Every month we “shine a light” on one Shared Intelligence member, by asking them a series of questions in order to share their background, insight and experiences with the Shared Intelligence community. This month meet Rachel Jones, Procurement Product Team Leader, Monash University. For more information, please visit www.sharedintelligence.com.

2. Q&A with:
Rachel Jones,
Procurement Product Team Leader,
Monash University
Rachel and her son, Liam at Times Square –
one of her favourite places.

3. What’s your shared services background?
e.g. What is your role within your SSC? How long have you
worked in shared services? What type of centre do you work
in (Captive, Hybrid, Outsourced)?
“I have been working in my SSC since Feb 2011. I work within
Procurement to Payment Services as a Team Leader.
My team look after ALL the procurement
needs for our Science/Engineering/Faculty
of IT Schools throughout Monash University.
We are Captive.”
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4. How long have you been working in shared
services and what was your path into
the industry?
“I started at Monash
University in Apr 2005.
Monash University moved
their Finance & HR over to
a shared services model in
2011.”
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5. What has been your biggest challenge in
your shared services career and how did
you overcome it?
“The biggest challenge has been getting
the buy-in from our academics and heads
of departments who did not want to let go
of the old ways. 5 years down the track we
still have some who are trying to hold onto
the old.”
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6. What has been your biggest challenge in
your shared services career and how did
you overcome it?
“Showing them the benefits from a cost saving perspective
and staff resource, the buying power a centralized service
lends, as well as removing the admin side of purchasing
away from the academic/researcher/student to free them
up to concentrate on their research has been how we have
been able to get them to buy in.”
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7. What is the best aspect of your role/what
do you enjoy most about it?
“There are so many parts to my role that I enjoy: being
able to support our academics/researchers/students
that leads to breakthroughs with their research; seeing
my team grow with confidence in their own abilities to
source high-end items; the confidence in the team
being able to show the “added valued”
they bring to the team.”
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8. What is your shared services centre’s
biggest achievement and how did you get
there?
“Our biggest achievement would be that we have reduced
the number of paper-based requisitions that have been
coming from some of our schools, and streamlining them
into our purchasing tools. This has reduced the amount of
complaints or requisitions taking too long to be acted on
or getting lost on their way to the P2P team.”
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9. What are your three main goals
for the next 12 months?
“Moving the team to a new office - this is a big step as my
team are the only team still on campus and we will be
moving to a new shared services building off campus.
Getting ALL our stakeholders/clients to use our
electronic purchasing tools. Finding better ways to
improve the procurement experience for my staff as well
as my stakeholders/clients.”
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10. What motivates you and keeps you
engaged in your role?
“I love my job, it’s really that simple. I feel that my manager
values my work and I value my team, and the daily challenges
they present as well as the complexity of the different types
of purchasing we do on a daily basis.”
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11. What advice would you give
to someone who is just starting on their company’s
shared services journey, or to someone who is just
starting their shared services career?
“Be open to new concepts, ideas and thinking.
Also don’t be afraid to speak up, it’s usually
the unspoken idea that was the great idea.”
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12. If you could choose anyone in the world
to work with in your current role, who
would that person be and why?
“Sir Richard Branson is someone I
would love to work with, he is an
innovative thinker who likes to push
the boundaries, and not afraid to try
something new, and if it bombs great,
that’s another learning experience.”
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13. You’ve reached the end of this Q&A!
We hope you’ve found it both
informative and inspiring.
Check back in a month for another Q&A
with our featured Shared Intelligence member!