Distinguish a transactional shared service centre from a value-adding global business services model.
Leadership & Management
Leading Shared Service Centres and Global Business Services Units
Lead the transition from shared services to global business services, designing the service catalogue, SLAs, automation and talent model a GBS unit needs.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Processing transactions faster still leaves a shared service centre judged as a cost centre, whereas the global business services model asks the same organisation to be judged as a value-adding partner that standardises, automates and continuously improves end-to-end processes across finance, HR, procurement and IT. This course covers the leadership decisions that separate the two: designing a service catalogue and service level agreements that make expectations explicit, deciding what stays with the retained organisation versus what moves into the centre, sequencing migration waves so transition risk stays manageable, and applying robotic process automation and centres of excellence to processes that have already been standardised. The final sessions have participants designing a service catalogue extract and SLA set for a real process area, planning a migration wave, and working through the stakeholder and talent challenges of leading a workforce physically distant from the business units it serves.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Design a service catalogue and service level agreements that make expectations explicit.
Decide which activities stay in the retained organisation versus move into the centre.
Sequence migration waves that move processes into a centre without disrupting the business.
Apply robotic process automation to standardised, high-volume transactional processes.
Manage stakeholder relationships with business units that see the centre as remote or slow.
Build a talent and career model that retains skilled staff inside a shared service centre.
Who Should Attend
Shared service centre directors and heads of global business services.
Finance, HR, procurement and IT leaders transitioning functions into a shared centre.
Programme managers leading the migration of processes into a shared service model.
Site leaders managing shared service delivery teams in offshore or nearshore locations.
Retained organisation leaders working with a shared service or GBS provider.
Continuous improvement and automation leads working within a shared services function.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01From Shared Services to Global Business Services
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1From Transactional Shared Services to GBS
- Explain the shift from a transactional shared service centre to an integrated GBS model.
- Identify which end-to-end processes are strong candidates for a GBS operating model.
- Assess an organisation's readiness for the governance a GBS model requires.
- Distinguish cost-reduction goals from value-creation goals within a GBS business case.
Session 2Scoping the GBS Operating Model
- Define which functions, such as finance, HR, procurement and IT, sit within scope.
- Decide on a single-function versus multi-function GBS structure for the organisation.
- Identify the executive sponsorship a GBS transformation needs to succeed.
- Set a phased scope that avoids attempting every function's migration simultaneously.
02Designing the Service Catalogue and Governance
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Building a Service Catalogue
- Document services in a catalogue that business units can understand and select from.
- Define service tiers that offer meaningful choice without creating unmanaged complexity.
- Price or cost-allocate services so business units see the value they are consuming.
- Review and update the service catalogue as processes and technology change.
Session 2Setting SLAs and Governance Structures
- Write service level agreements with measures that reflect real business impact.
- Distinguish SLAs owed to customers from OLAs agreed between internal teams.
- Establish a governance forum where the centre and retained organisation resolve disputes.
- Set escalation paths for SLA breaches that avoid blame without excusing poor service.
03Standardisation, Automation and Improvement
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Standardising Processes Before Automating
- Standardise a process across business units before attempting to automate it.
- Identify processes where variation reflects genuine need rather than historical habit.
- Apply lean or process improvement methods to remove waste before automation.
- Sequence standardisation and automation so each migration wave builds on the last.
Session 2Automation and Centres of Excellence
- Assess which processes are suitable candidates for robotic process automation.
- Set up a centre of excellence that maintains and improves automated processes over time.
- Measure automation benefits realistically, including implementation and maintenance cost.
- Manage the workforce transition when automation changes roles within the centre.
04Leading Talent and Stakeholders Across a GBS
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Building Talent and Culture in a GBS
- Design career paths that retain skilled staff inside a shared service centre.
- Build a culture of continuous improvement rather than pure transaction processing.
- Manage language, time zone and cultural differences across a global delivery model.
- Identify capability gaps as the centre's remit grows from transactional to analytical work.
Session 2Managing the Retained Organisation Relationship
- Manage relationships with business unit stakeholders who see the centre as remote.
- Communicate service performance to the retained organisation in business terms.
- Negotiate scope changes with business units without reopening every agreed SLA.
- Position the centre as a strategic partner rather than a back-office cost function.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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