WSR November 2016

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November 2016

The Official Journal of the International Association for Human Resource Information Management

IHRIM.ORG

Human Resources Shared Services The past, present, and future

See the Compensation and Benefits Buyer’s Guide Page 20



Contents

Volume 7, Number 6 • November 2016

features

Compensation and Benefits Buyer’s Guide

Page 20

columns From the Editors

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Scott Bolman and Michael Martin

From our Advisors

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Shared Services: Is the Pain worth the Gain? By Catherine Honey, People Advisory Services, EY

Global Perspective

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A Perspective on HR Global Shared Services By Susan Richards and Kim Seals

Less is More in the Next-Gen HR Shared Services Business Case

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By Jim Scully, HR Shared Services Institute In the second wave of shared services, the ERP-enabled wave, business cases for HR shared services began to include another dimension, known generically as HR Transformation, which is the ability of shared services to free HR generalists and domain specialists from administrative and service activities, thus allowing them to focus on more strategic, value-added work.

Product Focus

The Back Story

Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Shared Services Organization

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By Brenda Sural, Northern Trust

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Changing the way HR Delivers Service with ServiceNow Kelvin Lovely, ServiceNow

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Sorting Out Sourcing: Finding the Candidates You Need Katherine Jones, Ph.D., Mercer

Whether your shared service organization is the accounts payable function for your company or the HR service center that answers questions and provides counsel to employees, there are best practice approaches to measuring the effectiveness of your shared services organization. This article details those approaches to keep your shared services organization effective going forward.

The Call for Perfection – HR Call Centers of the Future

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By Dan Vander Hey, KnowledgeSource Consulting The investment in equipping call center reps with both people and technology skills is a recipe that sets the foundations for perfection. Recognizing HR call center representatives as individuals, giving them credit for results, praising efforts, and rewarding them when they succeed will only multiply the benefits realized by a happy and motivated workforce.

The Future of HR Shared Services Technologies

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By Gautam Shah, GPHR and Mustaque Ali, Deloitte Consulting LLP Human Resources shared services organizations have evolved from a pure back-office transaction processing center to an HR operational center managing knowledge-oriented services; from a costcutting initiative to a value-creating initiative – creating strategic capacity for the rest of HR; from managing compliance and risk to creating an “experience” for employees; from regional locations to global, virtual centers. Workforce Solutions Review (ISSN 2154-6975) is published bi-monthly for the International Association for Human Resource Information Management by Futura Publishing LLC, 12809 Shady Mountain Road, Leander, TX 78641. Subscription rates can be found at www.ihrimpublications. com. Please send address corrections to Workforce Solutions Review at the address above. www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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Volume 7, Number 6 • November 2016

Workforce Solutions Review is a publication of the International Association for Human Resource Information Management, whose mission is to be the leading professional association for know­ledge, education and solutions supporting human capital management. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the editors, the IHRIM board of directors or the membership.

ERIK BERGGREN, VP, Customer Results & Global Research, Success Factors, San Mateo, CA USA eberggren@successfactors.com

BRIAN RETZLAFF, Head of IT for HR, Legal & Communications, ING US Insurance Americas, Atlanta, GA USA brian.retzlaff@us.ing.com

JOSH BERSIN, Principal and Founder, Bersin by Deloitte, Oakland, CA USA jbersin@bersin.com

LISA ROWAN, Program Director, HR, Learning & Talent Strategies, IDC, Framingham, MA USA lrowan@idc.com

© 2016 All rights reserved

NAOMI LEE BLOOM, Managing Partner, Bloom & Wallace, Fort Myers, FL USA naomibloom@mindspring.com

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

YVETTE CAMERON, Global Vice President Strategy, SuccessFactors, Littleton, CO Yvette.cameron@successfactors.com

Managing Editor SCOTT BOLMAN, Strategy and Analytics Practice, Sierra-Cedar bolmanscott@yahoo.com

Co-Managing Editor SHAWN FITZGERALD, Managing Director, Total Rewards and HR Technology, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Chicago, IL, USA shawn.fitzgerald@bcbsa.com

Associate Editors ROY ALTMAN, HRIS Manager - HR Analytics & Application Architecture at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY roy@peopleserv.com DAVID GABRIEL, Ed.D., Global Reach Leadership, Berkleley, CA davidcgabriel@gmail.com JEFF HIGGINS, CEO, Human Capital Management Institute, Marina Del Rey, CA USA jeff.higgins@hcminst.com ERIC LESSER, Research Director, IBM Institute for Business Value, Boston, MA USA elesser@us.ibm.com MICHAEL H. MARTIN, Partner, Aon Hewitt Consulting, Organization & HR Effectiveness, New York, NY michael.martin.6@aonhewitt.com BRUNO QUERENET, Head of HR Technology/HR Operations, Genentech Bruno.querenet@gmail.com

LEW CONNER, Executive Director, Higher Education User Group, Gilbert, AZ USA lconner@heug.org ELENA M. ORDÓÑEZ DEL CAMPO, Senior VP Globalization Services, SAP AG, Frankfurt, Germany elena.ordonez@sap.com GARY DURBIN, Chief Technology Officer, SynchSource, Oakland, CA USA hacker@synchsource.com Dr. CHARLES H. FAY, Professor, School of Management & Labor Relations, Rutgers University, Highland Park, NJ USA cfay@smlr.rutgers.edu DR. URSULA CHRISTINA FELLBERG, Owner & Managing Director, UCF-StrategieBeraterin, Munich, Germany ucfell@mac.com ALSEN HSEIN, President,Take5 People Limited, Shanghai, PRC Alsen@take5people.com CARL C. HOFFMANN, Director, Human Capital Management & Performance LLC, Chapel Hill, NC USA cc_hoffmann@yahoo.com

LISA STERLING, Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer, Ceridian, Lincoln, NE USA, lisa.sterling@ceridian.com DR. DANIEL SULLIVAN, Professor of International Business, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware USA sullivad@lerner.udel.edu MARK SMITH, CEO, Chief Research Officer, and Founder of Ventana Research, San Ramon, CA USA mark.smith@ventanaresearch.com DAVE ULRICH, Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA dou@umich.edu DR. MARY YOUNG, Principal Researcher, Human Capital, The Conference Board, New York, NY USA mary.young@conference-board.org

IHRIM BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers and Executive Committee JAMES PETTIT, HRIP, Chair SHAFIQ LOKHANDWALA, Vice Chair, Program Committee Chair, Strategic Alliances Lead GARY MORLOCK, CFO, Finance Committee Chair, Operations Committee

JIM HOLINCHECK, Vice President, Services Strategy & Marketing, Workday, Inc. james.holincheck@workday.com

JOYCE BROWN, Board Secretary, Finance Committee, Program Committee, Education Committee Board Sponsor

CATHERINE ANN HONEY, VP, Customer Services, Radius Worldwide catherine.honey@comcast.net

KEVIN CARLSON, Past Chair, IHRIM Foundation Board, Membership Committee Board Sponsor, Executive Leadership Council Chair

DR. KATHERINE JONES, HCM Research, Bersin by Deloitte, San Mateo, CA USA kathjones@deloitte.com

Board Members

SYNCO JONKEREN, VP, HCM Applications Product Development & Management, EMEA, The Netherlands synco.jonkeren@oracle.com

DAVE BINDA, Operations Committee, Toronto 2017 Conference Co-Chair

MICHAEL J. KAVANAGH, Professor Emeritus of Management, State University of Albany (SUNY), Albany, NY USA mickey.kavanagh@gmail.com

MICK COLLINS, Finance Committee, Program Committee, Vendor/Alliances Committee Board Sponsor, Marketing Board Sponsor

CECILE ALPER-LEROUX, VP Product Strategy and Development, Ultimate Software, Weston, FL cecile_leroux@ultimatesoftware.com

BOB KAUNERT, Principal, Towers Watson, Philadelphia, PA USA robert.kaunert@towerswatson.com

MARY ANN MCILRAITH, Program Committee, Marketing Advisor

BILL KUTIK, Technology Columnist, Human Resource Executive, Westport, CT USA bkutik@earthlink.net DAVID LUDLOW, Global VP, HCM Solutions, SAP, Palo Alto, CA David.ludlow@sap.com

PUBLISHING INFORMATION

MARK BENNETT, Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, CA USA mark.bennett@oracle.com

MICHAEL RUDNICK, Managing Partner, Prescient Digital Media Michael.rudnick@gmail.com

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

RHONDA P. MARCUCCI, CPA, Consultant for GruppoMarcucci, Chicago, IL USA rhonda@gruppomarcucci-usa.com LEXY MARTIN, Independent Consultant/Researcher, Meadow Vista, CA Lexy.martin1@gmail.com

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STUART RUDNER, Toronto 2017 Co-Chair

TOM FAULKNER, Publisher, Futura Publishing LLC, Austin, TX USA, tomf@futurapublishing.com PATTY HUBER, Advertising Manager, Austin, TX USA phuber2@austin.rr.com


Scott Bolman, Co-Editor Scott Bolman is a currently with the Strategy and Analytics practice at Sierra-Cedar. He has been partnering with Human Resources (HR) and Information Technology (IT) leaders for over 25 years. He has led numerous strategy, service delivery, and technology projects and has expertise across a broad array of HR functions. He is currently based in Chicago. Prior to joining Sierra-Cedar, Bolman served with several organizations including Walgreens, Mercer, Towers Watson, and Accenture’s HR Outsourcing business. For the past two years, he has been the managing editor of IHRIM’s Workforce Solutions Review magazine. He can be reached at scott.bolman@sierra-cedar.com and at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ scottabolman. Michael Martin, Co-Editor Michael Martin is a senior leader in the Organization & HR Effectiveness consulting service line and is a partner in Aon Hewitt’ Talent Practice. He has more than 17 years of industry experience with a broad range of HR transformation initiatives including strategy and design of the HR function, shared services design, implementation and optimization, business process re-engineering, change management, and implementations of HR technology solutions in many industries. Prior to his current role, he was a principal consultant in a leading HR consulting firm, based in New York. Additionally, he has held internal HR roles, including leading a global HR Center of Expertise and running a large, outsourced HR shared services function. Martin earned a B.A. from The George Washington University with major in Psychology, and an M.A. in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from New York University. He is regularly featured in HR trade journals, and has been a speaker at the annual IHRIM conference. He can be reached at michael.martin.6@aonhewitt.com.

from the editors It is that magical time of the year where our businesses and our individual busy-ness seem to accelerate. Our calendars and to-do lists take on more and more, and all kinds of events compete for our time and attention. Many of these things do not have a positive return on their investment, and yet, we sometimes forget that in the hustle and bustle of the season. This issue of Workforce Solutions Review and our theme of Shared Services is not one of these things however. You may not get to it until December, but spending time in these pages is likely to give you an idea (or two, or many!) that you can take and use in 2017. Here’s what’s in store for you. (I will be brief so you can get back to that online sale.) First up is Jim Scully, who needs no introduction in the Shared Services world. His article “Less is More in the Next-Gen HR Shared Services Business Case” argues that the original business case for shared services (some 70 years old now) still has some value. However, there are six (6) new rules you need to be aware of as you prepare for launching (or expanding) your shared services organization. Next up is Brenda Sural, the Global Head of HR Operations and Senior Vice President at Northern Trust. She tackles “Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Shared Services Organization” and provides great senior-level insight into the ongoing governance of what can be a complicated, politicized operation. Going beyond traditional SLAs and other “typical” measures, Brenda’s article is a must-read for those involved in proving the ongoing value of their operation. In “The Call for Perfection – HR Call Centers of the Future,” Dan Vander Hey, from KnowledgeSource, serves up an insightful summary of how HR Call Centers have evolved and where they are headed. Dan’s emphasis on the people delivering the service juxtaposed against the rapidly advancing technologies that they use to deliver that service is compelling. Our final feature article is from Gautam Shah, GPHR and Mustaque Ali from Deloitte Consulting LLP. In “The Future of HR Shared Services Technologies,” Gautam and Mustaque discuss how the changing workforce and the changing workplace are driving shared services to an inflection point. Their take on the evolution of the HR shared services organization and role of technology in shaping the future is well worth your time. Our columns start with “From our Advisors” in which Catherine Honey from EY asks the question “Shared Services: Is the Pain worth the Gain?” Next, Susan Richards and Kim Seals provide a global view in “A Perspective on HR Global Shared Services.” In our “Product Focus” column, Kelvin Lovely from ServiceNow offers his perspective on “Changing the way HR Delivers Service.” And of course, Katherine Jones returns with “The Back Story” where she provides her perspective on “Sorting Out Sourcing: Finding the Candidates You Need.” My co-editor Michael Martin and I enjoyed putting this issue together. Shared Services is no stranger to either one of us! Whether or not you are focused on Shared Services in your current role, most of us in HR need to understand more about Shared Services and the role it plays in the overall HR Operating Model. We hope this issue provides you with valuable insights.

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Jim Scully, HR Shared Services Institute

Less is More in the Next-Gen HR Shared Services Business Case As the HR shared services delivery model continues to evolve, so does the business case. This article outlines some new rules that forward-looking organizations should heed as they seek to evaluate the costs and benefits of implementing or expanding the well-established delivery concept of HR shared services.

A Brief Evolution of Shared Services

Shared services is not a new idea. It’s a very old one, in fact. The first business case for shared services was put forward in 1925 by Alfred Sloan, then president of General Motors. At a high level, Sloan’s business case was much like one you might see today. Sloan’s aim was to consolidate redundant functions across business divisions to achieve economic efficiencies while allowing the business units to retain the desired level of autonomy in core business operations. Sound familiar? Sloan’s idea, which business textbooks label the divisional structure, progressed essentially unchanged for more than a half century, until the advent of mainframe computing gave it a huge boost. Still, while mainframe computing certainly increased the scope and scale of centralization, it was not until the early 1990s that the introduction of client-server computing and its powerful progeny, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, propelled shared services into its golden age. Enterprise resource planning platforms like SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft and others made it possible to centralize more processes across more functions and on a much larger scale than previously imagined. With each of these technological milestones the shared services model took an evolutionary leap. Even Alfred Sloan’s centralized model required breakthrough technologies of the day, namely long distance calling and carbon paper, as long distance calling enabled companies to coordinate with various entities across the globe, while carbon paper allowed written communications to be quickly replicated and disseminated without physically re-creating

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each copy. Later, mainframe computers allowed huge amounts of data to be consolidated and transferred, even if the method required physical devices, such as magnetic media, looking much like a movie reel. Computer networking made way for clientserver computing, which allowed data to be transmitted electronically and instantaneously (more or less), between far-flung points. Enterprise resource planning software developers seized on this capability to integrate otherwise disconnected business processes, giving birth to the shared services concept we now know. The internet and cloud computing, combined with mobile devices, soon spawned technological advances at a dizzying and unprecedented pace. These technologies leverage prior advances to allow employees and managers to conduct complex transactions, send communication, and even participate in meetings anywhere, anytime. Needless to say, the implications for HR shared services are enormous.

Evolution of the Business Case

Despite all of these technological advances, in some ways the shared services business case hasn’t changed from the first wave of shared services introduced by Alfred Sloan. Ninety years later, organizations still seek efficiencies through consolidation and standardization while preserving business unit autonomy where appropriate. But in the second wave of shared services, the ERP-enabled wave, business cases for HR shared services began to include another dimension, known generically as HR Transformation, which is the ability of shared services to free HR generalists and domain specialists from administrative and service activities, thus allowing them to focus on more strategic, value-added work. HR transformation became a central feature of HR shared services business cases that remains today. For many organizations, this also includes reducing generalist and


specialist FTEs to achieve cost savings. Because of the symbiotic relationship between technology and delivery model design, secondwave business cases often included benefits from technology consolidation, as ERP platforms made it possible to eliminate disparate point solutions and harmonize HRMS platforms across business units. Lastly, some second-wave business cases included benefits from “backsourcing,” that is, bringing previously outsourced processes back in-house at a lower cost. All of these business case drivers continue to exist today to varying degrees, depending upon each organization’s circumstances. But, this article is focused on where the HR shared services business case is headed, not where it’s been. So, let’s turn our focus there.

The Mega Trend – Building the “Less” Business Case

If we can assume that manual administration, a.k.a. red tape, is busy work and, thus, waste (albeit sometimes unavoidable), we can view the evolution of HR shared services in three major phases: •

Phase I – Waste for Less,

Phase II – Less Waste, and

Phase III – Less.

“Waste for Less” business cases (these are not entirely extinct) rely on performing comparable tasks, perhaps even using similar processes, with fewer and/or less expensive people. These earliest business cases simply shifted lower-value, lower-skill work from HR generalists (now called HR business partners) and functional specialists (now called centers of excellence) to lower-paid, lower-skilled HR shared services staff. This practice came to be known as the “tiered” delivery model. Tiered models still exist and have merit. But, the practice of “tiering” barely scratches the surface of potential business benefits and has been eclipsed by more innovative organizations. We’ll talk more about this topic later in this article. “Less Waste” business cases rest on the elimination of waste activity through process harmonization/improvement/automation, which also includes various forms of manager and employee self-service. The argument is that by consolidating processes under a shared services umbrella, those processes can be measured and improved by experts whose focus and skill is process efficiency. Today, most business cases are a combination of “waste-for-less” and “less-waste” business drivers. Additionally, the HR transformation component is usually, though not always,

prominent. Finally, “Less” business cases are based on HR simply doing less. Theoretically speaking, the “Less” business case can be thought of as HR shared services working itself out of a job, because if the “Less” business cases are fully realized, there would be almost no need for the shared services function as we have come to know it. For example, a handful of leading-edge shared services organizations no longer employ the once-ubiquitous call center to handle the bulk of employee inquiries. Instead, they rely primarily on robust knowledge management solutions and self-service enablement. Likewise, transaction administration is completely self-service enabled with no alternative channels offered. Finally, to achieve this level of self-sufficiency, the scope of self-service enablement must be comprehensive. Employees and managers cannot embark on a process to help themselves only to find that, for the matter in question, they cannot. Mobile apps play a huge role in the design of “Less” shared services models, as empowering employees and managers to such an extent requires providing access to information and transactions via mobile interface, as tablets and smart phones are rapidly becoming primary computing devices. Processes in “Less” shared services models are automated by default, requiring no human intervention for handoffs or data entry. In short, the “Less’ shared services model is like ordering a book online, rarely requiring human intervention, and only when there’s a problem or rare exception.

“. . . some second-wave business cases included benefits from “backsourcing,” that is, bringing previously outsourced processes back in-house at a lower cost.”

Building the “Less” Business Case

Before characterizing the “Less” business case, let me capsulize the characteristics of the “Less” service delivery model. First, employees and managers are largely taking care of their own routine needs, from opening recruitment requisitions to transacting personnel changes to getting answers to their questions. The “Less” service delivery model does not see selfservice as an alternative delivery channel, but rather the delivery channel. Second, in order to empower employees and managers, the “Less” model drives toward simplification of programs, policies, and processes. Inherent complexity is the greatest obstruction to employee and manager self-sufficiency. Finally, the “Less” model focuses on outcomes rather than activities, recognizing that results are more important than effort. In fact, at least in theory, the perfect “Less” model achieves desired outcomes without any effort at all. With this as background, here are some new www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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rules for building the “Less” business case.

New Rule #1: Include the value of employee and manager time in calculating ROI.

About the Author

Jim Scully is the founder and president of the HR Shared Services Institute (www.hrssi. net), a professional services and research firm specializing in HR service delivery and shared services. Scully also founded the HR Shared Services Network on LinkedIn, which currently has more than 10,800 members worldwide. He can be reached at jim.scully@hrssi.net.

As employees and managers assume more responsibility for their own HR matters, it simply makes sense to account for the time they spend doing it. Arguably, HR service delivery costs should always have taken their time into account, but in the “Less” model it is not only logical but critical. The amount of time (full-time equivalents) spent by HR is only part of the picture, and one that is smaller in the “Less” model. If processes reduce HR’s time while wasting the time of managers and employees, no efficiency has been gained.

New Rule #2: Focus on cost-per-valued-outcome rather than cost-per-transaction.

All costs associated with a given outcome, such as the hiring of a new employee or the enrollment of an employee in benefits, accrue to the bottom line. Discrete tasks or transactions combine to create desired outcomes. If the cost of one transaction in the process is high while another is low, the true measure of value does not become clear until all transactions in the process are accounted for and the total cost of the resulting outcome is tallied.

New Rule #3: Compare the proposed future state to alternative future states, not simply to current state.

Nothing stays the same, so why assume that it will? If you’re building a business case for a major HR service delivery model change, something obviously isn’t working today. Therefore, if you do not proceed with the proposed change, then it is reasonable to assume that other changes will occur in its place, and these changes will not be without cost or disruption. Therefore, you should assume that the status quo is a false comparison.

New Rule #4: Limit your ROI outlook to five years or less.

Things simply change too fast for any technology-dependent business case to predict costs or benefits very far into the future. The good news is that the vast majority of technology enablers are delivered via Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), so long-range software investments seldom need to be taken into account today. I’m not saying that the benefits of shared services will not accrue beyond five years, but don’t pretend that you can anticipate them. Unless you have a magic crystal ball, you can’t.

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New Rule #5: Don’t sugar coat the benefits of centralization, especially global.

There is a myth that centralization always produces benefits through economies of scale. This belief is an Industrial Age holdover. Shared services organizations are factories, make no mistake, but they are digital factories, which makes them very different from their brick-andmortar ancestors. Digital processes do not rely on people, equipment, and materials being in the same place. Even virtual centralization can be less efficient than decentralization, simply due to the additional managerial layers and oversight required. There is a place for centralization, but there also is a place for decentralization. Be honest about the potential additional costs of centralization and don’t overstate the benefits. If the ROI doesn’t seem to be there, don’t assume there’s something wrong with your calculations. They may be right.

New Rule #6: Don’t stop at hard-dollar benefits.

Business cases that account only for hard-dollar costs and benefits may miss the much bigger part of the iceberg. Chief financial officers may be justified in demanding that shared services implementations pay for themselves in real dollars over a specific time, but, as it is often said, shared services is a journey whose final destination is impossible to predict. In fact, the greatest benefits achieved through shared services, both hard and soft, often never appear in the initial business case. For example, if an organization invests in shared services and, years later, is able to integrate a business acquisition into the HR service delivery model and, thus, eliminate administrative redundancy at the point of acquisition, the value of that acquisition is enhanced through shared services even though those benefits that could not be anticipated in the initial business case. Similarly, once a shared services organization is in place, the ongoing process improvements it may spawn, while impossible to predict, may produce benefits far in excess of those initially identified. Implementing shared services is similar to hiring an employee. Like a new hire, the true value of shared services is its future potential. Just as an organization never knows exactly what a new hire may bring to the organization, the same can be said for shared services. In the final analysis, the benefits of shared services depend upon what the organization makes of it. Human Resources Shared Services Institute practice research consistently shows that shared services organizations are as unique as the organizations they serve, and that the benefits achieved are not so much about what organizations do, rather how well they do it.


feature

Brenda Sural, Northern Trust

Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Shared Services Organization Whether your shared service organization is the accounts payable function for your company or the HR service center that answers questions and provides counsel to employees, there are best practice approaches to measuring the effectiveness of your shared services organization. I will spend some time reviewing these best practices because they are the baseline to understanding whether your services are performing as expected. However, to have truly exceptional shared services, you must look beyond these standard practices. I will highlight several additional areas that can make the difference between providing necessary services to being a truly valued, effective service to the organization.

Defining Effectiveness

Before creating the framework for measuring effectiveness, you need to ensure that you have clear alignment with your key stakeholders about what “effectiveness” means for the shared service organization. This is done through defining the scope as well as the objectives of the service. First, you need to identify all of the various stakeholders. The list will include executives who are making the investment, as well as your customers to whom you will provide services. As you identify your executive stakeholders, you will uncover the business objectives for establishing the shared service. Is the objective to save money? Is it to provide globally consistent service? Is it to reduce the risk of inaccurate results? Some combination of the three? And, you must understand the reasons behind those objectives. If the objective is to provide globally consistent service, you must understand what was previously inconsistent. Then as you identify your customer stakeholders, you will identify what service your customers will expect. You can influence these expectations through communications and marketing, but customers start with a baseline of expectations for the service that should be understood upfront.

At this point, you also need to make sure the scope of your shared services is clearly defined. You may have clear business objectives; but, if the scope is not defined, agreed upon with your stakeholders, and communicated to the organization, any performance will still not be perceived as effective.

Service Level Agreements

Now that you understand what effectiveness means for your shared service organization, you can move on to define how you will measure performance to determine if you are meeting expectations. One best practice approach is to use service level agreements (SLAs). Service level agreements are the promised measures of performance a provider makes to the customer and will allow all stakeholders to know whether you are providing the basic level of expected service. Examples include: • Responding to a case within 24 hours of submission; • Paying employees accurately 99.5 percent of the time; and, • 90 percent Customer Satisfaction Rating of satisfied or highly satisfied. What SLAs should you put in place? To start with, list everything that comes to mind. There are many good publications and industry groups to help you with your list, or you may be working with a consulting partner and they will have best practices to use as a starting point. Then compare your list with the business objectives and customer expectations to select and prioritize what you will measure. Do not over measure – you need to build a realistic and sustainable process to measure and communicate performance. Too many metrics can create an unsustainable process. In some cases, you may not have the current capability to measure a key metric on the list. If you don’t have a way to currently measure performance that relates to a key business objecwww.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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tive, you should strongly consider making the investment into building that capability. Once you select your SLAs you need to determine exactly how they will be calculated. And, you need to have transparency with your stakeholders on how they are being calculated. Things to consider include the time frame over which the calculation will be done or what will be included. For example, if you are calculating the number of days in which a case will be resolved, will you exclude weekends or holidays? You then need to communicate the approach to stakeholders to ensure that their assessment of the service is the same as yours. In addition to verifying that you are delivering the basic level of expected service, by studying the SLA trends over a period of time, you can see where you might need to make staffing adjustments, offer additional training, or make a process/system improvement.

Governance

Now that you’ve defined your SLAs, it is important to put routine governance in place. When your shared services are outsourced, this approach is a part of the standard service. When you are implementing an internal shared services organization, you need to establish this same discipline with your team. Governance is the management process and routine to ensure that you are meeting objectives and performing as expected. It typically involves producing regular reports that highlight performance as measured against the SLAs. In the event an SLA is not met, the governance process would generally require a root cause analysis (RCA) to determine the cause of the SLA failure. You can then create a plan of action to ensure that the issue does not occur again. A key part of the governance process is holding regular meetings to formally review performance. Those that should attend are the managers responsible for delivering services, the overall leader and, potentially, your key business sponsor. The agenda should include reviewing the reports that measure performance, key accomplishments, upcoming deliverables, any RCAs and action plans for improvement. These meetings are typically monthly. Lastly, an executive summary should be produced and circulated to your business stakeholders. For a startup shared service I suggest

Don’t wait until your “monthly” publication of SLAs to address situations. 8

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producing this on a monthly basis. As your service matures, quarterly may suffice.

Beyond SLAs

As I noted at the beginning, there are areas that can make the difference between providing necessary services to being a truly valued, effective service to the organization. You need to look beyond the SLAs. This includes understanding what is keeping you from providing 100 percent perfect service as defined by the SLA. You may meet the SLA for answering calls on a timely basis, or for paying employees accurately, but SLAs are purposely set such that you don’t provide 100 percent perfect service. Providing 100 percent perfect service is cost prohibitive and sometimes just plain impossible. We are human after all.

The SLA Gap

You need to assess the situations that cause the gap between the SLA and 100 percent perfection, those situations that may have taken too long to be resolved, or those that caused errors. To put this in perspective, if you meet an SLA that says you will pay employees accurately 99.5 percent of the time, for a 5,000-employee organization this means that 25 people will have incorrect pay. That number is not unreasonable considering all the variables that go into paying employees. However, and this is important, you need to fully understand the reasons for incorrectly paying those 25 people. If the issue is that 25 employees missed a small voluntary deduction that can be easily applied in the next pay cycle, you can likely issue an employee communication and apply the deduction next time. But, if you have completely missed paying 25 people, that is unacceptable. Many people live paycheck to paycheck, so missing a period of pay is potentially disastrous. And if the situation is disastrous, word of mouth will spread the news and seriously impact your reputation. So, while you may have “met the SLA,” the perceived effectiveness of the shared service is negatively impacted. It can take a long time to overcome this hit to your reputation. In addition to understanding what caused performance issues, your response to remediating the situation and how fast you execute the remediation is equally important. Don’t wait until your “monthly” publication of SLAs to address situations. As soon as you hear of issues or outright errors, your team should be working to fix the problem. And, immediate and continual communication to the impacted employees is always the right thing to do. Some leaders are hesitant to admit mistakes, but the sooner you


acknowledge an issue and your plan to fix it, the more your customers will work with you and stay engaged. Even if you don’t have an immediate plan, acknowledging the issue, noting that you are working to develop a fix and promising future communication in a fixed time period (and then, of course, following through) creates confidence with your customers. Even better, your infrastructure should be set up to have triggers in place that alert you to the fact that an SLA may be missed. For example, if you have an SLA that says you should resolve cases/issues raised by employees within five days 95 percent of the time, then you should have a dashboard in place that highlights the aging of outstanding cases. The manager of the shared service can then be actively monitoring and addressing the case load to ensure that employees will receive timely and satisfactory service. So, while you may miss the SLA on an individual case, a manager can immediately address a situation so that it doesn’t become a larger, repeatable problem. However, there will always be times when you may not be aware of the critical nature of an issue until after the fact. When that happens, it is again important to respond as noted above. This will serve two purposes; by addressing these situations quickly and with good communication you will build good will and a reputation for excellence.

Above and Beyond Service

So, you meet the SLAs and, in fact, address the issues that keep you from meeting the measure at 100 percent. Is that all you need to do? That may depend on the type of organization you are and the culture you work in. If you work for an extremely bottom line-focused organization, that may be good enough, and may be perceived as “highly effective,” because to do more might cost more. But, if you work for a company that embraces values that suggest delivering superior service, then you should look for ways to provide service that goes above and beyond the SLAs. In these organizations, meeting SLAs is just the price of admission. To be perceived as “highly effective,” you need to do more. What “more” means is very dependent on the

type of shared service you are providing. One example of how to do this is to instill really good listening and probing skills into customer service representatives. It may not be enough just to ask the question, “What else can I help you with today?” What you need to do is train your representatives to listen to the initial question being asked and look beyond the immediate answer and provide all the information that can help the employee or determine what else can be done to resolve an issue. Another example is to use your historical data to identify what employees are likely to call about. You can apply this approach to individual calls, anticipating what employees are likely to call about next based on their current case; or you can do this for annual events such as annual benefits enrollment. If you know that for every annual enrollment employees call in frantically at the last minute because they have forgotten their PIN, you can proactively send out communications reminding folks to call early to reset their PIN. These are all just examples. In order to determine what applies to your shared service organization, you should ask your stakeholders what they would perceive as outstanding service. You can also add this question to your customer satisfaction surveys.

Delivering Year after Year

We have defined what “effective” will mean for your shared service organization, we have looked at how to establish the regular measures and routines used to measure the effectiveness, and we have looked at the steps you can take to go beyond these measures to provide greater value to the organization. I’d like to leave you with one last thought: instill a learning and continuous improvement mindset into the entire service. Regulations change, technology changes, programs and policies change and companies change their objectives. You will need to stay connected to the business and industry practices and assess how all of these changes need to be, or should be applied to your service. And remember, some of your best suggested improvements will come directly from those doing the work! Keep listening to them!

About the Author

Brenda Sural is a senior vice president for Northern Trust. As global head of HR Operations she is responsible for HR Technology, Payroll, and the HR Service Center. Sural is working to streamline operations through improved process and technology, as well as to ensure that the right work is done in the right location. Prior to joining the Northern Trust, she was head of HR Operations at the Kraft Heinz Company, where she was transforming the delivery of HR services through the implementation of a new system and an improved delivery model for services. Prior to Kraft Heinz, she held a variety of roles at Aon Hewitt that focused on client services, process improvement, and managing project portfolios. She can be reached at bs265@ntrs.com. www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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Dan Vander Hey, KnowledgeSource Consulting

The Call for Perfection – HR Call Centers of the Future Being right 100 percent of the time is a tall order. We celebrate organizations who achieve high standards of quality by giving them awards for excellence (ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and Baldridge Award) and we certify capabilities (Six Sigma) to strive for perfection. Expectations for perfection are especially high when you deal with issues tied to pay, benefits, or personal work performance. The tolerance for errors in a paycheck or mistakes in benefits coverage is very low, and the unfortunate consequence of a mistake is often more significant than just a poor call rating. Advancements in technology have seen HR call centers gradually transition from traditional HR inquiries toward provision of a wide range of services and access avenues to satisfy virtually all modes of communication. Unfortunately, these advancements in technology may not be keeping pace with the increased volume of employee queries and the complexity of issues presented for resolution. The most recent Sierra-Cedar survey on HR systems1 conducted in 2016 reflected that 70 percent of organizations have some level of shared services. The most widely deployed shared services model is a centralized model that employs standardization of processes and technology, versus a regional, local, or blended model that results in local variations in technology and processes. This data and similar research validates what has been a steady trend reflecting that shared service adoption is strong across geographies, industries and various organizational sizes. Similar research by Oracle2 demonstrated that for the last 10 years HR shared services adoption has increased at an average rate close to 40 percent per year. With no slowdown in sight, how do organizations respond in an environment where the expectation is instant answers to a growing level of multifaceted HR concerns? Who will work at the HR Call Center of the Future? And, what processes and technologies will it consist of?

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Increased Expectations

The world of Amazon and Google has given the general public the ability to find the products and answers for any need. Most people understand being able to search for answers without any assistance, and the ability to access information by phone, if not computer, is commonplace regardless of industry or age. The quest for information is matched with the need for speed, getting answers in minutes versus hours. Contrast this with the familiar process where employees could walk in and talk to someone about their benefits options after catching up on the latest news about their family. Increasing pressures on today’s organizations to support a global workforce, compete in a tough economic climate, and remain nimble to adapt to changing business demands creates an understandable challenge for HR. In reply, the HR call center is the spearhead for responding to every query, while often leading the introduction of new policies and organizational changes. Keeping employees productive, engaged and informed requires ingenuity, creativity and patience, realizing that the significant intersection of inquiry and responsiveness is impossible to predict since employees often seek answers from managers, peers, and others prior to reaching out to the HR call center. New requirements to support multiple languages, ensure secure access to personal information, and provide a wide range of access vehicles has already had significant impact on HR call centers. Most HR call centers are supported by internal HR specialists, but the options to outsource or co-source these functions are also growing. Growing consolidation and globalization by many companies further spurs changes as new technologies emerge to provide options to displace the traditional HR specialists of HR call centers. Regardless of how these services are delivered to employees, the bar has been raised when it comes to the expectations for service quality and timeliness.


No Room for Error

Whether it involves answering a question on overtime pay, reviewing benefit options, or vetting a grievance, the employee in search of an answer always has the same expectation. The information needs to be correct. Increased compliance risk, expanded options of employee choice, and an ever-expanding menu of HR services place high demands on the HR call center. Variances that exist based on location, job levels, seniority, employeeelection, and a plethora of other variables all have to be considered and assessed prior to providing an individualized response that meets the expectation of perfection. With a growing volume of legislative and regulatory compliance issues to adhere to across all countries of operation, HR call centers have a non-stop task of staying current. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) legislation alone provides plenty of evidence of the dangerous intersection of accessible data and personal employee information. Since employee inquiries or call center interaction has the potential to involve private health information, it is critical that HR call centers support HIPAA compliance by ensuring secure and selected access in all systems they employ. Additional areas of concern include all areas impacted by employee grievance processes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the European Union Equal Treatment Directive are all organizations designed to address employee/employer concerns and unfair labor practices. Discrimination based on age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity have always been closely monitored – but additional legal scrutiny is now being given to workplace behavior, family member history, and even political organization that only blur the line between public versus private information. This whole process only gets further complicated by the fact that any case management system will often contain information about the issue in question (harassment, discrimination, abusive behavior) and the parties involved. The serious details of any HR violation are vital to be recorded, but the importance of protecting the privacy of both the impacted party and the potential transgressor is paramount. The gravity of protecting this type of information extends to other sensitive HR information that is far less litigious, such as performance improvement plans, 360-degree feedback, and

even succession planning that have recently been introduced in wage and position parity disputes.

Tested Through Tiers

Traditionally, a component of the methodology to ensure getting the right response as quickly as possible was through multiple levels of review and support. The multi-tiered service delivery approach that is most commonly deployed contains four tiers, referred to as Tiers 0, 1, 2, and 3. (See Figure 1) Ideally, any employee inquiry would be addressed at Tier 0. Tier 0 is designed to offer service through an employee HR portal, HR knowledgebase and intuitive self-service transactions. As the initial step for employees seeking information or resolution, Tier 0 is self-service-focused and usually includes searching a company portal with access to a HR knowledgebase, HR self-service transactions, and the ability to create/manage HR self-service cases. As illustrated in Figure 1, the target resolution of 75 percent using basic tools mentioned above is expected in most companies. Top-performing HR service centers have demonstrated the capability to address an even higher percentage of inquiries at this initial tier through the use of predictive websites, individualized access and a wide range of embedded help content including policy documents, step-by-step process guides and illustrative videos. Should an employee bypass Tier 0 or fail to obtain the information they are seeking, the next step (Tier 1) is to contact the service center directly. Tier 1 is where the employee, HR call center, and some form of case management all come together. The type of Tier 1 inquiry varies greatly since it is at this level where interaction and discovery begin for both employee and HR.

“The importance of a good case management tool is critical to all elements of ‘no room for error,’” according to Kane Frisby, the chief strategy officer of Dovetail Software, a case management provider. Frisby adds, “By directing an inquiry to the right person from the start ensures that the best person to answer a question actually answers it. For those situations where the answer isn’t known, utilizing the knowledge base, where such a question may have already been answered, also reduces the margin of error. Finally, with security parameters, a company can ensure that only people who should view certain information have visibility to it.”

Figure 1. Multi-tiered Service Delivery Approach. www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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“Your employees are HR consumers, and should be thought about in that fashion, just like Amazon thinks about its customers – keeping that mindset when offering HR services from the HR call center is the key to success,” says Dovetail Software’s chief strategy officer, Kane Frisby. “So you must consider where your consumer is spending their time, and how you reach them, more importantly, how they reach you. Offering an individualized, digital employee portal to help your employees locate the information they need while promoting HR services will continue to grow in adoption for future HR call centers.”

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Inquiries about missing overtime, shift differential pay, access to wellness programs, and complaints about harassment are all fielded at this level with the common expectation that everything will be addressed through one call. Ideally, HR call center agents are able to resolve inquiries on the first call and research reflects that about 10 to 15 percent of calls are able to be addressed in a “one-and-done” format, but not everything moves that smoothly. Tier 2 involves the escalation of issues to specialists and subject matter experts who leverage their expertise, additional research, and/or employee interaction to achieve resolution. Finally, Tier 3 provides both an escalated resolution channel and development mechanism for a group of experts to resolve the most complex issues and expand corporate strategies through progressive HR programs. The most significant benefit of the tiered model is to provide people time to do what they do best. Front-line call center agents are able to develop personalized assistance strategies with energy and passion for personal interaction. Tier 2 specialists are able to intervene based in areas where they have been trained to excel and, finally, HR policy experts and strategists are enabled to thoughtfully align corporate vision with empowering people practices. As illustrated, tiers of response capability provide a great hierarchy of support that, if used correctly, should help guarantee accuracy in answers and interpretation, but these often conflict with timeliness and the appearance of response clarity. Continued efforts to educate employees on the complexity of all things HR are making inroads on employee understanding, but this carries with it increased awareness of the details of HR information. Access to leave entitlements, time-off requests, shift-pay variance, performance-related pay, benefit options, learning resources, and multiple other aspects of human resources puts a diverse set of personal data at employee’s fingertips, opening avenues of interpretation and confusion that never existed before. In this environment, the HR call center often is forced to play the role of interpreter, translator, and mediator while ensuring that company policy and standards are followed. Recent disputes over shift dif-

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ferentials, unfair salary equity, and contentious leave cases have placed HR in the last place they want to be, the courtroom. The dilemma of challenging policy and HR interpretations is something most organizations seek to avoid like the plague, but the reality of an increasingly contentious workforce willing to challenge corporate interpretation is placing the HR call center at the forefront of potential adversarial situations. Multi-language support, extensive health and benefit options for employees, and the continued expansion of HR services continues to push the capabilities of both people and technology within HR call centers. Viable solutions are being introduced every year to support the quest for perfection in HR service delivery. However, technology is only as good as the data it contains and the people who use it. Demands to address an ever-widening range of issues will not subside, so the only viable option is to continually find ways to be more efficient and effective.

Technology Advancements

Understanding the evolution in technology is critical to interpret what the future holds for HR call centers. In HR call centers, and in most areas of our life, it always seems like the newest tech phenomenon is only a brainstorm away. This rapid progression of technology advancement in general is illustrated well by the specific changes that have occurred in HR call centers. The diagram below provides a rough timeline of the changes in technology within HR call centers. The initial call center consisted of providing a phone number to employees seeking answers to HR questions. Out of convenience, the phone number became toll-free. With telephony improvements like interactive voice response (IVR), the caller was provided with options to identify themselves through the keypad or voice. This was further enhanced with the onset of automated call distribution (ACD) that included additional call trees, live agents, prerecorded content and/ or direct routing to alternate providers. With the advent of portals and mobile devices, the ability to provide content-rich service became the norm. Looking back, the transition from a phone with an HR representative waiting for a call, to multi-modal connections between employees and any inquiry possible has been dizzying for all. One thing is certain when it comes to HR call center technology, self-service is here to stay. Cost savings and efficiency in provid-


ing self-service resolution are benefits that all organizations have realized, but that does not always mean that employees recognize this same value. The opportunity to talk to a real person and have a two-way dialogue when raising a concern about a supervisor, or questioning the payment of overtime, or reviewing options for health care are all interactions that most of us link to two-way human interaction, but the HR call center of the future may alter that exchange.

The Human Advantage

Regardless of the effort put forth by companies to direct employees to self-service functionality, most employees still seek personal communication when they need HR assistance. The analyst firm Forrester reports that the phone is still the most popular medium for communication, with 73 percent of consumers calling into a call center.3 Today, calls may go to a centralized, localized, or outsourced HR call center with an agent working at home, responding to questions from multiple companies. Advances in today’s technology allow a call center representative to view the same material as a person working at home, an office, or in transit. Several HR call centers also provide employees with instructional videos and informational websites with interactive capabilities. Employees can now seek information from videoconferencing, live chat and/or text exchange. Personalized options for communication illustrate the benefits of enabling technology. These advances in support technologies, combined with growing self-service options connected to intuitive employee portals, have only continued to build on the early inroads of IVR, ACD and computer telephony integration (CTI). The dynamics of call routing, response automation and recording are extremely complex. As soon as an employee calls the HR call center, the potential exists, through screen pop technology, for the HR call center agent to know everything about the caller. With various forms of identification verification, the interaction between employee and agent can quickly move past the niceties of exchanging identifying information and get right to the issues. In fact, this initial call handling and distribution is getting so sophisticated that some organizations provide intelligent “robotic” agents using similar technology to Siri (Apple) and Alexa (Amazon) that are removing the need for human interaction completely. Before we dive too deeply into the world of the future and the potential of artificial

intelligence, it is important to cite some of the significant advances that have already become the staple of HR call center technology. Customer relationship management (CRM) and case management tools have multiplied the information about both the caller and their inquiry. Combined with extensive and detailed knowledgebase capabilities, most programs let call center reps copy and paste boilerplate text or frequently asked question (FAQs) responses right into responses to employees. The benefits are better answers for employees and reduced legal liabilities and risk for both corporations and call center reps.

To Technology and Beyond

While voice calls are common and provide the lifeblood for the transactions of HR call centers some people do not want to talk to another human being. A Pew Internet study4 found that 31 percent of cell phone users prefer communication via text rather than a voice call. The study also found that more than half of the people who send 50 or more text messages per day chose texting as their favored mode of contact. It was also notable that 62 percent of people used their cell phone to look up a medical condition. Companies can still keep in touch with people who do not want to talk by using other customer contact options. For example, they can set up online chat and/ or email services. The option to extend chat into video calls or “Face Time” communications opens up new opportunities to establish rapport and connection. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be undoubtedly regarded as a revolution in the field of HR call center technology. Artificial intelligence can be defined as the capability of a machine to perform with the same expertise as that of a human expert. Despite the growing use of AI, companies need to continue to investigate where in the employee/HR contact center human interaction it is really a necessity. As AI is a rapidly growing technology, the potential of how it will impact the HR call center is impossible to forecast based on what is known to this point. Early benefits that have been recognized with AI software are that it deploys predictive analytics methodology to carry out its functions that possess the ability to recognize various patterns within hours instead of taking months. This enables AI to collect meaningful data from both parties during call center calls. For example – are the agents engaged in a call with confidence, positivity and enthusiasm? Or, do they seem

“Getting the technology right within a HR call centre is key; the design and build needs to be intuitive to allow the caller to speak to a person rather than just listen to many different options and recorded messages, which is a frustration for the end user. Not everyone wants to send an email or raise a case for the issue to be resolved, therefore, organisations cannot just think of the ultimate technology. They need to look at the telephony solution and how it can flow to a different user internally and externally to the company, as well as across borders and regions to ensure that it is fully integrated and has the capacity to support globally no matter where the HR call centre is located.” – Lorna Barrett (director of Global Shared Services, KnowlegeSource, Inc.)

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Endnotes

1 Stacey Harris & Erin Spencer, Sierra-Cedar 2016-2017 HR Systems Survey, 19th Annual Edition, Sierra-Cedar, 2016. 2 Jay Zuckert, Is Your Current HR Service Delivery Model Working for You?, Oracle, May 16, 2011 3 Joshua Feast, Why the Call Center Matters More Than Ever, Customer Think, January 23, 2016. 4 Aaron Smith, U.S. SmartPhone Use in 2015, Pew Research Center – Internet, Science & Tech, April 1, 2015.

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to be dismissive, monotonous and robotic? Does the employee who is calling the HR call center sound agitated, confused, tired or confrontational? Artificial Intelligence can have an immense contribution in this area and may soon become an integral part of assessing quality performance of call center agents and identifying intervention strategies when dealing with employees.

It’s still about People

The prospect of AI is intriguing and the potential to completely replace the need for people in HR call centers would have a significant impact on costs, but it still is quite a stretch for the imagination when considering the importance of human interaction and requirements for flexible interpretation based on a variety of inputs from each caller. Critical skills for the HR call center of the future will include multi-language capabilities, diverse HR functional aptitude and the ability to utilize a wide range of technologies. Career options are more varied than ever for HR call center agents based on the broad range of HR functional specialties combined with advancement prospects to embrace multiple support channels and knowledge concentration. Add to these options geographic diversity based on call center operations being located all over the world or even accessible from work from home opportunities and it makes this an attractive time for call center employees as well. Based on these expanding requirements, training prerequisites have continued to increase over time with an associated positive impact on salaries and career path. Since the emergence of early call centers (often called transaction centers) equipped with limited technologies, we have seen a significant change in HR call centers. Initially, people dreaded working in understaffed call centers hidden in the bowels of most organizations dealing with disgruntled employees day after day. High call volumes, insufficient supporting data and technology, and the frustration of not resolving problems led to high turnover and poor perceptions of HR call centers. Three key factors have impacted the landscape of modern business and the HR call center. First, the continued pressure to do more with less emanates through every part of business and the HR call center reflects that transformation. Second, technology has exceeded the expectations that anyone had about how systems might be able to provide intelligent data, customized to any user, in

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support of critical decision-making. Third and finally, the value of using all forms of communication vehicles in support of service delivery has expanded the realm of what is possible, from face-to-face interactions to the prospect of AI intervening for human discourse. The quest for doing more with less generally starts with a focus on headcount and support personnel. Most HR call centers started with the notion that a dedicated workforce focused on day-to-day interactions with employees would not only reduce the cost of support, but allow for HR headcount reduction. Efficiency gains are still there to be realized, but the value of having skilled people in an HR call center is recognized in the quality of service that they are able to deliver to the organization and the speed with which they assimilate new information and technological skill. The reality is that fully engaged employees within a call center are able to provide unrivaled employee assistance. The unfortunate reality is that most of today’s investment in HR call centers is going into telephony, the newest knowledgebase, or case management tools that provide extensive metrics on every interaction. There is a strong case for the value of these technology improvements, but not at the sacrifice of understanding what is really required to change employee satisfaction from abysmal to awesome. Technology will continue to change the face of employee/call center interaction. The day will come when the IVR really can tell the difference between a spoken question versus a spoken statement and the ACD will actually route you to exactly what you need (person, data or transaction engine). Finally, having more options to create a meaningful connection between an employee and the HR assistance and information they are seeking is a good thing. There really is no one solution that works for everyone, and for every individual who wants to talk to a real person, there are two millennials who would prefer a text interaction. Multi-channel strategies supported by complex technology can produce strong results. New advancements in employee portals, interactive knowledgebases, and ever-expanding social media with real educational value are demonstrating tangible benefits, but there is still no replacement for a HR call center that provides superior customer service. Agents with excellent communications skills who can build genuine connections with employees are more valuable than ever. People who are skilled, trained and ener-


gized are the single most critical ingredient to successful HR call centers. The investment in equipping call center reps with both people and technology skills is a recipe that sets the foundation. Recognizing HR call center representatives as individuals, giving them credit for results, praising efforts, and rewarding them when they succeed will only multiply the

benefits realized by a happy and motivated workforce. Finally viewing the HR call center as a revenue creator (versus a cost center) focused on empowering employees to engage in work with full attention will maximize organizational efficiency.

References

A Collection of Practices for Human Resources Shared Services & Service Delivery, Version 1, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Sept. 2007. “A Multi-tier Approach to Delivering HR Services,” HR Management Magazine, Issue 11, Q2 2009. David LaBatt, “Challenges Call Centers will face in the Future,” Novasors.com, July 7, 2015. Samuel Greengard, “HR Call Centers A Smart Business Strategy,” Workforce Magazine, June 1, 1999. Jaime Scott, “HR is Fundamental to Improving Call Center Productivity,” Customer Think, Jun 24, 2016. “It’s Time for the Next Generation HR Service Delivery Model,” Mercer LLC, 2012. “Moving Beyond Legacy Voice Centers toward Omnichannel Connection in the Cloud,” CIO Magazine, Genesys.com. Frank Roebroek, “6 Major Trends in HR Shared Services,” HR Trend Institute, 4th January 2016. Joshua Feast, “The Call Center: What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Customer Think, January 30, 2016. “The Future of HR, Part 8: HR Heroes in the HR Service Centre,” HR Trend Institute, January 2013. “The Future of the HR Profession,” Society for Human Resource Management. Erin Osterhaus, “The HR Department of 2020: 6 Bold Predictions,” The New Talent Times, June 6, 2013. Dianne Chinn, “The Importance of an HR Service Center,” SmallBusiness.Chron.com, studio. Susan M. Heathfield, “The New Roles of the Human Resources Professional,” The Balance.com, October 12, 2016. “Trends in Global HR Shared Services,” Aon Hewitt, 2011. Sushovan Saha, “What the Future Holds for AI(Artificial Intelligence) and Contact Centers,” AmeyoEngage.com, July 7, 2016. Megan Zweig, “Why an HR call center might be right for your organization,” Advisory Board. Ana Lucia Soler, “Why HR Shared Services are an EPIC Fail for Employees,” Pulse, January 8, 2015. Patty Isnor, “What HR Wished WFM Knew About Call Center Employee Experience,” BlueOcean.ca, April 5, 2016. Karen E. May, “Work in the 21st Century: The Changing Role of Human Resources,” SIOP.org, January 1998. Nicole Dominique Le Maire, “Working Towards Digital Global HR Practices,” The HR Observer.com, October 12, 2015.

About the Author

Dan Vander Hey is a principal consultant with KnowledgeSource Consulting. His focus is on helping organizations assess and understand their present level of HR process, people and technology capabilities in order to design strategies to help improve service delivery and overall business effectiveness. Dan specializes in managing large strategic initiatives and has led major HR outsourcing, shared services, global payroll, and global human capital management implementations. Dan brings leadership, global HR transformation capabilities, and a collaborative style to deliver successful projects every time. Dan is a nationally recognized expert in HR transformation, shared services, and HR outsourcing based on his extensive experience helping companies from large to small with HR best practices applied to people management, service delivery strategy and effective delivery sourcing. He excels due to his extensive knowledge and experience in both designing and implementing HR solutions and services focused on improved service delivery. He can be reached at daniel.vanderhey@ksi.com.

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Gautam Shah, GPHR and Mustaque Ali, Deloitte Consulting LLP

The Future of HR Shared Services Technologies Introduction

Global changes such as widening generation gaps, technological advancement, and a new employer-employee social contract are disrupting traditional talent models and the nature of work for HR functions, especially HR shared services. With the changing workforce (influx of millennials and freelancers) and the changing workplace (“always on” via mobile devices and other digital innovations such as employee experience management, robotics and cognitive automation, etc.), shared services operations find themselves at a unique inflection point. It’s time to reinvent them and change how they service their customers and redefine their value proposition to their customers and HR. This article discusses the evolution of the HR shared services organization and role of technology in shaping this change and allowing organizations to take advantage of recent technology advancements. Advancement in technology has disrupted every industry, sector, organization and each of us individually, in one way or another. Human resources shared services (HRSS) is no exception. While technologies in HRSS have evolved over the years, the entire HRSS organization has also evolved and matured over the past two decades. These organizations have evolved from a pure backoffice transaction processing center to an HR operational center managing knowledge-oriented services; from a cost-cutting initiative to a valuecreating initiative – creating strategic capacity for the rest of HR; from managing compliance and risk to creating an “experience” for employees;

from regional locations to global, virtual centers. Deloitte’s High Impact HR Operating Model1 references this evolution from HR shared services to HR operational services and outlines the key transition elements below (Figure 1) for organizations to create an impactful HR organization. In addition, there are also broader human capital trends (Figure 2) around design thinking, usage of analytics, digital HR innovations and the “gig economy” that are driving the future of the HRSS organization (based on Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends,2 Deloitte Research and Deloitte’s Global Shared Services Survey). Technology continues to serve as a key enabler as organizations make the transition and evolve to address these trends and change their strategic objectives from efficiency and effectiveness to customer experience. On one hand, we are witnessing new disruptive technologies that are shaping the industry; while on the other hand, organizations are leveraging their current investments in technology to provide a better experience and outcomes to the organizations. Common themes in the advancement of HRSS technologies include: •

Customer experience focus: Newer cloud-based technologies are built with the end-user in mind and focus on experience and social collaboration. These technologies are accessible anywhere, anytime and on any device, and present data and information are personalized and contextualized to the user through seamless integration across multiple underlying technologies.

Faster innovation: The pace of change and innovations in HRSS technologies has disrupted the industry and provided organizations with advanced capabilities deployable in a quicker timeframe along the journey to digital HR. For example, technologies like robotics and cognitive automation that used to be trends and concepts only a few years ago are now ready for mass deployment.

These common themes have manifested in the following specific ways to enable HRSS organizations to evolve into high-impact, value-add engines for the HR function. Figure 1. Key Transition Elements.

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Figure 2. Human Capital Trends.

#1: Shift from physical centralized shared service centers to virtual centers: Shift from co-location of resources in low-cost labor markets to distributed specialized resources working in virtual teams globally to deliver HR operations. Traditional HRSS Technologies •

High Impact Technologies

Human resources shared services is enabled by core telephony technologies – automatic call distributor (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR), computer telephony integration (CTI), i.e., “screen pop” that are installed within a company’s infrastructure and customized to their requirements.

Human resources shared services is enabled by core telephony technologies that are provided as a service, i.e., Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and installed in the cloud.

Technology platforms are shared by multiple organizations allowing vendors to continuously innovate

Human resources shared services require company issued property to access the core technology to serve their customers.

Human resources shared services can access core technology from any device, company issued or personal device at home.

Human resources shared services access core technologies within the company network.

Multiple physical service centers require redundant set-up of telephony infrastructure across centers.

Core technologies can be accessed from anywhere, anytime with an internet connection enabling “work-at-home” agents.

Additional centers/agents can be enabled without establishing redundant technology.

#2: Shift from contact management to experience management: Shift from handling traditional contact channels (phone, email) to omni-channel approach across channels creating a rich customer experience Traditional HRSS Technologies •

Enabled by technologies like case management, web-enabled forms, email management systems (EMS), knowledge management and document management systems to handle individual inquiries from customers

Non-integrated or loosely integrated technologies across multiple contact channels

Human Resources content and knowledge (policies, programs and procedures) is presented to employees as static content.

Increased focus on measuring and maximizing tier 0 or self-service to reduce cost of delivering services

High Impact Technologies •

Enabled by integrated technologies across contact channels allowing employees to choose their channel to request service.

Treating employees as customers and providing an Omni-channel experience via integration across channels.

 • •

Human Resources content and knowledge is contextualized and personalization based on the customer’s request or transaction. Increased focus on measuring and enhancing customer experience rather than operational efficiency, e.g., promoting chat as a contact channel even though it’s considered tier 1. www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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#3: S hift from systems of “record’ to systems of “engagement:” Shift from focus on completing individual transactions to engaging the customer through the end-to-end experience at key “moments that matter” Traditional HRSS Technologies

High Impact Technologies

Human Resources technologies designed for the HR administrators requiring specialized knowledge and training prior to use

Human Resources technologies designed as consumer-grade applications, intuitive to use, requiring little to no training

Focus of HR technologies on efficiency and effectiveness

Focus HR technologies on engagement and user experience

Human Resources transactions in core HR systems not integrated with content in the knowledge base or ability to provide assistance in the moment

• • •

 •

Enabled by technologies like business process management solutions (BPMS)

Human Resources content and assistance presented in the context of the HR transaction, e.g., ability to chat with an agent while submitting a leave of absence request

Technologies designed to work with desktops first and then mobile devices

Enabled by technologies like robotics and cognitive automation (R&CA)

Technologies designed with a “mobile first” strategy

Human Resources portals serve as an integrated platform to manage end-to-end customer experience irrespective of the underlying applications and/or service providers, e.g., Deloitte’s ConnectMeTM 3 and AccessEdgeTM 4 solutions

Human Resources portals serve as a gateway or entry point to various different applications and or service providers, integrated in some instances

#4: S hift from reporting to analytics: Shift from measuring activities to measuring outcomes; from leveraging technologies for generating operational reporting to generating predictive analytics and insights Traditional HRSS Technologies •

Technologies focused on measuring processing times and service level agreements to support the efficiency and effectiveness objectives of the HRSS organization

Basic and advanced reporting technologies available in each application with limited integration across platforms

Human resources shared services organizations focused on cost-cutting and risk management

High Impact Technologies •

Technologies focused on measuring the outcomes and value of services provided based on the overall end-to-end customer experience

 •

Advancement of disruptive SMAC social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) technologies allowing companies to innovate quickly, generate predictive insights and scale globally rapidly

Human resources shared services organizations focused on engagement, customer experience, value generation and global growth

#5: S hift to a “Gig Economy,” and from human to digital labor: Shift from managing a workforce with formal employment contracts to managing teams of human and robots Traditional HRSS Technologies

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Typical HRSS workforce is composed of primarily employees and supplemented with non-employees, e.g., contractors, to manage spikes in demand

Clear differentiation of machines and humans – work processing and judgement

Internal processes, technologies and infrastructure designed for employees

Limited use of scheduling and workforce management solutions

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High Impact Technologies •

The “gig economy” (network of people without formal employment agreements) is changing the corporate workforce with the increased use of contingent freelance workers (one-third of U.S. workers are freelancers)

 •

Increase use of advanced automation solutions with the introduction of Robotics and Cognitive Technologies blurring the differentiation between humans and machines as machines can mimic actions and judgement5

Internal processes, technologies and infrastructure flexible to adjust to the new talent models

Increased importance of scheduling and workforce management solutions


Bringing It All Together – Where Companies Can Start

No two companies are identical, and organizations should resist the temptation to replicate solutions adopted by other organizations without personalizing it for their context. To start: •

incorporated into the solution for future deployment across the organization to other process areas. •

Set a bold vision: Assess your HR strategy, operating model and vision for engagement with your employees. Focus on what would create a high impact for your organization and then establish a roadmap to get there. A case in point – a leading telecommunication organization that was undergoing a divestiture made a strategic decision to establish a digitally focused HR organization for the new organization. They implemented an HRSS organization reducing the focus on the traditional telephone channel while promoting other digital ways and mobile-enabled channels for employees to interact with HR. Be agile, test concepts and incorporate feedback: Adapt an agile approach to deploying new capabilities to the organization. Invest in pilot solutions to identify what works in your organizational culture. Deloitte’s internal HR shared services organization has leveraged newer robotics automation technologies in the delivery of HR processes by piloting these solutions in the area of compensation and reporting. Feedback from the initial pilots is being

Build a business case: As with all initiatives, understanding the return on investment (ROI) and associated time period for the ROI can help set the right expectations with the organization’s leadership. The requirement for positive business cases can also help focus on only those initiatives that will add value to the organization. Recently, a global consumer products company took on a large-scale transformation program to deliver an intuitive employee engagement solution supported by a distributed HR shared services operations. Their design and deployment decisions were continually measured by the potential ROI based on the target markets, leading to differentiated solutions for highgrowth versus mature markets, large versus small footprint markets, etc. This approach enabled them to engage their stakeholders in a data-driven manner and to get the maximum value from their investments. Stay engaged in the marketplace: To understand the technology capabilities, collaborate with the community of other users and learn from the collective experience of other organizations. Crowdsourcing continues to be at the core of some of the advanced solutions in the marketplace.

Endnotes 1

Deloitte, The High-Impact HR Operating Model. http://www2. deloitte.com/global/en/pages/ human-capital/articles/highimpact-hr.html

2

Deloitte, Global Human Capital Trends 2016. http://www2. deloitte.com/us/en/pages/ human-capital/articles/ introduction-human-capitaltrends.html

3

Deloitte, ConnectMeTM. http:// www2.deloitte.com/us/en/ pages/consulting/solutions/ improve-employee-experiencemanagement-connectme.html

4

Deloitte, AccessEdgeTM. http://www2.deloitte.com/us/ en/pages/consulting/solutions/ accessedge-enhancing-onpremise-sap-hcm.html

5

Deloitte, Automate this – The business leader’s guide to robotic process automation and intelligent automation, 2015. http://www2.deloitte.com/us/ en/pages/operations/articles/aguide-to-robotic-processautomation-and-intelligentautomation.html

About the Authors

Gautam Shah is a senior manager in the HR Transformation practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP and is based out of the Chicago office. He is a career consultant with over 20 years of global experience in global management consulting, a certified global professional in Human Resources (GPHR), and a certified Workday HR project manager. He focuses on helping clients address key business issues by designing and implementing innovative solutions to transform their global HR function – strategy, people, process and technology – solutions that strike a balance between the three E’s – efficiency, effectiveness and experience. His client experience includes full life-cycle HR transformation including strategy, assessment, operating model, process redesign, shared services and technology implementation. His recent experience has included the implementation of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) enabled HR technologies, e.g., Workday, Salesforce, Oracle HCM, and their resultant impact on HR operating model, customer experience and HRSS talent. He can be reached at gautshah@deloitte.com. Mustaque Ali is a senior manager in the HR Transformation practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP and is based out of the Chicago office. He has 20 years of consulting and management experience in working with clients on large-scale organizational and technical HR Transformations. He specializes in global HR operating model and shared services deployment, including selective outsourcing and technology solution implementations. He has led teams across the Americas, Europe, and Asia for large global deployments (consumer products, chemicals, manufacturing, financial and life sciences organizations with over 70k+ employees) in the past 9 years. His recent client engagements include standing up captive shared services centers in Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and deployment of SaaS enabled solutions such as Workday and Salesforce.com as part of global HR transformation programs. He can be reached at muhali@deloitte.com. www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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2016 Compensation and Benefits Buyer’s Guide The 2016 Compensation and Benefits Buyer’s Guide will serve as a valuable reference tool. For your convenience, the guide has two sections: a Categorical Listing and an Alphabetical listing. In the Categorical Listing, companies are listed under the product and service categories of their choice. For information on a specific company and its products and/or service, please refer to the Alphabetical Company Listing. While a listing in this guide does not constitute an endorsement by IHRIM, it does indicate that these companies are interested in serving the needs of HRIS professionals. We hope this Buyer’s Guide will assist you in your 2016 purchasing decisions.

Product Categories

Compensation

General Decusoft HCR Software

Compensation Administration

Enterprise Information Resources Inc.

Compensation Consulting

Enterprise Information Resources Inc.

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Paid Advertising

Deferred Compensation

International Compensation

Decusoft

HCR Software

Decusoft

Crystal Plus.com

Executive Compensation Incentive Compensation

Decusoft Enterprise Information Resources Inc. HCR Software

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Rewards & Recognition


2016 Compensation and Benefits Buyer’s Guide

Alphabetical Company Listing* *Systems and applications referred to in this section are trademarked, registered, or in progress. These names should not be used generically.

Crystal Plus.com

18475 E. Valley Blvd. City of Industry, CA 91744 Michelle Smith 888-779-8803 888-669-0838 service@crystalplus.com www.crystalplus.com CrystalPlus.com is a leading supplier/ manufacturer of crystal awards and corporate gifts. We offer free engraving and no setup charges on all of our crystal awards and gift products. We have in house professional graphic designers, engravers and customer service specialists to serve our customers making ordering crystal awards and gifts easier than ever. At factory direct prices and with huge inventory selection at our California warehouse, you can’t find any better prices and faster turnaround for the same premium quality of custom engraved corporate awards, sports trophy and personalized gifts.

HCR Software

Enterprise Information Resources Inc.

13400 Sutton Park Drive South, Suite 1102 Jacksonville, FL 32224 Jamie Davis 904-838-5470 sales@hcrsoftware.com www.compensationxl.com

271 Waverley Oaks Rd. Suite 207 Waltham, MA 02452 Gin O’Leary 855-589-9451 617-924-4802 info@erpinforesources.com www.erpinforesources.com

Enterprise Information Resources Inc. (EIR) Get the most from your talent management strategy with EIR expertise, proven technology and service offerings. EIR DataTools are advanced automation tools that turn your system into a major company asset providing the accurate, actionable data necessary for reaching a true competitive advantage. We are a certified implementation partner for SAP SuccessFactors solutions. See our ad on page 32.

CompensationXL is a flexible and affordable compensation planning software which enables effective pay-for-performance strategies. It simultaneously reduces the administrative burden and cycle time while improving process integrity and regulatory compliance. CompensationXL automates merit and variable compensation without requiring changes to your process or retraining of your managers. See ad on page 30.

DECUSOFT

70 Hilltop Rd Ste 1003 Ramsey, NJ 07446 Michele Weiss 201-258-3395 201-785-0774 Michele.Weiss@Decusoft.com www.decusoft.com COMPOSE by Decusoft is a specialized compensation management software solution that simplifies the administration of complex variable pay programs including Merit, Bonus, Short-term and Long-term incentives. COMPOSE easily integrates with existing ERRP, HRIS, financial and human capital management solutions, allowing you to leverage your investment in existing processes and systems. See ad on inside front cover.

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From our Advisors

2016 Outsourcing/ASP Buyers Guide

Catherine Honey, People Advisory Services, EY

Shared Services:

Is the Pain worth the Gain? Shared services as a delivery model has been around for years in various formats. But, for Human Resources (HR) functions, the model is still largely a concept, leaving many organizations to wonder, “How can we get a shared services center of our own?” The concept of shared services – which sees various administrative and “backoffice” support functions as being centralized within a separate function or business unit — has numerous advantages over traditional processes. A major benefit to be achieved through implementation of shared services centers (SSCs), of course, is cost savings. A properly implemented and managed SSC may realize savings of 25 to 50 percent or more, thanks to the economies of scale, potential labor arbitrage, and processing efficiencies resulting from centralized common flows and procedures. Enhanced employee servicing may also result, since the contact and assistance models are delivered through a defined model. A shared services center may also offer greater flexibility to an organization engaged in heavy mergers and acquisitions activity, as the infrastructure for employee processing and servicing can more easily be scaled up or down. And, of course, to those of us in HR, we can finally, hopefully, transition to our desired role of strategic business partners rather than guiding employees through mundane administrative activities. The scope of shared services can be either narrow, perhaps including just one process, or broad, spanning multiple processes, activities and even departments. In fact, several leading global companies are instituting shared services organizations that include everything from procurement and accounting, through HR administration and payroll, and into IT, legal services and beyond. For shared services, it seems, the possibilities are endless. If implemented well, SSCs can add tremendous value to an organization and its employees. However, implementing shared services is not for the faint of heart. Moving to a shared services

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environment, which is typically undertaken by larger companies that may have operated in a more decentralized fashion, can require a fundamental shift in the organization. The sheer complexity of some of the processes can seem daunting, especially if you’re working in a geographically dispersed, global organization. The number of decisions that need to be made can appear overwhelming and may send companies considering the move into “analysis paralysis.” Some questions to consider include: • How do we define the processes that we will move into shared services? That is, which policies should be harmonized, and how do we accomplish that? • What is our geographic scope? Do we consider regional centers or one global center, and where should it/they be located? • How do we map the handoffs within and outside of the center? Will additional roles be needed, and how will they be defined? What about third-party providers? • Do we have the technology in place to support an SSC? Not just the core administration/transaction processing system, but also the call center technology, case management, self-service and others. • Who will own the SSC, and how will it be funded – as an internal administration department or as a fee-for-service business unit? • How do we change the behavior of the people affected (employees, managers, field HR, others)? And, the list goes on. But, there are some fundamental tenets that can help guide the thinking as you prepare to undertake the journey. From my experience, it is wise to consider how you’ll manage these challenges: Language – Regardless of your geographic locations, English may well be your language of business. But, that doesn’t mean your employees will be


able to manage their personal inquiries in English. For example, what if an employee in China has a question about his or her paycheck? Some local language capabilities may be necessary. You’ll need to think through how you’ll manage that, and to what extent. Staffing – The job description of an SSC employee is different from that of an HR generalist or “traditional” HR/payroll administrator. The SSC job tasks are likely to be more structured and repetitive, but also more customer service-oriented. It is important to consider your staffing needs and how you’ll manage those resources. The “tiers” of service delivery – Most SSCs include a heavy dose of employee and manager self-service as a critical component. If you haven’t yet rolled out those capabilities, doing so will be a significant change to your organization. Some “hand holding” may be required to ensure success. Then, there is the organizational component of what will actually happen in the SSC, what will be escalated elsewhere, and how the issue resolutions will be managed. If your organization has thirdparty vendors in the mix, there is another layer of complexity as well. The organizational structure – Will the SSC be a stand-alone department within HR, or an entirely separate business unit? Will it function as an administrative center, or will it use charge-backs to ultimately become self-funding? Will other business units be allowed to opt-in or is using the SSC’s services mandatory? Answers to these questions will help determine the structure and governance of the SSC. In addition, through my work in this area over the years, I have found the following items to be the 10 most critical success factors. Incorporating these key elements into your thinking and planning will help guide your efforts: 1. Focus on “customer” service – nothing drives adoption like a good experience! 2. Establish proper ownership and governance of the SSC and the overall model. 3. Make sure the processes are clearly defined, step-by-step, including all handoffs. 4. Clearly define the scope of activities to be included – and keep it narrow at first. 5. Identify the technology enablers – the transaction engine(s) of course, but also

self-service capabilities (through various media), case management, call routing and management; new technologies can also be deployed to further automate routine transactions or activities. 6. Make sure the new processes are “enforced” and new procedures followed. 7. Develop the business case and expected return on investment, then establish measures and metrics (such as response times and resolution actions) and use them and report on them. 8. Consider supporting the SSC with centers of expertise, even if informally. 9. Understand the regional/geographic nuances and manage them, even if it means keeping some activities regional or local. 10. Ensure support of your executives – consider having an executive be the first “customer.”)

About the Author Catherine Honey is an executive director in EY’s Human Capital practice based in Boston. A career HR and Payroll professional, she has worked as a practitioner, service provider, and consultant around the world. Her expertise centers on strategy and execution of HR and Payroll services through organizational alignment of systems, processes, and delivery capabilities to business strategies and operational objectives. She can be reached at Catherine.Honey@ey.com.

So, how do we get started? As with any major initiative, start with a vision. Define a clear view of what you’re trying to achieve with an SSC, and define the associated objectives. Align that vision and the objectives with the business needs and then begin to socialize the model and the concept by communicating it and communicating it again. Then, take that vision and break it down into manageable chunks so that it is not so daunting. Define some early goals and strive for those, gaining additional support and buy-in along the way. Most important, remember that establishing an SSC does not have to be “done” all at once. In fact, like most strategic initiatives, the SSC will continually evolve and improve – through enhanced efficiencies, expanded services or new geographies. As a client recently noted, “This is an evolution, not a revolution!” Shared services centers are not for everyone. As with any initiative, thoughtful analysis needs to be conducted to be sure the model is suitable for your organization and matches your company’s strategic direction. The advantages and disadvantages need to be weighed as well as the organization’s ability to see the initiative through to completion and incorporate the necessary discipline into the targeted processes. However, for those that successfully undertake the journey, the rewards can be considerable. Turn the pages of this issue to learn more from those who have set out upon the path.

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Global Perspective Susan Richards and Kim Seals

A Perspective on HR Global Shared Services In this issue’s Global Perspective, we will explore considerations for implementing a global HR shared service center (GSSC). As the pace of change for organizations continues to accelerate and “work,” just like most consumer experiences, has moved to the internet, companies are pressed to think differently about how they operate globally. Moving business support functions (including HR) to a shared services delivery model continues to be an attractive option for consideration. But before we begin globetrotting in search of the perfect global HR shared service center site, we have many factors to consider. The rest of this column is dedicated to helping HR and business leadership teams answer these key questions: •

Why move to a global shared service model?

What are our requirements for global shared services?

How do we decide what to include in our GSSC?

What technology do we need to support global shared services?

What are our talent needs?

Can our delivery model truly be global? Or, are there other options such as regional, hybrid?

Should we insource or outsource?

While most organizations that consider moving to a GSSC delivery model start out expecting to reduce overall costs, it is not always the primary decision driver, and may not actually be the outcome. A critical success factor in implementing a new delivery model is to be very clear about what the HR organization is attempting to accomplish with the move. Commonly, goals for implementing global HR shared services include wanting to provide highquality service and improve the speed, quality, and consistency of business processes delivery. Efficiencies tend to quickly come from business

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process standardization, elimination of redundant steps in processes, and reducing the number of approvals and notifications required to complete a process. Another frequently sought-after reason for moving to shared services is to improve the effectiveness of the HR function. Getting to this outcome is not always so straightforward and will require significant change for the function. For one recent client who implemented shared services, the goal was to free up highly skilled HR leaders who were bogged down with the important foundational work that had to be done in order to maintain the integrity of the function, but left little time for supporting business leaders on key people initiatives. By moving workforce administration transactions like offer letter generation, job changes, and other data management activities to shared services, the HR team was able to spend more time working with the leaders in the business to make better people-related decisions. In conversations with clients who have implemented shared services globally, we hear consistent themes associated with keeping pace with constant change in the organization such as HR needing to be more agile and nimble in response. Improving the agility or nimbleness of the HR function can be an outcome of moving to a global shared services delivery model. As organizations become more complex, diverse and globally dispersed, HR must be ready to deploy new or different services to a global employee population that may include full-time, part-time, contingent and contract workers. Increasing governmental oversight, regulations, and associated reporting requirements are factors that add yet another layer of complexity to HR administration. Global HR shared service centers that are operated inhouse or by an outsourcing partner enable HR teams to become more nimble and responsive to the downstream impacts of the rapid pace of change in the business. Another question HR must answer when considering a move to global shared services is: What


are our requirements? This should be a discussion that includes HR and the leadership team that HR supports. Investing in due diligence and articulating the business requirements before embarking on an implementation will provide a solid foundation for the implementation. A good place to start is in defining what the organization really means by global. Is the HR function part of a multifunctional GSSC initiative? If so, what other functions are represented and what are the touchpoints for HR? What HR business processes are truly global? Are there processes that are “global at the core” but have regional variances? Do we have a global data model for core elements and agreement on what the core data elements for the organization are? Governance should always be thought through up front as the organization is defining requirements for the global shared service function. Introducing shared services will have an impact on existing functional and/or geographic silos. It will be important to establish clear reporting lines and accountabilities across the HR function to eliminate confusion. Global process owners must be identified and empowered to drive decisions for their processes. Multidirectional lines of communication should be another component of the governance model along with an established cadence of meetings to maintain global alignment. Closely connected to governance is the need to define success criteria and ongoing measurements for the GSSC. Key expectations for the service delivery change should be distilled into metrics that can be easily tracked and reported on. Developing a well-thought-out implementation strategy before launching the project will enable HR to maximize the chances of project success while minimizing project risk. A key element of the implementation strategy is the articulation of the GSSC vision – how the solution will impact the business of HR and the overall organization. And, how does implementing the GSSC support the corporate strategy? What are the expected benefits to HR and to the business as a result of implementing GSSC? Another important part the strategy is to identify potential risks and unintended consequences of the new service delivery model for the organization and HR, and to identify customers/clients that need to be evaluated and mitigated throughout the implementation. It’s also important to explore the organization’s readiness for the change when considering implementing your GSSC. Unfortunately, this is a step

that is frequently overlooked in implementation planning. The leadership team makes the decision to move to global shared services for a multitude of logical business reasons, develops a strategy, and begins implementing the plan with the assumption that their stakeholders understand and are bought-in to the strategy. We recommend conducting an initial change readiness assessment before launching the GSSC initiative to establish a baseline for your stakeholders, which include: •

Leadership Team(s) – These are the ultimate sponsors and champions for the change. The rest of the organization will take their cues from this group.

Managers – This will be an important group of GSSC users. It must be clear to this group what is in it for them as the organization moves to a new operating model.

Employees – These will be the bulk of the customers of the new GSSC. Making the GSSC user experience simple, efficient, and convenient will be top-of-mind for this group.

Human Resources – This will be the most significantly impacted group of stakeholders during and after the transition. And, this is often the most overlooked group. Human Resources leadership may assume that this group is automatically on board with the change. Human Resources has both the most to gain (from a functional perspective) and the most to lose (from an individual perspective). Particular attention must be paid to this group in assessing change readiness.

We also recommend assessing GSSC change readiness along additional dimensions to help change leaders develop targeted and effective programs. Conducting an assessment that considers geography (by country and/or region), business unit (subsidiary, function, product line, etc.), or tolerance for risk (high, medium, low) will provide important insights into where change leaders need to focus their efforts during and after the implementation. After the vision for the GSSC is set and requirements are defined, it is time to turn the attention to the process, technology, people, and structure-related considerations for building out www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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the global shared services model. We recommend starting this phase with determining what “work” will move into the GSSC and focusing on the HR business processes to be transitioned. In an earlier section of the article, we noted that organizations should determine what they really mean by global process. Typically, those processes that qualified as truly global are good candidates for GSSC. Advice we give our clients is to start with a few processes that will quickly have stakeholder buyin, look for processes where there is a significant amount of “organizational pain” and are good targets for standardization. Celebrate and publicize the small (or large) wins as you get these processes implemented in a GSCC. As you add processes and sub-processes to the new delivery model, you will build additional capability around spotting opportunities and implementing the changes. There are additional considerations for choosing processes to include in the GSSC. Look for processes that have no time zone requirements or barriers, have no specific language requirements, and can be easily centralized. One final process consideration is that of cultural fit and tolerance for change. From the change readiness assessment discussed in a previous section of the article, you may uncover culturally sensitive or changeresistant areas in your organization. Draw from that assessment when planning the processes to move to shared services. If you have flexibility to put those processes farther down the list of things to move, do so. Demonstrating success with other HR business processes in a shared service environment may reduce the resistance over time. As the concept of global HR shared services matures, more services/processes become candidates for transition. Processes often considered for GSSC include: payroll, performance management, recruiting sub-processes such as offer letters and background checks, global mobility and expat administration, merit administration, HR administration, training administration and data management. Increasingly, organizations are implementing multi-functional GSSCs and the types of processes that can be included from an HR perspective expand and move up the value chain. A multi-functional GSSC generates, manages, and stores a vast amount of organizational data. It is uniquely positioned to analyze that data to provide valuable business insights. Depending on the scope of data captured in the GSSC, HR could be providing a host of analytics associated with

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areas such as compensation, workforce planning and management, employee satisfaction and retention/attrition. And, while access to data and the ability to utilize big data for business decisions may not be a decision driver today, we expect it to become a key decision driver as the business begins to understand the unlocked value of those business insights. As important as it is to know what to include in a GSSC, organizations should also have an understanding of activities and processes that would not be optimal to move to a shared services environment. Human Resources strategy development, employee relations, and workforce planning are typically retained in the corporate HR function. Candidate sourcing, talent reviews, union or labor negotiations and grievance management often remain with the local HR team. No discussion of global shared services for a technology-focused magazine would be complete without a perspective on technology. At the heart of the GSSC is a requirement for a robust integrated HR information system with capability to manage the global workforce. Many organizations are looking to cloud-based solutions for ease and speed of implementation, ability to scale and cost effectiveness. Another key piece of required technology is a user-friendly, simple portal for end users to access the GSSC via self-service. This is your “tier 0” support vehicle and the first impression for most users, so it’s a place to focus on adequate planning and investment to make it reflect your organizational culture and service delivery philosophy. To drive efficiency and effective use of resources in the GSSC, organizations utilize case management solutions. As issues enter the service center, they are ticketed and tracked, work-flowed from tier to tier as the issue is worked and documented with the appropriate resolution. Frequently asked questions and issues can be housed in a knowledge base or content management solution to build even more efficiency over time. And, for those customers who need to call the center or send documents (hard copy or electronic) to the GSSC, reliable telephony and document management solutions are required. Conversations about talent in a shared services environment have traditionally centered on managing turnover. However, as the global war for talent continues, organizations are beginning to understand that finding, developing, and retaining talent in a shared service environment can be a competitive advantage. We believe it is as impor-


tant to consider cultural fit in the GSSC as it is in other parts of the organization. And, as GSSCs evolve into multi-functional GSSCs or global business centers, talent requirements will evolve along with them. Opportunities for expanded career paths requiring different skill sets should appeal to the millennial team members who are on the constant hunt for the next great thing! We are also beginning to see some organizations deploy robots/bots and artificial intelligence to perform tasks in the GSSC. Walgreen’s has had success in using robots to support recruiting, payroll scheduling, and talent management among other routine tasks. Look for expanded uses of these new “contingent workers” in the near future! One final component of the GSSC implementation puzzle is to decide on delivery models and locations for the shared service centers. All of the other pieces of the puzzle serve to inform decisions about this final piece. If the drivers for the GSSC decision are centered on speed of delivery and increased nimbleness, a partial or full outsourcing arrangement may be a good fit. If the GSSC HR business processes require internal expertise, it may be better to retain the shared service function in-house. Regional shared service centers might be required for regulatory reasons, cultural sensitivity, or when a particular country or region has complex business rules. Common examples include Brazil, Russia and China. And

in the U.S., there has been some pushback against offshoring due to the perception of job loss. Other reasons that regional service centers might be required include a need to maintain close proximity to a particular business location, or if there are time zone restrictions. If the organization has made an enterprise-wide investment in global business services, the next generation of global shared service, it is quite possible that a true global HR shared service center could be realized. Last, but certainly not least, is the question of: “Where in the world will we locate our wellthought-out, masterfully planned GSSC?” Answers to this important question may have you moving resources to exotic places to “follow the sun.” Shared service centers are primarily located in places where English-speaking talent is plentiful and labor cost is low. India, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines have high concentrations of GSSCs. Poland and Romania are good locations for organizations that require a European presence. And, if Spanish speakers are required for the GSSC, Mexico, Argentina and Guatemala are possible choices. While these are the most popular locations for GSSCs, organizations are looking to additional areas for GSSCs, in some cases. For sure, there is much to consider in the evaluation process of whether a global HR shared service delivery strategy is right for your organization.

About the Authors Susan Richards – SPHR, SCP, PMP, is the founder of SteelBridge Solutions, Inc., a human capital consulting firm focused on HR strategy and transformation. Over the last 25 years she has consulted with Fortune 500 and mid-market companies as well as public sector organizations. Her areas of expertise include HR strategy, service delivery model design and implementation, portfolio management and enterprise change management. She can be reached at susan.richards@steelbridgesolutions.com. Kim Seals was formerly a senior partner at Mercer where she held roles such as the Global Talent Technology Solutions Leader and Global HR Effectiveness Segment Leader. She now works with both Golden Seeds and The Jump Fund, venture capital firms that invest in early-stage companies in the technology, life science, consumer product, and media sectors.

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Product Focus

The Product Focus column does not represent an endorsement of any product(s) by IHRIM, its board of directors, editors, or publisher.

Kelvin Lovely, ServiceNow

Changing the way HR Delivers Service with ServiceNow While there are many challenges facing organizations today, HR leaders across industries seeking to improve service delivery often talk about these three common pain points: •

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The lack of visibility into their business – Human Resources leaders know their teams are working hard, but they simply do not have the metrics to back this up. They also cannot easily tell what the most common requests are or be certain that their HR teams are consistently providing employees with accurate and up-to-date information. The lack of visibility also leads to a lack of accountability.

Employees lack a central place to access non-core HR information and support – Employees may have access to some self-service tools, but they often still use email, phone calls, or personal visits to HR to get basic questions answered or help with requests. Employees want to find benefit information, access training, ask for a leave of absence, and get their tuition expenses reimbursed at the touch of a button. Employees just want a fast, successful outcome, but instead they’re bogged down in complicated, time-consuming processes.

Common support requests are taking too long to fulfill because there are still too many manual steps and a heavy use of email to communicate – For routine administrative services, a manual approach isn’t effective or efficient. This manual approach also creates huge pains for HR. Employee requests pour in, with a single inquiry often arriving through multiple channels such as emails, calls and employee walk-ins. As a result, HR ends up being stuck in the “backroom.” They waste time sorting out issues manually, rather

November 2016 • Workforce Solutions Review • www.ihrim.org

than focusing on strategic work such as talent management and training. This defeats the purpose of a high-touch approach. Rather than engaging personally in high-value activities – where hightouch delivers the most benefits – HR is consumed in a constant back-and-forth with employees on mundane tasks. To address these pain points, HR has engaged in some form of transformation. The most common is the HR shared services model with a multi-tiered approach; these models have a service center as the focal point. Traditionally, the defining feature of HR shared services center has been the contact center, where HR domain expertise is consolidated in one place and made accessible to employees by phone or email. This puts major emphasis on the “ticketing” system technology used to create and manage “cases” associated with employees contacting HR. They are looking to streamline business processes. In fact, Sierra Cedar’s 2016-2017 HR Systems Survey noted that business process improvement has been the number one area in which organizations invest for the last four years. Many organizations have started by looking at how calls/contacts/requests handled by an HR resource can be eliminated or significantly reduced. This approach looks at three aspects of self-service: •

Knowledge,

Transaction, and

Assistance.

The intent is to maximize the delivery of services so that every question, issue, and request is resolved with the least amount of effort by the employee and the lowest cost to the organization. ServiceNow accomplishes this by taking a service management approach to HR service delivery.


What Exactly is Service Management? Your HR organization most likely has systems for managing employee data and payrelated activities. However, you probably don’t have an automated system to handle employee inquiries and to fulfill these requests. For example, do you still rely on physical paperwork or a string of emails to deal with an employee’s jury duty request? That’s what service management does. It doesn’t just replace email – it transforms the way you engage with employees. Think of it as the perfect combination of administrative assistant and project manager. It responds instantly to employee requests, progresses cases, automates repeatable manual processes, and even manages complex cross-departmental activities such as employee onboarding. Service management never forgets or makes mistakes, always follows up with people so things get done, and lets you know if there’s a problem it can’t solve. It also shows you where your people spend their time so you can optimize resource deployment and maximize productivity. Service management doesn’t replace your current HCM system – it integrates with it and complements it, giving you visibility and control of the work you probably do mostly via email today.

So what does the ServiceNow platform do? With ServiceNow, you can provide a personalized, mobile, and social employee service experience that spans across multiple departments, making it easy for employees to get the service they need, allowing HR to spend more time on strategic initiatives leveraging; •

Elegant HR Portals – Improve employee satisfaction, engagement and productivity by delivering an employee service experience inline with today’s modern consumer experience.

Contextualized Knowledge Content – Knowledge portals, along with requests and fulfill process automation, allow HR to more effectively scale and align to business objectives.

Robust in-platform Reports, Dashboards, and Analytics – Optimize HR service delivery by having greater visibility into the volume and types of service requests to allow HR to make better resource decisions and proactively improve services.

Powerful Cross Department Workflows and Process Automation – Automates workflows that span beyond HR. Processes that involve multiple departments, like onboarding, are automatically routed to the right people for the action, creating a seamless experience.

Josh Bersin, founder and principal at Bersin by Deloitte, sums it up nicely, “By weaving many HR processes into employees’ daily workflow, solution providers are making it easier and simpler for people to update their status, find their benefits, locate other skilled people, find and take courses, assess job candidates, complete onboarding for a new job, and set or monitor goals.“

How can this benefit your organization? Jen Stroud, HR evangelist for ServiceNow put it best when she stated, “As a committed HR leader, you want to spend your time where it does the most good – engaged in highimpact initiatives such as talent management and training. However, if you’re like most HR professionals, you and your team spend huge amounts of time handling mundane requests. And, despite the huge effort, it doesn’t win you any thanks – employees are increasingly frustrated with complex, time-consuming processes when they request routine services.” Service management is your opportunity to break free. With service management, you can deliver higher-quality services, increase employee satisfaction, and reduce your own www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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workloads. By offering your employees a self-service model and automating the fulfillment of your HR services, you become more responsive – and you have more time to spend on strategic activities that move your business forward. Your team wins, your customers win, and your business wins – which is why service management deserves to be at the very top of your agenda.” By modernizing HR service delivery with ServiceNow, these customers have dramatically improved HR efficiency and radically enhanced the employee service experience. Here’s just a sample of what they’ve achieved: •

ING reduced their EMEA HR service delivery staff from 80 to 40, freeing up resources for more strategic, hightouch work.

Christus Health promoted employee self-reliance by creating an HR selfservice portal, reducing cases by 66 percent and saving $1 million a year.

Overstock.com uses ServiceNow to automate employee onboarding, reducing more than 60 interactions per new hire to just 8 – and reclaiming 1,000 days of lost productivity every year.

To find out more about how service management can simplify and accelerate your HR service delivery processes, talk to your ServiceNow representative today or go to servicenow.com

About the Author Kelvin Lovely, SPHR, is an HR solution consultant with ServiceNow. With more than 25 years in HR, Kelvin has spent the last several years in the HR service delivery software space helping clients and prospects understand the value of leveraging technology to improve HR service delivery. Before joining the vendor community, he spent 20 years with Allstate Insurance and Accenture in various HR roles, including HRIS manager and HR service center director. For more information about ServiceNow, please visit www.servicenow.com.

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November 2016 • Workforce Solutions Review • www.ihrim.org


The Back Story Katherine Jones, Ph.D., Mercer

Sorting Out Sourcing: Finding the Candidates You Need The famously simplified reason for robbing banks – “because that’s where the money is” – has become a rule of thumb for answer seekers: consider the obvious. And, it’s especially apt for recruiters seeking the skilled candidates needed by their organizations. Today, candidates are not simply coming to you – you need to go where they are. This is a relatively new concept in the world of candidate recruiting. The old post-and-pray approach of placing classifieds in the newspaper and, more recently, online job boards, can no longer be relied upon to attract the applicant you want, because that applicant doesn’t go to a job board, or because he or she is not looking for another job at all. Recruiters know this, and in the recent past have conscientiously addressed issues that may have proved impediments to competitively attracting talent: •

Improved their employer branding – realizing that employer brand and consumer brand are the same thing;

Created social presences on LinkedIn, Facebook and other media arenas;

Attempted to portray their “authentic self” to candidates so they would have a more realistic view of the position and stay in it longer;

Applied marketing and sales techniques to all phases of the recruiting process: from jazzing up job descriptions to wooing by wowing – creating marketing campaigns to create awareness and excitement;

Making “no” positive: paying attention to candidates who did not get the job, through post interview contact (one company I met with sends a job-help kit to all who fail to get a position within their firm – with résumé and interview advice. The goal: make that unsuccessful candidate as much

an advocate for your company as the one you hire; and, •

Rethinking perks: hiring bonuses are still in play, but also is working from home, casual Friday every day, and flexible scheduling for those with child pick-up or elder care duties during regular work hours.

The talent pool has changed a bit as well: we still have those actively searching for employment, and those elusive passive candidates that you may be trying to lure from your biggest competitor, but we also have the growing workforce of contingent “gig” workers who may be very happy to work on your project – if you knew where to find them. Of all of these, the active candidates are most likely to consider job board use; and increasingly, job boards that are very, very specific to their career fields, such as gamification, nursing or auto-related manufacturing. Job boards are a mature technology; they offer a consumer-facing digital property through which employers in need of talent can post their open positions, job seekers post their résumés and can search for jobs, and the employers can consequently identify potential candidates. While that may sound fine, candidates often look for more effective ways to connect with jobs, and employers are looking for more efficient ways to identify and acquire talent. Analytic solutions that can attack big data, and thinking machine technology are making the innovative job boards more effective, and most provide mobile apps to reach their candidates. Job board aggregators can help; these technology providers, as the name implies, aggregate listings from across the many job boards and employer sites to both seek candidates and to present positions to potential applicants. But, remember the bank? None of these get us to where the candidate is – and today that is on social media. Particularly for professional

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positions, most applicants are very likely to be so potential employers can get a fuller look at locatable on a social network, be it LinkedIn, the potential candidate. Social search solutions Facebook, or one of many others. Originally, leverage machine learning in the production of these sites were regarded as social; today they are their results. About the Author viewed as a rich source of candidates and used Dr. Katherine Jones is a partner by recruiters for both engaging potential employand director of Research at Where are we today? ees and as a destination for employer branding. Mercer in Talent Information Social network profiles are often used instead While the “come hither” approach still works Solutions. With both academic of traditional résumés for the job seeking, and for many large volume jobs, such as those that and technology industry experience, she has been a high-tech many applicant tracking systems allow appliattract hourly workers in retail, service industries market analyst for 18 years. Her cants to “apply with LinkedIn,” as one example, and call centers, this approach is most successful doctoral degree is from Cornell substituting the profile for a résumé. with those evergreen positions – positions that, University. She can be reached For recruiters, social networks can support because of churn, are almost always available. at Katherine.Jones@mercer. com or @katherine_jones. the creation of talent pools. Individual members Positions for which skilled professionals are themselves have no fees, in general, but employsought are the biggest sourcing challenge – and ing companies are charged for access and data web solutions proliferate to help address that mining ability. Networks such as Dribbble and challenge. GitHib, which provides a repository for code, Many of the solutions for today’s recruiters are are amassing a large volume of data and provide new – trying to sort through them is not trivial skill-level screening for highly technical jobs. for busy recruiters. For an explanation of categoPotential applicants may, of course, be found ries of innovative software for sourcing, engagon more than one social site, and recruiters ing, assessing, and hiring, see “The Taxonomy seeking skills rarely have time to canvas all the of Talent Acquisition Technology: A Guide to applicable sites individually. This challenge is Innovative Hiring Solutions for Recruiting and solved by social search tools suchFinal as Gild, Artwork is prepared at 200% Ad TalSize PrintsStaffing at 71/2Professionals,” X 5 inches) published in September entBIn and HiringSolved, which serve to aggre2016 and available through both Mercer LLC and gate an individual’s public domain information Talent Tech Labs.

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November 2016 • Workforce Solutions Review • www.ihrim.org


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www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • November 2016

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