Episode 7: Are you making the Kool-Aid – or drinking it?

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By: Deborah Kops, Stephanie Goody 06/22/2018

This month, Suzanne Leopoldi-Nichols, Global Head of Shared Services at Archer Daniels Midland, takes up the challenge presented by our moderator Deborah Kops. We’ve also made the jump from TV studio to film in the midst of Shared Services and Outsourcing Week in Orlando.

But after cost, shared services is a tool to achieve organizational goals – be that “transformation” or “digitalization” or anything else. It’s the discipline shared services bring, to do things, that is so valuable, says Suzanne. But it’s less about “drinking” the Kool-Aid than it is about “making” the Kool-Aid, she says. Watch the interview for more on metrics, service levels, moving from shared services to GBS [“our North star”], customer feedback – and what is challenging leaders like Suzanne right now.

Suzanne is a believer. She is also a shared services veteran with more than 20 years’ experience. The reason for shared services are still effective modeling, saving money, and making best use of [finite] resources, she says. Basically, it’s about taking money out of administration to grow the business.