SSONext

Recorded at SSOW Manchester, Gary Carter joins us and discusses his role at Credit Suisse being responsible for the offshoring program- supporting internal businesses as they look to move functions from the core business centers to the developed established offshore locations. He spends a lot of time discussing with businesses what they need, with cost, of course, being a core part of the conversation. But Gary and his team feel that if you talk about offshoring and the only thing one has to say is “we’ll save you money,” that’s a dead conversation. That’s what the past decade plus was all about. There has to be something else- like focusing on talent or operational resiliency from cohabiting functions for example as the beginning of a more comprehensive conversation around what offshoring means for your enterprise.

Lee Coulter returns, and shares that IEEE automation standards were born out of a serious frustration that a lot of folks were having but that Lee was having at a chronic, nearly medical level. The IEEE Guide to Terms and Concepts on Intelligent Process Automation provides the industry with a lexicon which allows executives to have an intelligent conversation around intelligent automation. For example, RPA is server based batched unattended automation. RDA is interactive automation that runs concurrently with other desktop executables allowing the automation to pause for cognitive input or contribution by the operator and then continue on it’s automation journey. These are two simple distinctions which help set the course for a true understanding of automation and it’s affect on global corporate enterprise.

Alexander von Thielmann joins us from SSOW in Manchester where he shares that he’s running two lines of business- Business shared services which is CRM and sales related and business administration shared services which is more related to cash collection, tech services, etc. Both are non-mandatory to the client so- whereas others can go to the customer and say it’s mandatory- how are we going to do it- Alexander and his team must go to the customer, they listen and then jointly define the portfolio. When Alexander started in shared services- customers told him not to come and simply claim- don’t bring a slide show- just come and listen. And so he learned to jointly define the painpoints, the targets, how you can contribute, where you really bring a value add and ultimately affect costs, savings, reduce complexity and support topline growth.

Ricardo Badillo joins us from SSOW US where he was dubbed by Episode 4 guest and CFO of S&P Dow Jones Indices, Manny Korakis, as best dressed individual. Ricardo is based in Costa Rica which is a bit of a Shared Services hub. He notes that the country actually been ranked as happiest in the world. Over the years work in the country has evolved from manufacturing to call center to transactional and more value added work. There are roughly 200 companies that have shared services operations in Costa Rica which means roughly 30,000 employees in the space in the country. The basis of how Ricardo operates in shared services comes from his father where he learned the importance of education, discipline, being on time, delivering what you promise, telling the truth and being transparent.

Andrew Parris joins us from SSOW and discusses improving shared services, removing waste and automating activities. The corner has been turned in terms of automation. Andrew and the team did a feasibility study and determined that it was in fact viable in the organization. While yes, RPA is on the map, the focus is also on leveraging the systems they have in place. Andrew shares that getting commitment from senior management is key. He also mentions at a few points, that it’s important to understand what automation means to your particular shared services organization. It’s certainly not one size fits all. Andrew answers questions on managing up as well as managing the team and ensuring in each case, each person understands that automation is in fact a software initiative.

Recorded at SSOW Kathleen Bienkowski joins us and shares that she feels that her psych background has done her a world of good in simply relating to people in shared services. To that end, Kathleen says that in leadership, having a high EQ is one of the most important things. And that high EQ serves any leader well in the first moment of managing an employee- the hiring process. Obviously, there’s an advantage in knowing what you’re getting. Kathleen began her career in staffing so she provides her thoughts on what to look for, her thoughts on red flags and the entire hiring process in general. This all led of course  to Kathleen being identified as a perfect shared services executive.

Ted Graham joins us from C2 to discuss doing new and different things as it relates to the company, the industry, the brand and general society. Regarding self driving- hands off the wheel or assisted driving experiences are on the table for 2017. Full automation will be here sooner than you think in Ted’s words. He’s interested in Explainable AI which ensures that the work of any machine or deep learning is shown- or is explainable to humans.  Ted is focused on creating a more immersive and complete experience for the consumer- which includes his automotive company being a part of your human experience beyond the car. It begs the question, how does your internal automation redefine what your brand does and who your brand serves?

Deborah Kops joins us and brings us back to industry pioneers who started to destroy organizations in order to put something more creative together. She’s skeptical of whether robots will be creative destruction due to the fact that she feels her colleagues are looking at automation as simply process improvement and removing cost as opposed to creating. Deborah say’s that you cannot create if you’re focused on cost. On cost, she notes that there are two types of CFO’s- control CFO’s and growth CFO’s- and a smart shared services executive always looks to report to a growth CFO due to the fact that Shared Service is about growth, not cost. Jumping off of the concept of liberation theology, Deborah sees automation as liberation technology.