Global pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheimoperates with a consistent vision: creating "Value through

Innovation" Ior its patients, community and employees.

At the company's U.S. aIIiliate, Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation (BIC), the ability to innovate comes, in
large part, Irom a philosophy it calls "Lead & Learn." The company encourages everyone to take initiative, ask
questions and seize opportunities in an environment oI shared leadership and learning.
Lead & Learn is exactly what Boehringer Ingelheim's U.S. human resource leadership team did when it partnered
with Watson Wyatt to revamp the pharmaceutical Iirm's HR service delivery. (Watson Wyatt and Towers Perrin
became Towers Watson in January 2010.) As a result, the company's new HR service center eIIiciently supports
employees across the country, accurately captures HR data, and Irees HR staII to more strategically support the
company's business goals.
Rising to the challenge
When Mary Borba, Boehringer Ingelheim's vice president oI compensation and beneIits, arrived at the company
nearly Iive years ago, she Iound a decentralized HR delivery system struggling to serve employees in multiple
locations.
"The HR operations group was a small team in charge oI a very Iragmented HR service delivery," Borba says.
"While team members worked hard to support the company, they lacked the critical mass, training and HR tools
they needed to be successIul. We also struggled with widespread HR data errors and inconsistent responses to
employee questions as a result oI decentralized data entry and customer service."
The challenge was where to start. Did HR operations need more staII? Would training Iix the problems? Should they
outsource at least some oI the group's Iunctions? II so, which ones? How could the data problem be addressed?
Seeking expert help
Borba began by looking Ior an expert partner to help Boehringer Ingelheim create a blueprint Ior change. "When we
started the process, we knew we needed an outside partner. We chose Watson Wyatt because it brought the depth
and experience we needed Ior designing and implementing the project," Borba says.
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Denise LaForte, the lead consultant on the project, says the Watson Wyatt team reviewed HR operations' structure
and processes, including:
O StaII training needs
O Process and inIormation work Ilow
O Roles and responsibilities
O HR technology
The team also interviewed key stakeholders to identiIy critical business issues and the roots oI common errors.
Armed with this inIormation, the Watson Wyatt team presented the company with Iour possible solutions spanning
the spectrum oI centralized/decentralized HR service delivery and HR insourcing/HR outsourcing. A report outlined
the advantages, disadvantages and costs oI each.
Two Iindings in particular led Boehringer Ingelheim to launch HR Direct, a centralized HR services center. First, the
current decentralized HR service system allowed most HR staII little time to support their business partners. Second,
Irequent HR data errors made it diIIicult to provide accurate, timely inIormation to key stakeholders.
In addition, the HR team chose an internal HR service center because it was the best Iit Ior the company's employee-
centric culture. Retaining personal inIormation within the organization was another perceived advantage.
arge-scale change
The scope oI the makeover was considerable. Components included:
O Development oI an HR shared service organizational model
O Clearer deIinition oI roles and responsibilities
O Customer service training
O Supporting HR technology tools
O Process redesign
O Creation oI additional selI-service capabilities
O Comprehensive communication and change management eIIort.
Reshaping HR
The hard work paid oII when HR Direct went live. "Employees like having a single internal contact center to go to
Ior answers about payroll, salary increases, beneIits questions, and policies and procedures. The new knowledge
base means the inIormation and answers they receive are consistent across the company, and their HR data are
accurate," Borba says.
Even more important, "creating HR Direct reshaped how HR is delivered, allowing us to Iocus on the business. It
has Ireed the HR business partners to shiIt Irom administrative/transactional work to organizational development,
talent management and change leadership," Borba says.
The shiIt is also saving Boehringer Ingelheim money. The company estimates it will save nearly $1 million annually
Irom restructuring corporate services in a major business unit, a circumstance made possible by the introduction oI
HR Direct.
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Expansion oI HR Direct services seems likely. "As HR moves toward a more strategic role, I anticipate HR Direct
will pick up even more complex issues and questions to allow HR business partners to Iocus on supporting the
business," Borba says.
Sage advice
ReIlecting on the project, Borba says, "I've been in HR Ior more than twenty-Iive years and have high expectations
oI what should be delivered. This is a classic example oI a project that worked really well. It`s become a model in
the organization Ior the way projects should be run," she says
Advice Irom Borba and Troccolo Ior companies considering similar HR service center projects includes:
O Get the right partner. "Make sure you select a consulting partner Ior its experience. This is not a place to cut
costs," Borba says.
O ast a wide net. "Invite multiple partners within the organization to join the project team to make sure you have
broad representation," Borba says.
O $eek skilled HR service center staff. "There's oIten a perception these are entry-level HR jobs; but really the
people in them need to have a deep understanding oI beneIits, compensation, payroll and technology," Troccolo
says.
O !rovide continuous training. "You need to keep service representatives Iresh, trained and abreast oI what's going
on in both the HR organization and the company," Troccolo says.
O easure. "Set up and monitor metrics on an ongoing basis. We developed service-level agreements to set
expectations around metrics such as call volume and call response time," Borba says.