Case Study - Procter & Gamble

Linking shared services to strategy

Summary

Within Procter & Gamble, employee services forms a part of global business services, a unified approach to shared services delivery.

In this case study Bob Livingston, vice president, employee services and HR explains why for Procter & Gamble shared services means more than just transactional processing. He demonstrates how it supported a corporation-wide restructuring effort and stresses why taking a customer-centric approach to service delivery was important from day one.

Introduction

"We have wound the clock back a decade in terms of costs," says Bob Livingston, vice president, employee services and HR, global business services, Procter & Gamble (P&G). "We've reduced our HR cost base by about 20 per cent and our HR headcount by a third whilst at the same time significantly increasing our transaction volume."

But it doesn't stop there, Livingstone stresses. "We moved to shared services with a battle cry of "the right service at the right price'. Without question one of the primary drivers was the opportunity for cost savings but the same time we believed, and this has proved to be true, that there were opportunities for improved customer service."

With about 120,000 employees in more than 80 countries and with about $40 billion in sales, P&G is a leader in the development, distribution and marketing of superior Home, Family, and Health Care products as well as Snacks & Beverages.

With primary centers in Cincinnati, Costa Rica, Singapore and Newcastle (UK), Global Business Services has about 7000 employees in areas such as finance and accounting, employee services, purchasing, and IT. Livingston heads the 1000 employee-strong employee services operation. However, he is also head of HR for all global business services employees – so he finds himself in the unusual position of being his own customer.

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