From chaos to clarity: the engine in HR Shared Services

At The HR Fixers, we’re seeing a renewed focus on the strategic value of HR Shared Services (HRSS), not just as a cost-saving tool, but as a driver of agility, employee experience, and operational efficiency. 

In today’s dynamic business environment, organisations are increasingly moving towards centralised HR delivery models to respond faster to workforce needs, manage compliance at scale, and create seamless service experiences. Shared Services is often at the heart of this transformation. 

Let’s explore what Shared Services in HR really means, the capabilities it brings, the types of services and roles it involves, and how to navigate the challenges and competing priorities. 

What is HR Shared Services? 

HR Shared Services (HRSS) is a centralised model for delivering routine, transactional, and standardised HR activities. Instead of every business unit or location managing its own HR admin tasks, Shared Services consolidates them into one team or platform – improving consistency, efficiency, and employee satisfaction. 

This model often sits alongside Centres of Expertise (COEs) for deep functional expertise (e.g., Reward or Talent), and HR Business Partners (HRBPs) who remain embedded in the business. 

Capabilities in HR Shared Services

HR Shared Services isn’t just about processing forms or answering employee questions. Modern Shared Services teams are equipped with capabilities such as: 

• Case and knowledge management: managing employee queries through tools like ticketing systems and knowledge bases. 

• Automation and workflow: automating high volume, repeatable tasks like onboarding, document generation, and approval flows. So Advisors can focus on the complex, human-centred cases.  

• Collaboration, through people insights and reporting: providing accurate HR data, dashboards, and compliance reporting. Servicing HRBPs will insightful data to drive an optimise workforce and remove concerning trends around sickness, wellbeing or poor performance.  

• Service Delivery Channels: supporting omnichannel access – email, phone, self-service portals, chatbots so the whole workforce can access services no matter where they are. 

• Continuous Improvement: using feedback and service metrics (SLAs, NPS) to refine and evolve service delivery. 

Types of services in HR Shared Services

Shared Services typically handles a broad scope of transactional and advisory support, including: 

• Employee Lifecycle Services: recruitment, onboarding, offboarding, contract changes, role moves, secondments. 

• Payroll and Benefits Administration: data input, adjustments, deductions, enrolment queries. 

• HR Systems and Data Management: maintaining employee records, ensuring data integrity across platforms like SAP SuccessFactors or Workday or Hi Bob. 

• Policy Guidance and Tier 1 Advice: supporting employees and managers with basic interpretation of HR policies. 

• Leave and Absence Administration: managing maternity/paternity/parental leave, sick leave, holiday accruals. 

• Training Administration: learning catalogue maintenance, training request processing, scheduling, payments & record maintenance  

• Employment Verification and Documentation: producing letters, contracts, visa support, etc. 

Roles in HR Shared Services 

• HR Service Advisors (Tier 1 Support): first point of contact for queries, managing tickets and knowledge articles. 

• HR Specialists (Tier 2 Support): handling complex or escalated cases (e.g., international assignments, complex leave scenarios). This is a growing field of expertise.  

• HR Systems Administrators: managing system configurations, user access, workflows, and integrations.  

• Shared Services Team Leads and Managers: overseeing team performance, service levels, continuous improvement. 

• Service Excellence Leads: driving process optimisation and employee experience enhancements. 

The Challenges and competing priorities

Despite the benefits, Shared Services doesn’t come without hurdles: 

🚧 Balancing Standardisation vs. Local Needs: multinational organisations often struggle to apply global processes while respecting local legal and cultural nuances. 

🚧 Adoption of Self-Service: encouraging employees and managers to use self-service tools can be a slow and uneven journey. Causing over-reliance on the Advisors and lots of tickets, leading to slow turnaround times.  

🚧 Fragmented Technology Ecosystems: integrating data and processes across multiple HR systems, legacy tools, and manual workarounds can dilute efficiency. 

🚧 Change Resistance: business units may resist centralisation, fearing loss of control or reduced service quality. 

🚧 Service Metrics vs. Experience: meeting SLAs doesn’t always equate to a great employee experience. Balancing efficiency with empathy is critical. 

🚧 Talent Development in Shared Services: ensuring Shared Services roles offer growth and career progression opportunities remains a challenge in many organisations. 

Where to start?

Organisations looking to unlock the full potential of HR Shared Services should: 

Start with the operating model: how will the work be done (why start here, read our blog about Operating models first, structure second).  

• Determine the services this team needs to provide.  
• Determine the capabilities required to offer these services.  
• Design processes around the employee journey, not internal convenience. 
• Invest in enabling technology and automation. 
• Design a scorecard that captures the outcomes to be delivered. Tracking trends and root cause improvement over time.  

Move to the org: who will do the work.  

• Define clear roles to deliver these services. 
• Link to values and culture to ensure collaboration. 
• Enable empowered leaders who will own the service offering and cascade key messages.  
• Ensure communication across the function is organised, alongside channels to communicate to the wider business

Use data and opportunities to listen and gather feedback, to continuously refine services. 

• From within the team  
• From across the business 

The HR Fixers’ difference 

At The HR Fixers, we help organisations reimagine their HR service delivery – from operating models, service proposition, to system optimisation. Whether you’re setting up your Shared Services model or enhancing an existing one, we can help you align service delivery with employee expectations and business strategy. 

Let’s fix HR for the future. 

When performance lags or challenges mount, leaders often reach for a familiar lever: restructuring. 

It’s tempting! Move a few boxes on the org chart, realign reporting lines, and hope that a new configuration unlocks better results. More often than not, this approach fails to address the root cause of dysfunction. The real culprit? A flawed operating model.

What’s an operating model

An operating model defines how work gets done. 

Not who, but how. 

• The processes, governance, tools, and culture that underpin daily operations. 

• It’s the engine beneath the structure, shaping how teams collaborate, make decisions, and deliver value. 

Without a well-designed operating model, even the most perfectly structured team will struggle to perform.

Why restructuring falls short

Restructuring often focuses on hierarchy rather than flow. It answers the question, “Who reports to whom?” rather than “How does work move efficiently from idea to impact?”

This narrow focus overlooks bottlenecks, duplication, misaligned incentives, and cumbersome, manual processes that remain untouched, regardless of team configuration.

Limitations

➡️ It’s a short-term fix: restructuring teams addresses symptoms rather than root cause. Without transforming the operating model, underlying inefficiencies may persist.

➡️Limited scalability: while effective for small-scale adjustments, team restructuring may not be sustainable for long-term growth or significant strategic pivots.

➡️ Siloed thinking: realigning teams without altering organisational processes or systems can reinforce silos and duplication, hindering cross-departmental collaboration and real efficiency gains.

➡️Leadership confusion: shifting reporting lines and responsibilities can create confusion and uncertainty among leadership, impacting decision-making. Whilst the restructure happens, there is often inertia and some of the best processes and innovation get lost. 

➡️Cultural resistance: here we go again… even team-level changes can face resistance if employees perceive them as frequent or arbitrary, with little to no benefit.

This last point is significant and shouldn’t be underestimated, so we’ll say it twice – constant restructuring can breed instability. Employees experience change fatigue, morale dips, and productivity suffers as they navigate new relationships and unclear expectations. Without addressing how the work itself is organised and executed, the same problems resurface – just under different reporting lines.

Model first, structure second

The hard path is often the right one, although rarely taken. Too often leaders jump to a restructure of teams to improve efficiency. This is the quick answer, that on the surface shows action and possible short-term cost reductions. However, it has limited benefit, no longevity and it rarely delivers actual improvements over the medium to long-term. 

The inefficiencies and problems aren’t resolved, just moved.

The brave path, the longer and harder path to efficiency is the right one. This choice enables the Leader to listen to the teams and look at the way they operate – the processes they follow and the data analytics, tools and tech they rely on. If they are not fit-for-future, then neither is the structure. 

Focusing on the operating model shifts attention from structure to substance. A strong operating model clarifies these key questions:

• Processes: are workflows streamlined, consistent, and designed for efficiency?

• Decision-making: who has the authority to make which decisions, and how are they communicated?

• Technology and tools: do employees have the resources they need to perform effectively?

• Culture and behaviours: are collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement embedded in daily work?

A well-functioning operating model creates clarity, reduces friction, and empowers teams to perform – regardless of how the org chart looks. Before you shuffle roles and reporting lines, take a step back and ask: 

Is it the team that’s broken, or the way they’re being asked to work? 

Fix the model, and the rest will follow

CPCO and CHRO leaders have a critical role in ensuring the organisation understands the value of the operating model and how it can be continuously improved to be more effective and efficient. They are the conscience and custodians, who help other Executives see the light ahead. The old way, the easy way, is no longer the right way.

Start with the operating model. Stop shuffling, start solving! 

The HR Fixers’ difference

Refreshing the operating model isn’t easy, which is why so many Leaders shy away from it when it really matters. We’ve seen it done poorly and we’ve helped teams do it really well. 

It’s not an overnight job.  We partner with you and act as an extension of your HR team, helping you every step of the way.

We listen to your team, take time to understand how they work and identify the processes, data and tools that they use. Together we design a better way of working, in a fit-for-purpose operating model. 

Reach out to see how we can support you.  

Sponsorship of projects and programmes is more than just a name on a report that goes to the executive. Sponsorship is not a title. Yet, how much time do we spend prepping for this role? Giving the role and its requirements conscious thought? Not as much as we should. 

Many Chief People and Culture Officers (CPCOs) and Chief HR Officers (CHROs) find themselves with this title of ‘Sponsor’ as a change project is mobilised. So how do you ensure you are set up for success, the next time you are asked or volunteer to take on a Programme (or Project) Sponsor role. Sponsor effectiveness has been shown to have a direct impact on the success of a project – in fact, three times as much (source: Prosci).

Being an effective, active sponsor of change is a skill for any CPCO or CHRO.

The pitfalls

🚫 The sponsor can’t be a distance figure who gets an update once a month nor can they be elbow-deep in the delivery. 

🚫 They can’t be the first to jump ship when it gets tough. Because it will. All change has its challenges and low points. Change isn’t perfect. Sponsors can’t try to save-face and distance themselves from the project when it gets hard or there is criticism. 

🚫 A sponsor can’t be time constrained by other priorities or their day job. If you can’t commit, don’t take it on.

🚫 It’s not a passive role. 

CPCOs who Sponsor change are role modelling leadership

A sponsorship role requires the individual to visibly lead the change needed, in order to achieve the targeted outcome. Demonstrating consistently the behaviours needed from the project team and end-users. Staying focused on the bigger picture and end destination.

Check your sponsorship skills against out pro-tips below:

✅ Sponsorship is active: be active in the project or programme every week and connect with the Project Manager (PM).

Pro-tip:

• Be visible
• Be active
• Sponsors are the most effective at articulating the ‘why‘, so own the narrative.

✅ Communication: deliver the communication to end-users and consumers, to explain the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ we will get there. Providing clarity about the change ahead and reassurance about the journey. 

Pro-tip:

• Videos are a great way to get this message to hybrid team members or those based in another country.
• Nothing beats walking-the-floor or turning up once a month to a daily stand-up, to show your support and engagement.
• Over-communicating is nowhere near as bad as under-communicating.

✅ Listen: be engaged and listen to colleagues’ concerns, and help champion the benefits from super-users and pilot groups.

Pro-tip:

• Celebrate the successes and champion achievements.
• A personal note or a message on the organisation’s recognition platform goes along way.
• Listen to team members involved with the change directly, ask for their thoughts and sentiment on how they feel about the change ahead.

✅ FOMO: Stimulate the conversation, create excitement and generate a genuine fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) from other executives and key leaders around the business. Increase the hunger for adopting and embedding the change. 

Pro-tip:

• Build a coalition of advocates to help manage resistance.
• Have real-life feedback from end-users to hand, quote it in Exec Steering meetings and bring the change to life for other Executives and Senior Leaders.
• Showcase feedback from first-adopters and pilot groups to demonstrate the value it will bring to others.

✅ Unblock: When challenges emerge, sponsors actively remove the barriers, dispel the negative doubters, and influence the nay-sayers. Knowing the business case inside-out alongside the tangible end-user benefits it will bring. Keeping a calm outlook when challenges come along. 

Pro-tip:

• When there is resistance, it simply means the individual or team hasn’t progressed through their own change journey, yet. Encourage deeper conversations to find the barrier that is impacting that team. Then support the action to remove it.
• Put people at the heart of the change.

Additionally, Sponsors should work collaboratively with the Project Manager; should have appropriate oversight and help to mitigate risks; provide resources; manage expectations; and all the usual project-management you can find on a checklist. 

However, to do this and be the active leader of change who is crucial to a project’s success – with little or no coaching or support? That’s not the recipe for success.  

The recipe for success

➡️ If you are new to this, seek coaching and support from an expert in change leadership, such as The HR Fixers.

➡️ Seek advice from those around you, on why project leadership has failed before.

➡️ Listen to colleagues and the project team on what they need from you as a Sponsor – adapt, be resilient and persevere.

➡️ Ensure your leadership style and ways of communicating are tailored to this topic and will enable you to be a success.

➡️ Pause… and celebrate successes with the project team.

➡️ And have some fun along the way. Learn, grow and go again!

Ultimately, if you can’t prioritise the commitment that a project sponsor role requires… don’t take it on. Take it on, if you’re set up for success.

The HR Fixers’ difference

There are lots of resources available to help a CPCO or a CHRO navigate how to be an active sponsor of change.  However, if you want more than just the theory and need practical advice, coaching and tools that really work, reach out and get in touch. We lead with emotional intelligence, experience and put people at the heart of change.

How bespoke consultancies are changing the game for CPCOs and CHROs

While big-name firms dominate the transformation marketplace, with their vast resources and global reach, organisations are increasingly recognising the unique benefits of working with bespoke consultancy firms. These specialist firms offer a level of:

• Personal attention,
• Conscientious service,
• Advise with emotional intelligence.

The difference lies not just in the approach but in the outcome — solutions and approaches are tailored to the way the teams work and the pace of the organisation, cultivating stronger relationships for effective teamwork, and an overall transition that puts the people first, using the new technology as an enabler. 

These are challenging times for HR and People & Culture teams. Now more than ever it’s time to take action to modernise, supported by an appropriate bespoke partner. One that really gets HR.

⁉️ Is now the time to choose personalisation, over scale? 

A personalised partnership

One of the primary benefits of working with a bespoke HR consultancy is the personal touch they bring to each project. Unlike large consultancies that often apply a one-size-fits-all approach, bespoke firms take the time to understand the unique needs, culture, and goals of each client.

➡️ They prioritise custom HR solutions over generic methodologies, ensuring that the technology, tool or process aligns seamlessly with the company’s specific HR requirements.

➡️ A smaller consultancy invests in building a deep understanding of a client’s HR function and connections across the organisation. This allows them to provide highly tailored recommendations. They don’t push pre-packaged solutions or rigid frameworks, but instead craft strategies that address the intricacies of the organisation. 

This approach leads to better adoption rates as change is rolled-out, less resistance from employees, and a more effective transformation process that aims for right-first-time.

Conscientious and hands-on

Bespoke consultancy firms are often founded and led by industry experts who are deeply passionate about their work. They have done these roles, used this tech, and been part of the change when working on the other side, in organisations. Bringing that lived-experience into the bespoke consultancy firm. 

➡️ They don’t merely act as advisors from a distance but immerse themselves in the HR project, working closely with teams at every level. 

➡️ Their hands-on involvement ensures that implementation is smoother, challenges are proactively addressed, and any potential roadblocks are quickly mitigated.

➡️ When done right, they feel as though they are part of the organisation, offering constructive challenge from a conscientious perspective. 

In contrast, other consultancies may deploy a revolving door of consultants who are less invested in the long-term success of the client. Simply put, they don’t care as much.

Clients often find themselves explaining their needs repeatedly to different team members, which can lead to frustrations. Bespoke firms, on the other hand, offer consistency and continuity, building strong relationships with their clients based on expertise, and taking full accountability for the outcomes.

Leading with emotional intelligence in change management

Technology transformations are not just about implementing new systems — they also require engaging the people affected by these changes. This is where bespoke consultancies truly shine. 

➡️ They lead with emotional intelligence, understanding that employees often feel apprehensive about new ways of working.  

➡️ They proactively focus on engaging communications, feeling the heart beat and rhythm of the organisation. With the counsel of open communication, active listening, and a supportive approach, they help organisations navigate resistance and foster a positive attitude toward change.

➡️ They avoid rigid processes that neglect the human element. Recognising that a successful implementation depends on user buy-in. They take the time to engage with employees, provide hands-on training, and ensure that the change and the reasons for the change, are embraced rather than resisted.

Tailored for success: the growth of bespoke

Choosing a consultancy firm is about more than which one is already on your commercial framework: 

✅ It’s about finding a partner who understands your business. 

✅ Cares about your success.

✅ Leads with emotional intelligence. 

The HR Fixers’ difference 

At The HR Fixers, we offer an unmatched level of personal attention, conscientious service, and emotionally intelligent leadership. For organisations seeking a bespoke, more human-centered approach to HR transformation, partnering with us is the smart choice.

Ready to build a stronger HR function? 

If you’re looking for a partner who can help you navigate the change and transformation needed to modernise your HR function, The HR Fixers is here for you. Let’s build the future of HR together.

Contact us today to get started! 

#SmallButMighty #BespokeIsBest #EmotionalIntelligence #HRChange 

In today’s fast-paced business environment, transformation is a constant. Whether it’s adapting to new technologies, evolving company culture, or implementing strategic HR initiatives, Chief People & Culture Officers (CPCOs) are at the forefront of change. However, too often, we see these transformations managed as isolated initiatives — HR digitalisation over here, a DEI strategy over there, and leadership development somewhere in the mix.

The problem? 

Managing transformation in silos leads to inefficiencies, misalignment, and a failure to deliver sustainable impact. Instead, CPCOs must approach transformation as a portfolio of projects, ensuring strategic alignment, resource optimisation, and long-term success. However, so often HR teams are already overloaded by the day job. 

How can they possibly manage, guide and sponsor change on top?

The pitfalls of managing HR transformation in isolation

When HR transformation initiatives are managed separately, several common challenges emerge:

1. Lack of visibility 

A suite of projects that don’t make visible the holistic add-up can be confusing for stakeholders and lead to duplication. For the CPCO, this can lead to a disjointed narrative and an inability to see the combined benefits being delivered. Investment in HR is challenging to secure at the best of times, so when you get it – keep it! Make the work, outcomes and benefits easily visible for everyone, through a portfolio management approach. 

2. Lack of alignment

HR initiatives often tie into broader business goals like growth, efficiency, and employee engagement. When transformation projects are treated as standalone efforts, they may not align with overarching corporate objectives. For example, implementing an AI-driven recruitment tool without integrating it into the company’s talent strategy can result in inefficiencies rather than improvements.

3. Competing priorities and resource constraints

HR teams have limited time, budgets, and people. When multiple initiatives are launched independently, they often compete for resources, leading to delays or half-baked implementations. A leadership development program might lose momentum because all resources have shifted to an HR tech rollout — leaving both initiatives under-delivering. The HR team don’t have the extra time (or skill or capability sometimes) to resource all the change, on top of the day job. 

4. Change fatigue and resistance

Employees and managers can only handle so much change at once. When transformation initiatives roll out in silos, employees feel like they are constantly being hit with new processes and tools without understanding the bigger picture. This can lead to resistance, disengagement, and a failure to fully embed the changes. The same can be said of the team leading it, those within HR – unless the portfolio is well planned, easily communicated and everyone is bought into the ‘why’ and ‘how’. 

5. Missed opportunities for synergy

HR initiatives are often interconnected:

• Performance management ties into leadership development. 
• Employee experience links to digital HR tools. 
• DEI efforts impact recruitment and retention. 

When projects are managed separately, organisations miss opportunities to leverage insights, integrate technologies, and drive cohesive cultural change. The communications plan that underpins this change needs a synchronised portfolio to knit together the story and help make the change stick. 

These pitfalls are similar to everyone jumping in a boat, grabbing an oar and pulling in their own direction, whilst the cox-person shouts random instructions at no-one in particular.

Wouldn’t it be better, if everyone sat comfortably in the same boat, pulled in synchronicity, following a clear plan, to aim for the win? 

Managing a portfolio of HR initiatives   

To avoid these pitfalls, CPCOs should take a portfolio approach to transformation. This means viewing all HR initiatives and projects, as interconnected deliverables within a larger transformation roadmap, ensuring they work together to deliver business outcomes.

Use an excerpt from our NAVIGATE phase, to ensure the key steps to portfolio management in an HR Transformation are set up for success:  

1. Define the strategic vision

Start by identifying the overarching people strategy and how different transformation initiatives contribute to that vision. Ensure that every project aligns with the business’s long-term objectives. It doesn’t need to be rocket science, a vision maybe as simple as: 

TOP TIP :

• To transform HR into a strategic powerhouse that enhances employee experience, fosters innovation, and supports agile business growth.
• Building a digitally enabled, insight-driven HR function that empowers people, optimises processes, and drives organisational excellence.
• Shaping a high-performing, inclusive, and adaptable HR ecosystem that attracts, develops, and retains top talent through innovation and continuous improvement.

2. Prioritise and sequence initiatives

Not all projects need to be executed at once. Map out initiatives based on urgency, impact, and dependencies. This prevents resource strain and ensures smooth implementation.

TOP TIP: 

• A great way to do this is to engage the team and ask them to prioritise the list of initiatives based on their view of benefit to be delivered. 
• A bottom-up approach instead of top-down. 
• This approach is powerful to secure team buy-in.  

3. Streamline governance and oversight

Appoint a transformation steering committee or a dedicated team to get visibility of the whole portfolio. This group ensures alignment, tracks progress, celebrates success and makes decisions to course-correct when needed.

TOP TIP: 

• Make it the one meeting a month they don’t ever miss! 

4. Integrate technology and data

HR tech implementations should not happen in isolation. Integrate new tools with existing systems to create a seamless digital employee experience. Use valuable data to measure the benefit of transformation initiatives and adjust as needed.

TOP TIP: 

• Identify how you measure success early in the governance cycle.
• Use these metrics to track how it’s going, and adjust them as the portfolio evolves.  

5. Support with a strong story 

Take a proactive approach to change management, through a compelling story. The internal comms team can help develop this narrative to ensure employees understand how different initiatives connect to the bigger picture. Clear communication, leadership visibility to champion the change, and employee engagement communications are crucial for success.

The HR Fixers’ take

At The HR Fixers, we help organisations shift from fragmented HR projects to strategic, interconnected transformation portfolios. Whether you’re implementing SAP SuccessFactors, redefining your talent strategy, or driving cultural change, we ensure your HR transformation delivers long-term value that everyone can see. 

Are you ready to rethink how you manage transformation? Let’s fix it together.

#HRTransformation #PeopleStrategy #TheHRFixers #CPCO #CHRO