Another goal was to produce a comprehensive work instruction manual for Kesko Food's invoicing flow team. As a result, work instructions and orientation checklists were produced for use by the start-up organization.
Background of the commissioner: Shared Service Centre
Structure of the Organization
It is also his/her responsibility to ensure that changes are implemented in accordance with decisions within the entire organization. This means that the customers are not exclusively in contact with the KAM, but he/she is the connection to the organization.
Invoicing
Their responsibilities relate to maintaining a good customer relationship and ensuring that the service level and quality meet the promised standards according to the Service Level Agreement. Flow-through billing is the billing process where the products are delivered directly from the supplier to the customer, but the billing is organized through Kesko (Shared Service Centre).
Employees responsibilities in the Invoicing department
The employees in the invoicing department, who enter the invoices into the system, are responsible for ensuring that all data is transferred correctly and that Kesko receives the agreed compensation for each invoice. In case of deficiencies in the invoices, the employee contacts the supplier and demands corrections to the material.
SAP AG: company overview
SAP ERP
The processes can be aligned together and real-time information shared across the organization inside and outside the business network. The extensive information from finance, personnel, marketing, production and other departments in the organization can be integrated in the most suitable combination to meet the needs and requirements of the companies.
SAP in Shared Service Centre
Occupational Safety and Health Act
The main focus of the Occupational Safety and Health Law is on the obligations and responsibilities of employers, but also of employees. obligations are governed by Finnish law. Employees must also observe such order and cleanliness as is necessary to maintain the safety and health required by the work and working conditions.
About the research
Research Question and background of the research
Research Objectives
Research Methods
Defining Orientation
Workplace Orientation
It is essential that the immediate supervisor of the employee is available to welcome the new employee to the organization and to give the first introduction to the job and the workplace. The purpose of the organizational orientation is to familiarize the new employee with the entire organization, its products, history and policies.
Job guidance
In this step, the new employee is encouraged to learn and the goals are set. At this stage, the new employee describes the tasks that have been thought of for him/her.
Preparing for orientation
The employee is allowed to try and practice the tasks and must receive feedback on how he/she feels. It is recommended that a short welcome letter be sent to the employee before the first day on the job.
Work instructions
In addition to the orientation material, other necessary documents should also be prepared in advance, and the new hire's workstation should be made ready and prepared with the necessary supplies. In addition, access material (keys or access cards) and all reading material given during the first day on the job must be prepared. Some information matters should also be taken care of before a new employee starts in the company.
Orientation tools
The Partner Program
Orientation follow-up
Objectives and Benefits of Orientation Programs
It is an alternative approach to the traditional way of explaining about the organizational structure and the rules of the company. However, these matters must be explained and the employee must know exactly what is expected of him/her. At the departmental level, other benefits employees seek in orientation are getting to know the people they will be working with, knowing who to approach in case of questions or concerns, and learning about the evaluation process, departmental goals, and the communication channels .
Problematic issues with orientation programs
The cases are as follows: how well the employees are listened to in the company, what has been done to make the employees feel valued and somehow demonstrate how great it is to work for the company. From the employees' perspective, the most important factor when starting in a new company is usually to feel welcome. Organizationally speaking, important facts to know are the procedures and policies, company expectations and reward mechanism.
Data collection
Organizational Orientation in SSC
The first part of the organizational orientation focuses on Kesko Corporation and the retail sector in general. Everything discussed in the presentation are issues that can be found in the general organizational orientation guidelines explained in chapter 2.1.1 Workplace Orientation. In addition to the company-related information, the role of the employee, what the job has to offer the employees and a training opportunity are also introduced.
Departmental Orientation in SSC
Orientation guide
Shared Service Center has a common orientation guide that provides the basic information about the organization and its policies. As summarized above, the orientation guide contains the basic information that helps the new employee get started in the company. Even so, all employees giving orientation in SSC should be familiar with this general orientation guide, because the new employee may ask questions for which an answer can be found in the guide, or he/she may need some clarification for some of the covered topics.
Job guidance in SSC
Work instruction manuals
At the flow invoicing department of Kesko Food, on which this research focuses, no coherent manual is currently available, despite the planned action described above. The two teams separated in early 2012, along with a structural change in the organization. The purpose of the change was to optimize business functions across the organization and align teams to similar operations rather than customer organization as in the previous team format.
Personnel Survey: Orientation in Shared Service Centre
- Sampling, response rate and division of respondents
- Respondents´ satisfaction with the orientation in SSC
- Development areas in the orientation in SSC
- Improvement suggestions given by the respondents
- Contrasting the results of the personnel survey with previous results
Respondents' work experience in the billing department was also asked to determine recent orientation experience. According to the results, of the people who gave orientation, only three (9%) have less than one year of experience in the company. 67% of the respondents who gave an orientation have three or more years of experience in the company.
Analysing the current situation
Employees who give orientation
For the new employee, who has no previous experience in the field, everything is new and the person giving orientation must try to view the issues from his/her point of view. One of the respondents argued in the open-ended question of the survey that the person giving the orientation should have more than three months of experience in the job before giving orientation to new employees. In the team, it was encouraged to ask questions and emphasized that even covered issues could be repeated.
Consistency of orientation
The most important aspect was that the new employee learns the activities and feels confident about doing them. Also the employee interviewed, who was recently given team orientation, felt that the atmosphere was open and positive and co-workers were supportive (Employee 4, interview 2.11.2012). The author has observed that the general atmosphere in the department is supportive, but in some teams, due to high employee turnover and busy schedules, asking questions is not as supported as in other teams.
Information about invoicing process and other departments
In the staff survey, 32% of respondents noted providing information to other departments as one of the issues that could be improved in the orientation. 44% of survey respondents feel that the length of orientation could be improved. Most of the recommendations are formulated so that they can be implemented throughout the organization.
Work instruction manual for flow-through invoicing of Kesko Food
Content of the manual
The instructions are given to the typical invoice material and the general guidelines that apply to the majority of the invoices. Copies of the manual will be printed for all team members so that it is easily available to them. In addition, the manual will be available and maintained in the company's common database as all the instructions of the organization.
Orientation checklist
Orientation checklist for workplace orientation
The work instruction enables the person to work faster individually compared to the current situation because he/she will have detailed instructions for each stage of the process. Another identified advantage is that the manual will integrate the working methods of the employees because it provides general instructions for each task. All of the categories contain specific topics that will be addressed once they are explained.
Orientation checklist for job guidance
The order of the problems does not have to be followed exactly, but can be adjusted based on the team leaders' own perception of the preferred order for explaining the problems. Another important purpose of the list is that it names all topics individually so that everything important is covered and marked when completed. As a background for making the list, the author has used information from the orientation guide, a general orientation guideline from the company's intranet, and her own experience and knowledge gained while working in the company.
Implementation
Both parties will sign the checklist once all the things have been covered and both parties agree that the issues are clear to the new employee. Before signing the document, the issues should be briefly reviewed with the new employee and give him/her a chance to ask if any of the topics remain unclear and he/she would like further instructions on the issue. The primary idea of the checklists is to ensure that all important things are covered and to provide a clear structure for the orientation.
Training for the employees who give orientation
Job guidance-workshop
In this case, the concentration will be on job guidance and teaching the specific instructions in the processes. The purpose of this session is to clarify the teams' job guidance and to make the process coherent. As part of this workshop, each team must identify the team's activities and make a specified list of things to be covered in job guidance (subchapter 4.2).
Guidance about the operations and processes of SSC
The primary goal of the workshop is to increase the level and consistency of orientation in the teams. A clear description of the overall billing process and the main actors in the process should also be provided. Explanation of the benefits of the service center model for each actor in the chain should also be explained in more detail.
Preparatory and follow-up meetings
Improving the introduction of co-workers
The purpose of this thesis was to research the orientation process in the commission organization Shared Service Center and provide tools for improving orientation in the future. In the research, the author evaluated both aspects of orientation in the commissioning organization and based on the results, formulated suggestions on how to develop workplace orientation and job orientation. The purpose of this confidential survey is to investigate how satisfied employees in the billing department are with the orientation at the Shared Service Center and to identify improvement suggestions for future orientation.
