Business Support Disquiet

I’ve been very touched by all the good wishes and encouragement to continue blogging after leaving Shell. Thank you. I’ll write more blogs yet on this site, but I do intend to blog externally afterwards, so if you are interested watch this space for a link to appear sometime in June. Any ideas for niches for me to write about that might be interesting for a broader audience would be gratefully received.
Today’s subject in Business Support. P&T has recently given more details of its intent, subject to staff council consultations, to implement a standard new model, with quite heavy implications for staff numbers.
The nature of Business Support needs has changed over the years. It used to be secretaries and typing pools, and now there is much more self-service and remote service. My belief is that I am on the cusp of a generation gap – between those brought up pre-computer (baby boomers if you like) and those (generation X and later) for whom most of their lives self service is just how things happen.
My guess is that many of the angry complainants are baby boomers. And there are fewer and fewer of these left in Shell. That is the main reason why I actually broadly support the move to rationalize P&T business support. It is supported by global trends and demographic trends within Shell.
The other interesting point about all the comments is that they are overwhelmingly from former Global Solutions staff in support of the BSO model. That tells me that something is very good about the BSO concept. And, as far as I understand it, the plan in the new structure is to retain its core elements, albeit with fewer support staff per technical staff. This doesn’t come across well in the communication, but if I am right then the plan has a good chance of success (even of improving things for ex EPT staff) and that the angry people might be mollified once things become clearer.
However, one thing must improve radically for this to succeed, and that is the self service interfaces. I’m sorry, but these are woefully poor currently, an opinion shared widely in the commentary. Who on earth designed the SAP time-writing and expenses interfaces? I fear they were nerdy IT people targeting frequent users, maybe in finance or (ironically) dedicated support roles. With respect, I’m not sure those designers would be able to secure a job with Apple or other leading edge practitioners. When I first wrote time this year, I needed help many times, even after having completed the extensive (ill-designed) training. At one point I believe you have to click a part of the screen that is not even defined let alone highlighted. For occasional users, this is simply not good enough, and it undermines the business case for self service.
I was involved in the P&T business support project myself for a couple of months at the end of last year. At the time we were really just trying to achieve a workable temporary solution and get some smart communication in place, but I enjoyed the experience. I built respect not just for the BSO model but also for many of the people in business support, including many of the BSO supervisors. I hope that this group has been actively consulted in the subsequent redesign. Last year, even though there were U-turns and missed deadlines, I felt the process being followed was not bad in tough circumstances, although I did find it hard to defend a decision not to open windows for most staff.
One driving principle behind the change is global standardization, and here I think there are pros but also cons. Bundling staff in BSO’s, creating global specialists and off-shoring some support all makes sense. On the other hand there are downsides, as opportunities to find strong bespoke solutions for businesses and people are removed. The most stubborn glass ceiling in Shell may be for people trying to escape admin skill pools, and these hybrid solutions were one former way to develop careers of some very talented people. Like many aspects of the drive to standardization I find the business case somewhat dogmatic, though I accept that overall the benefits may outweigh the downsides more often than not.
Finally, it is always tragic when people of modest means lose their jobs. But Shell has to live in the real world, and, even though it is true that there are far more expensive areas where cuts would make far more sense and impact, business support cannot be immune. Life is not always fair. In my experience, there is a massive range in the dedication and quality of business support staff in P&T and I only hope that the process to be followed is strong enough to protect or even reward the many deserving people in the population.