Book Description

This report examines how adopting the shared services model of human resources (HR) services delivery can help businesses achieve better alignment between their HR service and specific business needs. Chapter 1 provides background information on the research project underlying this report, which included the following data collection activities: site visits to 15 organizations in different sectors that had introduced some form of HR shared service; interviews with four consultants regarding the present and future of HR shared services; and literature reviews. Chapters 2-7 discuss the following aspects of adopting and implementing the HR shared model: (1) reasons for creating an HR shared service (overall picture, cost reasons, quality reasons, organizational reasons, and technological facilitation); (2) the strategic, operational, and support activities involved in HR shared services and how shared HR services were introduced at the organizations studied; (3) issues in the delivery of shared services (centralization, devolution, in-sourcing versus out-sourcing, structuring the service, and service definition and monitoring); (4) the advantages and disadvantages of the HR shared services model; (5) the future of shared services in light of technological innovation and organizational change; and (6) issues in creating successful shared services. The bibliography contains 51 references. (MN)