Keywords: shared services, finance shared services, outsourcing

Staying positive on the shared services journey

Blog Post | 8 June 2012

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Author: Sarah Feurey

I’ve just started researching topics for our European Summit for Leaders in Finance Shared Services & Outsourcing taking place March 2013.

Researching the agenda, it’s clear that the challenges facing shared services vary widely. However one thing that seems to affect shared service organisations of all shapes and sizes is the need to maintain a positive culture.

So how to do you keep motivated and positive?

1. Get your team on board.  If you are a younger shared service organisation or group finance function – how are you communicating the benefits of being a shared service? If your employees understand how they are contributing to the business and how a more efficient process will lead them to play a more strategic role, this benefits everyone.
2. Know where you stand. Essential to building your business case, you can’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you are. Our Top 10 KPIs for Purchase to Pay is a great start in benchmarking your service.
3. Keep your chin up. The road to improving shared services isn’t always easy. You may make a good case for investing in your shared services to improve efficiency. But the business may have other priorities, and you may need to carry on driving efficiency without additional resources. How do you stay motivated and keep your employees encouraged if you are constantly being asked to do more for less?

One Financial Controller I spoke to said he has attended our European Summit for Leaders in Finance Shared Services & Outsourcing as a motivational tool to cope with adversity and reduced budgets.

What do you do to engage your team and keep your spirits high when things aren’t necessarily going your way?

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