What is keeping HR shared services leaders awake at night?
Welcome to the latest of our bi-annual surveys dedicated specifically to the HR shared services marketplace, focusing on strategic priorities, service offerings, culture, structure, capabilities, digital enablers, and future outlook.
We asked HR shared services leaders across 34 different global businesses about their struggles, and also, where organisations are focusing their efforts to optimise service delivery.
71% of HR shared services leaders said further automation and fixing brilliant basics (59%) would be critical to ongoing future success.
Amongst the top challenges, leaders include outdated technology, lack of investment, and the need to articulate the value of HR shared services.
Only one in four have a strategic learning intervention in place to develop their teams.
However, whilst operational efficiency has always been the premise of HR shared services, driving experience is now equally part of its DNA.
The shift from an internally focused operational process mindset to a customer-centric, easy-to-deal-with, and outcome-focused mindset requires ongoing effort and time.
Ben Debnath, Head of HR Operations, De Lage Landen Leasing Limited
What’s in this report?
This report explores areas in which organisations are focusing their efforts to optimise service delivery and experience, along with the priorities for 2024 across service offering, ways of working, talent and digital enablers. It highlights challenge questions that HRSS leaders should consider as they seek to continuously improve ways of working and enable their teams to be the best they can be. For example:
- What is your value proposition for HR shared services and how well are you explaining this to your business and wider HR stakeholders?
- If you have many countries with small employee populations (or a ‘long tail’), are there opportunities to leverage scale and enhancements through a wider Global Business Services model?
- Have you put experience in the ‘too difficult to measure’ bucket and if not, do you have a clear and tangible way of measuring experience to enable action?
- Do you have a clear workforce plan that maps out the skills you need in two to three years’ time? How will AI change your approach to the talent and skills you might need?
- Have you truly fixed the basics of your HRSS operating model (process, data, governance, tools, etc)? If not, what’s stopping you?
Download a copy of the report through the form below:
This report is part of our new series ‘Demystifying the HR operating model‘, which aims to navigate the complex world of the HR operating model with ease.
Meet the authors
Emma Leonis-Hughes
Client Executive Director
Emma is Client Executive Director at LACE Partners, specialising in large-scale HR transformation, people strategy, and HR service delivery, working closely with Chief People Officers to drive business value.
Director
Dawn is a Transformative and Programme Management leader with extensive experience in global HR transformation, transition, and change programmes, previously leading Accenture’s European Transition and Transformation team.
Explore our HR Shared Services Trends Reports archive:
HR Shared Services Trends report 2022
HR Shared Services Trends report 2020