Is your Shared Services Centre high or low performing? Shared Services is a well established approach for the provision of high quality, cost-effective business support processes. However not all Shared Services do well. There is evidence that best practice Shared Services organisations do provide significant benefits, but poorer performers struggle to do better than the traditional “back office” model. Best practice Shared Services ensure that benefits accrue through continuous improvement and new ways of adding value. Poorer performing organisations fail to realise their full potential and have to grapple with issues such as:
- Customer service complaints
- Process failure
- Poor morale
- High staff turnover
- Ineffective technology
- Cost savings behind target
Also, unless the “art of the possible” is understood, the potential for additional value added is missed. Take the case of a mature Shared Services organisation which is performing relatively well but is faced with a variety of pressures. Senior executives may be constantly pressing for additional savings. The Shared Services leader has heard of others who seem to have done well. How should he or she choose what to do next on the development path for Shared Services?
Download the Shared Services Optimisation Paper