Don’t look now, but shared-service organizations (SSOs) are about to get an upgrade. For the last three decades, SSOs have enabled companies to generate efficiencies of scale, reduce labor and processing costs, and increase the quality and accuracy of services. By combining transaction functions such as HR, IT, finance, procurement, and legal into a consolidated hub for the entire company, SSOs have delivered significant business value. In fact, a new BCG survey of more than 1,100 senior executives from ten industries in 40 countries found that companies with effective SSOs are far more likely to show strong revenue growth and high margins.
But new technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to handle functions at far lower costs (reductions of 20% to 80%) and greater accuracy, without any direct oversight from a person. Will these technologies be the death knell for SSOs? Our experience working with clients across a variety of industries suggests otherwise. Rather than making SSOs obsolete, these technologies will turbocharge them and allow them to generate even greater gains.
para criar os SSO da próxima geração , as empresas precisam se concentrar - urgentemente - em três prioridades. Primeiro, eles devem acertar o básico, criando processos holísticos e de ponta a ponta (E2E) que vão além da apenas execução de transações e são construídos com uma abordagem de serviço e uma mentalidade orientada para o cliente. Segundo, as empresas devem implantar as novas tecnologias para acelerar a evolução de sua SSO. Terceiro, eles devem desenvolver as capacidades subjacentes necessárias. Em uma pesquisa de BCG de 2015 de executivos seniores em principais indústrias do mundo, menos de 50% indicaram que estão focados em melhorar o desempenho do SSO através dos comportamentos e cultura certos, e apenas 20% relataram que estão constantemente impulsionando a visão e o mandato da SSO. Apenas 8% têm um catálogo de serviços claramente definido e apenas 10% alinharam claramente o papel do proprietário do serviço para processos específicos. Os resultados sobre a criação ativa de uma boa experiência do cliente são igualmente sombrios. (Ver "
Get the Basics Right
While the benefits of an SSO may seem obvious, many of the companies we work with lack even a basic SSO foundation. In a 2015 BCG survey of senior executives across major industries worldwide, fewer than 50% indicated that they are focused on improving SSO performance through the right behaviors and culture, and only 20% reported that they are consistently driving the SSO vision and mandate. Only 8% have a clearly defined service catalog, and only 10% have clearly aligned the role of service owner for specific processes. The results on actively creating a good customer experience are similarly dismal. (See “ Levando organizações de serviço compartilhado para o próximo nível: cinco recursos para impulsionar o desempenho , ”Artigo do BCG, março de 2015.) Hoje, muitas empresas ainda têm vários processos para uma tarefa específica ou padronizaram parcialmente apenas algumas etapas - uma abordagem ad hoc que limita sua capacidade de melhorar e digitalizar esses processos. Para ser mensurável e repetível e - criticamente - eles precisam ser projetados com uma mentalidade de serviço que coloca o cliente (dentro ou fora da empresa) na vanguarda. construído em torno da função que fornece o serviço, em vez do cliente que exige esse serviço.
To make these crucial business improvements, companies need to get the basics right, by developing holistic, E2E processes across functions to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and overall business value. These processes need to be measurable and repeatable, and—critically—they need to be designed with a service mindset that puts the customer (either inside or outside the company) at the forefront. When a customer makes a request, the ideal E2E process looks at every step that needs to happen to meet that request and streamlines each step to create the best experience for that customer. This may involve some tweaks to current processes, or it may involve rethinking them from scratch—especially given that many processes are built around the function delivering the service, rather than the customer who requires that service.
In addition to holistic, E2E processes and a service mindset that puts the customer first, several other actions are required to get the basics right:
- Ensure that leaders promote a consistent vision and high-performance culture centered on the right behaviors.
- Establish an activist governance body to transform shared-service performance.
- Develop a service catalog with a clear and standardized set of offerings for internal and external clients.
- Ensure that every service has an owner who has authority over resources, metrics, process definitions, and systems and can establish service-level agreements, gauge performance, and make improvements.
- Establish formal and informal channels for customers to provide feedback.
- Manage data more effectively and use analytics to support better business decisions.
Together, these actions form a systematic means for SSOs to function more effectively and evolve beyond their traditional role as mere transaction processors to become full-service solution providers that can partner directly with business units. (See “Stages of SSO Maturity.”)
estágios da maturidade do SSO
Ao criar um SSO, as empresas normalmente seguem um caminho padrão, aumentando gradualmente o escopo dos processos manipulados pela SSO e na expansão do pão de pão de pão de Este caminho abrange três estágios principais de maturidade:
- Fábrica de Serviços de Transação. Eles reduzem os gastos pela terceirização de mão-de-obra para funcionários e contratados em países de baixo custo. Essas empresas implementam metodologias enxadas e padronizam processos de ponta a ponta, entre unidades de negócios e mercados geográficos. (Os SSOs nessas organizações também aumentam a cadeia de valor em termos das funções que já lidam, como finanças, HR e TI.) Companies at this stage focus on a small set of corporate functions—usually transaction processes in finance, IT, HR, and procurement—and their main goals are to standardize processes and improve execution. They reduce spending by outsourcing labor to employees and contractors in low-cost countries.
- High-Performance Service Engine. At the second stage of maturity, companies add competence-based functions and processes, such as reporting, continuous improvement, compliance, legal, and marketing and communications, with the goal of not merely executing processes but also improving them. These companies implement lean methodologies and standardize processes from end to end, across business units and geographic markets. (SSOs at these organizations also move up the value chain in terms of the functions they already handle, such as finance, HR, and IT.)
- Provedor de soluções de serviço completo. Ele lida com todas as funções de transação e até algumas funções de negócios. Criticamente, ele usa dados e análises para apoiar unidades de negócios, dando aos líderes uma imagem mais clara do desempenho e informando suas decisões. Nesse nível, o SSO usa processos digitais para todos os clientes internos, personalização em massa e aplicação em massa de interfaces humanas a máquina e AI. At the highest maturity level, the shared-service center becomes a full strategic partner to the business. It handles all transaction functions and even some business functions. Critically, it uses data and analytics to support business units, giving leaders a clearer picture of performance and informing their decisions.
In addition, we are now seeing a fourth level of maturity emerging: fully digital shared services. At this level, the SSO uses digital processes for all internal customers, mass customization, and mass application of human-to-machine interfaces and AI.
Implantar tecnologia para acelerar a evolução
SSOs have traditionally used several automation technologies to digitize processes, including optical-character recognition, voice recognition, and business process management. The next wave of automation technologies, such as RPA and AI, can help accelerate the evolution of SSOs.
Notably, companies that are just beginning this journey can use these technologies to get the basics right from the start, creating a virtuous loop. For example, fully automated software platforms can handle all aspects of finance functions, such as management reporting. Companies that implement these platforms can quickly establish holistic E2E processes with a global process owner, feedback mechanisms from users, and other critical elements discussed above.
For some processes, companies may choose to use RPA, a software that mimics the activities of an employee on a desktop computer or in the background, accessing company-specific applications. RPA robots (or bots) can navigate among screens, open files, select data fields, copy and paste data, and log in and out of different systems—all without any intervention from a person. RPA works well on rules-based processes that don’t require any judgment calls. And it is scalable: once a bot reaches capacity, the company can easily add another bot to handle the same tasks.
However, companies using only RPA as the primary automation tool run the risk of fragmenting a process by automating only the rules-based parts of that process. Instead, many companies are now exploring a branch of AI known as cognitive computing. Unlike RPA software (which can follow only explicit rules), machine-learning software can—as the name suggests—“learn,” making it highly relevant for SSOs. Cognitive computing uses data mining, pattern recognition, and natural language processing to make decisions. The system, which mimics the way the human brain works, can solve problems without assistance from a person. It can synthesize information from a tremendous variety of inputs—analyst reports, tweets, call center transcripts, emails, texts, newspapers, and blogs—and make complex decisions according to that information. In this way, machine-learning software can generate insights with minimal (or no) intervention from people, making it a very effective tool for automating processes end to end.
Tanto o RPA quanto a computação cognitiva têm vantagens claras, começando com os custos. Os bots têm velocidades de processamento mais rápidas do que qualquer pessoa e não precisam de intervalos para o almoço - ou qualquer outro descanso. Eles podem operar 24 horas por dia, 365 dias por ano, a custos muito mais baixos. Um funcionário onshore típico custa cerca de US $ 80.000, incluindo benefícios. Um funcionário ou contratado offshore custa cerca de US $ 30.000. No entanto, os bots custam apenas US $ 15.000 ou menos. E à medida que a tecnologia evolui, esse custo provavelmente diminuirá.
Os benefícios vão além do custo, no entanto. RPA e computação cognitiva tornam o SSO mais flexível e responsivo aos funcionários (por exemplo, durante as férias). Eles podem aumentar para atender a picos de demanda ou lidar com cargas de pico previsíveis, como fechar os livros no final de um mês. Os bots eliminam o erro humano, oferecem relatórios e controle de processos detalhados e facilitam a agregação de dados que as SSOs precisam para melhor suportar unidades de negócios como um provedor de soluções de serviço completo. (Para exemplos do mundo real, consulte "Bots in Business".) Novamente, essas novas tecnologias não exigem grande investimento no front-end ou mudanças no conjunto de TI de uma empresa. De fato, eles podem desenvolver investimentos que as empresas já fizeram em tecnologia de automação. Lutou com processos contábeis complexos e difíceis de ledger-ledger. Os sistemas de TI estavam desatualizados e incompatíveis entre si, e a empresa tinha oito livros gerais, exigindo que os funcionários puxassem dados semiestruturados de vários aplicativos e telas. Muitas tarefas eram repetitivas e tiveram que ser tratadas manualmente por cerca de 7.000 inscrições de diário por mês. Ao implementar a RPA - junto com modelos padronizados e relatórios por email - a empresa conseguiu automatizar cerca de 85% das etapas de entrada do diário. Isso permitiu à empresa reduzir o número de funcionários em período integral em 40% a 45%, melhorando a precisão. A empresa tinha capacidade limitada para processar faturas, mas o crescimento das vendas estava se acelerando. Em resposta, a empresa usou a computação cognitiva para configurar o sistema para aprender o fluxo de faturas através da sequência de processamento natural (incluindo a parte que os funcionários lidaram diretamente). Como resultado, o sistema conseguiu digitalizar faturas em papel e eletrônico-mesmo aquelas que tinham formatos não uniformes-e combinam com os pedidos de compra. Ele enviou faturas rejeitadas de volta aos fornecedores e sinalizou faturas de problemas restantes para agentes para ação. Isso resultou em uma melhoria significativa na produtividade da força de trabalho e uma redução no tempo de processamento.
Bots in Business
At companies across all industries, SSOs are using RPA and AI to improve the accuracy of transactions, reduce costs, and accelerate the transformation to a full-service solution provider.
For example, a multinational bank struggled with complex, unwieldy general-ledger accounting processes. IT systems were outdated and incompatible with one another, and the company had eight general ledgers, requiring employees to pull semistructured data from multiple applications and screens. Many tasks were repetitive and had to be handled manually for about 7,000 journal entries each month. By implementing RPA—along with standardized templates and email reporting—the company was able to automate about 85% of journal entry steps. That allowed the company to reduce the number of full-time employees by 40% to 45% while improving accuracy.
In another example, a large online beauty and fashion retailer went even further, applying cognitive computing to improve processes. The company had limited capacity to process invoices, yet sales growth was accelerating. In response, the company used cognitive computing to configure the system to learn the flow of invoices through the natural processing sequence (including the part that employees handled directly). As a result, the system was able to scan both paper and electronic invoices—even those that had non-uniform formats—and match them against purchase orders. It sent rejected invoices back to suppliers and flagged remaining problem invoices to agents for action. This resulted in a significant improvement in workforce productivity and a reduction in processing time. 1
1. Para obter mais informações sobre o uso da computação cognitiva pelo varejista, consulte Celaton, Estudo de caso: simplificando o processo de contas a pagar.
To be clear, companies need to avoid some typical pitfalls in implementing these kinds of tools. SSO technologies are not a silver bullet or a solution for flawed data. Appropriate change management principles and communication are key.
Develop New Capabilities to Adapt to the Changing Environment
Success in the changing environment will require new capabilities. On the basis of our experience working with clients, we believe there are two types of important underlying capabilities: technological and value-added.
The first set of capabilities are those needed to enable advanced technologies such as RPA and cognitive computing. As these tools become more prevalent, the critical skills needed within the SSO will shift away from underlying process expertise and toward digital capabilities. Many job profiles in today’s SSOs will become obsolete as processes are automated. Yet new jobs will appear, for data scientists, AI integrators, and people who can configure and control robots. For example, companies will no longer need someone who is an expert in closing books but instead will require someone who can convert general accounting principles into code. As a result, companies need an ecosystem to recruit, hire, and retain employees with digital skills.
This transformation is not unusual or unique—manufacturing has undergone a similar transition. Far fewer people work on factory production lines today compared with a decade ago, and many repetitive tasks are now handled by robots, which are faster, less expensive, and more accurate. Yet manufacturing plants require employees with new skills, such as programmers and machinists who work on the robots. Software testing is a similar story. Years ago, companies used people to test and debug new programs, typically in an SSO. Today, software can handle much of that work, but there is a greater demand for people to work on other aspects of the development process, such as designing more intuitive interfaces and a better customer experience.
Além disso, os recursos SSO liberados por automação podem ser investidos na construção de um segundo conjunto de recursos de valor agregado, como gerenciamento de atendimento ao cliente, entrega de serviços enxutos, análise de dados e suporte à decisão. Além disso, a implementação de RPA e IA gerará muito mais dados (estruturados e não estruturados) do que as empresas são necessárias atualmente para gerenciar e hoje nenhuma entidade única governa esses dados na maioria das organizações. Os SSOs multifuncionais servem como um hub central para várias fontes de dados, colocando -as em uma posição única para se tornarem os fornecedores desses dados e permitindo uma ampla variedade de análises em toda a organização. Por fim, esses recursos se tornarão apostas para a maioria das organizações, embora as empresas possam se diferenciar, construindo essas capacidades mais rápidas e profundas que a concorrência.
Uma crescente sensação de urgência e relevância
Many companies have taken some steps to create an SSO, but most have further to go. Given the increasing value at stake, the opportunity cost of not making progress on the basics or the deployment of technology is higher than ever. The gap between companies that get it right and those that don’t will continue to widen, in terms of revenue growth and margins.
To gauge their progress in the SSO arena, companies should assess their current level of maturity. This analysis will point to specific areas where companies can start to create value, in terms of functions, processes, and subprocesses. It will also highlight areas where new technology can help companies advance—and potentially even leapfrog some steps in the evolution to a full-service solution provider. For these areas, companies need to create a plan to take action, not over the next two years but in the next quarter.
