The client had acquired sales and production sites in northern and eastern Germany with employees in seed production as part of an acquisition. The acquisition was a strategic addition to the existing product portfolio. The company employs around 28,000 people worldwide, including 3,000 in Germany and Switzerland. Within twelve months, the task was to ensure the transfer of operations, the reorganization and the harmonization and integration of HR processes.
As part of the international M&A integration team, it was the task of the HR interim manager to plan the HR-relevant project part for Germany and to implement it on time according to the business requirements. He was particularly interested in stakeholder management within the M&A team and the coordination of decision-making processes between global and local business management. Managing the coordination and implementation process between the HR business partner and the HR shared service organization was also a substantial part of the project management.
Another challenge of the interim mandate was adapting the HR processes to the new HR shared service process landscape. In addition to fulfilling the requirements of employment law and data protection law, the technical HR system requirements also had to be created together with the employee representatives. This included ensuring that the HR data was migrated in high quality and negotiating corresponding agreements.
Employee empowerment
With the integration into the absorbing HR business and service model, employees and managers had to be empowered to understand and apply the new company and HR guidelines as well as the employee self-service systems. The change to an outsourcing and HR shared service environment was planned and implemented in the project through appropriate communication, employee presentations, service hotlines and training.
The HR Interim Manager was able to make a significant contribution to the success of the project. The company also benefited from the coaching of the permanent employees.
