SSOW Day Two & Three Summary

The final days of SSOW looked to build off some of the key takeaways that were discussed during the Women’s Conference and opening day sessions. Chairman Brad DeMent began each day by sharing his key takeaways from the day prior, most of which centered around this year’s mission, redefining GBS success for 2023 and beyond. 

In order to demonstrate how GBS and shared services organizations can consistently prove their value, discussions centered around organizational transformation, leveraging technologies and people to refine the GBS model, and analysis of the latest trends in business process outsourcing. 
The following is a review of some of the sessions at SSOW that demonstrate the insightful and collaborative nature of the event.

An Exciting BPO Debate 

The “G6 BPO Debate” provides shared services professionals with a chance to see what options they have in the outsourcing space and service providers the chance to demonstrate to those professionals what sets their business apart.

This year’s debate was moderated by Deborah Kops, Principal at Sourcing Change, who masterfully directed the conversation in a way that each provider demonstrated how they differ on services, innovation, tools, insight, capabilities, and skills. During the conversation, some key takeaways include:

• Bad clients view the BPO as a “customer-vendor relationship”
• Measure your metrics before bringing them to a BPO
• Services related to controls are more suited for captive operations

Interactive Group Discussions

During the second day of SSOW, independent group discussions, or IDGs, were held to give non-speaking attendees an opportunity to share their experiences.

These IDGs focused on a variety of topics, but some of the most well-attended discussions focused on ways to improve employee engagement, where to begin when setting up a shared-service center, and how to automate your Order-to-Cash at a time when cash is king.

A special thank you to all our discussion leaders who kept dozens of participants engaged throughout each session!

Keynote Speaker

This year’s keynote speaker was Alex Rodriguez, a 14x MLB All-Star and CEO of A-Rod Corp. During his presentation, Alex shared what he viewed as the important leadership traits in 2023.

For Alex, a successful leader in 2023 has managed to balance the need for soft skills such as empathy and compassion with a willingness to motivate others by any means necessary. At A-Rod Corp, workers are in the office 5-days a week to foster greater collaboration, which he feels has a driver for his organization's success throughout the pandemic. This is why leaders must lead by example and demonstrate their hard work and willingness to take accountability.

Alex also shared his thoughts on the importance in finding a mentor. According to Alex, professionals should look for a mentor who are willing to show up when times are tough and, most importantly, motivate their people to become hard workers.

If you are looking for more insights from this year’s SSOW, be on the lookout for the “Top 23 Key Takeaways” report that will be published in the coming weeks.