The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is in the midst of an incredibly exciting and progressive programme. One that will benefit all of our staff and help make their work lives easier. It’s called the Future of Shared Services (FoSS).
We’re streamlining all of those day-to-day activities that take time away from our staff such as accessing personal, financial and HR data and putting it into one easy-to-manage system. That way all people working for the MCA can focus on the critical work of saving lives at sea.
The FoSS programme is going to revolutionise how our organisation and our people work by tackling those time-consuming, mundane everyday tasks with a brand-new smart platform.
What is Future of Shared Services (FoSS) and how will it work?
A massive upgrade and improvement on our current shared services system, the Future of Shared Services (FoSS) programme will make activities such as buying products and services, paying suppliers, viewing payslips and claiming expenses more streamlined and available via a mobile app.
FoSS follows three key principals; Standardisation, Automation and Simplification. It offers a wide-range of products at the leading-edge of technology, including: Artificial Intelligence; data visualisation tools and predictive analytics. These will offer valuable insights into the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s current ways of working, so that we can understand where to improve to meet our business goals.
The FoSS programme is being rolled out across the entire Department for Transport Family. It will be incredibly valuable to our departments in creating one simple and easy-to-follow approach to those administrative tasks that affect all of our staff. But where the FoSS programme shows its true value is in being able to adapt to the individual needs of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s diverse operational needs.
What’s it like to work on FoSS?
Athena Alevizopoulos is an HR Project Support Manager on MCA’s FoSS programme.
Athena, tell us a bit about what an average working day looks like for you.
No two days are the same! One day I could be assessing how the project will affect the MCA’s processes and policy and the next I can be testing the new systems we are introducing.
What is your background and how has this helped you in your current role on the FoSS programme?
I have a level 5 CIPD and my background is predominately in HR with some internal audit, compliance and quality thrown in. My first role in the MCA was as a Resourcing Advisor for change and transformation programmes, this enabled me to interact with lots of different areas within the Agency, building strong relationships with a variety of stakeholders. At my previous company I was the HR Manager and had responsibility for all HR-related processes, ensuring compliance to GDPR and ISO 9001:2015. This has led me to develop strong organisation and attention to detail skills and the ability to question everything – vital to the work I am currently doing!
What kind of projects do you have coming up?
My team are currently auditing all of our HR personnel files to transition to the new system – a huge undertaking as some of them were compiled using a typewriter in the ’80’s!
