Designing Your HR Service Delivery Model

Robbin R Meyers, Sr. Director People Technology and Services, Rev Group

There are so many factors that are key to the design of a successful HR service delivery model that it can be overwhelming. The most valuable resource any organization has is their employee base and how these employees engage has direct impact on the success of the business. How many resources do you need in the function and at what level do they need to operate? What type of technology investment is required? How quickly can you complete the transformation while continuing to support the growth of the business? These are just a couple of questions that have major implications when planning a transformation for a function like Human Resources.

Leveraging data and information to inform your design decisions is critical to the overall process and will help ensure strategic goals are measured and met. This includes everything from headcount placement to technology investment to enable the employee’s digital experience.

I recommend keeping three key items in mind as you develop your strategy:

1) Customer Experience: What is the experience your customers expect? How do they want to interact with the HR function? How do you measure their utilization of the service? How do you gather ongoing feedback enabling you to quickly adjust as needed?

2) Change Management: Do you have a culture that is open to or resistant to major change? Do you have solid change management resources within your existing organization or will you need to invest in this area?

3) Technology Investment: How much can you afford to invest in your technology ecosystem? Do you have the resources to take on a major technology change and manage business as usual? Do you have the right resources to support the new technology?

Gaining insights into how employees are engaging with leadership, their commitment to performance and success of the business are critical insights that come from HR systems including payroll, time & attendance and case management tools

Of the three key items above, I believe understanding your customer base and the experience they expect is the most important part of the equation. This will help guide key decisions on the development and standardization of policy and process and technical design from the number of systems and tools to the digital experience these tools deliver. If utilization of tools is low, the desired return on investment will not be realized.

The change management work starts on day one of the program and should continue for an extended period in the new model. This is an area that is often cut short or considered late in the program. If there is a gap between the goals of the organization and the desired experience of the customer, a strong change management plan must be in place to gain alignment and adoption of the new processes and tools as the delivery model evolves.

The technology investment can be costly in a time when there may not be budget to support this type of change within the HR function. That said, making an investment in technical platforms that enable enhanced workforce management capability should be a priority. Gaining insights into how employees are engaging with leadership, their commitment to performance and success of the business are critical insights that come from HR systems including payroll, time&attendance and case management tools.

Beginning with the three elements above and drilling down layer by layer will help set the foundation for the launch of a new service delivery model and enable your teams to make informed decisions that align with the business strategy, enable leaders to fully engage with their teams, and deliver an enhanced employee experience.