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Outsourcing high-risk non-core HR functions Part 3: Important steps to take when preparing to outsource occupational health
The biggest value with Occupational Health (OH) is that it provides people with the necessary tools to help speed recovery and return to work. Caring for the staff’s wellbeing also leads to a productive workforce. Yet, not every HR department has the necessary resources to invest in OH or to make sure that sensitive medical data is kept separate from general employee data. This is why most companies choose to outsource their OH service.
However with any important outsourcing initiative, companies should first know their requirements; thoroughly assessing their policies and current practices before looking for a service provider who can fulfill those needs.
In this article we offer tips for companies preparing to outsource OH and the particular challenges facing multinationals.
| 0 comments |Outsourcing high-risk non-core HR functions Part 2: Harmonizing your Occupational Health Model across different jurisdictions
Maintaining the health of a workforce is a challenge to every company and even more so when it comes to managing a multi-country network of employees.
Whilst every well managed company should seek to apply equal health standards irrespective of the country in which their employees are stationed, they should do so in accordance with international healthcare quality standards.
In this article, we look at harmonizing an occupational health model across different jurisdictions, and the challenges involved in delivering consistent services throughout the different jurisdictions.
| 0 comments |Outsourcing high-risk non-core HR functions Part 1: The Fundamentals of Occupational Health (OH)
Every company knows that employees are their biggest asset; that the promotion and maintenance of the physical and mental wellbeing of every member of staff is essential if they are to carry on working properly. A company cannot operate effectively otherwise, and ill health can cost organizations a lot of money in the long run.
But it is not just the direct cost of an employee’s salary which is at stake. As the International Labor Organization (ILO) states, "Indirect costs of an accident or illness can be 4 to 10 times greater than the direct costs".
In this article, we look at the fundamentals of Occupational Health (OH), often described as "the effect of health on work and the effect of work on health" and how companies can promote returns on employee investment by outsourcing specialized OH services.
| 0 comments |The New Normal Part 3: Embracing the Digital Age through Innovative HR Approaches
We are at the halfway mark in a revolution where all things are becoming digital.
The first part of the revolution has passed and the next leg will mark an increasingly digital society with fundamental shifts in attitudes and behavior. In twenty years’ time managers will have grown up with the New Normal and will be digital natives. However, the next few years will impact organizations significantly as they come to terms with how they need to be organized internally.
In this article, we look at how companies can embrace the digital age and cultivate the New Normal through innovative HR practices.
| 0 comments |The New Normal Part 2: Designing organizations to accommodate Digital Natives
The concept of the New Normal states: ‘We are halfway through the digital revolution.’ Over the next few years’ technology will become a part of everyday life, and the outcome will inevitably be a society without digital limits.
Digital has become the New Normal, and the next few years will impact organizations significantly as they come to terms with how they need to be organized internally. In twenty years’ time managers will have grown up with the New Normal and will be digital natives. But today, how can companies accommodate the New Normal generation currently entering the workforce while still meeting the needs of the analog generation?
In this article, we look at how to bring together the analog generation with the younger, networked generation and how HR will play a vital role in this process.
| 0 comments |The New Normal Part 1: Three new realities companies must embrace today
The New Normal refers to all things we call 'digital'. 'We are halfway through the digital revolution,' states the concept. Digital is becoming the new normal. In a society where technology is becoming a normal part of everyday life, the outcome will inevitably be zero tolerance for digital failure.
The next few years will impact organisations significantly as they come to terms with how they need to be organised internally, and address a society without digital limits. In twenty years' time, managers will be digital natives who have grown up with the New Normal. But at present, how do we bring together the analog generation with the New Normal generation and still serve both communities in organisations today?
In this article, we look at the three new realities companies must urgently embrace today to keep up with the New Normal.
| 0 comments |Trimming the Fat from BPO Transformation Part 2: Transitioning in 24 months maximum
Transforming your organization to international General and Administrative (G&A) BPO is about creating more efficient business processes. In the end, the transformation should mean reduced general and administrative operational costs.
Unfortunately, the actual process of transformation can be, if not handled carefully, time consuming and costly. The typical timeline for a large, multinational transition process can run in excess of 10 months per country.
However, when the five strategic transition waves suggested in this article are optimized for speed and quality, the timeline for the entire transformation can be reduced to a maximum of twenty four months, all countries included! Needless to say, this reduction in time equates to additional costs savings.
| 0 comments |Trimming the Fat from BPO Transformation Part 1: How to reduce the costs of the transition process
Transforming your organization to international General and Administrative (G&A) BPO is all about creating more efficient business processes. In the end, the transformation should mean reduced general and administrative operational costs.
Unfortunately, the actual transition from “as is” (existing organization and processes) to “to be” (optimized organizational processes that better serve the company’s business objectives and market challenges) can be, if not handled carefully, time consuming and costly.
However, with considerable upfront planning and a well-designed strategy, the transition is ripe with opportunities to not only drastically cut unnecessary costs, but to also simultaneously ensure the smooth and rapid success of the entire project. In the transition to G&A outsourcing, speed and quality are achieved by reducing timelines and producing quick successes.
This article offers six winning tips to help you improve speed and quality, saving both time and money.
| 0 comments |Productivity gains? Small change in comparison with the higher stakes!
Alain Sommer, Associate Professor of Finance and Project Management in Healthcare Services at the CNAM, discusses productivity gains and how a small change can lead to higher stakes. As soon as a merger is announced, Shared Services Centers are on the agenda, with the aim of harmonizing administrative and financial processes, ensuring the accuracy of data and increasing productivity. Someone is appointed to manage the deployment of Financial Shared Services Centers, preferably with the support of a reputable firm. With a good team, it is possible to open three, four or five Shared Services Centers in Europe, America or South-East Asia within less than two years... Two years after a Shared Services Center has been set up, it is realistic to expect to have productivity gains that go a long way toward covering the cost of the transformation. Monitoring is the main advantage followed by improved financial management. The increased reliability provided by Shared Services Centers is alone worth much more than the 20 million in savings.| 0 comments |Getting the right people for your Shared Services Center
Who are the right people for your Shared Services Center? Running a Shared Services Center is about running a business, understanding what it takes to deliver services with cost, quality and timeliness that are competitive, and understanding how to motivate a large scale organization. So the right people may be the ones who are going to deliver the right level of service, one that fits the end-users needs. This requires a specific mindset and is not for everyone.| 0 comments |Getting the right people for your Shared Services Center
In this video, Andrew Kris, Consultant Director of Borderless Executive Search, discusses getting the right people for your Shared Services Center. "Just because you have a terrific finance person who really understands finance--is this the right person to lead your Shared Services Center? I don't think so," he says When we're talking about Shared Services, the number one issue that comes up is that headhunters get called in usually at the third phase of failed Shared Services Centers. What about the other people that are working in this service business? if you've worked in the back office, finance function or Human Resources function for many years, have always thought you've known what your customers needed, and attempt to deliver things the same way as before, you are setting yourself up for failure. If you really feel you don't have the right people in place, go to another location where you can build from scratch. Take the hit, painful as it is.| 0 comments |How to attract, develop and retain staff in a Shared Services Center
ADP Globalview Europe's former HR Director Jean-Jacques Bellon outlines the factors that attract, develop and retain staff in a Shared Services Center. Five years ago, ADP selected Prague to be the location of the new Shared Services Center dedicated to ADP GlobalView, a complete payroll offering for large multinationals. One challenge when starting out in a new country is appealing to potential recruits, especially when the labor market is highly dynamic as is the case in the Czech Republic. The business of the Prague Shared Services Center requires cutting-edge skills: SAP expertise, knowledge of payroll in European countries and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools, fluency in English, etc. Middle management plays a key role in spotting talent in the making. It is on the frontline when it comes to assessing employees' potential by their attitude, relationship with clients, interpersonal skills, and ability to grasp and resolve complex situations. One indicator on the Human Resources team's scorecard is particularly important for monitoring the center's development: staff turnover. At the Prague center, it is controlled and stable around 15%. But, a stable workforce is pointless if its individuals do not perform collectively.| 3 comments |Overcoming resistance to Shared Services Centers initiatives
Webster Co-Founder of Webster Buchanan Research Keith Rodgers discusses the causes and sources of resistance and ways of overcoming them to Shared Services Centers' initiatives. Ask a Human Resources or payroll manager about his/her experiences in setting up and managing a Shared Services Center (SSC), and at some point the conversation will invariably turn to people-related challenges. Every transformational change project runs into some level of internal opposition, but resistance to change in Shared Services Center projects can be particularly strong. The first step toward overcoming resistance is to understand the drivers. What is it that makes some top executives, line managers, and employees—even entire business units—rigidly oppose to change? A second set of drivers of resistance comes from the business case, where cost savings tend to dominate the internal debate at the expense of factors that may have a stronger appeal for those directly impacted by the initiative. Even with a sound business case, full backing at the executive level and an experienced project team, some level of resistance is inevitable in a Shared Services Center initiative. By understanding and predicting the causes, establishing a comprehensive communications plan and adopting best practices and pragmatism in people management, the impact of resistance can be mitigated.| 0 comments |Transforming the finance function through Shared Services Centers
George Connell, Royal Dutch Shell’s Head of Strategy and Business Development in Finance Operations, talks about transforming the finance function through a global network of Shared Services Centers. Royal Dutch Shell Energy currently has 5 Shared Services Centers around the world for the finance function. They handle a large number of processes including accounts payable, data management, general accounting processes and management information for the group. The Finance Shared Service organization was established in 1998. It more recently progressed to become the Finance Operations division with sharp focus on excellence, reflected in its process-based structure and orientation. Shell’s Shared Services journey has certainly benefited from senior leader support. George Cornell believes this is essential as the Shared Services Centers have brought about a fundamental change in the finance footprint. To make Finance Shared Services a success, Shell also learned from experience. They made the decision to follow the branded captive model, having the centers in-house, to help integrate Finance Operations with other organizations within Shell. Today, Finance Operations are taking over new processes and entering new areas including information management, planning and budgeting.| 1 comments |The challenge of Shared Services Centers? Controlling information! Cost reduction? A natural spin-off
Groupe SEB’s Deputy General Manager of Finance Jean-Pierre Lac discusses the challenges Shared Services Centers are facing. “The real challenge of Shared Services Centers”, as Jean-Pierre Lac insists, “is to control information. The challenges are not only financial, but also operational. Anyone can understand that unity is strength, but resistance to change is even stronger. Jean-Pierre Lac explains that the accounting departments must not cost more than the Research and Development. Harmonizing procedures and centralizing are not enough. A Shared Services Center is a third type of entity, both custodian of the group’s rules and service company working for its internal clients. The same logic now also applies to Human Resources (HR), with the same challenge and with the same natural spin-offs: controlling information…and reducing costs.| 0 comments |Building an effective Shared Services Center Transcript
In this video transcript, Borderless Executive Search’s Consultant Director Andrew Kris talks about setting up a client relationship and delivering the right set of services in a Shared Services Center. Shared Services Centers are all about change in behaviors and attitudes that comes from delivering shared services with cost, quality and timelines that are more competitive compared with alternatives—in other words, it is all about running a business. Shared Services Centers often enable companies to benefit from lower cost as well as better quality, but it’s important to benchmark this performance with what was delivered by the former organization. Customers need to see the added-value they get. Shared Services Centers are not only about delivering services to customers. They have to deliver services people want at the right price. They also need to establish relationships with your customers. This means having people manage relationships with a particular customer or a group of customers. You will need to establish relationships with your customers, which probably means having people manage relationships with a particular customer or a group of customers.| 0 comments |Building an effective Shared Services Center
Andrew Kris, Consultant Director of Borderless Executive Search, identifies ways of building an effective Shared Services Center. Shared Services Centers are about much more than just consolidating to gain efficiency. They are also, primarily, about running a business. Businesses tend not to be very useful or sustainable without customers. The same thing applies to Shared Services Centers. The reality is that even before you start your Shared Services Center, you have to assess the current internal cost of services that are going to be delivered by the center. Bear in mind that even if not visible, all processes and services delivered internally have a cost. Shared Services Centers are not only about delivering services to customers. They have to deliver services people want at the right price. They also need to establish relationships with your customers. This means having people manage relationships with a particular customer or a group of customers.| 0 comments |The Shared Services delivery platform: your key to effective Shared Services
SAP AG’s Relationship Manager for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Phillip Booth and Vice-President of Solution Management Shared Services Bernhard Fischer discuss effective Shared Services delivery platforms. Shared Services has established itself as a common optimization strategy for cost, quality and risk control. Today, many Shared Services Centers operate on whatever legacy system that existed before the inception of the Shared Services Center. This may include efficiency enablers, but still leaves the Shared Services Center exposed to running numerous and different backend systems depending on the internal client it is serving or the external provider it is connecting to. The Service Delivery Platform should be specifically designed for and supportive of integration with multiple back-ends of varying vendors, providers and software releases. Our principle is to identify the incremental services that can be bolted onto the business processes used at the internal client or services provider. These bolted-on services will be similar or even the same for all internal clients, establishing a natural realm for the Shared Services Center. SAP’s Human Resources (HR) solution had been designed for a scenario in which the Human Resources Department sees itself as a service provider to employees and managers.| 0 comments |Shared Services Centers - Define reasonable guarantees of compliance, confidentiality and availability
ADP’s CSO in Europe Philippe de Araujo discusses Shared Services Centers in defining reasonable guarantees of compliance, confidentiality and availability. Setting up a Shared Services Center (SSC) means rethinking the ways individual exchange information. These flows of information must be made secure so that the service expected by clients and users is reliable. Whether internal or external, a Shared Services Center involves a change in the way individuals relate to administrative departments. The Shared Services Center transforms a one-on-one relationship into a many-to-many relationship. A Shared Services Center activity relies on its information system. Therefore, it must be well protected by backup systems, access control, etc to guarantee maximum availability. Shared Services Centers become often international, especially within major groups, as geographically scattered teams become consolidated. For cost-savings purposes, these Shared Services Centers may be partly or completely situated in emerging countries. Process modeling ensures that the results obtained and the quality of service provided by the Shared Service Centers, whether internal or external, will be in line with the commitments made to the client. In order to check compliance with Shared Services Center’s processes and possibly to audit them, it is vital to ensure traceability. It all comes back to the Shared Services Center’s job of fulfilling its commitments to its clients in terms of service and quality.| 2 comments |Shared Services Centers, a complementary path to outsourcing
Christine Stanowski, Vice President of Global Consulting, ADP, discusses how Shared Services Centers and outsourcing work in tandem in order to optimize payroll systems. Companies often weigh the pros and cons of Shared Services Centers (SSCs) and outsourcing as alternatives to in-house operations. By choosing to outsource the company’s non-core processes and boosting or reassigning resources to activities with a high added-value, Human Resources (HR) managers optimize their teams’ potential and fulfill their primary duty of using the company’s human capital to their best advantage. A multinational deploys a project to optimize multi-country payroll function on a Shared Services Center to reach these four objectives: support growth, allocate human capital to enhance performance, reduce technological risks, and meet legal compliance and governance requirements. Local requirements are critical for accurate payroll processing. Their complexity makes it a challenge for multinationals to run one worldwide payroll system in-house. The Shared Services Center has two essential roles: restructure retained processes and act as the interface between the company and its service provider. To sum up, a project to create or extend a Shared Services Center in the context of global payroll outsourcing is multi-faceted. The company must anticipate the challenges it will face as it advances toward the target organization.| 0 comments |Shared Services Centers - Cost versus profit centers
In this article, Jesper Lillelund, Co-founder and Director of CorporateLeaders, discusses the difference between Cost and Profit Centers in Shared Services Centers. Shared Services offer potential for significant savings and performance improvement across an organization. They are also the consolidation of common functions, systems, processes and people across business units into an internal service unit that is managed by an autonomous organization. When a Shared Services Center is run purely for cost reasons, it is not likely to have a sustainable outcome. Shared Services are really about servicing customers and should be run like competitive businesses. Operating a Shared Services Center as a profit center will provide an incentive to create value through further improvements in efficiency, attracting new service business from internal customers. There are many issues a company must consider when choosing how far the Shared Services Center should be run as “pure” profit center. Chargeback prices determine how far a Shared Services Center can be considered as a cost center or a profit center. Tax considerations are one of the many challenges and external implications that impact the choice of the business model. The whole concept of a Shared Services operation relies on clearly defined Service Level Agreements (SLAs) outlining the formal interface between the center and its customers.| 0 comments |The side benefits of Shared Services Centers
Director of CorporateLeaders Karsten Soderberg explains the side benefits of Shared Services Centers. In practice, companies are increasingly harvesting from other areas that are not necessarily described and articulated in the business case. The areas that we refer to in the progressive perspective are the cost of transparency, knowing the real cost of the process itself, which was not necessarily known upfront. Obtaining the transparency of cost of a given process through Shared Services or through an outsourcing deal allows you to compare against your business case and know the specific cost of that particular process and to benchmark it against best practices. Mastering successful implementation of a Shared Services Center and outsourcing deal does not only bring added value in terms of further cost reduction and process improvement, it also brings significant value in the side effects.| 0 comments |The side benefits of Shared Services Centers
Karsten Soderberg, Director of CorporateLeaders, discusses the side benefits of Shared Services Centers, particularly the hidden benefits of the business case, improved management and leadership skills as well as increased flexibility to meet market challenges. When establishing a Shared Services Center or deciding to outsource a given process, the expectations are often articulated and put forward in what is called the business case. Let’s look at the side benefits of improved management and leadership skills that are often overlooked in the business case and during the transition. When a company is going through an exercise of moving to a Shared Services Center or an outsourcing deal, people directly involved in this exercise type typically increase their management and leadership skills. Establishing Shared Services Centers or outsourcing deals and practices can also increase flexibility to meet ever-changing market conditions and business circumstances.| 0 comments |Why established HR SSCs must move beyond transactional work
Hackett Group’s Director of HR Consulting Practice Karum Zerhouni explains why established HR SCCs must move beyond transactional work. To align with and enable business strategy, shared services must move beyond transactional work and shift toward a next generation model that drives greater value. During the last decade and a half, Human Resources (HR) have been undergoing a process of transformation. Yet, despite the large scale of transformation programs, the cost of Human Resources function has been rising. The Hackett Group 2008 Shared Services Performance study reveals that a vast majority (94%) of organizations are already operating Shared Services in order to reduce General and Administration (G&A) costs and enable the execution of business strategies for growth, competitive advantage and employee engagement. To retain a dominant position, Human Resources Shared Services must move beyond the transactional processing activities and focus on the most added value activities. A large majority of Human Resources functions have now adopted multi-tiered models relying on Shared Services, Center of Excellence, Business Partners and distant channels, but all are not yet capable of exploiting them to deliver higher-value analytical task or integrating them in advanced Human Resources capabilities. The redefinition of the role of business partner, staff training and process reengineering require major conversion programs which are supported by significant investments.| 0 comments |A vital resource for HR Transformation
The Hackett Group's Director of HR Consulting Practice Karim Zerhouni explains how Shared Services Centers are vital resources for Global Human Resources Transformation. The increase on the total cost of the Human Resources function corresponds to an intended evolution. The future of companies’ Shared Services Centers is to move toward global business services. Human Resources must strategically assess and set the level of ambition for its organization’s 3-5 year horizon. It’s a multi-stage journey. The first stage is consolidation, while the next stage is standardization. Once these requirements have been fulfilled, Shared Services can move to the global business services level.| 0 comments |A vital resource for HR Transformation
In this video, Karim Zerhouni, Director HR Consulting Practice, The Hackett Group, discusses Human Resources costs as well as the challenges and the future of HR Shared Services Centers, and how to measure their performance. The total cost of the Human Resources function has increased a significant 40% over the last ten years. The more advanced organizations have chosen to optimize the cost of transactional activities while at the same time, choosing to increase HR investments in talent management processes. Fifteen years ago, who would have thought that Shared Services would become the norm to manage General and Administrative services and especially Human Resources? If we take a close look at the current situation, Shared Services have fulfilled initial expectations. Research recently conducted by the Hackett Group shows that more than 60% of organizations studied have realized a 20% increase in productivity. Their next step is to create additional benefits and greater value for end users.| 2 comments |Reasons to set up a Shared Services Center
Consultant Director of Borderless Executive Search Andrew Kris explains reasons and importance of setting up a Shared Services Center. Shared Services means making a business model for the consolidation. The reality is that most Shared Services fail when they do not see themselves as a business. Companies that are acquisitive, moving from country to country, find acquisitions a lot easier to integrate when this is done on day one. Fold your company straight into a Shared Services Center. Don’t question any longer about whether new infrastructures should be built country by country with the resulting expense and disruption. Don’t build them in the first place.| 0 comments |Reasons to set up a Shared Services Center
Andrew Kris, Consultant Director of Borderless Executive Search, enumerates reasons and importance of setting up a Shared Services Center. Shared Services means building a business—a business that delivers services inside the organization—with cost, quality and timeliness that are competitive with the alternative ways of doing the same thing. People who have thought about Shared Services as an internal business have been the most successful. And, maintaining that model applies to everything you do in your Shared Services Center. Efficiency and effectiveness are the compelling reasons for providing service internally, a service that is created as a business. There is another really good reason why many companies turn to Shared Services: fast track expansion through acquisition. In most companies, consolidating, replicating a service across an organization is almost a cyclical activity. Consolidation consisting of centralization and decentralization is just a recurring activity. It’s a flow of activity and control from the center to the outside, to the countries or to the business units, and all the way back again. That is a wonderful thing to do, but that is absolutely not Shared Services.| 0 comments |2009 Global HR Transformation Report
ADP in partnership with HROA conducted a survey of 188 executives from around the globe, to produce the 2009 Global HR Transformation Report. The survey examines trends in Human Resources transformation practices (which we define as any concerted effort to change and improve Human Resources operations, whether through outsourcing, shared services, internal reengineering, or a combination of these strategies) in organizations around the globe. The 2009 report provides insights into market trends and changes, particularly in light of the recent global economic situation, and offers perspective on future plans. The report addresses reasons organizations transform, as well as the barriers that limit their transformation. It also includes transformation, timing, cost and satisfaction. Other factors to consider are the impact of recent global economic changes on transformation plans, the engagement of external resources and experience, current and future transformation scope, and Human Resources outsourcing and Shared Services strategy.| 0 comments |Measuring the success of HR Outsourcing
Stelios Milonakis, Senior Consultant of EquaTerra, discusses ways on how to measure the success of Human Resources outsourcing. With several hundred multi-process Human Resources outsourcing (HRO) deals marketing the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) landscape, and a factor of at least three times as many single-process deals, it is an undisputable fact that HRO is here to say. Once the decision to outsource is made, the three key questions organizations tend to ask are: “How much will I save? How quickly will I get my Return on Investment (ROI)? Will my service quality improve?” The success of the transaction comes from building what you are going to measure into making of the deal, combine that with the right processes and approach and you remove much of the risk from your transaction. The art of managing providers and realizing true benefits from Human Resources outsourcing is becoming increasingly important. Human Resources outsourcing is an area that needs to be addressed and readdressed throughout the life of any sourcing contract.| 0 comments |Transitioning to multi-country HR BPO - The Microsoft case
During this 60 minute webcast, Bonnie Skelly, Director, International Payroll, Finance Operations at Microsoft, Barbara Paterson, Director and People Development Specialist for Paterson Consultancy Ltd., and Patrick Nolot, Global Program Director at ADP, discuss HR BPO hot topics such as: dealing with the complexity of transitioning multi-country HR BPO projects, managing the challenges related to people and transition, and maintaining employee engagement over time.| 2 comments |Shared services - Deciding between internal and outsourced models
In this white paper, SAP examines and elaborates internal and outsourced models of Shared Services. Shared Services can either be internal or external, in the form of Business Process outsourcing (BPO). To decide which is best for their purposes, as well as how to design processes and technology to harness shared services’ potential, company executives must assess their own situation and business processes closely. There are a number of obstacles to success in service centralization; crafting an effective “extended enterprise” that works seamlessly across organizational boundaries is not easy and requires a strong understanding of process and technology. The effect of software and its deployment on centralization’s success is analyzed: business decision makers must understand the potential and constraints of process and technology design to make realistic strategic decisions and direct their teams appropriately. Finally, we examine tenets of successful transformation and implementation. The problems inherent in these steps are not only relevant for the implementation team, but also should be understood by those executives involved in strategic decision-making.| 0 comments |Into the heart of a shared services center
What really happens when some tasks are no longer performed in-house? What are the guarantees a service provider can bring to make sure they are delivered on time and in compliance with legislation? This virtual tour into the heart of a client services centers answers these key questions.| 0 comments |People and transitioning, the psychological factors never to ignore
Barbara Paterson, Director of Paterson Consultancy, discusses people and transitioning—the psychological factors that we can’t afford to ignore. Globalization, technological change, merger, downsizing and outsourcing: the buzzwords of business made it all too easy to forget that essentially commercial success depends on people. Transition is what occurs during the time when the old and the new ways of doing things are being sorted out and is a process with many implications for business strategy and people in the workplace. One major energy group redefined its structure, relocated departments, closed offices and moved Human Resources (HR), Information Technology (IT) and Finance into a shared services arrangement. As a result, staff movements were managed effectively. People were redeployed across the group, while others moved on to new pastures with their self-esteem intact. Good employee engagement as a desirable outcome of transition is fast creeping up the strategic agenda of all organizations. Good engagement makes for successful business. To manage change sensitively and positively should be the goal for every good leader. Good management of the psychological aspects of transition makes the greatest contribution to organizational effectiveness before, during and after the implementation process.| 0 comments |Transitioning your organization to international HRO
ADP’s Global Program Director Patrick Nolot discusses main tasks involved in transitioning your organization to international Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) in this article. Human Resources Transformation and one of its main components, Human Resources outsourcing, are all about going from where you are to where you want to be. Transition, the step that consists in transferring some of your tasks and processes to a service provider, is often associated with the technical implementation of a new solution. Managing a Human Resources outsourcing project involves taking local legislation into account and making sure the new services are compliant with the relevant legislation. There are five keys to your organization’s successful transition to international Human Resources outsourcing. These are: find a sponsor at top, develop mirror organizations in collaboration with your service provider, plan to support your subsidiaries at the local level, use shared and standard transition tools & methods, and focus tightly on data migration. Transition to international Human Resources outsourcing is hardly an easy task. The human dimension of HRO transitioning is too often put aside and neglected, not because companies do not care but because transition to Human Resources outsourcing is usually approached from a technological angle.| 0 comments |Mitigating transformational risks in Business Process Outsourcing
In this white paper, SAP primarily discusses the challenges of outsourcing, particularly in mitigating transformational risks in business process outsourcing (BPO). Transferring business processes to an external business process outsourcing provider carries various forms of transformational risk. The initial transitional phase is critical: costs can be unpredictable, the atmosphere volatile, and employees resistant to change. During the evolution phase, customers may find that their business requirements change frequently. This document is designed to help customers understand the role of technology in the context of Business Process Outsourcing, and enable them to assess a software product with the aim of making their transition to BPO less risky. Customers should insist on using software that offers an easily configured and comprehensive suite of enterprise applications. It should also be proven in the Business Outsource Processing market. Business Outsource Processing success is not just about process redesign and good technology: it is about using the transformational and operational skills of the BPO provider in the best possible way.| 0 comments |Why a good service provider is not enough for successful BPO delivery
In this white paper, SAP primarily discusses why a good service provider is not enough for successful Business Process Outsourcing delivery. It was logical for many early-generation business process outsourcing (BPO) deals to show patterns typical of systems integration and process reengineering—both of these disciplines matured in the ‘90s. But time has shown that success in BPO is about more than just process redesign and technology. Some Business Process Outsourcing providers—pushed by customers and advisors, insufficiently supported by software vendors, and challenged by internal resource-allocation dynamics—have failed to realize this point in the past. The result in quite few cases was a failure to leverage processes and technology solutions to fully harness the key drivers of Business Process Outsourcing values: economies of scale, process optimization, and labor arbitrage. Successful Business Process Outsourcing providers make the most out of their technology investments by ensuring that those investments serve their service delivery needs. Customers looking for a sustainable Business Process Outsourcing offering are therefore advised to systematically verify the solidity of the relationship between the Business Process Outsourcing Provider and the software vendor behind the respective BPO platform.| 0 comments |What is best for BPO?
Many decision-makers in Business Process Outsourcing confront themselves at some point with the choice between underpinning the delivery of the service they receive with “best-of-breed” (BoB), Software on-demand (SoD) or integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology. Client organizations, their organizations, their advisors, and their providers, must think solution, and not software only. General and Administration’s (G&A) functions costs are represented by process people much more than technology. Ensure that any chosen technology solution is able to withstand the proof of time. Do not be carried away by tactical and short-term judgments. Ensure that informed discussions happen between the process and technology experts of providers, customers and their advisors. Any decision that prevents the short and long-term ability to connect processes of the different parts of the organizations involved, and reap economies of scale, will dilute the structure advantages Business Process Outsourcing is supposed to bring. One could generalize all of the above by saying that Software on-demand and Best-of-breed can make great tactical and point decisions within predictable boundaries, but “betting the farm” is a decision that requires careful consideration.| 0 comments |How a tight collaboration improves BPO service delivery
SAP collates various case studies which discuss how a tight collaboration improves Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service delivery. The said case studies summarize the experience from years of operating the “Business Process Outsourcing Powered by SAP” program, and show how Business Process Outsourcing customers and providers benefit from the dedicated support of the software vendor. When engaging in Business Process Outsourcing, customers look to reduce cost, mitigate risk, and improve the quality of their operations. For providers to deliver on these expectations, they need to harness the key drivers of Business Process Outsourcing value which are heavily influenced by technology. Sustainable Business Process Outsourcing success needs to build on more than just process and technology design—it requires operational excellence. To create replicable solutions that enable true leverage of scale, process optimization and labor arbitrage, successful Business Process Outsourcing providers need to ensure that their services design directly links into operational requirements.| 0 comments |Designing the retained organization from a technology perspective
In this article, Gianni Giacomelli, SAP BPO’s Head of Strategy & Marketing, discusses how the retained organization is designed from a technology perspective. Business processes are delivered by combining workflow, the right people, and the appropriate technology. These three elements, designed to work together, ensure effective service delivery. With regard to technology, three types of decisions need to be made by answering the following questions: "Whose technology is it? Who drives and who owns the configuration? How to integrate seamlessly what stays in and what goes out?" Whoever owns the technology can redeploy it—at least theoretically. He must recognize that process requires certain parties to have access to specific functionalities and/or data; otherwise, service delivery will break down. When the client drives the configuration, it is possible to dictate to the provider, at least to some degree, how the service will be run. This is often the case for process that impacts the client’s employees, a common occurrence in Human Resources (HR). Regardless of the ownership of the technology and its configuration, there is still a need for the process to function seamlessly end-to-end. The service provider needs to act as the client’s extended enterprise.| 0 comments |Designing the retained organization from a technology perspective
Gianni Giacomelli, Head of Strategy & Marketing at SAP’s BPO business unit, discusses important factors on designing the retained organization from a technology perspective. The organizations must run as if there were no boundaries, no fracture points. This means that the outsourced and the retained organizations are integrated, not just interfaced. Process and technology are designed together as are the retained and the outsourced organizations. To guarantee integration, consistent vocabulary must be used. A sufficiently large exchange of data sets is also required. Working out your master data design and related business logic is the key to a successful extended organization.| 0 comments |Designing the retained organization from a technology perspective
Gianni Giacomelli, SAP BPO’s Head of Strategy & Marketing, discusses designing the retained organization from a technology perspective. The goal of outsourcing agreement is not to create an efficient outsourced organization. It is to create an efficient extended enterprise that leverage the specialization, and hence the effectiveness, of the newly re-configured outsourced and retained organizations. Technology can automate and facilitate processes, meaning few resources are required and output quality is improved. Designing the data and configuring the platform must be done according to the required business logic. The best answers are situational, but there are best practices that a provider can reuse from one customer to another, thereby ensuring process optimization and economies of scale. In the past ten years, we have consistently noticed that successful design depends heavily on the decision making process, particularly the engagement and empowerment of the right people.| 0 comments |Strategic levers to optimize your HR processes
In this white paper, SAP reports about strategic levers to optimize Human Resources Processes. This paper examines how you can decide on standardization and in-house centralization or outsourcing for your business. Human Resources leadership must carefully evaluate which processes are going to remain “as-is” versus which should be standardized and centralized or outsourced. Outsourcing peripheral activities—business process outsourcing (BPO)—to external providers is becoming an attractive, cost-effective alternative to handling them internally. There are many challenges and trade-offs associated with making scope choices for your Human Resources delivery strategy. While analysis requires time and effort, doing the work gives you a better line of sight on which Human Resources service delivery strategies are best for your organization. Stronger scope choices are a necessary foundation for process reengineering. They help you focus the transformation efforts on target that is both realistic and rewarding.| 0 comments |Quantifying the retained organization
In this article, ADP’s Senior Director of Global Consulting, discusses the model the company has developed in quantifying the retained organization. Stepping up in the Human Resources Transformation, and more specifically Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO), raises fundamental questions and implies to agree on the processes and activities to keep in-house and the ones to reengineer and outsource. Quantifying and designing the retained organization go hand-in-hand with the project’s business case and require adopting a structured approach. The roadmap to design the retained organization begins with the definition of the project’s scope (service model, tasks to outsource, and project’s footprint). Understanding and defining your project’s scope is the fundamental phase in the design of your future organization. In order to get a clear picture of the future organization, it is usually good to start by focusing on how the work gets done today. Outsourcing HR means changing the roles and tasks of your retained Human Resources staff. An anticipated reduction in headcount is often central to the business case for moving to a Human Resources outsourcing model. There may be no such thing as a “typical” impact on labor, since the outcome is highly dependent on the organization’s structure, previous degree of centralization, functions being outsourced and the assertiveness in redefining new roles and responsibilities.| 0 comments |Quantifying the retained organization
ADP’s Senior Director of Global Consulting Christine Briody discusses how to quantify the retained organization. Once you have clearly defined both geographical and functional scope of tasks and processes as well as selected the service delivery model or the service provider, the next step is to work on the “to-be” stage, in other words, designing the organization that will remain in-house once the outsourcing contract goes live—we call this phase the mapping process. The responsibility matrix is not the only consideration to take into account in the process of quantifying your true Human Resources organization. You also need to understand how the work is getting done today. A task versus time audit of current activities will help you to understand where outsourcing will generate the greatest benefits. Companies that have allocated Process Owners and implemented Governance Boards to guide the retained organization structure are increasing their levels of standardization to lower overall costs.| 0 comments |Quantifying the retained organization
Christine Briody, ADP’s Senior Director of Global Consulting, explains factors in quantifying the retained organization. Quantifying your retained and future Human Resource organization requires adopting a structured approach. A prerequisite is to have clearly defined both the geographical and functional scope of tasks and processes to be outsourced. The service provider will be able to assist you in this mapping process as they will clearly document the tasks which will remain your responsibility and the tasks which will be outsourced. The responsibility matrix or detailed statements of work, with defined roles and responsibilities, should be a contractual document. The ultimate goal of the mapping process is to ensure that the tasks performed by your service provider do not overlap with those that remain in-house. It may also identify broader opportunities for the advancement of existing staff. To wrap up, designing the retained and future organization needs careful planning in order to achieve your strategic goals and reduce your total cost of ownership.| 0 comments |The impact of technology on cost in BPO - Part 2
SAP AG enumerates five keys to unlock the potential of technology in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). This BPO white paper is the second in the series of SAP papers on cost in Business Process Outsourcing. Building on the complete Business Process Outsourcing cost picture developed in the first white paper, this paper examines the key requirements that apply to an Information Technology (IT) solution utilized in Business Process Outsourcing. It also explains how these translate into specific cost advantages for both the Business Process Outsourcing Provider and customer throughout the lifetime of the project. As previously discussed, Information Technology plays a key role in reducing cost in a Business Process Outsourcing engagement. But how does one determine whether the solution on which a Business Process Outsourcing provider delivers services is in fact the right one? To help minimize the cost of Business Process Outsourcing, an IT solution should fulfill the following five key requirements: functionality, integration, configurability, scalability and viability. Companies considering Business Process Outsourcing as a strategic option should be aware of the deciding role that technology plays in reducing and controlling overall Business Process Outsourcing cost. Customers need to take a careful look at technology, especially software.| 0 comments |The impact of technology on cost in BPO - Part 1
SAP AG discusses the impact of technology on Cost in Business Process Outsourcing. This white paper is the first in a series of SAP white papers, which examines the cost structure associated with Business Process Outsourcing and shows that a diligent assessment needs to address several cost components that are not included in the provider’s total contract value (TCV), and are often overlooked by buyers. Companies considering BPO as a strategic option should carefully consider the complete cost picture before embarking on a journey. Many different factors contribute to the cost of a business process outsourcing (BPO) engagement. Among them, Information Technology, especially software is a key cost determinant that is often underestimated. Technology drives the BPO cost structure in three ways: it enables economies of scale, supports sustainable process optimization, and makes labor arbitrage possible by connection and controlling remote location workflows. With the right software, organizations can balance their needs for personalization and standardization of outsourced processes by creating the capacity to design process and IT implementation jointly.| 0 comments |Getting the business case right
Michele Gray, Senior Director of Global Consulting for ADP, discusses the factors on getting the business case right. Depending on needs, two types of business cases can be identified. The first one is the high-level and indicative business case. Another form is the detailed business case. Both forms of the business case are useful and have to be used according to whether the situation calls for securing funding at the initial stage of a project or having a project finally validated by the board members. The business case is designed to determine future costs, split responsibilities and detail the savings as well as the way they will be generated. The role of a business case is to enable a company to articulate different objectives in a single document in order to validate the feasibility of its project. A business case is designed to offer a detailed view of a problem and the potential solutions for the company.| 0 comments |Payroll Outsourcing in Europe
In this whitepaper, Anish Rajparia, President of ADP Employer Services in Europe, discusses the emergence of payroll outsourcing in Europe. For a company to run steadily and implement ambitious Human Resources Strategies, paying everyone accurate and on time is a basic requirement. Payroll is at the center of the relationship between companies and employees. At the European scale, Payroll is a particularly complex exercise. When was payroll outsourcing invented? One thing is certain: payroll outsourcing has been around for a while. Demand for this kind of service remains strong today. More and more companies consider payroll a non-core function that could be outsourced. In fact, it remains the most outsourced function. In Europe, the payroll outsourcing adoption rate ranges from 1% (Switzerland) to over 80% (in Belgium and Denmark). The payroll outsourcing wave spreads from northwest to southeast of Europe. Payroll is the central component in 94% of Human Resources multi-country Business Processing Unit deals. Payroll outsourcing has become an industry. Solution providers keep on innovating to meet the needs of their clients and comply with regulatory changes. Getting ready for payroll outsourcing requires preparation and method. An outsourcing plan cannot be reduced to a “lift & shift” operation with a procurement-oriented view. For a successful long-term service, the client and service partner must agree on a clear governance mode, designate people “owning” the relationship and conduct regular performance reviews.| 1 comments |Getting the business case right
ADP’s Senior Director of Global Consulting Michele Gray discusses the importance of business case as well as getting the business case right. It is crucial to understand the timing for the business case as well as its decision-making cycle. Put simply, the business case makes sense only if its purpose is clearly identified. Companies that are working on detailed business cases are often doing it when they are in the contract finalization phase with their service provider. The business case is used to validate the savings that can be expected in the end. The high-level form of the business case is often used as the first justification for a project. In most situations, putting together a business case is the best opportunity to assess the quality of the information available in a company. After all, building a business case is all about putting the right data together in order to make projections. Getting the business case right is all about timing and purpose. The purpose of the business case won’t be the same according to your project’s status and the objectives you want to achieve in your organization. The ultimate goal of any business case is to convince an audience to support a specific project.| 0 comments |The role of governance in outsourcing contracts
In this article, Mike Friend, Managing Director of M3C Consulting, discusses the role of governance in outsourcing contracts. Customers entering into outsourcing agreements, knowingly choose to sacrifice direct control of their business processes in return for lower cost and/or better quality services. However, approaches to governance vary widely. Good governance requires the establishment of a joint contract management committee that meets regularly to monitor contract performance against defined Service Level Agreements and addresses key issues from a strategic to an operational level. When outsourcing contracts fail as they do from time to time, then the finger of blame is frequently pointed at the role of governance. While a contact is the product of two organizations seeking a mutually beneficial agreement, the success of that contract comes down to the dedication of a comparatively small number of people—how they interpret that contact, and how they engage with one another. Inevitably, the complexity of any contact will determine its risk profile, governance requirements and to a large degree of its success. Rather than being overly fixated by such a headline number, customers should work with a bottom-up approach. Only then will they gain a better idea of the number of customer representatives required to sit on the governance committee.| 0 comments |In-depth analysis of HRO options and business models
Christine Stanowski, Vice President of Global Consulting in ADP, provides an in-depth analysis of Human Resource Outsourcing options and business models. Stepping up in Human Resources Transformation, and more specifically Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO), raises fundamental questions and requires agreement on the processes and activities to keep in-house and the ones to reengineer and outsource. Human Resources Transformation is about deciding on the organization to implement to fit the new business needs. Designing and managing your retained team correctly is often the most difficult and poorly planned aspect of the transition to Human Resources Outsourcing. The first step to design your retained organization is to understand the different outsourcing options available on the market. The chosen service model will have a significant impact on the way to handle procedures and tasks once the HR Outsourcing contract has been implemented. One may consider that the direct consequence of Human Resources Outsourcing is to enable companies to benefit from a stripped down organization. Reality is often more complex. HR Outsourcing can take many forms which may generate some confusion. The decision to make is whether to choose the one-to-one or the one-to-many model. The level of service models will then depend on a combination of targets and timing.| 0 comments |Selecting the right HR outsourcing options
ADP’s Vice President for Global Consulting Christine Stanowski discusses steps in selecting the right Human Resources Outsourcing options. The first criterion in designing your future Human Resources (HR) organization is to identify the responsibility you want to transfer, while the second criterion is to know in which environment you want the service to be delivered. There are many factors that can lead to failure of your outsourcing project if you don’t identify them from the beginning. The service level selected will have an impact on the transfer of responsibility from your organization to the service provider. More and more companies use outsourcing as a way to streamline and regroup some functions at the regional level in shared services centers. The stress has to be taken into account and be managed by a team that will guarantee that initial goals are met within budget and in a timely manner.| 0 comments |Selecting the right HR outsourcing options
Christine Stanowski, Vice President of Global Consulting in ADP, explains steps in selecting the right HR Outsourcing options. A critical step in designing your future Human Resources organization through outsourcing is to understand the options available on the market. There are many outsourcing options, from Application Management Outsourcing to the full Human Resources outsourcing (HRO) of a function. It is also important to understand what is in place at your organization today. Do you know what is your Human Resources function’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)? How many full-time employees are assigned to that function or process you want to outsource? The functions that will be handled by your service provider will enable you to benefit from economies of scale, streamline processes, and enjoy flexible and more accurate maintenance and upgrade of your Human Resources Information System (HRIS). From beginning to end, outsourcing requires support and follow-up. In most cases, outsourcing contracts fail or don’t deliver on all their promises because of the absence of the governance team responsible for the timely delivery of within-budget outsourcing implementation.| 1 comments |