GBS Pointers from the SSON Advisory Board

While shared services as a concept has existed for over 30 years, Global Business Services (GBS), the best-in-class model for shared services, has just recently exploded on the scene. According to SSON Research & Analytics, 62% of shared services models are committed to GBS, whether transitioning, already adopted (mature and scaling up), or moving towards a digitized model, and an additional 19% plan to adopt the model within the next five years.

With so many businesses either just getting into the shared services space or in the process of transforming their shared services into a GBS, there are many practical pieces of advice worth sharing. 

Setting up a Shared Services Organization (SSO) can be difficult, as is turning your SSO into a Global Business Services (GBS). SSON prides itself on giving businesses the tools to succeed amidst these operational transformations, which is why the Global Advisory Board was established. The board is instrumental in determining trends to discuss at events, what topics to focus state of industry reports on, and much more.

To help both new and mature GBS organizations on their journey to excellence, SSON’s editorial team asked the board for one tip they would share with others.

Chris Gunning – Finance Transformation, Global Business Services, NielsenIQ 

Stakeholder management – Meeting the needs of stakeholders is essential to earning buy-in to the shared services model. However, Chris feels that due to operational focus, many shared service center leaders and managers don’t often look upwards to keep stakeholders informed of what is happening.

“It’s all too easy to get stuck in the weeds managing down with your SSC/GBS teams; managing transactions when the house is on fire, etc. – when you also need to ensure your GBS leadership team is also managing up and across with all key stakeholders.“ 

Nadia Hutchinson - Global Director, HR Services and Operation, Cabot Corporation

Know thy enemy – As Sung Tzu alludes to in "The Art of War", it’s important for shared services leaders to understand who their detractors are so you can best respond to their complaints. It’s important to keep them close as key stakeholders if possible.

“Empower the individuals in the team – we need a solid group of innovators and, ultimately successors!” 

Deborah Kops – Principal and Co-founder of Sourcing Change

Say YES– Becoming a value creator for the enterprise is a tough gig when GBS organizations were set up as a corporate policeman. It’s time the GBS model moved from no to yes.

“GBS is all about no—no cost, no risk, no noise and so forth. Figure out a way to get to yes – yes to change, yes to agility, yes to new ways of working”

Sanjay Patel - SVP & Global Head of Takeda Business Solutions 

Have a strong title – Keep it simple and call your shared service organization something that will garnish the respect of other functions.

“My advice would be stop calling yourself shared services, Back Office and even GBS. Call your organization what allows you to be accepted for who you are as a function and what value you will deliver beyond the staple stake cost reduction and establish your organization as a critical and equal partner to the business.” 

Gavin Ifield - VP & Head of Global Business Services at AECOM

Change or be changed – Shared services is a fast-paced space. If you are not able to embrace this fact you may have trouble accepting the barrage of changes that are likely coming your way.

“If you aren’t driving change in your GBS and Organization then someone else will be, likely behind frosted glass. Change or be changed!” 

Sameer Jalundhwala - Senior Vice President, GBS Operations & Outsourcing, NTT Ld.

Benchmarking – Comparing and contrasting yourself to other organizations is a surefire way to determine areas for improvement. However, be sure you benchmark all pertinent areas in your GBS.

“I am looking to benchmark our current GBS – (a) at a GBS practices level and (b) at a process level.   The idea is to understand what is Best in Class (BiC) and our gaps to BiC.  This can then inform our strategy for the next three years, on how much of the gap we close and when.” 

Sandy Khanna - Vice President, Finance Operations, Mars Global Services

Keep the human element close at heart to continuously improve the quality of all solutions. Sandy offers three top tips that require constant attention in the GBS space.

• “People remain our one true asset.
• Stakeholder management can be complex, but critical. Prioritizing those relationships should always be a top focus. 
• Drive and manage continuous change - don't stand still!”

Angela Mangiapane – President, Mars Global Business Services 

Focus on your people. Losing sight of that essential people-centric approach renders any success meaningless. With more than 20 years’ experience, Angela tried to sum it up with two big takeaways:

• “Human change management - if the folks using our services and solutions see something that will make their work easier, life is good.
• Keep disrupting yourself and your ways of working or others will. Fix the roof when the sun is shining; never become complacent and be resilient.”

Steve Rudderham - Global Leader for Carrier Business Services

Get in front of your stakeholders - Don’t wait for a crisis to start your stakeholder management, be proactive and focus on building a collaborative environment. 

“We often wait until performance is poor to reach out to our customers and stakeholders.  Do it early, build the relationship and start that collaboration.” 

Sumit Mitra – Chief Executive Officer, Tesco Business Services

Leveraging GBS – According to Sumit, one of the best ways to leverage GBS in the organization and make yourself indispensable is by becoming an influencer.

“Having a seat on table is important but what’s critical is what you do with that seat. GBS is no longer about efficiency and operational excellence, its given. It’s all about unlocking value through incremental revenue, margin and cash improvements and leveraging your seat on the table to help business take decisions to create shareholder value.” 

Manoj Kalra - Global Head of Group Business Services & SVP, dsm-firmenich

Remember your role - “You bring strength and stability to a company. That comes with people, technology and clarity:

• No matter how big your GBS/SSC/SSO/GCC is, you are here to provide a promised level of service to your customer. Understand the needs of your customers.
• Don’t underestimate the effort it takes for people to adopt to a matrix driven organization in which GBS plays a major role
• Change is the only constant. Make it a habit and be the front-runner. While running make sure you take your stakeholders, customers, and teams along.” 

Maciej “Magic” Piwowarczyk – Shared Services Advisor 

Celebrate – Working in GBS can feel strenuous, which is why it’s important to celebrate achievements no matter their size. 
 
“Act with Purpose. Be Curious. Keep Adapting to stay relevant for your Customers & Stakeholders. Plus as you keep aiming for the optimal CX and EX, never forget to celebrate the success of today ... the big ones as well as the little ones.” 

Mattijs Backx - Senior Vice President & Head of Global Business Services, PepsiCo 

Integration – Strive for GBS to be fully integrated into your company's culture.

“Connect your organization to the strategy of the enterprise, and fully integrate into the broader organization rather than creating a distinct subculture” 

Turan Sahin - CEO & Founder, Allianz Services

Knowledge gaining - In order to prove its value, shared services and GBS should meticulously expand its knowledge to cover all areas that pertain to the purview of shared services.

"As a GBS partner you need to be focused and you need to be THE deep domain expert (better than anyone else in your own company)."