When presented with little more than a single slide as an operational plan, Julie knew she had a challenge. Engaged in an international business transformation driven by the implementation of SAP, Julie was seconded to a Shared Services project that was struggling to take flight. There was little understanding between countries of what was to be achieved and no will to co-operate – many regions were happy with the status quo. The business perceived HR as not fit for purpose and internally the department recognised they needed modernising, but the HR Shared Services project that could remedy the situation was woefully inadequate.
Julie had to use her considerable influencing skills to get the Head of Systems and Transformation to backtrack on his plan. She proposed implementing the Ulrich model where shared services would be implemented in each country, and began defining an operational model based on best practice from around the business. Julie’s gap analysis revealed a number of issues, one in particular concerning employee self service. For example, there was no dedicated internet portal for employees, with each country operating independently from this perspective. Julie ensured all the operational details were in place and secured the buy in from the regions to adopt a centralised online resource.
The business was establishing operations in a number of new territories, and these fledgling businesses were using the UK’s HR team for support. There was no governance around hiring or development in these regions and they didn’t even know how many employees they had. This was proving to be a constant drain on the UK HR team, which was in turn impacting the 10,000 UK employees. Julie set up a ‘one stop shop’ for HR services in Europe, providing dedicated HR support and relieving pressure on the UK team.
Julie has now created a strategic platform for a Shared Services that fits the needs and resources of the business. In doing so, Julie has realised over £15 million in cost efficiencies, and the business is now in a position to deliver the global transformation programme.



