Coca-Cola Refreshments: On a Path of Continuous Improvement

Human Resources iQ speaks with Karla Younger, Director of HR Services in North America for Coca Cola Refreshments about their shared services developments,

What are some of the newest and most notable developments within the shared services center at Coca-Cola?

For the last year we have been working on an integration within The Coca-Cola Company as we built a new business unit called Coca-Cola Refreshments. For the HR service center, this meant bringing additional populations of associates into our service model. It has been a scalable solution to be able to support additional work determined by the business needs.

How did you determine what information and technologies to introduce or to integrate?

We had a need for enhanced case management functionality, so we have been working this year on expanding the capability to create cases automatically from a portal submission and automatic routing to tier 2 groups. We are still in a configuration stage and a couple of months away from deployment.

After you first went live with shared services , what measurable results or impact did you immediately see, and how does that compare to what you have today?

The most notable was that we were able to measure inquiry volume where we could not previously. We then were able to start trending the data month over month, quarter over quarter, and then year over year. It helped us determine what we needed to automate or launch into self-service next. Also, a year ago we changed the customer service staff structure slightly to incorporate flex customer service representatives who could assist tier 2 teams in times of peak volume.

What metrics are you currently using to measure your HR shared services success and how have they changed over time?
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We measure speed of answer, abandoned calls, first call resolved, and customer satisfaction. The metric we added this year is first day resolved to show how much is actually resolved in less than one day.

How do you measure customersatisfaction?

We measure customer satisfaction with a monthly survey. Close to 85 percent of our associates are satisfied with our service. We review the results and comments and also create an action plan to continue to drive the satisfaction higher.

How do you present the data to executives and use it for actionable development and improvement?

This year we have been a part of several executive business meetings. We present the current projects and metrics of the service center, gather feedback from the executives, and then plan to follow up within six months. We also encourage business teams to hold meetings at our service center so they have the opportunity to see the operation in action. This has helped greatly with the level of understanding and support that is then taken further out into the business.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned about analyzing and benchmarking your shared services data?

We are on a path of continuous improvement with increased automation and the ability to continue to bring in higher value work. We benchmark against other companies frequently to continue to strive for best in class as we learn what works well for others. Building on the lessons learned from others enables us to achieve our goals faster.

Interview conducted by Alexandra Guadagno, Editor for Human Resources iQ.