Business unit accountability: Monitor performance of the Shared Service Organization

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In establishing a partnership between the Shared Service Organization (SSO) and the Business Units, the Business Units have the responsibility to monitor the performance of the SSO and provide timely and accurate feedback regarding expected delivery levels.  In my consulting work I sometimes hear Business Units complain that the SSO is not living up to its commitments, but when I ask for the data to support their argument they typically don't have any.  Mostly it's a "gut feel" that the SSO isn't doing what the Business Units want.  If the Business Units are going to live up to their end of the bargain, they need hard data to support their conclusions.

Here are four metrics that the Business Units, and the SSO, should be monitoring:

  1. Effectiveness of delivery (i.e. cycle times).  Is the SSO actually delivering the services outlined in the Service Level Agreement (SLA)?  How quickly are they delivering?  Does the quality of the services meet the SLA metrics?
  2. Cost of services.  Is the SSO achieving the cost reductions outlined in the business case?  Are costs being allocated back to the Business Units based on the agreed upon cost drivers?
  3. Response time to service disputes. Issues inevitably arise in any partnership.  How easy is it to get in touch with the right person at the SSO?  How well is the SSO responding to disagreements?  Is the right level of management at the SSO engaged in the issue as appropriate? 
  4. Quality of issue resolution.  It's one thing for the SSO to "check the box" and say that they've responded to a Business Unit concern.  It's another thing to ensure that the issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Business Unit.  Is the SSO committed to ensuring that they have a satisfied customer/partner?  And for the SSO, is the issue and resolution being archived in a knowledge repository so that it can be leveraged for future disputes?

By focusing on these four areas of SSO performance, Business Units can gather the information they need to evaluate the delivery performance of the Shared Service Organization.