Transcript Document
Shared Services Initiative Approach and Project Outline What is Shared Services Shared Services is an approach for delivering business services, aimed at accomplishing the following: • Improved service quality — Reduce turnaround times, reduced errors, higher service levels — Easier to use and easier to access services — New higher-value services — Deeper skills and expertise in HR, finance, and AP — Meaningful career opportunities and progression for staff • Improved operational efficiency — Reduced the number of points of delivery which creates better financial and operational controls — Capture greater economies of scale — Leverage technology to automate processes — Result in greater consistency in the application and administration of policy 2 Opportunities at DU • Like other universities, the University of Denver has opportunities to improve the quality and effectiveness of its business services • The primary goal of the Shared Services Initiative at the University of Denver is to improve the quality of services, to faculty, staff, and students • By improving the quality of services, the institution will likely yield additional benefits — Increased efficiency and capacity to support and sustain the academic enterprise — Deepen skills, competencies, and strong careers for those providing such services — Reduced institutional risk — Reduced expense base of the University 3 An Integrated and Structured Approach The Project has four distinct phases 4 Important Process Information • Employees with various backgrounds and expertise were invited to participate on the shared services committee • Individual interviews with members of the DU community that process the transactional work within their units • Individual interviews with several faculty regarding their experience with transactional processes 5 Project Committee Rohini Ananthakrishnan Joe Angleson Chris Bennett Joe Benson Joe Bogner Stefanie Cowan Teri Fuller Margaret Henry Amy King Jen Kogovsek Linda Kosten Leandra Martinez Julia McGahey University Technology Services Biological Sciences Office of the Controller Natural Sciences and Mathematics Business and Financial Affairs Center for Multicultural Excellence Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Office of the Controller Human Resources Campus Safety Office of the Provost Athletics and Recreation Office of the Provost 6 Business Service Delivery – High Level Overview of Current State at DU The quality of business service delivery is being impacted by several factors Process • Manual and redundant processes • Bureaucratic policies, rules and processes • Limited measures and metrics • Too many touch points Structural Structural • Highly distributed processes and services • Inconsistent application of policies and processes Process Technology Technology • Unleveraged and underutilized technology • Demand for more automation of processes • Varied levels of technology skills in units • Shadow systems People and Culture People and Culture • Varied levels of specialized skills and competencies • Demands for more training • Limited communication and collaboration between departments • Lack of accountability and service level agreements • Reliance on individual relationships • Avoidance of risk • Limited professional growth opportunities 10 Thematic Findings From Stakeholder Interviews 29 University stakeholders were interviewed which resulted in 10 thematic findings: 1. Decentralized Functions and Processes ̶ There are too many points of business service delivery across the campus resulting in varied competencies, inconsistent practices and control risks ̶ Too many people are doing certain tasks too infrequently - leading to increased error rate 2. Cumbersome and Manual Processes ̶ Contract process most frequently cited as complex and cumbersome with long approval time periods ̶ Time and attendance and other core processes are viewed as in need of improvement 3. Automated Systems ̶ Banner system is reliable, but it is difficult to learn and seen by some as outdated ̶ Widely varying degrees of success using Banner, depending on individual expertise and length of time in the job 4. Centralized Units ̶ Central units seen as placing too many rules on business units ̶ Some centralized processes and systems seen as outdated –not modeling best practices 5. Communication and Collaboration ̶ Enhanced communication and information sharing with units from the central unit is desired ̶ Very little cross unit collaboration 8 10 Thematic Findings From Stakeholder Interviews 6. Training and Education ̶ Overall, there is a demand for more training opportunities across business functions 7. Accountability and Service Levels ̶ Higher levels of accountability and a stronger commitment to excellence and customer service across all business functions is desired 8. Risk ̶ Business functions overall are seen as having an aversion to risk ̶ There is a perceived significant intolerance to risk in the contract process, which complicates the process and contributes to long timelines for processing ̶ There are no clear standards for assessing risk and assessing and approving contracts 9. Morale ̶ People report feeling overworked due to process and system inefficiencies –need more work-life balance. 10. Culture ̶ Individual relationships are considered crucial for getting things done ̶ Desire to spend time on strategic / value added services rather than spending time on transactions and low value activities ̶ Some reported a culture of blame rather than culture of credit 9 Support and Design: Phase 1 – Project Planning • Identify areas where improved quality of business services that are delivered to faculty, students, and staff can be obtained • Understand the scope of the project – scope includes HR transactions, Payroll transactions, contracts, pcards, and more • Consideration of other opportunities to add new consultative and strategic services where appropriate such as recruiting 10 Support and Design: Phase 2 – Diagnostic Assessment • Provide a solid foundation of how core business services operate today • The Shared Services Project Committee along with Excelcor performed the following: — Assessed current organizational structures, roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities of core business functions — Assessed relevant policies, processes, practices, controls, data, and measurements — Identified and quantified current resources used to deliver business services — Reviewed and assessed current service levels — Assessed the competencies, skills, and culture of those currently delivering core business functions 11 Support and Design: Phase 3 – Organizational Design • Consider various design models • Consider financial impact • Develop recommendations for a new shared services organizational structure • Consider cultural, operational, and organizational barriers that may hinder forward movement • Facilitate meetings in which recommendations are reviewed and presented to campus leaders and others 12 Draft Functional Model • Execute University strategy • Develop policies and insure compliance • Create value and provide senior level leadership Central Offices Core Services and Functions • Compensation Strategy • Benefit strategy/ Wellness • Org. design • Professional development • Talent management • Rewards and recognition • Employee relations • EEO/Investigation • Merit process • • • • • • Balance sheet activity Debt management Treasury work Compliance Financial management Endowment accounts • Corporate investment management • External audits • Develop reporting tools • OSRP • Budget monitoring Shared Services Human Resources • Postings and recruiting • Internal and external equity review • Hiring processes (templates, candidate pool reviews, background checks, etc.) • Enter new hires, I-9 • Time and attendance compliance • Blue form processing • Training needs assessment • Benefit enrollment and maintenance • Tuition waiver management Human Resource Activities Faculty job descriptions Decision on hire Particulars of leaves Annual reviews Time tracking • Schedules • Faculty/staff merit distribution • Grant effort and time tracking • • • • • • • • • • • • Payroll administration Processing of grant expenses Travel and expense processing Journal vouchers Forecasting and monitoring Current year budget entries FTE reconciliation Finance Activities • Retain budget officers • Develop and manage departmental budgets • Align financial decisions to unit goals Strategic Sourcing Agreements Leveraged buying / co-ops Procurement policies Bank tools E Procurement Technology • Create economies of scale, simplify processes, create standards, rely on metrics • Improve service quality, compliance, policy administration • Process improvement, ad hoc system support, training and access, reporting and communication Business Services Finance Units • • • • • Business Services Finance Human Resources • • • • • • Accounts payable (direct pays, etc.) PO Processing Student refunds Transactional vendor management Pcard processing Contract administration — Process facilitation — Contract drafting and development — Business and compliance review — Design and use of standardized contracts — Escalation to Legal and ERM • Financial/budget strategy • Decision making and support • Coordination with central office and shared services Business Services Activities Business Support Activities • Financial and Business approvals • Linkage to Shared Services • Adherence to policies and standards • Administrative and clerical • Departmental communication / newsletters • Events planning Support and Design: Phase 4 – Implementation Planning • Detailed plans designed to allow the recommendation model to be successfully implemented • Specific tasks, activities, timelines, and milestones are created along with a detailed financial analysis which identifies required resources (human, financial, technological, and physical) to implement the recommendations • Develop plans to: • Migrate various central roles and identify additional positions • Choose physical location • Understand technology needs and role in the new structure • Identify training or educational needs in the new model 14 Phase 4 – Implementation Planning continued • Develop Implementation Committees • People/Change Management • Facilities Committee • Process/Technology Redesign Committee • Finance Committee 15 Process Redesign Process / Policy Redesign Priorities / Sequencing • Contracts Current Process / Policy Redesign Efforts • Blue paper work - underway • Purchasing, PO, Pcard, Accounts Payable — On-boarding – underway • Recruiting — Job change request – in queue — Postings — Separation requests – in queue — Review of candidate pools — Leaves – in queue — Management of candidate pools • Benefit enrollment – underway — Cross recruitment coordination of candidate pools • Time entry / Kronos - underway • I-9, Affirmation Statement, eVerify • Accounting / journal entries 16 High Level Organizational Design • Drive process and service efficiency and excellence • Effective team building • Leverage technology • Continuous improvement • Measures and metrics • Training • Lead the Contact Center Service Center Leader Business Operations Manager Contact Center Team • Single point of contact for ‘customers’ • Provide triage support • Broad knowledge and competency • Technology, Metrics and Customer Solutions focus Finance Team • Finance processes • Business Services processes • Contract Administration processes • Overall leadership of the Service Center • Establish / build culture • Continuous improvement • Manage relationships with Central Offices and all units and departments Human Resources Team • HR processes — Job postings — Blue Form processes — I-9 — Background checks — Etc. Transactional expertise Relationship management High quality customer service Subject matter / competency expertise Continuous improvements in quality and efficiency Consistent application and administration of policies 17 Next Steps and Critical Success Factors Tactical Next Steps • Continue to refine the Model • Develop detailed process diagrams • Quantify staffing levels • Quantify transactional volume • Develop organizational structure, roles and responsibilities • Assess / define technology requirements Critical Success Factors • Sustained commitment from senior leaders • Frequent communication and reminders about the goals of the initiative — Improve the quality of business service • Understanding of shared services model by faculty and staff • Refine recommendations • University wide collaboration and transparency • Develop implementation strategy / roll – out plan • Active support and engagement from the IT enterprise 18 High Level Migration Strategy JUNE - August Share Broad based sharing of Shared Services goals, model, and plan Individual meetings with Deans, VPs, and other leaders Meetings with Faculty, staff leadership School and department based meetings Town hall open forums September Modify Sept. - October Prepare Solicit operational and cultural concerns and modify the model and roll-out strategy and plan accordingly Organize infrastructure elements necessary for implementing Shared Services organization Share revised model and plan with campus community Continue to develop detailed process diagrams and workflows Nov. - December Pilot Launch initial pilot consistent with the agreed upon implementation plan Monitor and evaluate successes and challenges Communicate a share lessons learned Early 2015 Migrate Migrate remaining elements into the Shared Services unit according to the implementation plan Monitor and evaluate successes and challenges Communicate and share lessons learned Align technology to the new process Acquire / develop / prepare new facilities Launch initial staffing and recruitment plan 19 Communication Plan • Senior Staff – August 18 • Deans’ Council/Associate Provosts – August 20 • Board of Trustees – September 9 • Staff Advisory Council – September 26 • Budget Officer Meeting – September 4 • Faculty Senate Executive Committee – September 12 • Community Message – TBD • Faculty Senate – September 26 20