Learning to Recognize HR Shared Services Waste
Why is money left on the table for HR Shared Service Initiatives?
“The classic excuse is ineffective or inadequate change management, and that’s certainly on the list.” – Jim Scully
Jim Scully, Founder and President of the HR Shared Services Institute, has been entrenched in HR shared services for more than 20 years, both as a corporate executive with Georgia-Pacific Corporation and consultant.
He places causes for waste in three categories:
1. Waste-for-Less models focus on performing current activities cheaper, usually through a combination of labor consolidation and geographical relocation of activities (offshoring, nearshoring, “ruralshoring,” etc.). Little attention is paid to identifying process waste, much less eliminating it. As a result, waste activities continue to be performed albeit by less expensive resources.
2. Less-Waste models are a step in the right direction. To varying levels of success, these models have redesigned processes to eliminate waste, either in conjunction with or subsequent to go-live. Again, the degree to which waste is removed varies widely. Obviously, the extent to which waste is removed determines how much financial benefit is gained.
3. Less models achieve the greatest financial benefit, because they tackle the most important process question: Why? Why are we doing it at all?
“One reason organizations fail to drive out waste is that they simply don’t know waste when they see it.” – Jim Scully
You can learn more about Jim’s research and findings at Human Resources Shared Services Institute and also assist by participating in HRSSI surveys and by being active on the HR Shared Services LinkedIn network.
Check out our upcoming webinar!
Jim Scully and Rayanne Thorn, our own VP of Marketing, will share findings from the latest HRSSI Survey and what they mean in an upcoming webinar on March 23 at 1:30pm EDT:
“The Truth Behind Performance Data: Measuring HR Shared Services” – registration is free!
