Simon Brown Speaks with Stuart Martin, Director, HR Operations for Europe, Eurasia and Africa

Simon Brown speaks with Stuart Martin, Director of HR Operations in Eurasia, Africa and Europe, Global Business Services, The Coca-Cola Company In this second in a series of interviews on Leadership Lessons, Simon Brown caught up with Stuart Martin, a former colleague from the GBS Project Management Office team at The Coca-Cola Company. Stuart and Simon reconnected at SSON’s Business Services Leadership Forum in Warsaw, Poland where Stuart and his HR Service Centre is now based. Both Simon and Stuart spoke at this conference on Shared Services and Business Service Centres in Central Eastern Europe (Read more: Strategic Talent Management in CEE). Simon Brown: Stuart, it is great to see you again and thanks for agreeing to do this interview for SSON. We worked together in the HR Shared Services space for 3 years at The Coca-Cola Company a while back, but remind me how you first got started in Shared Services? How did you become a Shared Services leader? Stuart Martin: Although I have an HR generalist background, I started in Shared Services while still in consulting, with Accenture and Deloitte, selling the benefits of this operating model to clients across industries and the globe. When I joined the Coca-Cola Company I was part of the original team tasked with the redesign of the global HR operating model, which included the creation of the Shared Services organisation to centralise HR service delivery. I led the implementation of the joint Shared Services team to provide service across EMEA. I become the Shared Services leader for the region about two years ago, so have sold Shared Services, designed it, implemented it and now operate it! Simon: You've done the full circle of roles Stuart – a true all-rounder! So what would you say are the most important characteristics for a Shared Services leader today to demonstrate effective leadership? Stuart: In addition to a long-term strategic mindset, for me, an effective leader needs to have a deep understanding of the evolving and changing business needs, which requires a combination of functional expertise and business acumen. Also, a relentless drive on client focused service delivery and operational excellence. Finally, they need to have the ability to manage large and diverse teams, often across large geographic areas. We wrote about this in the article we co-authored – Changing Markets Demand Changing Roles. Simon: Fully agree! How might these leadership characteristics differ in a Shared Services organisation versus a traditional function? Stuart: The Shared Services leadership roles often manage some of the largest teams in HR, so, as I have said, people management skills are key, together with cultural IQ and a sound change management capability. Some other senior HR roles don’t have such large and diverse teams to manage as we do in Shared Services, with such tight Service Level Agreements. Simon: Absolutely right. Now what would you say were the biggest challenges you have faced overall in your Shared Services career, and how did you overcome them? Stuart: Well certainly the transition to the new operating model required deep reserves of patience and change resilience as the organisation slowly came around to this new way of working. It required tact, diplomacy and on-going communication to get through. I would say that transition stage was the biggest challenge by far! Simon: Yes it’s often a tough journey to make. So Stuart what would you say are the biggest achievements in your career – and why? Stuart: For me the biggest achievements are having the chance to go through the complete lifecycle of establishing a global Shared Services operating model – from a set of PowerPoint slides, to the detailed design of new global processes, and implementation of this into a well-established organisation. It’s great to see the team form and grow and now, finally, see it operating effectively with scale and speed. Simon: Wow yes that’s the whole transformation from A-Z! So Stuart, what are you most proud about in your career? Stuart: (Laughs) Simple, I persevered when the going was tough. Change is both incredibly tough and incredibly rewarding. I must also say that seeing people on my team grow professionally is something I am very proud of. Simon: Yeah, I’m with you on that! What would you do differently if you were starting out on the Shared Services journey all over again? Stuart: I would definitely invest in more supportive technology earlier, especially in an intuitive case management tool set. Simon: Yes. CRM and being able to measure transactions and customer satisfaction in real time is very useful, I agree. Who has been most significant as your Shared Services mentor/role model, and why? Stuart: Actually, it’s not one person in particular, more of a blend, as I have been fortunate to work with a number of HR folk who gave me the support and license to operate through this journey. More recently, the current SVP for HR in Coca-Cola International, Stevens Sainte Rose, has provided inspirational leadership to the team and me. Simon: What would you do if you didn’t work in Shared Services? Stuart: I would be an HR Business Partner or a Business Consultant. Simon: OK. So what do you do outside of work Stuart – interests, hobbies, sport? Stuart: I spend as much time as I can with my family, actively enjoy cycling and photography, and follow (but no longer play) rugby union! Simon: Sounds good. Looking now at career development, what advice would you give to someone wanting to progress their career through Shared Services? What should they be focusing on? Stuart: I would encourage them to focus on building strong client relationship skills and expertise, developing their business acumen, adopting project management skills, and learning how to be collaborative and grow resilience. Simon: Yes I think you are spot on there! All of those are key competencies to be successful in Shared Services. On the other hand, what has been your worst or most embarrassing moment in Shared Services? Stuart: My worst moments have been when I had to lead the actual headcount implementation of the Shared Services model, because this impacted a number of dedicated HR people who did not fit the new model, and we had to separate from them and let them go. For those people, I quickly became the last person they wanted to hear from on the phone! Simon. Yes, it’s always difficult, never easy to handle, when jobs are lost as part of the transition to the new model. When considering how work gets done, and the structure and set up of Shared Services, a big question is often, "To outsource or not to outsource?" What do you see as the key factors to consider here? Stuart: Well, there is no right or wrong answer; it really depends on the business need at that time. However, I would recommend outsourcing if there is a strong and urgent need to drive cost down. Moving to a low cost provider can make a material difference to cost management. It provides stability, predictable cost and service standards, and reduces the need for technology investment. Key to success is ensuring that you, as a business, are clear on your business drivers for wanting to outsource; are taking lots of advice from others who have done it before; and have an uncompromising selection approach. Selecting the right strategic partner is a long-term relationship decision and should be done with lots of care. On the other hand, Insourced or retained Shared Services can be situationally right where you want to achieve a better balance between effectiveness and efficiency, manage your own pipeline of talent, respond quicker to business needs, and provide customer services more closely aligned to your business culture. Simon: What do you think of the brand name: Shared Services? Any good alternatives? Stuart : I think Shared Services is a bit dated as a title. I like Global Business Services, it reflects the evolving nature of work much better as we move towards more aligned and integrated back office functions. It also reflects the continued upward evolution as more functions adopt this model and higher value services are placed on it. Simon: Finally Stuart, where do you go from here as a Shared Services leader? What is next for you? Stuart: I am enjoying what I am doing now and would see a global GBS or global HR role as the next move for me. I am also moving into more integrated customer centric services, using design thinking as my approach. This could lead to pioneering work in Coca-Cola. Simon: Sounds great! It’s been a pleasure talking with you and catching up again Stuart. Thank you! "Simon Speaks" continues next month... About Simon Brown: Simon has over 25 years senior international experience in HR Management. He specialises in Business Transformation and Change Management; HR Transformation including Shared Services design, delivery and deployment; and Talent Acquisition and Talent Management. He has worked with a range of global organisations including Duracell Batteries, GlaxoSmithKline, Premier Farnell, The Coca-Cola Company, E.ON and NCR Corporation, and has been involved in the full design and deployment of HR Transformation six times since 1996, including vendor selection for outsourced partners. Over the last 2 years Simon helped NCR to set up a new Customer Services Centre of Excellence in Serbia, and developed the skills and service of the EMEA shared services team to enable a 99.2% customer satisfaction in the December 2013 customer satisfaction survey HR dashboard. Simon has been associated with the Shared Services and Outsourcing Network (SSON) since 2010 as a speaker, session moderator and chairperson at conferences across Europe, and is he is a regular columnist for the Global SSON website. Simon is available to help you with advice for your shared services journey. You can contact him via Simon@simonbrownassociates.com or via www.simonbrownassociates.com or by phone: 0044 (0)7740731474.

Simon Brown Speaks with Stuart Martin, Director, HR Operations for Europe, Eurasia and Africa

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