A move to Global Business Services requires much more than simply asking shared services centres to cooperate. It represents a fundamental shift in how businesses think about and manage shared services and outsourcing. Those that get it right can achieve enormous improvements in performance, but making it work is easier said than done. Here are some practical tips for implementing Global Business Services:
1 - Decide how far to go
Any organisation with more than one shared services centre or outsourcing arrangement should at least be sharing information and best practices between operations. However, many organisations – especially those that are truly global in nature – could gain significant benefits by moving further up the integration continuum. Agreeing with global and functional executives how this integration can add value, the models to adopt and global capabilities to develop is an essential step.
2 - Establish sponsorship at the highest executive levels
By its nature, a Global Business Services model transcends an organisation's traditional silos, be they functions, regions, or business units. Although a Global Business Services initiative might be rooted in a single silo, it requires enterprise-level sponsorship and alignment from the board, CEO, or COO.
3 - Define an effective leadership structure
Many GBS leaders report to someone in the C-suite, which is likely to ensure appropriate senior executive sponsorship. In some cases that person is not a functional leader (e.g. CEO or COO), which reduces the risk of any one function being perceived to be in overall control. In a recent Deloitte survey, 47% of the participating organisations said they have assigned a leader to manage shared services centres across their organisation. Of these leaders, 42% report to the CFO.
4 - Choose an organisation structure that promotes global integration
Organisations looking to drive enterprise-wide efficiencies and ownership tend to have more elements of their support services report through Global Business Services. However, the balance of reporting to each functional head is a key consideration which means approaches to integration can vary considerably. For example, some organisations report entirely to a Global Business Services or Corporate Services leader (including whole back office functions), some just report through Global Business Services for their 'shared' elements of responsibility, while others leave full reporting lines and authority to the function.
The first approach deploys Global Business Services in a fully integrated manner and is easier to drive end-to-end improvements and back office optimisation. The model deployed needs to take the advantages of shared deployment and strategic choices, whilst ensuring functional quality, controls and value are delivered.
5 - Establish on-going process leadership
Some of Global Business Services' unique benefits stem from the ability to standardise processes across the organisation, across functions. To that end, a key enabler of Global Business Services effectiveness is having process owners who control how a process such as procure-to-pay is run throughout the organisation. To be effective, these roles need to be set up as cross-organisation or group-wide mandates – with the teeth to enforce standards and drive change. In some cases, global process owners even have "pay-and-rations control" over the people working in their process areas.
To ensure success, CxO sponsors must aggressively manage change
Setting up a Global Business Services organisation requires significant change that affects a wide range of functions and business stakeholders. It is important to develop a structured change and communications plan well in advance that can help deliver clear and consistent messages to all functions and stakeholders involved in the process.
To read more about how your organisation can deliver the essential behaviours of Global Business Services, read our latest thinking now.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
