I was recently able to talk to Susie West, founder and CEO of sharedserviceslink.com, about role of Global Process Owner (GPO) at large multi-national companies, the challenges the face, and how they are charged with improving financial management processes.
Susie West will be speaking on our free webinar on January 28 at 11 AM CST: Global Process Ownership in Shared Services – Nine Steps to Best Practice.
Briefly, define the role of the Global Process Owner (GPO) at a large multi-national.
A GPO will ideally own a process end-to-end, globally. In the case of finance, this will be a process like purchase-to-pay, order-to-cash, or record-to-report. The GPO should have the power to sign off on any change that affects their process, to standardize their process, and initiate and oversee any project that looks to improve the process.
Why are more large companies now looking to install a GPO to marshal efforts to improve financial management processes? (What is convincing them this is the right solution?)
Because the role is still quite new, most companies have yet to establish the net savings that come from having a GPO in place. Some companies might argue that improvements would happen without a GPO in place, but I would beg to differ. Having a proper GPO in place, working within a framework that is optimum, a GPO can deliver significant savings that before, under a fragmented ownership, were harder to secure and then maintain.
In the realm of financial management, is it wise to have the GPO report directly to the CFO (and not the finance person in charge of process transformation)? If so, why?
A GPO will not report into one specific person. Again, because the role is quite new in many companies, the reporting lines differ. Some report into the Global Business Services Leader, or COO, some report into the Global Services Owner, and some report into the CFO. If the GPO does not report into the CFO, he or she will often find the CFO being a key customer who is involved in process design sign off.
What skill sets are crucial to be a successful GPO working in the realm of finance?
A number of key business skills are needed, including process mapping, process awareness, and project management. But equally important are the characteristic skills, like being able to listen, influence, and to have the confidence to stand toe-to-toe with the larger personalities in the organization.
What is the “new-new thing” for Global Process Ownership in shared services?
Increasingly GPOs now have their own budget, whereas before they had to go to other parts of the business to get budget. This is making them even more effective.