An international retail group based in Germany commissioned the HR Interim Manager as project manager for the task of creating the structures for an HR Shared Service Center. He was also tasked with selecting an integrated system solution for international HR requirements and overseeing its introduction. A concept was to be developed for the digitization of personnel files. The search for a suitable service provider rounded off the requirements.
Basic concept for the shared service center
The retail group is represented at 8 locations in Germany with 13 subsidiaries and employs around 3,000 people. In a first step, the shared service center structure was to administratively integrate the companies' payroll accounting and time management systems. Around 2/3 of all employees were employed or administered within a radius of 10 kilometers around the company headquarters.
Since the capacities and qualifications for payroll accounting and time management were sufficiently available, it made sense to locate the SSC within this radius as well.
More effective and leaner processes in the HR SSC led to the planned capacity improvements. This enabled the tasks of the locations to be integrated in a capacity-neutral manner.
The organizational structure of the Group consisted of independent companies under company law. In order to give the "Service Center" business unit appropriate significance, it was assigned to the holding company in the legal form of a GmbH. The HR Interim Manager coordinated all commercial, corporate and employment law tasks in connection with the establishment of the company.
Selecting and implementing a system solution for the HR SSC
The 13 subsidiaries in Germany were predominantly company acquisitions made by the group in recent years. As a result, the system landscape as a whole and in the HR area was heterogeneous. It was therefore necessary to find a system solution that could meet all the future challenges of a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) and a Human Resources Management System (HRMS). This system should also be able to transfer the data from a total of 8 different systems with economically and technically manageable effort.
The personnel file in digital form
In order to significantly reduce the administrative effort in the HR department, it was decided to only keep personnel files in digital form in future. After a careful selection process, the HR interim manager found a system solution that could be used to map the digitalization in compliance with requirements and data protection regulations. At the same time, he developed the structure of the digital personnel file internally in workshops.
Legal issues and cooperation with the works council
The interim project manager was also awarded this contract because knowledge of employment law and experience in negotiations with works councils are among the key aspects of his professional development.
The requirements for this task were extensive. First of all, all the works councils concerned had to be involved in the manufacturers' presentations. Once a manufacturer had been selected, negotiations on a works agreement pursuant to Section 87 (1) No. 6 began immediately.
For the shared service center to be created, a regulatory landscape had to be developed with the transitional works council that did not put employees in a worse position than before. In addition, contracts for commissioned data processing had to be concluded between the service center company and the Group subsidiaries in cooperation with the data protection officer.
