HomeWorksFinancial ServicesAligning Across the Divide

Aligning Across the Divide Equipping an HR shared services team to serve better, think bigger, and lead across industries

One HR Team, Too Many Expectations

A conglomerate operating in both financial services (consumer lending, insurance) and manufacturing (electronics and automotive parts) had centralized their human resources function into a single shared services team. While cost efficiencies improved, so did complexity. The team was now juggling payroll, employee relations, recruitment support, and reporting for six different business units—with wildly different cultures, KPIs, and compliance needs.

The result? Confusion, internal friction, and misaligned expectations. Line managers in the factories saw HR as rigid and slow. Finance leaders complained about weak succession pipelines. The HR team felt stuck in admin mode—processing forms instead of driving people strategies.

From Centralized to Strategic

Recognizing the urgent need to upskill their HR operations team, the Group’s leadership partnered with Circa Logica Group’s Talent Development unit to roll out a customized HR capability-building program. The goal was simple but ambitious: help the shared services team think strategically, flexibly, and cross-functionally—so they could add value across both business arms without getting buried in reactive tasks.

The program focused on strengthening their role as internal consultants, sharpening their ability to interpret business needs, and enabling them to co-create solutions with functional leaders across manufacturing floors and boardrooms alike.