Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Calling All Writers...Pulse Magazine Wants You!

For our upcoming Pulse Magazine November/December issue, we are looking for authors to contribute pieces on the impact of the U.S. presidential election and global economic situation on outsourcing in the coming year. This can be a “viewpoint” story with your own views or a researched journalistic piece looking at both sides of the issues that have been largely in the media. It can also take a predicting, “look ahead” approach to how things may shake out in the coming year, depending on the election results and how the economic situations around the world play out. To be considered, please send your ideas and credentials to Sandy Frinton, PULSE editor, at pulse@iaop.org by Sept. 28th.

Friday, September 21, 2012

The GEO…or as we like to say, the outsourcing customer’s best friend.

Word on the street is the 3rd annual Global Excellence in Outsourcing (GEO) Award is already spurring lots of competition. With only nine days left to apply, IAOP is seeking outsourcing buyers to join the ranks with winning teams from Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Bancolombia and Microsoft! Now those are some big shoes to fill!

Recognizing outsourcing professional teams at organizations that are leading the effort to make their companies more successful through outsourcing, the GEO has such diversity that teams are awarded in two categories; the GEO Award for Best Practices and the GEO Award for Innovation. 

Nominations (technically they’re self-nominations…so if you’ve got what we’re looking for, then self nominate today!). Open to IAOP member and non-member customer teams globally, applications for the award are prepared and submitted by the outsourcing professional team itself. Nominations are accepted through September 30, 2012 and will be reviewed by a panel of independent judges selected by IAOP’s Membership Committee and led by Bill Hall, committee chair and founding partner of Pretium Partners. 

So…why would you want to apply for the GEO Award? Aside from the free application and the team morale it builds, the process of documenting your team’s efforts and accomplishments enhances awareness — both inside and outside your company — for its accomplishments. Recognition of this type can help you attract and retain the best talent and establishes greater credibility and influence with other organizations, including current and potential providers.

We’re sure you have more questions for us, so we’re going to make it easier on you. Just click here and we’ll take you to the GEO section of IAOP’s website

IAOP continues to strive for excellence in recognizing you, the outsourcing community, with our different award programs. We believe hard work deserves recognition…especially at a destination like the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge in Phoenix, Arizona (which is where the winners will be recognized next year, in front of hundreds of their peers). 

We are honored that the responses we receive each year continues to grow, raising the bar for all of us. With that said, get those applications in! You have nine days.
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Kate Tulloch-Hammond, IAOP Manager of Media & Communications

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Buddy, can you spare some talent? by guest bloggers Rick Bertheaud and Bryan Furlong


It's the conundrum of 2012.  People are out of work, but companies are running out of talent. What’s a shared service center to do?

By Rick Bertheaud, Principal, and Bryan Furlong, Global Management Consulting, KPMG

Global business services (GBS) demand high-performance from the latest new hire to the most successful executive.  Whether it’s outsourced, insourced, or a combo, your GBS should strive to be a preferred employer, a career shaper and a market changer.

Transactionals vs. professionals

If you look at your shared services centers as a warehouse of clerical staffs, your outlook may be sorely limiting.  While most shared service centers have focused on transactional and some segment knowledge, (i.e. accounts payable, onboarding, and the like) we are seeing more and more that the centers can be a significant proving ground for leadership beyond the centers.  

Today’s shared services skill sets are becoming more about the future of management and a career path that is about being able to create and sustain organizations and third parties in a cohesive manner.  It’s about building a global brand with extended global business services.  What you learn managing all the pieces and parts of a shared service center for accounting, is readily applicable to managing a service center for pharmacovigilance or R & D.  This leadership isn’t just in accounting or paperwork for example, but for leaders in a new management category that some have termed the Chief Integration Office.  

Strength in leadership

Remember that your GBS organization, first and foremost, is in the people business. People need strong, visible and accountable leaders.  It’s easy to look afar at shared service center workers as assets, or worse, children.

We have seen proactive and outperforming shared service leadership take a formative role in development, enhancement and management by treating everyone like an adult. From conception to implementation, these leaders shoot straight from the start, involving everyone as a team.  They don’t sugar-coat the need for change, they take input, make strong decisions, keep the momentum going, and involve the CEO, CFO and other executives in the process.  

A little anecdote: while we were working on a shared service implementation a while ago, our client’s global CFOs became quite engaged. After a series of regular meetings, one executive said, “This has been a great experience; it’s the first time we ever got together to do work.” Not that their organizations didn’t work together, but by becoming visible and involved, they were able to create a solid GBS that worked for everyone.

Not once and done

Thriving GBSs are always changing.  As you expand your organization globally and across cultures as well as to include more functions, processes, and expertise, you will need different kinds of talent–for GBS leadership, process managers and ultimately your entire staff.

For example, when you have a global portfolio of services, with a mix of internal and external providers, you may need to manage some resources by influence versus direct control – that requires managers with a special set of skills. You may also need to consider the cultural nuances involved in process delivery for one country versus another.  Take it a bit further, and you might even need to consider which city has the best talent to offer on an ongoing basis.  

While some consider the GBS a good farm team for the business, others view them as true centers of expertise and talent.  As such, your standing as an employer of choice will attract and retain the right talent. This goes both for the process leadership level, where you need innovation to support the business, and the production level in offshore markets such as India, where talent competition is fierce and turnover is high.

The proof is in the future

The classic journey for GBSs is to first establish a sound strategy and implementation for the service centers, and then to continuously improve, to provide end-to-end processes and full functions.  If you are doing it right, the centers will be sought after by the businesses they support.  And when someone outside your business wants to buy services from you, you and your team can then claim victory.
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Rick Bertheaud, Principal, KPMG 
Bryan Furlong, Global Management Consulting, KPMG

Friday, September 07, 2012

Don't Miss a Beat! Read the Pulse!

IAOP is pleased to announce the launch of PULSE magazine! It's been a very busy summer for the team, who has been working tirelessly on the launch issue, which IAOP’s chairman Mike Corbett is calling “Amazing. By far, the best I've ever seen in our industry.” Ok, so maybe he’s slightly biased, but we concur. PULSE is relevant, fresh, fun and full of information you can use today. Judge for yourself (and get entered to win a free seat to The 2013 Outsourcing World Summit). Special thanks to our editor, Sandy Frinton and creative director, Pam Zarrella for their ability to work at an inhuman pace to bring you Pulse: The Magazine Driven By & For The Outsourcing Professional. Enjoy!

Caliente! The Latin America Summit is fast approaching, and we thought it time to bring out the hot sauce. You’ll discover why Latin America is muy caliente and why Costa Rica is Hot, Hot, Hot!! You’ll meet IAOP Hall of Fame inductee, Marco Stefanini (COP), President & CEO of Stefanini, a global IT services company in São Paulo, Brazil. He’ll share his spicy views from the C-Suite.

We’ve got it covered. We’re talking industry, issues, trends. We’re sharing geographies – where it’s at, where it’s not. Vertical sectors and functions; thought leadership and case studies, probing Q&As, C-level interviews and profiles; exclusive and insider coverage of IAOP events, programs, awards, research, training, certifications and surveys. We’re telling you, it’s in there. 

Fast! This first issue is fast. How fast? Fast Company – An Insider’s Look into the Global Outsourcing 100; The Sandbox – we’ve got customer, provider and advisor opinions on how organizations achieve innovation and who pays for it; The Beat – top headlines from leading news sources as told to you by IAOP’s Director of Thought Leadership, Jag Dalal!

And there’s more. So much more. Such as…the 2013 Outsourcing World Summit – one lucky reader will win a seat to OWS13 in Phoenix, Arizona. And still, there’s more...but you’ll have to read it to find out.

We really couldn't have hoped for a better response, or a better inaugural issue! We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed compiling and editing it. Pulse magazine is available bi-monthly, and is free to IAOP members. 

Fast enough for you? Great. Now go read Pulse and let us know…mild, medium or caliente?
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Kate Tulloch-Hammond, IAOP Manager of Media & Communications