GBS Insights & Talent Strategy

No Exit

As GBS leaders ponder the next steps in their careers, some are finding enterprise career paths limited. Read on to learn what blocks internal moves, and how to navigate.

Deborah Kops

July 23, 2024

Diversity Latest Models Viewpoints

Changing of the Guard

Will next generation GBS leaders will force a radical rethink of the model, create newoperating models, and perhaps harness the promise of technology?

Deborah Kops

June 25, 2024

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Why Don’t GBS Leaders Last Very Long?

Why is job hopping on the rise in GBS? Is it the nature of the beast? Is the model fragile? Read on for insights and analysis.

Deborah Kops

June 3, 2024

Careers Latest Organization Talent

Respect the DNA

GBS can’t afford to disregard internal talent, both politically or financially. Hiring from within respects the enterprise’s DNA.

Deborah Kops

April 30, 2024

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Another One Bites the Dust: Why GBS Organizations Are Pulled Apart

The rumor mill is abuzz—while de novo GBS organizations are always being formed, some are rebooted, and other models seem to be taken apart with increasing frequency. At least a few times a month, someone confesses that the operation they painstakingly built or nurtured is being dissolved with operations repatriated to each of the functions they serve with the delivery network evolving into a corporate landlord.

Deborah Kops

March 21, 2024

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Going Gig? Not Like Eating a Piece of Cake

Think it’s easy to waltz into the world of successful interim roles? Well, it’s not exactly a piece of cake.

Deborah Kops

February 26, 2024

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Lipstick Doesn’t Look Good on Pigs

By Deborah Kops The global services industry adores shiny new toys. Every few years, the industry gloms onto something fashionable and pretty under the belief that if we have one of those, our GBS organization will be most admired. Remember analytics driving GBS value? That was circa 2011-2013. RPA anyone? Following close on the heels […]

Deborah Kops

January 31, 2024

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Is 2024 a Year of GBS Reckoning?

By Deborah Kops From any vantage point, COVID was good to the global business services (GBS) model. For the first time in its short history, the model was tested, and it passed with flying colors. Show the enterprise how to work globally? Check. Prove that collaboration doesn’t have to happen in a conference room? Check. […]

Deborah Kops

January 10, 2024

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What’s next, GBS?

Deborah Kops, Sourcing Change It’s that time of the year when everyone starts to predict what’s next. And global business services (GBS) models are not immune. As usual, folks are starting to fall over themselves to proffer that their crystal balls are very clear. Some pronounce that we are finally now in the era of […]

Deborah Kops

November 30, 2023

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The Talent Market’s Tight but the Candidate’s Not Right

Deborah Kops, Sourcing Change I’ve never seen such a mismatch of supply and demand in the shared services space. While new enterprises are adopting the model at what seems to be an unprecedented pace post-COVID, at the same time, there are a surprising number of experienced shared services professionals out on the street. Is this […]

Deborah Kops

October 31, 2023

Still Elusive but within Reach? Effective GBS Business Relationship Management

Deborah Kops, sourcingchange.com Finally, GBS organizations have woken up to the reality that it’s not what you deliver, it’s how your stakeholders feel about what you are delivering. Yet because it’s considered “soft stuff,” too difficult to manage, or better yet, left to the vagaries of individual GBS managers to sort out, GBS organizations suboptimize […]

Deborah Kops

September 29, 2023

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So, you want to be promoted to GBS leader

Ever notice how few folks within a global business services (GBS) operation are promoted to leader when the top dog goes onto other pastures? Wonder why there’s a glass or concrete ceiling for incumbents who know the business, have mastered GBS management concepts, and have proved their loyalty to the cause? The recent promotion of […]

Deborah Kops

August 29, 2023

No longer fit for purpose–time to change the GBS organization construct

Deborah Kops, sourcingchange.com Lately, I’ve been sleepless about the fact that GBS evolution appears to be stuck in a rut. As much as we talk about integrated or digital GBS, moving along the path to a more evolved state seems to be stalled or even stopped. Innovation at best seems to be incremental. The pursuit […]

Deborah Kops

August 1, 2023

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Discover a New Value Driver for Global Business Services (GBS)

Benefits of a GBS model are many: reduced cost, leveraged technology, integrated processes end to end, and transformed ways of working.

Deborah Kops

July 25, 2023

Latest Viewpoints

Blueprint or Wallpaper: The Challenges of Selling Your GBS Strategy to the Team

Blueprint or wallpaper: how is your team seeing your global business services (GBS) strategy? Your success may depend on the answer.

Deborah Kops

July 9, 2023

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Could Corporate Marketing be the Hidden Goldmine GBS Organizations Are Missing Out On?

For GBS organizations seeking to increase scope and scale, corporate marketing is an alluring target. Read on for insights.

Deborah Kops

June 6, 2023

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Be Like a Duck. But Below the Surface, You’d Better Paddle Like Hell

GBS transitions ideally appear calm as a duck on water. But below the waterline, the organization should be paddling like hell.

Deborah Kops

April 19, 2023

Latest Viewpoints

New Leaders, Beware the Savior Syndrome

The new transformational leader rides in on a white horse to make a mark on the organization. But beware: savior syndrome is a trap. And a recipe for professional failure.

Deborah Kops

April 3, 2023

Now Available: Industry-First Rewards Survey

Download this industry-first survey, which takes the pulse of the industry’s rewards for high impact Global Business Services roles. Unlike typical corporate compensation surveys—a valuable tool in the arsenal of every HR department’s compensation and benefits function—we correlated factors such as maturity, extent of globalization, scope and operating model with compensation, developing a more nuanced […]

Deborah Kops

April 8, 2022

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Trouble Ahead: Hazardous Waters for GBS and Shared Services

GBS and shared services are susceptible to executive whim and short memories. Are you ready to navigate rough waters?

Deborah Kops

January 19, 2022

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Out With the Old, In With the New? 10 Predictions for the 2022 GBS Talent Market

By Deborah Kops and Janet Ramey It’s time to dust off our crystal balls again. How much difference a year made! Looking back, last year Sourcing Change called several things right: hard process and management skills were very much in demand, the use of gig workers did remain fully aspirational, and though automation investments continue, […]

Deborah Kops

January 4, 2022

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