BackHow a Global Manufacturing Company Transformed Its Human Capital Management Through SAP SuccessFactors
Industry frontrunners look after their people, understanding the workforce’s vital role in driving success. However, as businesses become more successful and grow, the challenge of managing people intensifies. The nature of the modern workforce can exasperate these challenges as there is no longer a standard due to the rise of flexible working and the rapidly changing nature of the skills of success.
To be able to manage a growing workforce across locations, countries and continents with consistency and care, large enterprises need a strategic approach to Human Capital Management (HCM). The result is individuals reaching their potential, teams smashing their targets, and people-centered optimization across the workforce. SAP SuccessFactors provides large enterprises with the technology to strategize their HCM on a wide scale. For example, one of our clients is a global manufacturing company and we have been able to transform their Human Capital Management for greater business outcomes.
The Requirements of Change in HCM
A key stage of any successful migration is to establish client requirements, as in their vision of the project, and system requirements, as in the technical necessities of viable migration. So, as part of the planning process, we made sure to gather requirements from different stakeholders to garner a breadth and depth of information about what needed to be possible with the new HCM system. Over 10 integrations, some of which requiring third-party integration solutions, were identified as necessary for the vision of the people management system. It was also decided that their site would be rebranded so that it could be utilized as the home of human resources support.
Migrations of this nature are a technical challenge. As HR systems are very much in use on a day-to-day basis, especially with a workforce of such size and scale, it was vital to ensure a smooth transfer of data from the legacy system with seamless integration to the new system built with new technology. In order to ease the transition between the old and new systems, data cleansing and mapping were required. Many of their current processes were still manual so key complexities needed to be mapped in order to be compatible with SuccessFactor’s automation-based system. After running functional and technical testing, we identified multiple potential test scenarios that would align with the established requirements.
Building a Large Enterprise HCM with SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors was selected to automate the entire human resources lifecycle and give internal stakeholders a one-stop shop for all their HR needs. It was chosen because it has the capability to transform manual processes into an advanced automated HR solution due to SAP’s pioneering approach of HXM or human experience management. They take HCM one step further to center HR systems around the people they are meant to serve, prioritizing employee workstyles, needs and motivations.
This client’s system was built on the foundation of S/4 HANA to support multiple integrations within the SAP product base and with third parties. The SuccessFactors modules that were the building blocks of this client’s HCM included:
- Employee Central – A human resources information system (HRIS) software that meets company needs and employee expectations
- Performance and Goals – A performance management tool that focuses on continuous development and open dialogue
- Onboarding – An onboarding management system that provides a seamless employee experience from day one
- Recruiting – A solution for marketing jobs in a way that attracts top talent
- Compensation – An intuitive software for compensation programs
- Time and Attendance Management (TAM) – A tool for managing work schedules, time tracking and absences
- DocuSign Integration – An effective solution to enable online e-signatures during the recruiting and onboarding process
The Result of Optimized HCM with SAP SuccessFactors
Their customized SuccessFactors system transformed the way they were able to drive progress across the workforce. It gave them the capability to launch online performance and goal tracking from end-to-end of the employee lifecycle. This meant that they were collecting continuous feedback about people management. Such vital data continues to inform ongoing optimization. The new system itself was an upgrade in efficiency as it unclogged blockages in standard employee processes.
For example, by setting up an automation with JIRA, offboarding activities are automated such as raising a ticket informing the respective team of salary end dates. Then, due to establishing a single source of truth and unlocking a flow of information, the process of filling the vacancy can begin. The baton is relayed between the Position Management Tool where a vacancy is notified, the Recruitment module where the process of finding a new candidate is handled, and the Onboarding module where the new hire begins their transition into the workforce.
There is no time wasted on manual tasks as DocuSign is used to e-sign employee contracts and policy documents. As the employee is set up on the system, there’s an automated replication of the employee mini master, along with ADP payroll, Benefitfocus, and TAM. As well as instantaneous information consistency, branding is consistent across the internal site and the social media branding used for recruitment marketing, improving external messaging.
NTT DATA: Your HCM and SuccessFactors Partnership
We were able to achieve tangible benefits to changing the HCM for this client because of the experience and expertise our team has built both in SAP products and the HR sector. We have a unique perspective on how to meet people’s problems with technological solutions. The support of experienced SAP SuccessFactors consultants who possess a deep understanding of the solution is critical to setting up an HCM system that is of value to the workforce. With our background, we can share industry-leading practices and suggest process improvements that the system offers.
Our experience has shown us that it’s not just about getting the technology right. How the technology is implemented matters too. We use proactive change management strategies including user training programs and ongoing support post-adoption to ensure technology not only elevates current processes but also supports uptake which is essential to achieve ROI.
We are committed to our clients so we regularly assess the system’s performance, gather feedback, and make necessary improvements to optimize the user experience during and after Hypercare to ensure long-term system stability. This is possible through the JIRA management tool which we use to track all UAT defects and Go Live and Hypercare observations until testing has led to a resolution and closure of issues. We are aware of how rapidly the technology sphere changes so in the future we will look at major feature enhancements and suggest changes to the client to further enhance the system.
