005-2007:<\/strong> \u00a0AR, AP, Basic Accounting consolidated (Europe\/Asia)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>2007 \u2013 2011: <\/strong>\u00a0Smaller transitions to SSC (Treasury, less complex reporting)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>2011 \u2013 2013:<\/strong> \u00a0Back-Office tasks moved from America &amp; Europe region to Poland<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>2014:<\/strong> \u00a0Global Finance back-office by performed by SSCs (China consolidated into Poland\/Malaysia)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>2015:<\/strong> \u00a0330+ Finance employees located in SSC (50% of Finance headcount)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">The processes performed by this newly consolidated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/category\/shared-services-leadership\/\">Shared Services osssrganization<\/a> include Accounts Payable, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2016\/06\/leveraging-technology-to-enhance-the-credit-collections-process\/\">Credit &amp; Collections<\/a>, Financial Planning, General Accounting, Payroll, and Treasury.\u00a0 In addition, the languages supported by this center include English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Hebrew, Portuguese, Chinese, and Mandarin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">As the company evaluated carrying out this type of migration, and then later reflected on its results, some advantages and challenges became readily apparent.\u00a0 They include:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>Advantages<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Overseas locations able to cover multiple time zones (leverage)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Tap into talent pools of emerging countries (better skilled, i.e. languages)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Access to grants and other support<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>Challenges<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Talent retention, attrition, and the company has to adapt to new ways of doing business<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Collaboration with stakeholders while working in different time zones<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Accept faster growth in compensation levels, but on a much lower base<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Along with providing specific details about the leadership of this initiative and their \u201cLift-Shift-Drop\u201d approach to moving processes to the new location, the featured company shared what they felt were some critical steps that ensured the success of the entire migration effort.\u00a0 These include:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>Before \u2013 Have a Business Plan and Vision<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">A clear understanding of impacts on financial results, company culture, and people<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>During \u2013 Keep Stakeholders Closely Informed<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Stakeholder buy-in\u00a0 (prepared for push-backs and lower quality for short time)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>After \u2013 Do Not Stop at Labor Arbitration<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Use a centralized team to drive improvements and delegate authority<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Create a vision\/mission statement to drive collaboration of SSC within the company<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">As they closed their presentation, the presenter emphasized the higher chance of success of this type of initiative when it is driven top-down, has a clear strategy and close stakeholder management, and that the Shared Services operation is then empowered to make the necessary improvements to the processes once they have been relocated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">What are your company\u2019s plans regarding further process consolidation?\u00a0 Is your Shared Services design one that is best suited to meet the future needs of the company or is it time to take another look?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Who are <em>your<\/em> peers and how are you collaborating with them?<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>____________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">\u201cPeercasts<sup>TM<\/sup>\u201d are private, professionally facilitated webcasts that feature leading member company experiences on specific topics as a catalyst for broader discussion.\u00a0 Access is available exclusively to Peeriosity member company employees, with consultants or vendors prohibited from attending or accessing discussion content.\u00a0 Members can see who is registered to attend in advance, with discussion recordings, supporting polls, and presentation materials online and available whenever convenient for the member.\u00a0 Using Peeriosity\u2019s integrated email system, Peer Mail<sup>TM<\/sup>, attendees can easily communicate at any time with other attending peers by selecting them from the list of registered attendees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Peeriosity members are invited to log into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/\">www.peeriosity.com<\/a> to join the discussion and connect with Peers.\u00a0\u00a0 Membership is for practitioners only, with no consultants or vendors permitted.\u00a0 To learn more about Peeriosity, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/\">click here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class='st_linkedin_large' st_title='Lessons Learned in Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location' st_url='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peeriosity.com%2Fshared-services%2Farticles%2F2015%2F12%2Flessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location%2F' displayText='linkedin'><\/span><span class='st_twitter_large' st_title='Lessons Learned in Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location' st_url='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peeriosity.com%2Fshared-services%2Farticles%2F2015%2F12%2Flessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location%2F' displayText='twitter'><\/span><span class='st_email_large' st_title='Lessons Learned in Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location' st_url='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peeriosity.com%2Fshared-services%2Farticles%2F2015%2F12%2Flessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location%2F' displayText='email'><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.\u00a0 The bottom line \u2013 transitioning [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<p><span class='st_linkedin_large' st_title='Lessons Learned in Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location' st_url='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peeriosity.com%2Fshared-services%2Farticles%2F2015%2F12%2Flessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location%2F' displayText='linkedin'><\/span><span class='st_twitter_large' st_title='Lessons Learned in Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location' st_url='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peeriosity.com%2Fshared-services%2Farticles%2F2015%2F12%2Flessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location%2F' displayText='twitter'><\/span><span class='st_email_large' st_title='Lessons Learned in Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location' st_url='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.peeriosity.com%2Fshared-services%2Farticles%2F2015%2F12%2Flessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location%2F' displayText='email'><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.2 (Yoast SEO v19.13) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Transitioning Shared Services to an Overseas Location | Peeriosity, LLC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Transitioning Shared Services to an overseas location is challenging at best, and can often be overwhelming if not approached properly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2015\/12\/lessons-learned-in-transitioning-shared-services-to-an-overseas-location\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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