So how does an organization actually improve HR service delivery? What is HR Service Delivery? Quite simply it’s the ability and effectiveness with which an employer delivers key services and information to employees, managers, and executives. For an employee, if I want to know if a particular treatment is covered by my medical plan, I might want to call my HR generalist, benefits outsourcer, medical insurance company, benefit specialist, HR call center, employee self service, or plan documents I have in hard copy. The ability of HR to create a cohesive, understandable, and simple environment for me to find the answer to my question is part of the HRSD is. Effective HRSD reduces the confusion that results from the many disciplines and faces of HR.
The 2 big trends in improving HRSD these days is the implementation of call center and outsourcing. We’ve probably talked about outsourcing enough, so I’d like to concentrate on call centers. First off, let me say it’s not for everyone.
Call centers are great for a number of reasons:
– Employees have 1 place to go to get answers.
– Calls are tracked until resolution
– Call center reps are trained to handle difficult situations
– Metrics on actual service delivery are easily obtainable.
For those not able to implement a call center on their own, the big 3 consultants (Mercer, Towers Perrin, Wyatt) are all experts at this stuff. If you are comfortable handing it off to an outsourcer, this is also an opportunity.
A fully centralized call center is not for everyone though. If needed, centralized call centers should be supplemented with field deployed generalists who are on-site to provide support. The level of service provided by each can be variable depending on the organizations needs.
I haven’t read this (because I don’t have the budget to pay for it), but keep in mid that when you do anything like creating a call center, outsource, or implement new software, you will not achieve the service delivery enhancements you’re looking for unless you actually consider the redesign of your processes.
