Over the past several years, the shared services concept has become an effective delivery model for countless HR functions around the world. Organizations are turning to shared services in a drive for consistency, improved quality, consolidation, technology enablement, labor cost savings and business value. The move to shared services also supports the increasingly popular concept that HR can operate more effectively when it is organized and managed according to its two primary responsibilities – transactional and strategic.

Despite this growth, some organizations have failed to realize the promised cost and service benefits. In such cases, HR processes have not been simplified, the technology has not worked or has not been implemented properly, and HR staff has not been able to adopt the skills to meet the new requirements of the organization. Perhaps most importantly, the retained HR function and HR business partners have failed to increase the value of HR.

When planned and implemented well, HR shared services can be an effective and efficient delivery model. However, it is critical to choose the right configuration and know how far to push the model. Organizations have learned that shared services are not “one size fits all” and there is greater understanding of evaluating, designing and implementing the elements of shared services that work best for each organization.

Mercer has published a new Point of View paper, Finding your place on the HR shared services continuum, that sets forth a series of market-tested ideas and criteria to help organizations answer the critical HR service delivery questions around shared services. An update of a paper Mercer first published in 2002, the new paper addresses four key issues:

• Global drivers of HR change and their impact on effective shared service models
• A fresh perspective for assessing HR delivery options
• Brief stories of organizations that have made different but right decisions 
• Regional variations in the development and use of HR shared services

See the options at right for obtaining a copy of this new publication.