The client in this interim mandate was a company in the specialty plastics industry. It had been separated from the parent company and sold as part of a strategic portfolio optimization. The new company employs more than 3,800 people in more than 20 countries. The transition service agreements (TSA) concluded with the former parent company during the carve-out provided for process and IT support for the former parent company for a maximum of 24 months.
Selecting and introducing a future-proof HR information system
The interim manager's task was to develop a future-oriented strategy for a human resources information system (HRIS strategy) for the young company. In addition, he was to support the process from the necessary Requests for Proposal to the conclusion of the contract and plan the implementation within 18 months.
Maturity levels of the complex HR processes that had grown over the years
One of the particular challenges of this project was that the HR processes and systems of the new company were still controlled by the former parent company due to the TSA. When analyzing the current maturity levels of these processes, the interim manager identified a high level of process complexity in the HR end-to-end process. This was exacerbated by a low level of standardization. Furthermore, the HR IT landscape had grown over the years. The result: a large number of different systems, some of which had been developed in-house, with numerous interfaces and dependencies.
The goal of replacing all HR processes and systems with in-house solutions was defined in prioritization workshops. The result of the joint scoping exercise was to start with the main countries of Germany, the USA and China in phase 1. The remaining countries (rest of the world) were to follow in a second phase.
Cloud-based SAP solution selected as the leading global system
The cornerstones of the HRIS strategy were defined in further management workshops. Following the principle of "HR leads - IT follows", the interim manager clustered the projects into global, globally harmonized and regional processes to harmonize the HR system and process landscape. For each process, it was determined whether it should be supported by a central or local system. The workshops and individual discussions ultimately led to the target image of a cloud-based HRIS strategy that followed the principle "Only employees recorded in the Global Cloud get their salary". The leading system (system of record) was to be the cloud-based solution. All country-specific systems (in particular payroll) were to use this system.
The software solutions Successfactors and Workday were available for the implementation of the cloud-based solution. The German and Chinese payroll systems were already running on SAP on premise in-house systems (SAP HANA) at the former parent company. They were to be migrated to SAP Human Captial Management (SAP HCM) at a provider and outsourced.
The current TSA costs were compared with the "Smooth HR process improvement" and "Determined HR process improvement" options as part of the business case created for this. Weighing up the pros and cons and the associated costs led to the decision to introduce Successfactors as a cloud solution and to integrate the SAP system for Germany and China, which had been outsourced to a provider, into the cloud.
Requirements specification created for the integration of SAP HANA and Successfactors
After the decision in favor of the operating model, the interim manager worked closely with the client's procurement department to support the Requests for Proposal phase for Successfactors and SAP Payroll (Germany and China). In particular, the consultant was responsible for drawing up the specifications in close coordination with the client's IT department. The interim manager weighted the statements of work from the providers involved using a catalog of criteria developed specifically for the client. Three ideal candidates were invited to give presentations. Finally, the contracts for a total of around EUR 3 million for the implementation (2020) were concluded on schedule with a Successfactors implementation partner and an SAP payroll provider.
Successful project completion with independent HRIS
The successful completion of the project for the global HRIS strategy following a carve-out has ensured a holistic HR management solution for the new company. It now has efficient processes, a powerful HR IT system and a lean HR organization. At the same time, the new company has quickly become independent of the parent company.
