Shared service centres rely on professionals. What can be done to nurture talent that may soon be in short supply?

In recent years, we have been hearing more and more about Global Business Services, the term being mentioned on a par with Shared Service Centre and Business Process Outsourcing. This raises questions – what really is the GBS model and why is there such a rapid increase in the number of companies seeking to implement it? How do you recruit professionals who will be comfortable with the new collaboration model?

Answers to these and many more can be found in a new ACCA report entitled “Financial shared services to global business services models: a journey worth taking?”. It focuses on the topic of talent development in both business outsourcing models. Based on gathered information, we can already say that the trend in the coming years will be a gradual transition from the FSS (Financial Shared Services) model to GBS (Global Business Services). Therefore, examining the interdependencies in the functioning of these structures is of great importance for further analysis of the direction of talent development and employee recruitment.

– We showcase changing trends in the operating model of companies that can help improve processes. It is worth remembering that the success of any company depends first and foremost on the teams that work for it. Irrespective of the business model, nurturing talent should be a key pillar of the organisation and these issues, among others, are addressed in our publication – says Agnieszka Jarosz, Head of ACCA Poland, Ukraine and Baltic Countries.

Evolution of the model

The shared services model was born less than 30 years ago, out of the need to support corporations in consolidating, standardising and optimising financial transactions, as well as related activities such as accounting and debt collection, among others. Today, virtually all leading companies have adopted this model, often extending it to include additional functions – such as human resources (HR), purchasing, property and facilities management, and even customer service, sales and marketing. The original service outsourcing model has evolved into a cross-functional business services platform and is now commonly referred to as global business services (GBS).

The report also shows that while large companies have implemented and streamlined the shared services model, small and medium-sized enterprises are in the early stages of implementation.

With the increasing popularity of shared services, staff management in these models has become the subject of business myths. For example, there is talk of a 30% attrition rate or crowded departures of senior managers. However, if we analyse the opinion of our respondents, shared services centres are a good place to develop professional competences, in particular the so-called ‘competences of the future’.

Working at GBS develops the competences of the future

In a time of global recession and great resignation, working in GBS can be an opportunity for better earnings and an excellent career prospect. In the survey described above, more than 50% respondents agreed that this career path was more attractive than other employment options. Even more respondents admitted that working for GBS helps them develop their professional skills.

Working in outsourcing, regardless of the model, builds a whole range of employee competencies, including financial management skills. 70% of the participants in our survey rate their competences as desirable for the future. Working in such a model, we can develop as a team leader, and this in a later stage of our career can help us open further doors, in even higher positions – such as HR Director or CFO. By working with other professionals, we can observe their actions and gain knowledge of how the overall process works. 61% of respondents believe that working in the GBS model brings with it a real opportunity for the employee to be promoted to other, higher structures within the company.

So, what can be done to achieve success? What competences will prove useful? Among mid-level staff, respondents point to technical and domain-specific knowledge. This is followed by broad digital skills, beyond basic knowledge of the programmes used during work. But they are not the only ones. What also counts is the ability to operate and make decisions in diverse teams, where the sharing of experience can be crucial to the smooth implementation of a project. Given the dynamics of the work, it must be added here that positive relationships with the team are key to career development. Therefore, the interviewees also identified the ability to cooperate with others as another important employee competence in the GBS model.

The attractiveness of working in these models is also evidenced by the positive change to the work-life balance system. 82% of those surveyed were positive about the possibility of working remotely, which before the pandemic was not as popular as it is today. Employees also value flexibility in terms of where they work.

If we look at the leaders, we see that their top 3 most important competences differ from those indicated by colleagues in lower positions. Collaborative skills are among the most important in this group, but so is commitment to contacting key stakeholders. Communication skills and personal initiative are therefore a dominant attribute of any leader. Insight and the ability to formulate one’s own conclusions, as well as an enthusiastic approach to the activities undertaken, are also important in this position.

The organisation’s perspective

With GBS work offering so many opportunities for development, what problems might organisations face in recruiting employees?

Difficulties may be related to the lack of enough leaders in the labour market to adequately guide teams and individual employee development. This may result in facing a lack of experienced staff to coordinate the implementation of projects in the future. 60% of respondents to the survey said that they experience challenges in getting the necessary skills in their organisations. Research has also shown that time spent in service outsourcing jobs is considered conducive to career development. Companies planning for the long term should support talent by providing rewarding career paths, mobility and building employee engagement. By investing in the development of their employees, offering competitive and attractive remuneration, these functions can play a key role in building an organisation’s future talent pipeline.

Therefore, organisations operating under the aforementioned models should first be mindful of developing long-term plans for the development of specialized teams so that they do not experience staff shortages in the future.

Clear career path as an incentive for candidates

We can conclude that with such a high demand for very specific and specialized skills, we can speak of an employee market. Therefore, every company should realise that only having the right offer and a clear development path can encourage more experienced staff to sign a contract with us. Despite the automation of many processes, no company can survive without a strong team that is not only capable of managing an ongoing process, but more importantly, initiating and supporting the change process. Unfortunately, in the survey conducted, more than 52% of respondents admitted that getting the right employee is a major challenge.

– To gain on attractiveness, it is important to present potential candidates with a clear career path that shows them the opportunities that accompany working for our company. Some also complain about the lack of adequate coaching, training and even mentoring. Therefore, when thinking about creating new jobs, it is worth taking care of these aspects as well, in order to foster the development of our team’s competences – Agnieszka Jarosz concludes.

The „Financial shared services to global business services models: a journey worth taking?” report provides direction on the implementation and transformation of processes within global service centres. It was prepared based on a survey of more than 800 ACCA business services professionals, with the support of Everest Group and PwC. The full report is available for download here: https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/professional-insights/ 

This article comes from magazine:
FOCUS ON Business #9 marzec-kwiecień (2/2023)