Shared services vision 4.0: from back office to strategic enabler

Across the sector, shared services have become the default operating model for trusts. But while many trusts have centralised functions such as finance, HR, estates and IT, leaders increasingly want to be confident that their shared services are genuinely adding strategic value , not just simply keeping the organisation running.

At CJK, we increasingly see trusts asking a different question: "How do we shift from managing problems to enabling performance?"

This is the challenge that CJK Shared Services Vision 4.0 seeks to address.

Why many trusts are ready for the next step

Most trusts can recognise themselves somewhere on a maturity journey. In the early stages, shared services tend to be informal or transactional — focused on compliance, firefighting and individual relationships. As trusts grow, services become more centralised and professionalised, but often at the cost of transparency, consistency and trust from schools.

A common pattern emerges:

• Services exist, but the offer isn’t clearly defined

• Expectations vary from school to school

• Performance is measured through activity, not impact

• Central teams are seen as “back office” rather than partners

  
  

Over time, this creates friction, misunderstanding, and missed opportunities to use operational strength to support educational priorities.

What does leading practice look like?

The CJK Shared Services 4.0 model reframes shared services as a strategic enabler of educational excellence, not just an efficiency mechanism.

At its core is a simple but powerful vision: the trust operates as one organisation with many schools, underpinned by mature, user-centred shared services that combine functional excellence with local responsiveness.

Leading practice trusts share several defining features.

1. Functionally strong, strategically aligned services

Finance, People, Estates and IT are each led by senior professionals with clear trust-wide accountability. These functions don’t just deliver transactions — they provide insight, foresight and strategic capability.

• Finance supports value creation through data, forecasting and asset strategy

• People functions focus on talent, leadership, culture and workforce sustainability

• Estates moves beyond compliance into proactive lifecycle and sustainability planning

• IT and Digital create secure, cloud-based environments that reduce admin and enable innovation and learning.

  
  

2. A “Team Around the School” model

Rather than schools navigating multiple disconnected teams, each school (or hub) is supported by a co-ordinated, cross-functional team. This group works with Headteachers to anticipate needs, solve problems early, and plan effectively.

Crucially, service leads retain functional accountability but are also connected to Education Directors, creating a direct feedback loop between operational delivery and school experience

The result is:

• A single, joined-up support interface

• Clear accountability across functions

• Local agility within a trust-wide framework

  
  

3. Performance measured by experience and outcomes

In mature models, performance is not judged solely by speed or volume. Instead, trusts use a combination of:

• Service catalogues to define the offer

• SLAs to set clear service standards

• KPIs to monitor performance

• XLAs to understand whether services are actually helping leaders succeed

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This shift — from “Was it done on time?” to “How easy was it for a Head to get what they needed?” — is a defining feature of the CJK Shared Services Vision 4.0.

4. A culture of partnership and continuous improvement

Perhaps most importantly, leading practice trusts treat shared services as partners in improvement, not enforcers of compliance. Central teams and schools share ownership of outcomes, supported by professional communities of practice and continuous learning.

Shared services stop being something done to schools, and become something done with them.

A maturity journey, not a single model

The Vision 4.0 framework recognises that trusts move through distinct stages — from foundational, to developing, to embedded, and finally to leading practice. Each stage has different characteristics in terms of scope, definition, performance, systems and support.

The goal isn’t to rush to the end state, but to understand where you are now, identify what’s holding you back, and take deliberate steps forward.

Why this matters now

With growing financial pressure, rising complexity, and increasing expectations on trust leaders, the question is no longer whether to centralise — but how well shared services are designed, understood and led.

Shared Services 4.0 offers a way to move beyond “coping” models and towards operating models that are:

• Strategically aligned

• Scalable

• Data-informed

• And genuinely supportive of educational excellence

  
  

For trusts ready to take that next step, the opportunity is significant.

If you’re reflecting on the maturity of your own shared services model, or thinking about how to move from reactive delivery to a more strategic, future-focused approach, we’d be very happy to help.

At CJK, we work with trusts at every stage of their shared services journey, supporting reviews, redesign and practical implementation. If you’d like to explore what this could look like for your trust, please get in touch: sophiehill@cjkassociates.co.