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Cath Everett

Sift Media

Freelance journalist and former editor of HRZone

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Technical skills seen as key barrier in move to HR shared services

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Technology and the skills required to implement and use it are key concerns when migrating to HR and payroll shared services.

A survey of more than 100 public sector organisations undertaken by software supplier MidlandHR revealed that many of them were currently looking on the black side, overestimating the challenges associated with implementing shared services, while underestimating the benefits.
 
The report entitled ‘HR and payroll shared services in the public sector – perceptions and realities‘ revealed that technology was perceived to be most useful in helping to boost process efficiency. It also made it easier to handle the requests of a number of different kinds of service users, tackle high volumes and analyse data on a cross-organisational basis.
 
But developing the new skills required to deal with software and other technical issues was among the top challenges for newcomers to the shared services game.
 
Of those already sharing services, just under two out of three organisations did so on an internal basis, with several departments accessing a centralised function. A further 18% shared services with a third party organisation, while 12% acted as the lead organisation and supplied services to other organisations.
 
The majority of organisations that were currently sharing services externally had shared them internally first of all. Of those questioned that were not already sharing, 58% said they would choose an internal shared service as an initial option.
 
But Karen Bull, Product Strategy Manager at MidlandHR, warned: “With two in five organisations planning to implement shared services in the next two years, they’ll need to ensure that their supporting technology is process driven and highly configurable.”
 

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One Response

  1. training

     This essentially boils down to a problem that many HR departments may be facing, which is how to apply an effective training programme but also how to motivate your employees to fully engage with that programme. Software and computer related training requires expertise and patience because for many it can be daunting. Communication from top to bottom within oganisations is also key to successful development of lower level employees. 

     

    Dave Evans, Commercial Director at accessplanit, specialising in Training Management Software and Learning Management Systems

Author Profile Picture
Cath Everett

Freelance journalist and former editor of HRZone

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