Navigating the North Star ⭐ of GBS Excellence

Global Business Services (GBS) has evolved from a back-office efficiency play to a strategic powerhouse driving enterprise-wide transformation. But with so many priorities—cost, agility, innovation—how do leading organizations stay on course? The answer lies in following the North Stars of GBS excellence: guiding principles that ensure long-term success and maximum business impact.

SSON Research & Analytics’ latest insights reveal a defining shift: high-performing GBS organizations are no longer solely focused on cost savings. While 90% of GBS leaders still prioritize cost efficiency, it is now just one component of a broader value proposition. The most successful organizations recognize that sustainable impact comes from balancing efficiency with strategic enablement.

The question is no longer whether to implement GBS—but how to chart the right course for sustained excellence. 

So, what does excellence look like in practice? The leading GBS organizations are charting their course by aligning with five key North Stars:

🌟 1. Seamless Customer Experience: Elevating CX through Workforce Transformation 

Customer success hinges on more than just transactional efficiency; it's about delivering seamless, high-quality service that drives value. Leading organizations understand that customer experience (CX) isn’t just about responsiveness—it’s about embedding a service culture of service excellence at every touchpoint. By aligning talent strategies, digital capabilities, and operational excellence with customer-centric goals, GBS can transform from a cost center into a value-driving partner.

The question is no longer whether GBS should prioritize customer experience—but how to embed it across all operations to create lasting value.

🌟 2. Winning the War for Talent: Building a Future-Ready Workforce

Delivering exceptional customer experience starts with having the right talent. GBS organizations must rethink their workforce strategies. Traditional models no longer suffice. The future of work (FOW) demands agility, skills development, and workforce optimization. 

Top GBS leaders are focusing on:

🌟 Eliminating Redundancies: Identifying essential tasks and using automation and AI to free employees for higher-value work.

🌟 Hybrid Workforce: Balancing full-time employees with contractors and gig workers for flexibility and efficiency.

🌟 Skill Mapping: Aligning workforce capabilities with business priorities, sourcing non-core skills externally, and developing high-impact competencies in-house.

🌟 Targeted Learning: Investing in learning strategies to ensure employees develop the right skills for evolving business needs.

🌟 Empowering Employees: Offering flexible work arrangements and clear career pathways to create an engaged, motivated workforce.

The question is no longer how to fill roles—but how to build a dynamic, adaptable workforce that fuels long-term success.
 

🌟 3. GBS+ Excellence: Achieving Best-in-Class Benchmarks

What does true excellence look like in GBS? Leading organizations are elevating success by measuring their operations against sophisticated, value-driven benchmarks. This is where GBS+ steps in—a revolutionary suite of SSON Research & Analytics' benchmarks designed to track and enhance the strategic impact of your GBS operations.

Our GBS Model serves as the foundation of the GBS+ Benchmarks, with value creation at its core. Metrics are categorized under the four key pillars: 

✔ Service Delivery Model & Strategic Alignment – How well is your GBS function integrated with the broader enterprise strategy?

✔ Model’s Evolution in Maturity & Scope – Are you evolving beyond transactional processes to deliver strategic value?

✔ Adoption and Impact of Automation – How effectively are digital tools and automation driving efficiency and innovation?

✔ Retention and Skilling of Talent – How well is your workforce prepared to meet future challenges through continuous learning?

By focusing on these key pillars, high-performing GBS organizations are not just executing tasks—they are defining and surpassing industry standards, becoming leaders in both innovation and operational excellence.

The question is no longer just how to measure efficiency—but how to leverage data-driven insights to create value through a strategically aligned GBS function.

🌟 4. Running GBS Like a Business: Unlocking Strategic Value

To truly transform, GBS must be run like a business. It’s not just about cost efficiency—it’s about positioning GBS as a transformation engine and strategic business partner. Yet, only 44% of practitioners say they understand how to run GBS this way. This gap is a significant risk because, when done right, GBS is a value creator and a driver of business outcomes.

The question is no longer whether GBS should be seen as a cost center—but how to run it as a value-driven business function that shapes organizational success.

🌟 5. Cross-Functional Impact: Bridging GBS with the Broader Organization

To achieve sustainable GBS excellence, it’s crucial to see GBS as an integral part of the broader organization. High-performing GBS leaders are those who recognize the importance of cross-functional collaboration—considering how their work impacts other business areas and vice versa. This two-way understanding helps drive value across the entire enterprise.

GBS is no longer a siloed function. It must actively collaborate, align with, and influence other departments to create holistic value. When GBS operates with a shared vision across the organization, it becomes a true enabler of business transformation.

The question is no longer whether GBS should operate as a standalone function—it’s about how well it can integrate and collaborate across the broader organization to drive value at every level.

Conclusion: Navigating the North Star ⭐ of GBS Excellence

Achieving GBS excellence is an ongoing journey. Success requires a holistic focus on customer experience, talent management, benchmarking, and strategic business alignment. But perhaps most importantly, it requires the ability to evolve continuously and integrate across the organization to drive sustained value.

By adopting these North Stars, GBS leaders can navigate the complex landscape of modern business, ensuring that GBS remains not just relevant but indispensable as a strategic asset. Through continuous innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and a commitment to long-term value creation, GBS will continue to lead business transformation and deliver measurable, lasting impact.