Employee Relations Shared Services:The Direct Route to HR Transformation

Cara PawlischAVP, Human Resources

The Hanover Insurance Group

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Agenda

ER Shared Services DefinedER Shared Services Defined

The Case for ER Shared ServicesThe Case for ER Shared Services

Organizational Readiness for ERSSOrganizational Readiness for ERSS

ER Case Escalation ModelER Case Escalation Model

Case StudiesCase Studies

Keys to Success with ER Shared ServicesKeys to Success with ER Shared Services

Benefits of ER Shared ServicesBenefits of ER Shared Services

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ER Shared Services Defined

• A shared services function staffed by ER professionals/experts that provides consultation and “resolution services” directly to managers and employees on workplace and work-related issues.

• A higher impact, lower cost design for the HR function.

• A key lever in HR transformation.

• A powerful source of real-time workforce trend and issue data.

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ER Shared Services Defined

• Common ER Scopes of Services include:– Performance Issues– Behavioral Issues– Involuntary Terminations– Leaves and Return-to-Work– Job Modifications and Accommodations – HR Policy Interpretation and Application– Employee Complaint Resolution– Formal Investigations– Crisis Management

• Cases: 70% managers / 20% employees / 10% others

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The Case for ER Shared Services

Decentralized ER• Inconsistency• Lack of Expertise• Inefficiency• Business Partner

Distraction

• Risk Exposure• Cost• Lack of focus on

organizational performance

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Consistency“Safe” & UnbiasedEfficiency

AdditionalImpact

Benefits of ER Shared Services

• Drives policy and protocol consistency

• Allows for consistent training of managers on ER matters

• Improves consistency in treatment of employees

• Drives efficiency in issue resolution

• Improves “time to market” for policy or protocol changes

• Issues raised earlier

• “Unbiased”resource for issue resolution

• HRBP capacity gain

• Reduces risk exposure

• Drives common ethics / values paradigm

• Improved crisis management

• Manager development

Cost Reduction

• Lowers cost of ER-related service delivery

• Lowers overall HR cost

• Reduction of delivery costs in other functions

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Organizational Readiness for ERSS

• Commitment at the top of HR• Part of a larger plan for “HR transformation”• Managers ready for increasing independence and

accountability on HR matters• Agreement on future role of HRBP and plan to get

there• Realistic timeframes• Understanding of the complexity of the change and

impact on the organization• Leadership agreement on move to “consistency”

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Tier 0(insourced or outsourced)

Tier 1(insourced or outsourced)

Tier 2(insourced)

Tier 3(insourced)

Tier 4(insourced)

• Formal Investigations • Policy and protocol development • New work stream integration

• Consulting to managers and employees• Analytics• Client relationship management

• Low complexity ER cases• “How do I?” questions• Reporting

• Routine HR questions• Transactions

• Online tools and resources

ER Shared Services Escalation Model

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Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

• Benchmarking• Change management with HR leadership

• Scope of Services

• Staffing projections

• Team and job design

• Pilots• Change strategy• ER process and protocol work

• Resource commitment and team selection

• Enterprise-wide rollout

• Established “Client Relationship Manager” role

• Refined case management technology

• BP reductions

• Outsourced Tier 0 and Tier 1

• HR policy/ practice consistency clean-up

• Established “Service and Operations”function

• Established “Partnership Council”

• Realigned along business lines

• Upgrades in metrics and reporting

• New work streams

Case Study: Fortune 200 Company

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Year 1 Year 2

• Definition of “HR Generalist” SoS

• Agreement on Scope of Services

• Socialization of “Escalation Model”

• Team skill development

• Business unit alignment• New “Case Taxonomy”• Transition of resources• Tracking of Tier 2 cases• Tightened connection to outsourced Tier 1

• Approach to trending and reporting

• New case management system

• Tier 0 “clean-up”• Refinement of Scope of Services

• Training of outsourced Tier 1 resources

Case: The Hanover Insurance Group

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Keys to Success with ER Shared Services

• Commitment to the operating model at the top

• Agreement on the vision of the role of the HRBP

• Engage HRLT and HRBPs actively in the change process; expect lengthy resistance

• Understand this is a process and protocol initiative

• Plan and design for “flexible consistency” in policy/practice application

• Align by business unit

• Understand impact to the role of the manager

• Select the right ER consultants at start-up; plan for fluctuations on staffing

• Determine metrics and analytics approach early

• Select a robust and user-friendly ER case management system

• Expect and plan for new work streams

Questions?

Thank you.

Cara PawlischAVP, Human Resourcescpawlisch@hanover.com