Shared Services Headcount — Evidence-Based Staffing Cases
🎯 Your organisation
- Type: Internal IT/HR/Finance Shared Services
- Business Profile: Cross-charged services, multiple business units, budget cycles
🧩 The Challenge
Headcount asks are often framed qualitatively (“we’re busy”), while CFOs request defensible numbers: cost-to-serve, productivity impact, and where costs originate. Without a common model, budget talks stall.
💬 “Bring me the numbers and the confidence behind them.”
🚀 What DigitalCore Delivers
✅ Tactical Insights (Month to Month)
- Cost-to-serve models allocating service costs to business units and categories
- Scenario views showing KPI shifts under +/− headcount options
- Transparent allocation rules with clear, reviewable assumptions
✅ Strategic Alignment (Quarter to Quarter)
- Decision packs that a CFO will read: one narrative and a handful of charts
- Quarterly learning loop comparing modeled vs. actual to refine next cycle
- Alignment of service objectives with staffing and cross-charge policy
✅ Operational Optimization
- Signals from ticket/workload tools are inputs for monthly/quarterly modeling
- Salary/overhead catalogs and BU mappings maintained as data contracts
🧠 Example: Planning-Cycle Review for a Shared Services Leader
- Open Cost-to-Serve Model
→ View allocations by BU and service category. - Compare Scenarios
→ See modeled KPI changes for +1/−1 FTE per team. - Assemble Decision Pack
→ Export narrative and charts for CFO review. - Track Outcome
→ Quarterly compare model vs. actual to refine assumptions.
🔒 Why Service Desk Leaders Choose DigitalCore
| Challenge | DigitalCore Value |
|---|---|
| Qualitative cases | Defensible cost-to-serve and KPI scenario projections |
| Opaque allocations | Transparent, reviewable allocation model |
| One-off decks | Repeatable decision pack format, not bespoke slides |
| No learning loop | Quarterly variance review improves next cycle |
| Tool confusion | DigitalCore is the strategic layer—not a ticketing tool |
🏁 Business Outcome
From:
Anecdotal headcount requests and stalled budget conversations.
To:
Evidence-based staffing decisions with a clear learning loop.