HIGHLIGHTS SHARED SERVICES & GBS SUMMIT

Shared Services & GBS Summit took place 12th-13th April Berlin, Germany with the combined efforts of Chairman Dean Smith Founder | Practice Head – AssuringBusiness & Christopher Lieu, Event Project Manager – Corporate Parity. Dean was actively offering advise & assistance throughout the 2-day summit.

This summit saw a collection of expertise coming together to create the first summit of its type for Corporate Parity. Overall, each speaker offered a unique perspective on how & why many organisations are working towards Shared Services & GBS. 

Day 1

Day 1 began with a duo for the keynote presentation from Rob Bradford SVP, Global Business Services – AkzoNobel & Simone Noordegraaf Head of GBS Europe – AkzoNobel discussing ‘Shared Services: From Usefulness to Utilization (From Feasibility to Implementation)’. They worked great as a team making the presentation easy to listen to & engage with. This presentation was comprehensive & informative.

‘The OLX ‘data theory of everything’ was funny & engaging. The concept focused on many organisations being of the mindset that they require additional data when in reality they still have not figured out how to properly utilise the data they currently have. The presentation was delivered by Caspar Schönau Head of Global BI – OLX Group & Jakub Orłowski Data Engineering Manager, Big Data & Tech – OLX Group

Stephanie van Doorn, Former Lean Director – Nike engaged with attendees immediately with an idea that changed the perspective of each person & allowed for movement during the presentation. Stephanie discussed ‘Bringing People Together in SSC’s and GBS’.

Sjaak Schouteren Partner European Cyber Team – JLT Group shared his vast experience in cyber security with highlighting many interesting points during ‘Preventing Cyber Attacks and Thwarting Hackers’. Sjaak noted that many organisations and/or people are moving towards shared services as a means of outsourcing work but quite often they do not consider cybersecurity within that journey. 

Break sessions

Each session was well received covering a variety of thought-provoking topics lead by professional speakers. These sessions gave participants the chance to move to smaller groups for a more focused workshop-style discussion. Each breakout discussed different areas that are being impacted by shared services with the topics; ‘The Evolution of HR’, ‘Optimizing Operations: The Key to Sustained Performance’, ‘SSC in Finance: Game Changer or End Game?’ & ‘Procure-to-Pay’

Breakout B ‘Optimizing Operations: The Key to Sustained Performance’ had the most interaction with participants, allowing for participants to ask questions throughout. Moderated by Mateusz Ślemp Continuous Improvement Specialist – Amer Sports & Steve Wells COO Fast Future Publishing

Breakout C ‘SSC in Finance: Game Changer or End Game?’ was a smaller session with a roundtable discussion. This allowed the participants to engage with each other as well as the speakers. Moderated by Helena Potter Former Head of Global Finance Operations – Zurich Insurance & Mark Harrison Chief Executive Officer – ACCEE

Day 2

Starting day 2 was Roy Loeschner Global Head of Shared Services – Allianz setting the tone for the final day of the summit with an energetic & thought-provoking presentation  ‘These ARE The Droids You‘re Looking For’. Roy highlighted that in using the latest technology and automation that is scalable and flexible can be used as means of support

Dean Smith Founder – AssuringBusiness, Danilo Andriani GBS and PPM Practise Lead – PwC Consulting Partner, Frank Hilderts Head of Shared Services Center IT – Gazprom & Carlo Peretti VP Finance Transformation – LafargeHolcim combined their knowledge to deliver some controversial & interesting perspectives with ‘Measurement, Reporting & Insights (MRI); Essentials of a Successful Shared Service’. This panel discussion went over time due to the high level of engagement.

SPONSOR PRESENTATION – One of the most interesting presentations of the summit was with  Danilo Andriani GBS and PPM Practise Lead – PwC Consulting Partner & Lorenzo Bersani Chief Administrative Officer – JAB Luxury, a vendor & end user collaborating in a ‘GBS Journey’. This presentation took the perspective of the end user & provided content with detailed statistics & data.

An open debate was introduced to this summit, panellists answered questions suggested by delegates upon registration. Moderated by Simone Noordegraaf Head of GBS Europe – AkzoNobel, Lea Bodnárová HR Manager – LafargeHolcim, Lorenzo Bersani Chief Administrative Officer – JAB Luxury & Hendrik Esser Vice President – Head of Operations and Programs – Ericsson.

Workshops & Consultants portion of the summit divided attendees into 2 groups;

Workshop 1 ‘Kick-starting your RPA Strategy and Delivery Framework’ with Dean Smith Founder – AssuringBusiness.

Workshop 2 ‘Promoting Innovation and Agile in the Workplace’ with Hendrik Esser Vice President – Head of Operations and Programs – Ericsson.

The final panel discussion ‘People in focus: How companies are managing the human element – workforce performance & attrition’ was well prepared with excellent speaker/audience engagement. Moderator Joseph Hammond-Hagan Owner – Life With Balance, Vartul Mittal Technology & Innovation Specialist, Stephanie van Doorn Former Lean Director – Nike & Lea Bodnárová HR Manager – LafargeHolcim.

Also check our upcoming events page.