Business service sectors have been a recognizable subset of broader economic services, and share many of the characteristics. However, the key difference is that firms are primarily concerned with the construction of specific service systems to provide value to their clients and to behave in the roles of both service consumers and service providers. There is some overlap, but this is the essence of the differentiation. Service industries construct and operate infrastructure, maintain the operation of customer relationships, and act as intermediaries between suppliers and customers.
Today there is an increasing demand for consulting services as firms realize the need for training and development. There has been a parallel growth in cross-functional skills development at every organizational level. A major challenge facing most organizations today is how to develop the skills of staff that are required to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing environment. The growing need for technology integration has led to the development of new concepts such as Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma that require training and certification in order to implement effectively in every organization. Certification in many sectors such as call centre support and sales and marketing ensures improved competency by professionals.
Consulting and training services can help organizations to build a culture that develops soft skills, facilitates problem-solving and facilitates teamwork. A business services company may be small or large, but the principle goal is the same – to provide clients with the highest level of customer service, and at the same time reduce the costs associated with customer satisfaction. The need to develop training and certification programs has resulted in the evolution of a plethora of professional certifications. There is a proliferation of professional organizations such as the BCM (Business Services Mark) and The CISA (Certification Improvement Program) that provide certifications in a host of disciplines such as finance, operations, information technology, and customer service. In addition, there are many organizations that offer training courses and soft skills development programs, such as Business Analysts Certification, which ensures proficiency in business analysis and management. Another important certification is the MCSE ( Microsoft Certified Systems) which requires passing a set of exams.
The banking example illustrates the principle of business process improvement. It shows how small changes can translate into large changes in business processes and consequently, to superior performance. Although most banks follow a traditional business process approach to financial transactions, which includes the process of clearing transactions, settlement of debts and loan repayment, a number of them have also introduced an innovation strategy that focuses on developing business capabilities that go beyond the conventional activities. For instance, many banks have adopted an integrated management system that aims to combine core business processes such as bill processing, risk management, reconciliation, and cash management. The main objective of this strategy is to improve customer outcomes, as well as increase efficiency.
Similarly, all organizations involved in healthcare must first define services they wish to provide before developing any business capabilities. The healthcare industry has developed certain specific business processes, such as coordinating medical records, quality management, billing, physician information management, and patient information management. These must first be defined according to the scope of the business.
Another aspect that involves defining services is consulting services. In case of consulting services, several different types of expertise could be brought to bear, depending on the nature of the project. For instance, there are service design, technical support, information technology support, and accounting support. All these different types of expertise must first be defined according to the nature of projects.
Most business processes involve activities that involve human interaction, and business service professionals could help in aligning these activities with these requirements. For instance, a human resource management service provides assistance in recruiting, hiring, training and developing employees. On the other hand, it would be impossible for an IT project manager to hire and train new computer software engineers. Hence, hiring these professionals may prove to be a time-consuming affair. On the other hand, if you hire business process consulting services, you can just delegate the tasks to them and let them do their job. This way, you do not have to spend your time trying to identify the right people to hire, training them, and so on.
Business process consulting services may seem to be expensive. However, if every organization would require these services at one point of time, it would cost a lot more than hiring software services from the start, and would also prove to be less time consuming. Thus, if you have any plans to improve your business, you should consider hiring professional consultancies to provide these services.
