Building Future-Ready Talent and Leadership in Shared Services
By Change & Transformation, Finance

Technology alone doesn’t transform businesses, people do. As automation, analytics, and AI continue to reshape operations, one truth stands out, sustainable transformation depends on leadership, culture, and capability. The organisations achieving lasting impact are those that recognise transformation as a people-first journey, empowering teams and leaders to connect innovation with purpose.

Part of Cedar’s Shared Services blog series. Read Part 1 and Part 2.

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As Shared Services have evolved, efficiency and process excellence are no longer the finish line. The organisations delivering meaningful, sustained transformation are those that invest in leaders and teams who can connect technology with strategic intent, translate insight into impact, and shape culture as much as process.

The Leadership Shift

The role of Shared Services leaders is changing fast. Once tasked with ensuring process stability and cost efficiency, they are now expected to act as strategic influencers, shaping enterprise-wide outcomes and leading large-scale transformation.

Modern GBS leaders operate in a landscape defined by digital acceleration, stakeholder expectation, and global complexity. They are required to balance operational control with innovation, and tactical delivery with strategic foresight. The strongest leaders combine financial and analytical expertise with curiosity and adaptability, enabling them to translate data into business impact.

Today’s most effective leaders also understand that transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. It depends on building influence across the organisation, from executive sponsors to delivery teams. That means communicating a clear vision for change, securing buy-in, and fostering a culture where people feel empowered to experiment and improve.

As one attendee summarised, “The best leaders in Shared Services aren’t running operations, they’re running change.”

This evolution of leadership capability reflects a broader shift in purpose. Shared Services are no longer about managing transactions efficiently; they are about driving value creation. Leaders who embrace that mindset are building organisations that move faster, think smarter, and collaborate across boundaries.

 

The Rise of T-Shaped Talent

Another key theme shaping the future of Shared Services is the growing need for T-shaped talent, people who combine deep technical expertise with broad business and digital capability.

Traditional linear career paths are giving way to cross-functional progression. Finance analysts are becoming transformation managers, procurement specialists are moving into data analytics, and HR professionals are working on automation and AI adoption. This hybrid skill set is what allows Shared Services teams to adapt as technology and business demands evolve.

Several global organisations, including Unilever, have invested heavily in digital academies to develop this blend of capability. By upskilling thousands of employees in analytics and automation, they are creating a culture where innovation and data literacy are part of everyday work, not isolated projects.

Building T-shaped capability isn’t simply about training; it is about mindset. It means encouraging curiosity, mobility, and continuous learning, traits that define the workforce of the future.

Building a Learning Culture

Developing a future-ready workforce requires more than occasional training programmes. Leading Shared Services organisations are embedding learning as a shared service, a scalable, structured, and continuous capability built into daily operations.

GBS functions are those that make development everyone’s responsibility. Whether through peer learning, on-the-job experimentation, or rotational assignments across regions, the goal is to ensure learning never pauses.

Forward-thinking organisations are formalising this approach with internal academies, mentoring frameworks, and transparent career pathways that help employees visualise progression. In many cases, learning platforms now include real-time analytics that track engagement, skill development, and impact, ensuring investment in capability delivers measurable returns.

Continuous capability building also supports talent retention. When employees see a clear investment in their growth and career progression, they are more likely to stay engaged and contribute to transformation initiatives. This is particularly vital in competitive markets, where digital and analytical talent is in high demand.

The Role of Purpose and Culture

Culture has emerged as a critical differentiator for Shared Services organisations looking to sustain transformation. Teams that feel connected to a shared purpose consistently deliver stronger outcomes, especially during periods of rapid change.

Leading GBS functions are actively defining and communicating a purpose beyond process, connecting operational excellence to enterprise strategy, sustainability goals, and employee wellbeing. This sense of direction builds resilience and cohesion, particularly in global teams that may be geographically dispersed.

Strong cultures also drive inclusion and diversity of thought, which are essential to innovation. As automation takes on repetitive work, the remaining challenges require creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving, qualities that thrive in inclusive environments.

Purpose and culture, when combined with strong leadership and continuous learning, create Shared Services that are not only efficient but genuinely inspiring places to work.

Turning Insight into Action

We’ve heard from business leaders who Shared Services, we’ve seen how Shared Services have evolved from cost centres to value creators, adopted AI and data as the new operating system, and now rely on talent and leadership as the foundation for sustainable success.

The future of Shared Services will be defined by people who think strategically, act digitally, and lead with purpose. The organisations that invest in these capabilities will build operating models that are resilient, intelligent, and human-centred.

Several clear actions emerge for organisations looking to strengthen and future-proof their Shared Services capability:

  1. Co-own the AI roadmap with the business – align every AI use case with enterprise priorities such as forecast accuracy, cash flow, risk detection, or customer experience.
  2. Build an AI core inside GBS, linked to strategy – host AI delivery and experimentation within GBS, but co-fund and govern initiatives with business and functional leaders.
  3. Use GBS as the enterprise proving ground -pilot automation and AI within Shared Services, demonstrate value quickly, and scale successful models across the business.
  4. Make capability exchange two-way – rotate AI-trained GBS professionals into business teams and bring business experts into GBS to build trust and shared fluency.
  5. Anchor GBS in enterprise transformation – treat GBS as a catalyst for delivering strategy, using its data, talent, and process depth to drive change.

These insights reflect the maturity model for next-generation Shared Services, one that unites technology, data, and people to deliver measurable business value.

Final Thoughts

Across this series, we’ve seen how Shared Services have evolved from cost centres to value creators, adopted AI and data as the new operating system, and now rely on talent and leadership as the foundation for sustainable success.

The future of Shared Services will be defined by people who think strategically, act digitally, and lead with purpose. The organisations that invest in these capabilities will build operating models that are resilient, intelligent, and human-centred.

If your organisation is scaling or modernising its Shared Services capability, Cedar’s specialist teams can help you build the talent and leadership required for success, get in touch with our team to start the conversation.