The Role of BRMs in Transformation
Over the last five years, business functions have undergone a dramatic transformation.
For some, transformation has come through outsourcing; for others, through the implementation of Robotic Process Automation; and still others, through the adoption of As-a-Service solutions. Increasingly, it’s a combination of the three.
Rationalizing and redesigning business function processes (Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance & Accounting, Procurement, etc.) is not being done for the sake of change. It is being done to stay competitive in our respective industries. No longer can business functions survive as order takers—they must proactively engage with their internal business partners to drive value.
The bar has been raised.
For information technology, this may look like putting new cloud-based applications in the hands of sales resources to increase productivity and reduce sales cycles. In Human Resources, it may include the adoption of Employee Self Service (ESS). In Finance and Accounting, it may include the implementation of new processes and systems that automate electronic funds transfers, instead of manually processing checks.
No longer can business functions survive as order takers—they must proactively engage with their internal business partners to drive value.
No matter which approach is taken, these business functions’ partners are impacted. Transformation requires change—and a BRM to manage it.
When business partners have to consume services differently, they often have to modify their behavior from the manual way of doing business to automation. The Business Relationship Manager (BRM) plays a critical role in this transformation.
Beginning with the identification of a need, BRMs manage the process that later ends with efficient results and satisfied customers. Three key goals that contribute to this value chain are:
- Getting plugged in to the planning process
- Understanding service delivery capabilities
- Learning how service delivery is governed
Get plugged in to the planning process.
Successful and impactful BRMs can’t sit back and take orders—they are proactive in developing an understanding of their internal business partners’ needs.
The best way to understand your business partners’ evolving needs?
Participate in their annual planning and budgeting process. This is where you get to understand their priorities, decision-making process, and the roles of different stakeholders.
You can’t just show up at a business partner’s planning meeting and expect to get in. You must earn the right. You have to gain credibility in their eyes in order to be trusted—and at some point, consulted.
It’s worth noting that business functions that fail to establish and maintain a strong relationship with their internal business partners run the real risk of getting disintermediated. It has never been easier for individual business divisions to go out and get their own service platforms, given the extensive capabilities that cloud-based solutions provide.
The thing is, you can’t just show up at a business partner’s planning meeting and expect to get in. You must earn the right. You have to gain credibility in their eyes in order to be trusted—and at some point, consulted.
Once you gain enough credibility to be consulted, you have to have something meaningful to say. Your input needs to be more compelling than a regurgitated list of services your function currently offers—especially since your business partners are planning for the future.
Understanding service delivery capabilities
So what will you contribute? How do you gain more credibility and not go to the mumble bucket when asked about the new products or services your function could offer to address your business partner’s future needs?
Not only does no one expect you to be an expert on the impact of emerging technologies, but that also isn’t the only approach you can take.
Did you know that major corporations use suppliers to deliver 50% of their business services? Yes, that’s right. Many leading enterprises outsource well over half of their service delivery, meaning each business function depends on only a handful of suppliers, mostly outsourcing providers like IBM, Accenture, Wipro, TCS, and HP, to name a few.
That means that an alternative approach to gaining credibility is sitting in on planning sessions with suppliers that your sourcing group hopefully coordinates. In these sessions, major suppliers share their product and service roadmaps, as well as their investment priorities. By listening in on these sessions, you’ll have a much better sense of what’s possible just by leveraging your existing supply chain.
Learn how service delivery is governed
The definition of governance changes with the context. Here, we’re talking about how to effectively manage the delivery of services to your internal business partners, including the management of associated commercial relationships with outsourcing providers.
It’s important to develop an appreciation for the methods, processes, and best practices used to govern outsourced relationships, because it provides insight into ways of influencing their behavior and performance.
Using an external provider involves a different set of tools and methods than managing an internal group of employees—even when many of the external employees working at your company used to be your employees before they got transferred. It’s surprising to see how differently some companies treat former employees who are now just wearing a different badge.
It’s important to develop an appreciation for the methods, processes, and best practices used to govern outsourced relationships, because it provides insight into ways of influencing their behavior and performance.
Without this appreciation, you can develop a strong relationship with your internal business partners, but you’ll be limited in what you can contribute to the value chain.
Bottom line: getting plugged in to your business partners’ planning processes, understanding your full set of service capabilities, and learning how to influence service delivery will put you in a much stronger position to drive value and may very well open new career opportunities for you.
Mike Beals brings 25 years of IT, HR, Relationship Management, and Outsourcing Governance experience to the Governance Academy, where he is founder and president. The Governance Academy’s mission is to improve the relationships and capabilities of sourcing, relationship management, and governance professionals through training, tools, and advisory services.
Mike has consulted and trained in the areas of Relationship Management, Outsource Governance, and Supplier Management for the past 20 years; during which time he assisted global 2000 firms in realigning and remediating business partner relationships.
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