Mining Shared Services

Issue

The Shared Services operation, and specifically the Payroll and Employee Services group, at one of the world’s leading mineral mining operations had consistently performed below the level of expectation of the customer base. There was a sense in the customer community that the services provided were not commensurate with the cost incurred. The Highland Group was engaged to develop a process within Shared Services to manage the business, measure improvements, engage the customers, and take the organization to a new level of performance.

Highland Approach

Detailed analysis indicated that a major transformation needed to occur within the Shared Services operation, including: defining what information was required to manage the business; developing the data and the data capture process; training and coaching management on how to manage with a system; and training all team members in how to provide extraordinary customer service.

Actions Taken

• Utilized Lean techniques to identify and target operational improvements.
• Developed and implemented a comprehensive System For Managing Shared Services, including a new set of comprehensive metrics that accurately reflected the workload.
• Improved the accuracy and completeness of the data that governed the business.
• Focused attention on the drivers that impact results—overdue tickets, dropped calls, delaying actions that caused inconsistent work flow.
• Trained leadership in new concepts of how to manage their business.
• Trained the entire work force in how to provide significantly improved customer service.
• Provided a framework for the introduction of new contracts into the shared services operation.