We’ve seen dozens of IT departments with quite large teams, but lacking the expertise to do real high quality work on their systems. In particular it can be quite difficult for people to build deep technical competence in ERP systems. Many IT departments have a high staff turnover (often internal to keep people happy) and/or use people from the business side with no technical background. This leads to teams with many generic capabilities, but few hands-on skills. As a result, “consultants” are hired to do the work, even though from the number of people on the payroll, few external resources should be required. You end up with fifty IT staff “project managing” fifty “consultants”, who do the work the IT staff are paid to do in the first place – in most cases with no or little knowledge transfer. You can rely your own team OR on consultants to get a job done, but don’t pay twice for it.The core message: Doing a skills review and redesigning the skills and sourcing strategies will usually save your organisation a big chunk of money.

Many organisations we talk to are struggling with similar issues. How can they ensure that the transformation is happening as quickly as possible? What can be done to make sure that those lower down the organisation have the same sense of urgency as those at the top? How can the transformation roadmap be defined so that the vital many have as clear an idea of the journey as those who defined it?

To address these challenges iProCon HCM has, over the past 12 months, developed and deployed the Human Capital Capability Excellence Model (HCCEM™).



The model and its underlying tools and processes deliver several significant benefits:

• It helps the organisation understand what best practice actually looks like (in terms of managing change, people metrics and information systems, amongst other aspects related to human capital performance), encompassing both industry specific and cross-sector dimensions.
• It benchmarks the current state of the organisation against best-practice. Benchmarking allows comparison across regions, business units or individual locations as appropriate.
• Capabilities and Excellence are defined in terms of Levels. For example, Level 1 might be poor, whilst Level 5 is best practice. These definitions allow the organisation to define what level is desired and aim only as high as will deliver a positive return. If a business unit is at Level 5 in a capability where the organisation only requires Level 4, resources can be diverted to upskill other business units, or investment may be reduced.
• The definition of levels (for example Levels 1 through 5) provides a road map for transformation. Managers responsible for business units sitting currently at Level 2 can clearly see what is required in order to reach Levels 3, 4 and 5. This helps them understand the transformation journey, but in steps that are driven by the agenda set by the top team.
• Transformation progress reports become a repeatable activity that is baselined across the organisation as a whole. The nature of the tool allows reporting by exception to the top team: Who moved up a level in the past month? Why? Which business unit is lagging on the achievement of particular capabilities within the desired time frame? These progress reports become a significant leading indicator of future business performance.

The HCCEM™ is already helping numerous organisations to deliver their transformation projects more effectively and efficiently. Each implementation builds upon the significant volume of work that already underpins the model, delivering maximum results for a minimal investment. If you would like to see how the HCCEM™ can help accelerate your transformation effort, please contact us.

Outsourcing, particularly of administrative support functions, is very much in vogue as it is perceived as an easy way to cut costs. However, to realise benefits in cost reduction and beyond organisations need to look carefully when making their decision. iProCon HCM have found there are 6 elements to right-sourcing readiness. Follow this link to read a one-page case study describing how these elements helped a client to make their HR outsourcing decision and manage the change.

The current economic downturn puts Outsourcing high on the agenda for organisations seeking cost savings. There are however many traps associated with hasty sourcing decisions. Here are a few tips:

• If you are desperate for better cash flow in the short term, many outsourcing initiatives may be counterproductive because the transformation project requires an upfront investment and savings take time to accrue (e.g. due to notice periods and severance payments). Therefore, you need a conscious decision on whether cash or profit is the most important KPI and align your strategy accordingly. For example, there are some cash rich providers who will not charge for their project cost in the transition period, instead spreading these costs over the contract period.
• Savings are often based on a Full Time Equivalent (FTE) number. Consider if saving 10 FTE is made from outsourcing 50% of the tasks of 20 people, roles may need to be redefined and broader skill profiles gained before actually cutting headcount. This must be planned for early on, otherwise people tend to stick around and find something to fill the other 50% of their time, usually a non value adding task.
• The decision is not just between outsourcing or not outsourcing a process. There’s a whole sourcing continuum starting with core staff to temps, agency staff, contractors, consultants, outsourcing and “crowdsourcing”. To make the right choice in this continuum you need to consider various criteria such as the nature of the task, importance to core processes, the capabilities of your organisation and prospective providers, the economic context, and many more.
• When offshoring, be aware that any cost savings could be eroded quite quickly through changes in exchange rates.