Here at Value Shepherd, we believe that there are 3 fundamental keys that you need to unlock the value in your Provider and Partner (IT/HR/Facilities/etc) investments. These keys must be owned and continually improved.  The keys are:

Partner Relationships Built on Trust

Gone are the days where a Provider (IT/HR/Facilities/etc) can be viewed purely as a business “enabler”.  As a matter of fact, we must think of them as “Partners” and not just “Providers”. Partners jointly own the business outcomes and share in the business success achieved.

Businesses are clamoring for innovation to differentiate them from their competitors, keep up with ever-increasing tech-savvy clients, and avoid falling behind in an environment of an unprecedented pace of change. The historic “Provider” relationship model diminishes the value of our investment in these partners.  In a Provider relationship,  we are limited to Technology, People, and Facility strategies that are reactive in nature and actively suppress innovation and agility.

In High-Performance Organizations, these providers have become Partners and are integrated into corporate strategy. The Partners have the opportunity to not only react to changes in strategy in a more proactive way but to influence the strategy with innovation. The organizational culture is tapped for its unlimited source of value in the form of innovation, continual improvement, and stakeholder fulfillment. The key to evolving culture is the fostering of high-value relationships with a common purpose.

A Value Management Culture

The traditional paradigm of managing IT, HR, or other valued business partners; purely as a cost-center has had the effect of limiting business value. Governing over these Providers like a utility results in unhealthy risk aversion. This cost-focused culture results in an organic system that values cost reduction over innovation and risk reduction over healthy risk-taking.

In High-Performance Organizations, The Partners are engaged at the beginning of, and throughout the budget planning cycle. This allows the organization to surface value optimization opportunities that were historically overlooked. It positions the business to evaluate opportunities based on value and removes artificial limits masquerading as resource constraints

Service Management Excellence

Service Management is a discipline that has evolved significantly in the IT and HR spaces. IT and HR as an industry has evolved from a “Product and Solution” based provider to a “Service Provider”.  Through continual improvement processes, rigid policy, and service-oriented governance, they have become more predictable and reliable.

This sounds great and is a remarkable achievement. The problem is that this has created a culture that resists change, is unable to respond to unique requests, and has trouble keeping pace with changes in strategic direction.

In High-Performance Organizations, the Business and their Partners have developed Strategic Partnerships. Together, they have learned how to take risks in line with business tolerance. Risk that enables agility, responsiveness, and innovation.

This level of High Performance requires;

• a strong relationship between the Partners and the Business,
• a Focus on Value, and
• Service Management excellence.

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