How Did Samsung Electronics' HR SSC Utilise Intelligent Automation to Weather the COVID-19 Storm?

Ahead of his upcoming session at the 9th Shared Services & Outsourcing Week China, we spoke with Tony Liu, Head of Samsung Electronic's Human Resources Shared Service Centre to delve a little deeper into his experience of utilising IA, and his thoughts on the future of work in shared services.

Q: Tony, in what ways has digitalisation enabled the continuity of operations within your shared service centre during the pandemic?

A: Digitalisation has made mobile office possible and is gradually changing the operating model of China's shared services. Conference tools such as Zoom, Tencent and Wechat have allowed team members to maintain real-time communication. In the future, the location and composition of shared services will no longer be limited to one place, and will move to low-cost areas (western China and second- and third-tier cities).

Also, mobile onboarding, onboarding and offboarding self-service machines, self-service certification printers, etc. means that these kinds of life-cycle services no longer require face-to-face engagement. AI interview tools have been greatly promoted in a short period of time, and the interview methods and consideration models have been fundamentally changed. Lastly, the internal enterprise app that integrates multiple supportive shared services such as HR, IT, and administration makes mobile services and 24/7 service the main methods preferred by employees.

Q: How do you envisage the future of flexible work within both Chinese and global shared service centres?

A: In China, the flexibility of shared services will be greatly affected by corporate culture and background, and the following two situations may occur:

1. In state-owned companies and companies with a deeper East Asian culture, flexibility will be reduced as the normal situation is reviewed after the epidemic. Most employees in the shared center will return to the office, and some remote online tools will be affected by potential information security risks. Some services received by employees will only be resolved face-to-face.
2. In globalised multinational companies and local Internet companies, mobile office will become the norm, digitalisation will continue, and shared services will face challenges such as reshaping the organisational culture bought by flexible office, strengthening information security, and personalising career development for employees.

For shared services, whether it’s moving towards large sharing of all service departments or global GBS, flexible work will be an inevitable trend; but we must prove that mobile office, online services, remote collaboration, and digital investment can bring benefits enterprises, such as efficiency, lower costs, better satisfaction, closer cultural integration, etc. These are challenges that all shared service leaders must recognise.

Keen to hear more from Tony? Join him and many other key speakers at the upcoming 9^th Shared Services & Outsourcing Week China - click here to register.