HRSharedServices #JobInsight #EmployeeQueries #DevelopmentOpportunities
Hey everyone 👋,
So, I recently got offered a role in HR Shared Services but the job description was a bit vague, especially when it comes to the day-to-day tasks. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the opportunity, but I just want to have a better idea of what to expect.
I’ve done some research online, watched a couple of YouTube videos, and even checked out Reddit for some insights, but I’m still a bit unsure about what it’s really like working in HR Shared Services. 🤔
Can anyone shed some light on what the scope of responsibilities is like? And is it really just a constant stream of calls like a call center? I’d love to hear your personal experiences and any tips or advice you might have.
Looking forward to hearing from you all! 🌟
Possible Solution:
- Connect with current or former employees in HR Shared Services on LinkedIn to get a firsthand perspective
- Reach out to HR professionals through networking events or forums for more insights
- Consider asking your potential employer for a shadowing opportunity to get a better feel for the role
i worked somewhere that moved to a shared services model and what it meant there was essentially centralized HR functions in a large organization.
I work in a government version of one. It has its benefits that’s for sure. Our version is that employees speak with their liaisons and the liaisons work with us. There are not calls but tickets submitted for work on the various issues. It’s rather nice. We work in teams so there always coverage and time off isn’t an issue.
When I was in shared services my main responsibilities were answering questions and inquires in our ticket system, processing HR action forms in the HRIS, processing terminations, filing documents and onboarding. Shared service tend to get the responsibilities no one wants to deal with but it’s a great stepping stone to HR Generalist.
Just from my knowledge… you can expect:
Heavy collaboration culture (new term for micromanagement). Someone will always religiously audit your work.
Learn the term white glove service.
There will be too many hands in one pot. Do not critique them on their process but learn where you fit in.
I’d recommend developing a close work relationship with the person before your shift and the one after if you have some kind of 24/7 hotline your team monitors. This way you remove risk for duplicating tasks.
It can be rewarding if you have almost no hr experience. Be patient with yourself. The answers are in the handbook policy. If they’re not for some reason, go to your team lead. Always get everything in email (emails protect you from he said she said).
Learn how to greyrock difficult customers. Your customer are employees. Employees are never happy. If you can make it to the end of your shift, you can make it through the next one.
You will have a lot of routine work that will become mind numbing after six to eight months. After eight months, work on your soft skills.
If you’re early in your career, I don’t recommend staying more than two years in a role because you will already start to fall behind on potential raises and career development by being comfortable in a position.
Everyone calling you has a problem with your company. Anything from they didn’t get paid right, to general public got your number and they are mad, to you shut off their benefits and now their little boy is being denied life saving services in the hospital waiting room right next to her.
It can be a rough go of it, and depending on the center it can be back to back calls like that. 40 a day in some cases. It will take its toll or you will become tough as nails.
It will vary from company to company. Could involve a lot of things including: data entry of employee information (new hires, terminations, promotions, job title charges, transfers, direct deposit info, benefits deductions, addresses, etc), maintaining employee records files, calculating PTO balances, auditing data, running reports, answering employee inquiries via phone and/or email (usually there’s a “HR Inbox” that is monitored by the shared service team) regarding their benefits, PTO balance, processes, policies, paperwork, etc.
It’s basically a catch-all for customer service and back end HR work. The model leverages economies of scale by having a handful of people who are really good at details to streamline data processing and basic customer service across the entire HR function instead of having every HR sub function have their own FTE dedicated to this. It reduces the risks that come with each subfunction having really slow periods and really busy periods and having support employees being pigeonholed into one HR specialty.
From a career perspective, it’s a great way to get a foot in the HR door and become familiar with HR terminology, processes, function, etc. You’ll probably see a little bit of everything, albeit from an administrative point of view.
My recent was from HR Shared Services. We are mostly the center HR Admin work for onboarding, adhoc and termination.
Preparing paperwork for background and compaliance checks, entering employee data in Taleo and HRIS, completing employment verification via email or phone and preparing leavers letter.
Sum up how operations went of a shared services.
Su
It’s what I do now. It’s not that bad at my company. Yes I would agree, you are basically doing call center work but HR. Tier 1 HR basically. From payroll to policy questions. Any super hard questions that you can’t answer just forward to HR managers. Basically HR admin. I mostly just send emails all day and I have a few hours on the phone. It’s good entry level experience in HR. Been doing it over a year now.
Depends on the context of this company. When I was in shared services it was centralized HR for a huge company with multiple agencies. We had a team of 80 HR professionals in different disciplines. I was in Benefits so supported the whole US-based workforce, but the HRBPs each supported agencies (1 or more depending on size) and could switch around sometimes depending on needs. The idea though was that it was HR for the company as a whole. Judging by the ticketing system it seems more along the lines of the call center, but I could def be wrong
Same as what everybody else has said. I started out as a HR Admin in shared services in a very large company and handled phone calls, ticket system for requests like references, leavers, system access etc. Very basic stuff but I got introduced to many aspects of HR.
The actual work and team aspect I enjoyed – I enjoy working at pace and ‘ticking’ things off but the micromanagement killed me and I moved on after 6 months. The salary also sucked – I can’t believe I actually worked for such a poorly paid job now.. but it got my foot in the HR door and I’ve progressed well in the 4 years since working there!
Runs like a call center. You’ll get all kinds of questions from staff might also reset passwords and walk them through onboarding steps. It gets old real quick. Generally a very entry level position to get into the field. Usually hourly and under 20 an hour.
My first HR job was a shared services of sorts.
It is a call/service center, plain and simple. Your number one priority will be taking phone calls and working tickets/cases. There be may some other admin or operational work thrown in there too, I-9 audits, VOEs, entering data and transactions into their HRIS and projects as they come (this is just my personal experience).
You will deal with nasty people, especially if they’re calling about their payroll or benefits. Good news is you’ll learn very quickly how to de-escalate those situations which is a necessary skill to plenty of areas of HR. Lots of collaboration and working with cross-functional partners, you’ll soak up so much knowledge from working with these people, it’s actually absurd. You’ll also get some great stories out of it!
I’m personally thankful for the time I spent in HRSS, it’s a great stepping stone into the profession.
I had a contract job in HR shared services for about a month working at a huge social media job platform, and I did not enjoy it. (I accepted it while still interviewing).
My experience was similar to those documented here. Everything was transactional and through a ticketing system. I felt it was boring and I was a cog in a machine. I received tickets in the morning that I had to work on during the day. It was a good experience because I know I’m not interested in working in this type of HR ever again. However, I think it could be a great opportunity for new grads/new HR.
When I worked in a shared services department, we had a team of five coordinators that supported all of HR. We managed a few different mailboxes, answered phone calls from employees, retirees, and job seekers. We did a variety of administrative type tasks— HRIS auditing, new hire packets, unemployment claims, employment verification, processed employee transactions, posted jobs on different websites. It was a really great way to learn more about the organization and HR in general and figure out what area I liked and which areas I wasn’t interested in.