Shared services are centralizing support services into one location, for example, many companies use shared services if they have multiple offices and want to consolidate their finance departments into one, to function for all the offices. Shared services are most often in the finance, marketing, HR, purchasing, inventory, payroll, hiring, or IT departments and can be held in-house or outsourced to a shared service provider. They allow companies to reduce department sizes and streamline tasks and processes, especially repetitive administrative tasks. This way shared services help companies reduce costs and improve service quality. Although, shared services have proven to come with more benefits than just cost savings.

Productivity is a major benefit shown through implementing shared services, as a Deloitte survey showed that 73% of respondents experienced productivity increases of 5% or higher from the previous year. In this article, we will unpack 3 major reasons why using shared services can increase workplace productivity.