Defining The Vision And Purpose of Your Shared Services Centre

For both new shared services, and for those that are undergoing major changes. It's important to be able to define the vision and purpose of your shared services center.

Here are some of the critical factors in establishing your vision and purpose.

Define your goal. What is the purpose of your shared services? Leading shared services centres have defined themselves as the business partner that enables the revenue generating business units to reduce their costs and achieve their revenue targets. They are there to realize cost and process efficiencies while delivering the best possible service.

Align your vision. CEOs and CFOs will need to have a holistic approach for driving growth, profitability and share value. In their view, all elements of the business should support these critical attributes. Your shared services vision needs to align with these priorities.

Constantly focus on value. What can you add to the company that goes beyond cost saving? Your shared services need to look at process and systems efficiency that enable people to deliver the service quality that customers expect.

Remember who you work for. Shared services centres should be seen as a service to your customers. Just like any business that has to nurture client relationships, consider having service agreements and customer satisfaction surveys.

The design of your shared services center is critical to the success. If you get the above right, you are on your way to a well-balanced business that has great and sustainable potential. How have you established your vision?

How do you define Value in Shared Services and Global Business Services?

There is no single definition of what ‘adding value’ means for shared services or GBS. Organizations must define for themselves what constitutes a valuable service. Shared services leaders and the key stakeholders should spend time on the exercise of asking and defining what value means.

Some options may include:

• Delivering year-on-year cost savings

• Providing core business support

• Enhancing decision-making with analytics

• Increasing profit or revenue margin

• Improving working capital

Once you’ve defined your goals and what value means to your GBS or shared services, there are three key areas to focus on:.

1. The technology you use

2. The data that supports your systems

3. The people in your team

Here is a report with more detail on how to Navigate the Complex landscape of Shared Services and Global Business Services

Here is an example of Vodafone's shared services vision statement  from 2019

Our vision

Lead the change for Vodafone as a strategic partner, to create a competitive edge and improve profitability

Vodafone Shared Services Value Drivers

1. Maximize Cost Arbitrage

Continue to optimize footprint, increase Vodafone Shared Services penetration and expand its Products & Services portfolio

2. Enhance Productivity

Do it better & smarter through leveraging business excellence and automation technologies

3. Capitalize Knowledge

Leverage Vodafone Shared Services ' diverse experience and telecommunications know-how to deliver innovative business solutions and services that identify new opportunities for Vodafone

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