ZALARIS

SERVICES BACKGROUND

Staff organizations are under constant pressure to reduce costs. The cost of the finance function as a percent of revenue has been reduced with 50% over the last ten years. As competition intensifies and places increasing pressure on companies to operate more efficiently, corporations are seeking new ways to minimize trade-offs of old operating models.

Companies are turning to a shared services model to maximize the strengths of centralized and decentralized models while minimizing their respective weaknesses. Thus, shared service has become an important management tool. Benchmark findings indicate that actual results from establishing shared services organizations have exceeded expectations. Savings of 25-40% are not unusual.

Outsourcing is an effective approach to achieve shared services and can generate increased quantitative and qualitative benefits over in-house shared services.

Key reasons why the outsourced strategies could be more attractive than the in-house alternatives are:

Professional service management
Predictability of implementation
Staff opportunities
Cost transparency
More disciplined approach to services
Continuous access to best practise

The average Human Resources organization today spends the majority of its time and resources on administrative activities that add little to achieving the company´s strategic objectives. Forrester Research estimates that 60-80% of HR resources are devoted to administrative activities such as:

Answering benefits and payroll inquiries
Updating basic information
Processing transfer forms
Entering performance reviews
Distributing resumes

The great effort spent on administration adds little value to the organization. A Study by Lyle Spencer concluded that administration costs 60% of total human resources efforts but adds only 10% value. Services delivery costs 30% and provides 30% in value-added. Human resources strategic planning probably accounts for 60% of the value added by the HR function and costs only 10%.

Human Resource Executives are coming under increasing pressure to develop the HR capability and deliver HR programs to meet strategic business objectives. HR Executives are expected to:

Reduce the cost of Human Resources services while improving the quality of services delivered to the workforce
Build a workforce with the right portfolio of skills and knowledge
Identify the skills and competencies required for future success
Develop the programs to buy or build the required competencies
Manage the workforce on a global basis
React quickly to a continually changing business structure and participate actively in assessing these business opportunities (e.g.; mergers & Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Reorganizations, creation of New Business Units)
Develop the reward programs to attract, motivate, and retain skilled workers
Develop the programs to manage overall performance of the workforce
Identify and develop performers to be tomorrow´s leaders

Roles and expectations around the management of human capital of the organization are therefore changing:

All employees are expected to take ownership for their development and career progression.
Managers are expected to increase the value of their companies human capital.
Human Resources provide the tools, processes, and programs for employees and managers to be successful in these roles.

The Human Resources organization takes on four key roles that add value for the organization:

Strategic Partners – focus on aligning HR strategies and practices with business strategy
Improve Service Delivery – constantly examine and improve the HR processes, a shift toward shared services and self service
Employee Champion – HR professionals actively and aggressively develop intellectual capital, linking employee contribution to the organizationís success
Change Agent – understand critical processes for change, build commitment to those processes, and ensure that change occurs as intended

From a system point of view in most companies, only a handful of employees can utilize the data locked in the payroll/HR system. Many client-server HRMS implementations are only used by employees in the HR department. Because the HRMS client must be loaded on the employee´s desktop, the system is generally not accessible to the population at large.

Managers are not able to access data that would be useful to them as personnel managers and developers of their organization´s Human capital.

Employees cannot view or change information pertinent to them. They can only conduct inquiries or transactions through a service centre or through their HR personnel

An increasing number of companies are therefore Outsourcing the whole or parts of the Human Resources Function.



			SERVICES BACKGROUND Staff organizations are under constant pressure to reduce costs. The cost of the finance function as a percent of revenue has been reduced with 50% over the last ten years. As competition intensifies and places increasing pressure on companies to operate more efficiently, corporations are seeking new ways to minimize trade-offs of old operating models. Companies are turning to a shared services model to maximize the strengths of centralized and decentralized models while minimizing their respective weaknesses. Thus, shared service has become an important management tool. Benchmark findings indicate that actual results from establishing shared services organizations have exceeded expectations. Savings of 25-40% are not unusual. Outsourcing is an effective approach to achieve shared services and can generate increased quantitative and qualitative benefits over in-house shared services. Key reasons why the outsourced strategies could be more attractive than the in-house alternatives are: Professional service management Predictability of implementation Staff opportunities Cost transparency More disciplined approach to services Continuous access to best practise The average Human Resources organization today spends the majority of its time and resources on administrative activities that add little to achieving the company´s strategic objectives. Forrester Research estimates that 60-80% of HR resources are devoted to administrative activities such as: Answering benefits and payroll inquiries Updating basic information Processing transfer forms Entering performance reviews Distributing resumes The great effort spent on administration adds little value to the organization. A Study by Lyle Spencer concluded that administration costs 60% of total human resources efforts but adds only 10% value. Services delivery costs 30% and provides 30% in value-added. Human resources strategic planning probably accounts for 60% of the value added by the HR function and costs only 10%. Human Resource Executives are coming under increasing pressure to develop the HR capability and deliver HR programs to meet strategic business objectives. HR Executives are expected to: Reduce the cost of Human Resources services while improving the quality of services delivered to the workforce Build a workforce with the right portfolio of skills and knowledge Identify the skills and competencies required for future success Develop the programs to buy or build the required competencies Manage the workforce on a global basis React quickly to a continually changing business structure and participate actively in assessing these business opportunities (e.g.; mergers & Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Reorganizations, creation of New Business Units) Develop the reward programs to attract, motivate, and retain skilled workers Develop the programs to manage overall performance of the workforce Identify and develop performers to be tomorrow´s leaders Roles and expectations around the management of human capital of the organization are therefore changing: All employees are expected to take ownership for their development and career progression. Managers are expected to increase the value of their companies human capital. Human Resources provide the tools, processes, and programs for employees and managers to be successful in these roles. The Human Resources organization takes on four key roles that add value for the organization: Strategic Partners – focus on aligning HR strategies and practices with business strategy Improve Service Delivery – constantly examine and improve the HR processes, a shift toward shared services and self service Employee Champion – HR professionals actively and aggressively develop intellectual capital, linking employee contribution to the organizationís success Change Agent – understand critical processes for change, build commitment to those processes, and ensure that change occurs as intended From a system point of view in most companies, only a handful of employees can utilize the data locked in the payroll/HR system. Many client-server HRMS implementations are only used by employees in the HR department. Because the HRMS client must be loaded on the employee´s desktop, the system is generally not accessible to the population at large. Managers are not able to access data that would be useful to them as personnel managers and developers of their organization´s Human capital. Employees cannot view or change information pertinent to them. They can only conduct inquiries or transactions through a service centre or through their HR personnel An increasing number of companies are therefore Outsourcing the whole or parts of the Human Resources Function.
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