Top 10 Takeaways: How to Successfully Manage People & Change in Shared Services

At this year's Shared Services and Outsourcing Week in North America [March 2014] we dedicated an afternoon track to "People and Change – Collaboration and Customers". This was one of five tracks that offered practitioners an opportunity to network, debate, and exchange tips on areas that are significantly impacting services delivery all over the world. The tracks were led by practitioners who had gathered a lot of experience (and the scars to show for it) in their careers. Lew Bader, of Pearson, moderated sessions on People & Change, and sums up the Top 10 Takeaways for us here. 1. Every experience for a candidate should be positive whether hired or not. It's not just the folks you extend an offer to that count. Every time your company reaches out to a prospective employee you have an opportunity to make a difference – a positive one. Make sure that there is no reason for anyone to have a negative impression. Words travel fast, especially these days. Your reputation as a valued business partner is crucial to your success. Start with the stakeholders that count, but don't lessen your efforts for those who you think are too far outside the organization. 2. Customer service does not equate to the customer experience. This is a theme that came up time and time again, and neatly tracks shared services evolution from plain old "provider" to "partner". As customers have adapted to and becomes used to improved costs, they are increasingly expecting more value drivers out of their shared services. Today, this means analyzing the masses of data that flow through the shared services center, working closely with the business to understand their output targets, and keeping up-to-date with innovations in enabling technologies. What all this adds up to is the fact that you're not trying to match pre-agreed SLAs as much as you are trying to support your client in their business. 3. "Call length" is not the right measure. While we talk about a positive customer experience [see above] our measures and metrics don’t always reflect the shift that is taking place. If your agents are listening for opportunities to support the customer in unexpected ways on a phone call, counting the seconds on a ticking clock will not help with resolution. Throw away the stopwatch, and instead start tracking the impact your agents have on your customer's business. 4. Tell your employees – "Disagree with me, PLEASE." To drive innovation in customer interactions you need to foster an environment or culture in which disagreement is encouraged. Make sure that your team knows: it's all right to fail, as long as you are trying something new. Fear of failure will prevent many good ideas bubbling to the surface. In addition, don't collect "yes-folks" around you. Tell your team that you want to hear them disagree with each other and with you, as long as they have the right arguments to back themselves up. 5. Formalize onboarding for all areas in your organization. When a new employee joins the organization it’s a prime opportunity to clarify the ground rules and introduce your work culture. Once the first week of a new workplace has passed, people settle into what they perceive as their new environment and adapt accordingly. So you need to get it right on day one, to encourage the right mindset. Formalizing onboarding processes will help. 6. Market your shared services. An important aspect of building a supportive culture is letting the business know that you are a supportive culture. So focus on the team, yes; but don't forget to distribute the same message out towards your stakeholders [clients, suppliers, leaders, etc.]. Promote the services and the culture that your team represents, and make sure that you are walking the talk. 7. It takes seven times for someone to say, "Yes." This is a lesson in patience and perseverance. Change is difficult, and the knee-jerk reaction for most people is to say, "No, thank you, I think we'll stay as we are." Come back time and again, with a different interpretation of the same message. Bring recent "converts" with you, so they can share their version of the truth. Demonstrate your message through numbers, through visuals, through references. Whatever it takes, don't give up at the first hurdle, or even the sixth. Common knowledge has it that it takes seven times until someone changes their mind. Whether true or not, it'll take more than a couple of attempts. 8. Marketing will create momentum. As you are struggling to drive a new way of working through your team, remember that promoting a new message to external stakeholders will also serve to promote the message to your internal staff. Marketing works both ways, even if you are focusing it towards one audience. So give as many people as possible a role in this promotional activity, and watch them come on board. 9. Have an identifiable brand with a tagline. It's amazing how many shared services neglect the very simplest of branding tools: a logo and tagline. SSON's industry survey of 2014 revealed that only a third of shared services utilize this kind of visual branding. Get on the bandwagon. A visual brand says a lot, quickly, about who you are and what you do. 10. Rebrand from COE (Center of Excellence) to CTE (Commitment to Excellence) You may have spent the past three or four years building up a Center of Excellence, but today it's less about the expertise you have invested in, than it is about standing behind the quality of your service. The focus is on output [quality] as opposed to an inbuilt service excellence. As small as this difference may seem, it will mean a lot to your clients. [eventpdf]

Top 10 Takeaways: How to Successfully Manage People & Change in Shared Services

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