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Implementing a Shared Service Centre is a major change that impacts people, processes, and culture. This guide shares five practical tips, from strong communication to people-focused planning, that can help leaders manage the transition smoothly. Learn how to align teams, transfer knowledge effectively, and build momentum for a successful, centralised model.
Reading time: 3 minutes
Implementing a Shared Service Centre (SSC) is a transformative initiative that requires careful and consistent change management to ensure success. The shift to an SSC model centralises functions such as HR, Finance, and IT, creating significant implications for organisational structure, culture, and processes.
If implemented successfully, the centralised model can drive down costs, promote standardisation of process, and create consistent service levels across the business.
Here are our top five things to think about if you’re about to start on this journey:
Clear communication from the outset is critical to articulate the benefits, such as efficiency, standardisation of processes, and improved service delivery. Leaders must emphasise how the change aligns with the organisation’s strategic goals and address concerns about job security, role changes, and potential loss of control.
Continue to communicate throughout the implementation using a variety of channels, such as email, calls, ‘drop-in’ sessions, and SharePoint sites, to ensure the messages reach everyone. From a change management perspective, the primary challenge is overcoming resistance from employees and stakeholders accustomed to decentralised, often siloed operations and ongoing communications, which is one lever an organisation can use to engage resistant employees.
Some implementations of SSCs may require a consultation process with impacted colleagues. Ensuring close alignment with the HR team so that communications are timely, clear, and relevant is crucial to ensure the smooth running of this process. Coordinating with the HR function will also allow you to develop a more detailed change impact assessment, which will outline transfer details, training, management support, and specific considerations that individuals or teams will need prior to starting the implementation.
Where possible, start the consultation period immediately after the announcement to reduce the anxious wait for colleagues so that they can understand how they are personally impacted.
As responsibilities shift to the SSC, structured knowledge transfer is essential. Employees involved in the transition (on both sides) should receive the necessary support to ensure they fully understand which tasks they are passing over or taking on.
Managers should allocate sufficient time for knowledge transfer to be conducted thoroughly, which is especially important if the activities moving into the SSC will be in an offshore or near-shore location. Where possible, co-locating individuals involved in the knowledge transfer process will lead to a smoother transition in the long term. Throughout this process, SSC employees taking on new activity should be encouraged to capture potential process improvements that can help to foster engagement and ownership of the change.
A cultural shift often accompanies the move to an SSC, as it changes how people collaborate with one another, and employees may feel disengaged from the newly centralised model.
To build a sense of community and inclusion across the function, initiatives such as launch events, welcome gifts, team building opportunities, and public recognition for team players on all sides can help create a feeling of belonging. Developing a positive, engaging atmosphere will help teams embrace the change and new ways of working.
The implementation process must be phased and iterative, for example, moving one location or process at a time to allow for feedback and adjustments in the plan. This approach minimises disruption and builds trust in the newly centralised model. Ensure lessons learnt are captured after each phase so subsequent phases can be rolled out more effectively.
Successfully implementing an SSC requires a balance of empathetic leadership, pragmatism, and continuous communication with stakeholders across the business to ensure a smooth and sustainable transition.
If this is something you are thinking about, get in touch with our experts; we’d love to chat!
Isobel Woodward
Principal Consultant, Transformation & Change
isobel.woodward@q5partners.com
Pete Devine
Director, Transformation & Change
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