For the outsourcing of HR Change Processing Desk Operations of a major insurance services provider to the wireless communications industry

The client is one of the largest Mobile Insurance and Enhanced Services providers for Wireless Carriers in North America, offering handset and Data Device insurance programs, Roadside Assistance services, Warranty Management plans, Equipment Management solutions and a variety of other customized products to wireless subscribers. With more than 25 wireless carriers and over 50 million subscribers, it has become a leader in this arena.

The client witnessed tremendous growth over the past few years through a number of mergers and acquisitions to become one of North America's largest wireless handset insurance providers.

In order to streamline the HR processes across its various locations in North America, the client decided to outsource its HR Change Processing Desk Operations to an offshore location. This would also help them significantly reduce operational costs by leveraging the cost advantage of an offshore service provider. The decision of outsourcing their HR Change Processing Desk Operations was a strategic move in their Asia Expansion Plans. The client decided to partner with Synechron to design and implement this process outsourcing initiative.

The Challenge

The challenge faced by the Synechron team was to effectively streamline the HR processes across 9 locations scattered throughout the United States and Canada. These 9 locations also included companies that the client had recently acquired.

The client wanted to instill the same Organization Culture that had fuelled their explosive growth across these 9 locations. As a first step towards this initiative, they wanted to define some common processes that all the HR business consultants and recruiters could follow.

The client had decided to put in place a core team of talented individuals in order to centralize the HR Change Processing Operations. The objective of this core team was to study and understand the processes that were being followed across the different locations, map them to a common framework, find out the common Best Practices by a thorough comparative analysis, and define the "To-be" processes.

The biggest challenge was to digitize all the paperwork. Synechron came up with a solution that would allow secure storage, transmission and delivery of the client's data with regards to the HR Change Processing Operations.

The client decided to use two different HR Information Systems (HRIS) for maintaining their records. Both the HR Information Systems presented different implementation and training challenges for Synechron. Data security and confidentiality were critical for the client as Synechron was supposed to work with information as sensitive as employee's pay data.

The Solution

Considering the complexity of the challenges involved in transitioning this process, Synechron decided to send in a team of domain experts and functional consultants for Onsite Study and Process Transition.

The Synechron Transition team visited the different client locations to meet the HR process owners in order to study and understand the various processes that were followed "As-is".

The Synechron Transition team worked in close coordination with the core team that the client had formed in order to centralize the HR Change Processing Desk Operations. Together with the client's team, the Synechron Transition team came up with a single form for all the HR Changes and another for all the New Hires.

The next major task was to roll out the new HR Change forms after they were approved by the process owners and train all the HR Business Consultants and Recruiters on how to fill out the new forms. This was carried out via Live Meetings over the web and conference calls.

To ensure a smooth transition of the entire process, the Synechron team created training documentation for both the HR Information Systems, put in place an offshore team to process the HR Changes and designed a Knowledge Transfer Plan.

The Knowledge Transfer process consisted of a number of sessions with the HRIS trainers and the offshore team via Live Meeting sessions over the web and conference calls. The systematically designed Knowledge Transfer Plan ensured that the knowledge transfer took place in a phased manner, meeting all the predefined timelines.

Synechron's functional consultants had a number of meetings with various client representatives, HRIS trainers and the offshore team to finalize the process documentation. The HRIS team leaders are constantly updating the process documentation as and when the variables change during the operations.

Synechron proposed a solution that consisted of a Remote Desktop Protocol and a secure VPN tunnel via a Cisco VPN client to address the data security issues. Synechron also setup a dedicated VOIP number for the HRIS Change Processing Desk. This has ensured that any disconnect between the HR Business Consultants & Recruiters and the offshore-based HR Change Processing team is taken care of in real-time via phone communication.

In addition to these solutions, Synechron also provided several other value-added services:

• Introduced a number of Quality Checks to ensure flawless delivery for the HRIS Change Processing Desk Operations
• The HRIS Change Processing Desk team members identified the training needs to further educate the client's HR Business Consultants about the HRIS processes
• The HRIS Change Processing Desk team members started publishing a daily Production Report and QC Report that would help the client understand the overall 'health' of the process
• The Synechron team has taken the initiative to train the client's HR Business Consultants on the HRIS "Best Practices". Synechron has also initiated a 'hot-line' to answer any questions that the client representatives might have about the processes

The HRIS Change Processing Desk team members have re-designed the HR Change Forms as the process variables have been changing constantly. The client has been really pleased with the improvements that the new forms have brought to the entire process.

The Result

Synechron was able to set up the HR Change Processing Desk Operations within a short span of 20 days, enabling complete Knowledge Transfer to the offshore team along with the necessary technology setup.

Through seamless transition of the client's HR Change Processing Desk Operations, Synechron enabled them to realize significant cost-savings of up to 60% within the first three months of the process.

After successfully outsourcing the HR Change Processing Desk Operations to Synechron, the client was also able to focus on the consultative aspects of HR operations like streamlining the organization culture throughout the various geographically scattered locations.

The client now relies on Synechron to suggest and implement process improvement initiatives for the Change Processing Desk Operations. Synechron's offshore team has become an integral part of the client's HR functions by constantly surpassing client's expectations.

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