Talent management in shared services

Shared services are seen as a way of reducing costs while improving efficiency. But the financial focus often overshadows another key element of the picture: the human one. According to an ACCA study on talent management in a shared services world, of the 1,200 organisations surveyed, not only did 72 per cent not implement talent management programmes across the entire function, but they were not aware of such programmes. Of the 28 per cent who had a talent management programme, which covered shared services, only a third said their programmes were effective.

The implications are significant as good talent goes untapped and organisations risk losing the brightest and best talent. According to the research, with the growth of shared services, outsourcing, and increasingly global business service operations, much of tomorrow's finance talent may emerge from 'super hubs'.

"Within the existing and growing finance centres, there are already people in their twenties in India and Malaysia taking on job responsibilities that it took baby boomers in the West 20 years or more to learn. That puts pressure on finance organisations to give these people the skills needed to become finance professionals and emerge as finance leaders on the global stage," says Helen Brand OBE, chief executive, ACCA.