The most effective SSC teams think globally, scale rationally, and expand services wisely.
Shared Services Centers (SSC, or shared services organizations) increase their value to internal customers in various ways. Managers constantly work on three main pillars of service: people, processes, and technology. However, there are five features that distinguish the most successful SSC teams, and they are worth considering as early as the launch phase.
Global Planning from the Start
As a rule, companies first implement a shared services center in their home country and then export the concept to other countries. As a result, each region operates in isolation, trying to improve productivity and reduce costs independently of the rest.
Over 80% of SSCs implement Robotic Process Automation
“Successful organizations have a long-term vision for the development of their shared services center from day one, and they shape all policies and organizational structures according to this global vision,” says Cliff Struhar, Vice President at Gartner. Such companies do not open too many physical offices, preferring one global center and a few smaller regional offices instead. The head of the SSC is responsible for all global operations and for ensuring reliable service for business units across regions.
Continuous Expansion of Service Volume and Scope
When implementing an SSC, the first step is usually to consolidate and standardize the high-volume processes, such as accounts payable or cash application. Regrettably, many companies stop there, ceasing to pay attention to other financial transaction processing workloads.
Companies with a strategic roadmap expand not only the geography of their services but also their scope. Such companies do not have separate options for different business units. The SSC serves every country, region, department, and employee of the company. Progressive companies develop adjacent services by adding expert-level operations, and they do not limit them on the grounds that these processes do not yield massive cost savings.
Implementing “Global Process Owners” (GPOs) for Service Standardization
Many SSCs strive to reduce costs and increase the productivity of discrete processes, such as accounts payable. Successful teams go further and hire Global Process Owners (GPOs) for end-to-end processes, such as order-to-cash or procure-to-pay. Global owners standardize these processes across all locations, which includes:
- Assessing and improving process quality
- Applying advanced technologies
- Managing external communications
- Monitoring customer satisfaction levels
- Identifying technological needs
Process Automation in Parallel with Labor Arbitrage
Over the past couple of decades, many companies have moved transaction processing services to low-cost regions, gaining an advantage in labor arbitrage. This increases the potential of the entire organization, drives process optimization, reduces costs, and helps execute the company’s strategy.
“RPA helps SSC leaders increase productivity and cut costs”
Modern SSCs also help automate workflows. “Advanced automation technologies, such as cognitive computing or machine learning, will help perform those tasks that were previously difficult to automate in an SSC,” says Struhar.
Gartner Research reports that more than 80% of SSCs have implemented Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate routine, rule-based, and repetitive activities. RPA helps SSC leaders increase productivity and further cut costs, compounding the savings on top of the benefits of labor arbitrage.
Investing in Training and Understanding Employee Value
Since the goal of implementing an SSC is to increase value for business unit customers, successful teams do not view employee training as an expense. Training and education are considered investments. Research shows that problem-solving skills are critical when providing services to internal clients—alongside other competencies such as finding a workaround for any issue and communication skills—and this skill is four times more effective than any professional expertise.
Jordan Bryan, Gartner
Original article: https://www.gartner.com/
Why Implement an SSC in Your Company?
LITIKO has years of experience delivering large-scale, complex outsourcing projects. If you have decided to reduce operational expenses through the standardization and optimization of supporting processes, you can always turn to LITIKO for assistance. Our experts will design and build an SSC for you, leaving you to simply decide where to allocate the capital saved through the implementation.
Benefits of implementing a Shared Services Center:
- AI eliminates manual data entry and primary processing of incoming documents
- Interaction between the SSC and the business becomes transparent
- Costs for operational and long-term storage are reduced
- Preparation for tax audits is 3 to 5 times faster
- Processing is accelerated: approval, signing, and sending of electronic documents using QES (Qualified Electronic Signature)
Is it time for your organization to transition to an SSC?
