NGA’s Broadening Offerings

Liz Rennie, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall

Last week we attended the Advisor & Analyst Summit with NGA where CEO Adel Al-Saleh presented the highlights for FY2013 (up to 30 April 2013) and described the company as an “IP-led HR services company.” Focus was given to the company’s ability to support global payrolls, whatever the HRIS platform, as NGA supports multiple platforms such as Workday, SuccessFactors, PeopleSoft, Oracle and SAP. Further, NGA announced that BPO agreements are in place with all the above-mentioned technology companies.

NGA serves all size companies and is particularly focused on global enterprise clients. Multi-country BPO HR/payroll is where NGA sees growth. Over the last year NGA experienced flat revenues, the downturn in the consulting was cited as the main reason; however, EBITDA was up by 8.6% to $157m. Workforce administration and global payroll were cited as areas which were experiencing growth. A “sweet-spot” client would be a client who wants its IT to be managed and requires service components for HR administration and/or payroll.

New wins and renewals for FY 2013 were cited as Aer Lingus (Irish HRO client based on ResourceLink), Textron (PeopleSoft renewal), Pirelli (40 countries in scope), State of Texas, McGraw-Hill and Orica.

FY 2014 priorities

• Evolve the client-centric coverage. This means to increase the reporting and visibility of customer satisfaction to drive this higher
• Drive the maturity of global delivery capabilities
• Evolve the transformation consulting services
• Invest and launch key IP platforms, including:
  – Global payroll
  – Service center tools & utilities
  – euHReka – Preceda – ResourceLink – Moorepay
• Increase traction of key partnerships:
  – Workday
  – SuccessFactors-SAP
  – Oracle.

NGA already has more than 8 clients utilizing the Workday platform.

NGA presented its Global Delivery Model, which demonstrates the maturity and scale of NGA’s global delivery, including approximately 1.2k employees in Manila, 1k in Kochi, 100 in Dalian, China, 150 in Katowice, Poland, 500 in Granada, Spain and 200 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These centers have been undergoing a center standardization based on Six Sigma to improve alignment.

NGA’s depth of knowledge is evident in the 8 IP components presented, including its NGA Service Catalogue, Global Statutory Center, ePIM Implementation Methodology, SunEXo (to track payroll status), ScopeHR (to configure scope), Online Reference Guide (for processes and instructions), Global Standard Training and Global Process Framework.

Being an IP-led HR services company, NGA has to clearly articulate the value of the IP to the client and then ensure that the IP roadmap is closely following its client’s needs. Furthermore, increasing technology capability with a broader partner ecosystem could bring further challenges, such as:

• Finding the right technical solution for a client without confusing them; especially where they are simply asking for a service
• When the IP becomes less technology centric, NGA could lose some of the depth of knowledge that is already built into the IP.

NGA continues to be a company that is flexible to the needs of its clients. In this current climate companies need agility in HR solutions, services, prices and (now more than ever) technology. NGA offers a global delivery network that is experienced and always hungry for more business.

Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here

NorthgateArinso’s Secrets of HRO Success in the U.K.

NorthgateArinso (NGA) has had a string of recent competitive HRO contract wins in the U.K. First in November was a seven year contract with the Church of England (16,000 participants), followed by a five year award by Gatwick Airport (3,500 participants). In early December the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) with 3000 participants awarded NGA a five year contract. Each award was for Resource Link Aurora HR and Payroll services, adding to the more than 500 clients already using the service in the U.K.

I had a conversation with NorthgateArinso’s  Jonathan Legdon, Sales Director, and Nick Carlson, Strategic Marketing Director for the U.K. and Ireland to learn more about what is driving success. The answer is not one secret to success, but many that are working together.

NGA is one of the HRO market leaders in the U.K. with reference clients across many verticals in the private and public sectors. Still, there were other worthy competitors bidding for the services, so I wanted to know what else is setting NGA apart.

One secret of success is the sales team structure and environment. (For those of us who go way back in HRO, sales teams were not always the friend of forming client service provider partnerships based on more than price, met expectations and were profitable for the vendor.) The sales team includes a mix of sales and operations personnel and the integrated team can realistically represent NGAs services and strengths and demonstrate the expertise and commitment to client services. Also, NGA uses a unique approach to sales team compensation to incent and reward building client relationships that deliver value for clients and needed margins for NGA.

A reputation for HR expertise and innovative technologies and services that produce results is also important. Gatwick Airport is at the beginning of a ten year transformation plan and it selected NGA as a partner committed to delivering exceptional staff services. Gatwick is also looking to NGA for RPO services that will help attract and engage the highest caliber employees.  The Church of England is planning to use the Resource Link Aurora talent management capabilities to improve the efficiency of the selection and training of clergy. LSHTM wants to eliminate bureaucracy with web-based self-serve that will meet the changing needs of a complex workforce.

Clients recognize that the NGA sales teams take the time to listen and understand their needs.  LSHTM said NGA was the most intuitive bidder and understood the needs of the public sector. Gatwick cited the match of corporate cultures and values. The Church of England selection team said that NorthgateArinso, through its thorough engagement with the team, had demonstrated a very clear understanding of the Church’s requirements.

Focusing on HRO success is a good way to wrap up the year. Happy Holidays on behalf of the NelsonHall HRO Insight team, Gary Bragar, Amy Gurchensky, and Linda Merritt.

Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.