Author: RohitashwaAggarwal

The CPG and Retail GBS Market: Priorities, Opportunities, and Challenges | LinkedIn Live

LINKEDIN LIVE

The CPG and Retail GBS Market: Priorities, Opportunities, and Challenges

View the event on LinkedIn, which was delivered live on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.

🛒📦 As the consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail industry grapples with multiple challenges – economic slowdown, technology transformation, supply chain disruptions, and talent shortages – global business services (GBS) organizations have emerged as pivotal players in supporting enterprise initiatives.

📣Watch this LinkedIn Live event to access key insights from our comprehensive study of ~35 top CPG and retail companies, focusing on GBS model maturity within CPG and retail organizations 📊.

Viwers  will gain actionable insights, learn variations in GBS model adoption, and discover best practices to build future capabilities🤝.

You’ll learn about:

  • 🌟 The current landscape for GBS organizations in the CPG and retail space
  • 🌟 Prevalent talent and operating models
  • 🌟 The capabilities CPG and retail GBS organizations are building
  • 🌟  Future focus areas and key challenges for GBS leaders in the CPG and retail industry

Trends Shaping the Talent Market in 2024: How Enterprises Can Create a Competitive Edge | Webinar

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

Trends Shaping the Talent Market in 2024: How Enterprises Can Create a Competitive Edge

Talent dynamics are an ever-changing phenomenon with varying demand-supply, the emergence of new technologies, and changing work cultures. However, enterprises can stay competitive in the talent market by harnessing value from the tech-powered revolution, including generative AI, the maturity of hybrid work models, the reshaping of employability through skills, and the prioritization of sustainability.

Watch this webinar as our expert analysts discuss trends likely to shape the talent market in 2024. The speakers will answer critical questions about the current state of the talent crisis and provide valuable insights and strategies to help organizations thrive in an environment where talent remains a pivotal factor for success.

What questions did the webinar answer for the participants?

  • Which demand segments will likely continue to face talent challenges in 2024, and how will the challenges impact organizations’ growth and innovation?
  • How is generative AI likely to shape the dynamics of talent demand and supply in 2024?
  • What roadmap should organizations follow to stay competitive and harness the latest tools and technologies to future-proof talent strategies?

Who should attend?

  • CIOs and CTOs
  • IT heads
  • Technical leaders
  • Technical recruiters
  • HR partners at tech firms
Bade Mihir
Senior Analyst
Khan Aamir Ashraf
Senior Analyst

12 Steps to Effective Change Management in Global Business Services | Blog

Global Business Services (GBS) organizations are at the forefront of driving transformation and efficiency across enterprises. However, they often fall short in one critical aspect: change management. Learn why GBS leaders must begin implementing change management strategies today, starting with a comprehensive 12-step program.

Reach out to discuss with our analysts.

Change is inherent in GBS, affecting processes, technology, relationships, and many other aspects. To succeed, GBS organizations must focus on helping stakeholders understand and embrace the change that the GBS model continually creates.

Everest Group research reveals that GBS leaders recognize the pivotal role of change management, with 75% of GBS organizations viewing change management as critical. Unfortunately, many struggle to manage change effectively or just don’t know how to do it well, leading to significant, long-term challenges.

To get to the bottom of why GBS organizations struggle to master change management, Everest Group surveyed 58 prominent GBS organizations worldwide. This important research reveals key insights into the strategic and operational aspects of current GBS change management practices. The findings also unlock a 12-step guide that will help GBS leaders through the pitfalls and roadblocks many currently face. Let’s explore this further.

The 12-step program covers vital aspects as change management adoption, work scope, internal alignment, organizational models, staffing and talent strategies, measurement approaches, and resource allocation to enhance change management competency within GBS. Below are the highlights of the key steps:

Step 1: Make systemic change management part of everything GBS does

Recognize that change is not a one-off event but a continuous process in GBS. Every team member should be trained in change management. Change must become a core capability that is integrated from the outset of every initiative.

Step 2: Communicate the importance of change management from the top

Emphasize the significance of change management by sending a GBS directive from high leadership levels. This ensures that change is recognized as a critical driver of GBS success and not treated as a temporary solution for individual projects that lack methodologies or measurements to take its ongoing pulse.

Step 3: Rethink the scope of change management

Expand change management to encompass communication, branding, business engagement, and stakeholder management as well as user and business support. A comprehensive approach can create a more significant impact for the enterprise.

Step 4: Understand change management is more than communication alone

While communication is essential, it should complement a well-thought-out change management strategy. By combining effective communication and change management, organizations can achieve maximum impact from their efforts.

Step 5: Align the GBS team with the imperative

Aligning the internal team with the need for change management is crucial. Emphasize that successful GBS change management is a team effort. Cross-training and rotating team members through the change function can help organizations develop a change-ready workforce and resolve resource challenges.

Step 6: Establish the right organizational structure for change management

Design a suitable organizational structure with fixed and variable staffing, dedicated full-time equivalents (FTEs) for methodology development, and ongoing change monitoring within the enterprise. Organization models that utilize interim workers, consultants, and gig employees may be beneficial in certain situations, but they don’t result in a sustainable, valuable change management organization in the long run.

Step 7: Acquire the right talent for change management

Ensure the right talent for change management. Avoid hiring resources who lack strong change management capabilities. While junior program managers may be suitable for getting the job done with strong direction from the top, they rarely have solid change management capability or the experience to provide leadership or best practice guidance. Consider GBS rotations or cross-training to build an effective change management team and to break down internal change management resistance.

Step 8: Promote staff development and retention by putting GBS career paths in place

Establish clear career paths for change managers within GBS and across the enterprise. This will encourage talented individuals to stay with the organization and contribute to the long-term change management success.

Step 9: Compensate GBS leaders appropriately

Recognize the value of experienced change managers and pay them competitively. Acknowledge that attracting and retaining top talent is critical for effective change management.

Step 10: Develop a deployable methodology

Create and consistently deploy an actionable methodology for change management. Focus on creating frameworks and playbooks tailored to the enterprise’s context and ensure the entire GBS team is appropriately trained on the approach.

Step 11: Establish measurable change management metrics

Move beyond measuring happiness and focus on metrics that reflect the true impact of change management, such as scope expansion, avoiding rework, and meeting milestones. This will provide a deeper understanding of the benefits derived from change management.

Step 12: Rethink funding strategies

Invest strategically in change management, considering its direct impact on the return on investment (ROI). Avoid relying solely on communications and inexperienced resources due to budget constraints. Recognize that skilled change management leaders are worth their cost.

To learn more and access the complete comprehensive steps, download our report, State of Play in GBS Change Management.

Adopt these change management strategies starting today

GBS organizations play a pivotal role in bringing value to modern enterprises – this part has been mastered – but success hinges on effective change management. Our study found that a significant number, one-third of respondents, do not have an organizational change management capability.

Neglecting change management can lead to attrition, rework, lost opportunities, and a cycle that can be difficult to break. Therefore, we recommend GBS leaders reflect on and potentially change the way they introduce, carry out, and measure enterprise change.

To better understand how successful change management is implemented, we recently hosted a webinar with Victoria Roehrich, Senior Director of Strategy, Transformation, and Change Management at PepsiCo. In the webinar, we discuss change management challenges and share best practices and examples of impactful initiatives. Hear PepsiCo’s change management evolution story here: Why GBS Change Management is the Key to Added Value and ROI.

To learn more about effective GBS change management strategies, reach out to Rohitashwa Aggarwal, [email protected], or Arushi Gupta, [email protected]

From Headshakers to Institutionalists: Exploring GBS Change Management Personas | Blog

Understanding your change management approach and experience level can improve decision-making and enhance transformative practices. Our research has identified four change management personas that GBS organizations typically fall under. To find out which persona best fits your organization, read on.  

Change management is necessary within Global Business Services (GBS) organizations. But finding the right approach for effective execution – from implementation to management and measurement – can be challenging, even for more mature GBS organizations.

Moving to a GBS platform sets off a chain reaction of transformations for businesses. At its core, the GBS’ mission is to create and sustain business operation change by consolidating, standardizing, streamlining, and creating more value. The GBS model’s nature lies in bringing change through new ways of working, distributed operating models, elevated service levels, enhanced experience, and digitization, enabling the enterprise to experience higher levels of innovation.

Since constant transitions within the GBS model are expected, change management should be viewed as a continuous process and not a one-off fix until the next shift occurs. Effective change management can enable GBS organizations to identify new opportunities, mitigate risks, and create a culture that embraces innovation and continuous improvement, ultimately leading to long-term success and growth.

So, what’s the path to successful change management? To begin, assess where your organization falls on the adoption scale that ranges from those who have not yet prioritized change management to leaders who seamlessly embed it into all aspects of GBS operations.

Understanding the four change management personas 

In our recent report, State of Play in GBS Change Management, we conducted in-depth interviews with 58 leading GBS organizations across the globe to understand how GBS organizations approach change management.

As we compiled the data, we discovered the way GBS organizations implement change management is influenced by various factors such as the change management imperative, scope, talent model, and funding.

These elements can determine a GBS organization’s change management persona. Our research identified a range of generalized organizational profiles that we categorize as headshakers, crawlers, gamechangers, and institutionalists.

Let’s define these typical change management personas:

Headshakers

A GBS organization that falls into the headshaker category hasn’t yet established change management competency and, unfortunately, does not perceive it as crucial. At this starting level, the organization may approach change by communicating transformation on a case-by-case or ad hoc basis. While ensuring that information is relayed throughout the enterprise at the outset of periods of change is indeed essential, this approach often lacks a comprehensive strategy, monitoring mechanisms, and effective change management engagement practices.

Headshakers tend to place change management primarily as a communications function with sporadic support for other activities. Additionally, these GBS organizations do not invest in dedicated talent resources specifically focused on implementing and overseeing successful change initiatives.

Crawlers

Organizations categorized as crawlers may notice that the GBS organization is gradually moving toward establishing a GBS change management competency and views change management as somewhat critical. The organization might allocate resources to address change management needs for specific transition and transformation projects. Crawler organizations also tend to emphasize communications to ensure leadership alignment and prioritize change impact assessments to better understand the nature of the change and where it will occur.

Crawlers typically lack the in-house talent to lead their change management initiatives and instead rely on external consultants or contractors. The change management team’s size is usually contingent on the available funding and project requirements. Like headshakers, crawlers operate on an ad hoc basis, but they may incorporate certain enhancements, such as Centers of Excellence (CoEs), to equip employees with the necessary tools and training to support change initiatives.

Gamechangers

Gamechangers are generally younger GBS entities that have reached a respectable level of maturity in their change management journey. These organizations are actively taking steps to establish change management practices, recognizing its necessity. Gamechangers readily invest in change management for both transitional and ongoing changes. Their approach to change management is comprehensive, playing a strategic role in driving business transformation. Gamechangers go beyond mere communication methods to take on stakeholder and transition management, methodologies and tools development, and conduct change risk assessments to ensure successful change implementation.

Gamechangers typically have a dedicated team consisting of both in-house and contractor employees devoted to the specific needs of each project. These initiatives are regularly funded as part of the annual transition budget, demonstrating the organization’s commitment to this crucial aspect of GBS operations.

For gamechangers, change management becomes firmly established when the enterprise transitions to a GBS model or undergoes any significant transformation.

Institutionalists

Institutionalists firmly believe in change management and have invested substantially in building a robust GBS change management competency, recognizing its value as a strategic capability. Change management is implemented from the start of GBS model adoption and is funded annually. A consistent and systemic commitment to change management exists, with a focus on both maintaining business operations and driving business transformation. It is embedded and managed as a critical component of all GBS initiatives.

With this approach, the organization carries out the full scope of activities, including change champion network management, training and learning programs, organizational change readiness, and customer experience monitoring. A dedicated team of employees focuses specifically on change management and may be supported by contractors.

By incorporating change management as part of the overall GBS governance, stakeholders can easily understand, adopt, and embrace transitions – solidifying the organization’s ability to adapt and evolve.

Are you ready to make a change?

Change management is an important yet frequently misunderstood topic that plays a pivotal role in empowering GBS organizations to generate and maintain sustainable value.

Identifying which of the change management personas best characterizes your current approach is essential to gaining deeper insights into change management and its impact on your GBS organization.

Whether you are a headshaker, crawler, gamechanger, or institutionalist, recognizing your organization’s current position will empower you to make informed decisions and strategically enhance your change management practices.

To learn more about change management personas and how to incorporate change management across your organization, reach out to Rohitashwa Aggarwal, [email protected], or Arushi Gupta, [email protected].

Discover the Strategies Top GBS Organizations Use to Create Superior Employer Brand Perception | Blog

Positive employer brand perception is crucial to attract and retain top talent in today’s dynamic environment. How current and potential employees view the organization’s brand is critical to business success. Gain insights from our research on best practices by leading Global Business Services (GBS) organizations who have created a superior employer brand perception in this blog.

Why brand perception matters for GBS organizations

In today’s competitive landscape with constant change and evolving workforce needs, having a strong employer brand isn’t just a benefit but an essential asset that can propel GBS organizations toward exceptional growth. For employees and job seekers, perception is reality.

Having a superior employer brand perception is a magnet that attracts and encourages top talent who want to align with the organization’s values. GBS organizations increasingly are recognizing the importance of building and maintaining a distinctive employer brand perception.

Creating a strong employer brand perception is a challenging and intricate task that requires consistent efforts across various fronts. Understanding the complexities involved is important to succeed in this effort.

By drawing on insights and best practices from leading GBS employers that stand out for their employer brand perceptions, organizations can enhance their ability to create a compelling one. Let’s explore the findings from the latest edition of our case study report to learn more.

About the Top GBS Employers™ 2023 Report

To better understand the true differentiating factors that help create a superior employer brand perception, we analyzed the success stories of some of the top GBS employers from our recently published Top GBS Employers 2023 Report.

We collaborated with GBS entities of Experian, GSK, and Sun Life in India; Henkel and Northern Trust in the Philippines; and Takeda in Poland to understand nuances of their journeys to elevate employer brand perception to new heights.

In the case study compilation report, How GBS Organizations Build Differentiated Employer Brand Perception, we uncovered how all these organizations adjusted to constantly changing employee needs and fostered a strong sense of camaraderie within the organization.

The study provides profound insights on:

  • The key factors that make the top GBS employers stand out in terms of brand perception
  • The key initiatives, actions, and practices that create a strong employee value proposition for top GBS employers
  • How top GBS employers adjust to the evolving employee needs
  • Ways GBS employers can future-proof the employer brand perception

Insights from the report

Every organization’s secret sauce is unique. Our research found that each company adopted a different approach to building a strong employer brand when navigating through specific challenges.

Here are some insights from our analysis:

  • Experian’s success can be attributed to its thriving culture, where employees have the autonomy, flexibility, and resources to build their career paths. Experian further bolstered its value proposition by improving the quality of work, offering unparalleled learning and development opportunities, and building a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative work culture
  • GSK emphasizes an organizational culture that allows people to thrive and contribute to their fullest potential. This philosophy underpins its efforts that are centered around these five key themes:
    • Fostering the GSK culture
    • Building an inclusive organization
    • Driving impact through performance using data, digital, and an innovation   mindset
    • Investing in talent and leadership needs and development
    • Creating a learning environment for future skills
  • Henkel has always prioritized employee needs and fostered a culture of enabling employees. This approach helps it stay ahead of the curve in addressing evolving employee expectations
  • Northern Trust believes that collaborative efforts among management, employees, and other key stakeholders build a great workforce. The company believes in ensuring its five key promises:
    • A culture of care and collaboration
    • A focus on individual career development and growth
    • An opportunity to innovate
    • Dedication to a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace
    • The chance to have a meaningful impact
  • Sun Life believes in planning for the future and has created a plethora of learning and development and career progression programs. The financial services company has been nimble in understanding and adjusting to evolving employee needs, earning its position as a top GBS employer in India for the second consecutive year
  • Takeda Business Solutions (TBS) is dedicated to being and remaining a best-in-class GBS organization. It continually evolves its captive delivery strategy and ways of working to reflect the evolving business and workforce. This commitment is demonstrated through:
    • Creating an exceptional people experience
    • Unleashing the power of data and digital
    • Investing in and future-proofing the capabilities of its people

These examples show that no one formula exists for creating a strong employer brand perception. The key to creating a desirable image lies in the individuality and distinct character of each organization.

Although every organization’s journey is different, the paths are connected by common threads. By unlocking the workings of the top GBS organizations, we found they each:

  • Not only understand but act quickly to address employee needs: With rapidly evolving employee requirements, GBS organization needs to be flexible and autonomous to act with agility
  • Provide employee growth opportunities: Offering holistic professional development beyond compensation is valued. Employees are not only looking for compensation but career paths, professional guidance, upskilling opportunities, and challenging and meaningful work assignments
  • Align the enterprise culture with local value systems: By integrating local needs and perspectives of employees to foster individual growth, GBS organizations can make a greater impact and significantly improve employer brand perception

From these findings, it’s clear that highly skilled individuals today want more than just a job. They are seeking to work for organizations that value their contributions and encourage collaboration, purposefulness, and achievement. GBS employers who are seen as having a reputation that aligns with these aspirations are likely to succeed in recruiting and retaining top talent.

To uncover the details of each organization’s journey to create a superior employer brand perception, read the report How GBS Organizations Build Differentiated Employer Brand Perception. The report was developed by collaborating with GBS organizations of Experian, GSK, Henkel, Northern Trust, Sun Life, and Takeda.

To learn more about employer brand perception and talent management strategies, reach out to [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].

Top Employers for Tech Talent™ ─ Understanding Brand Perception from the Perspective of Tech Employees in India, the US, and the UK | Blog

In today’s competitive talent market, presenting a compelling brand image is critical to attracting and retaining the best tech talent. This blog presents the top tech employers in three markets based on employees’ brand perceptions of more than 400 organizations as well as other key findings from Everest Group’s research.

Download the report

Brand perception matters

Attracting and retaining top tech talent has grown increasingly difficult in recent years due to the impact of new work models during the pandemic, rapid technological advancements, and fiercer competition. These disruptions have played a significant role in shaping employees’ expectations, providing candidates with a wider array of options in selecting employers and job opportunities that align with their preferences.

Having employees with niche skillsets and expertise is increasingly critical to sustaining a competitive edge. A recent Everest Group survey found that 34% of respondents struggle to find quality tech talent, emphasizing that the battle for tech talent is still far from over and underscores the need for organizations to differentiate themselves.

Employer brand perception – or how current and potential employees view the organization’s brand – is one of the most critical factors in attracting talent. For employees and candidates, perception is reality.

In today’s digital era, employees can easily research and collect information on a company’s culture, reputation, policies and practices, and values. Online platforms such as Glassdoor and Indeed, social media, and various forums allow employees to access reviews, ratings, and feedback.

Based on these insights, employees develop their perceptions of an organization – but the potential issue is that these views can differ from the image the organization wants to project. Let’s look at research that helps to better understand this dichotomy.

Introducing Everest Group Top Employers for Tech Talent Report

While most organizations regularly collect internal feedback from employees, they can be blindsided by the perception of their brand from an outside-in perspective.

Everest Group Top Employer for Tech Talent™ report is designed to draw on publicly available information and the latest feedback capturing prospective employees’ perceptions about the organization’s reputation as a tech employer.

The report analyzed 400-plus organizations across India, the US, and the UK for their employer brand perception rating as a tech employer in the respective markets.

The study examined brand perception across dimensions such as compensation and benefits, career progression, senior management, work-life balance, culture and values, and diversity and inclusion. It also evaluated the performance of the tech employers in local talent markets, spotlighting attrition rates, joiner-exit ratio, and overall employee satisfaction ratings.

Insights from the report

The analysis of the outside-in perspective revealed fascinating insights into employee expectations. Tech employers need to watch the trends in employee sentiments to maintain a positive brand perception. Here are some takeaways:

  • Employer brand perception is dynamic and fluctuates over time. Job seekers are constantly evaluating employers who must be watchful of changing brand perception
  • Employee expectations constantly change, and approaches that previously worked may not be relevant now
  • Maintaining the status as a top employer is a monumental feat that requires an ongoing process of creating and maintaining a superior employee value proposition
  • Systematic local talent market differences play a critical role in determining employer brand perception. Employees in India, for example, assign varying degrees of importance to different components of employee value proposition compared to counterparts in the US and the UK
  • Perceived brand perception strongly influences and correlates with success in the talent markets for tech employers

Learnings from Top Employers: Shell and SAP

To better understand what makes the leading employers stand out, Everest Group hosted a webinar featuring two companies viewed as top employers for tech talent across all three analyzed geographies.

Jimit Arora, Partner at Everest Group, and Mihir Bade, Senior Analyst at Everest Group, discuss with Brandi Khouri, Vice President of Human Resources at Shell, and Shweta Mohanty, Head of Human Resources at SAP, the secret sauce behind their successes.

During the webinar, Shell highlights that the challenge to develop energy solutions of today and tomorrow, collaboration with experienced and high-caliber colleagues, the opportunity to create a direct impact, and a value-led environment are the keys to their success as an employer of choice.

For leading technology organization, SAP, connecting employees with its purpose and culture creates the difference. The core element of co-creation is well reflected in SAP’s employee value proposition of “we build breakthroughs together.”

To learn the details of these successes, view the webinar, 2023 Top Employers for Tech Talent: Create a Powerful Employer Value Proposition.

Enterprise and CIO leaders are invited to request a complimentary copy of the Top Employers for Tech Talent™ report providing an overview of their organization’s outside-in perception and a benchmark comparison with industry peers.

Download the report

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