The global COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the role of HR in governments, enterprises, and organisations. With the current business landscape continuing to evolve, HR is tasked with ensuring that employees are confident in their ability to adapt to remote working, that all business processes are tightly integrated, and that the organisation complies with new regulations while maintaining business continuity. In this article, we put a spotlight on the role of SAP SuccessFactors in HR transformation and take a look at how two ASEAN companies leverage the solution to keep their operations efficient even in a wave of disruption and uncertainty.

During the SAP SEA HR Connect 2021 Panel Discussion titled “Leading the Change – Reinvent HR Experience,” Dr Agapol Na Songkhla, Chief People Officer at Thai Beverage, revealed that making employees feel safe and secure was critical for business continuity. As one of Asia’s largest non-alcohol and alcohol beverage producers, the company employs 40,000 employees, of which only a quarter can feasibly work from home.

“Besides providing insurance and regular testing, the new requirement for human capital is to be able to do precision management when it comes to the well-being of our employees. Information can no longer be one-way, and we need to better understand employee feedback,” Dr Agapol explained.

Thai Beverage’s partnership with SAP dates back to 2016 when it first announced the adoption of SAP SuccessFactors cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) in the company. This has so far enabled executives to monitor and make decisions about human capital through cloud-based solutions including payroll systems, talent management, and HR analytics. With this large-scale project, Thai Beverage implemented the solution not only in its Thai headquarters and subsidiaries but also across its operations globally.

With the ongoing pandemic, Thai Beverage has ensured that employees have virtual access to as much information as possible, including vaccination and COVID-19 test details. Because of its diverse workforce, tasks had to be classified, and assessments of employee safety from various workstations had to be made. Moreover, employees access the information through an SAP SuccessFactors-supported platform which also allows Thai Beverage to communicate with them on a regular basis.

“We are constantly innovating to improve the online experience for our employees,” Dr Agapol emphasised.

Utilising SAP SuccessFactors in HR Transformation

Meanwhile, Kuok Singapore Limited also digitally transformed HR with SAP SuccessFactors to enable growth and deliver business success. With a diverse workforce spread across 17 countries, the company is one of Asia’s most dynamic multinational conglomerates. To manage the changing rules and restrictions imposed by governments in response to the pandemic, Kuok Singapore Chief Human Resources Officer Melissa Kee explained that the company needed to ensure employee safety first then strengthen the resilience of its workforce. 

“One big enabler of this disruption was the acceleration and adoption of technology in the workplace. The next opportunity for many organisations is to take advantage of the crisis and accelerate the workforce into the future of work,” Kee said.

By implementing SAP SuccessFactors, Kuok Singapore improved governance and risk management, adopted efficient processes that are standardised across the group, and now has a single source of truth to drive informed decision-making and planning. Furthermore, Kuok Singapore is also actively tracking the vaccination rate of employees globally with the support of SAP SuccessFactors.

Through the platform, the organisation was able to get employees to provide their vaccination status, according to Kee. Just last month, Singapore-based firm Accredify integrated with SAP SuccessFactors for the advancement of employees’ COVID health credentials verification and to pave the way for businesses to manage workplace health.

“That helps us to make sure the workplace is safe for everybody. If employees are not fully vaccinated, they are not allowed to come back to the office,” Kee disclosed.

The post Thai Beverage, Kuok Singapore Use SAP SuccessFactors in HR Transformation appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Since its huge success in October 2020, SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central has been instrumental in organisations’ effective management of their workforce by streamlining processes through a cloud-based human resources information system (HRIS). By adopting the solution, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad is now one of the numerous customers utilising SAP SuccessFactors to transform and modernise their HR operations in Asia.

In a statement, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd Chief Executive Officer Mohd Muazzam Mohamed said that Bank Islam believes digital transformation increases work productivity and operational efficiencies. He remarked:

“With a network of 144 branches and more than 900 self-service terminals nationwide, the bank’s goal is to attract development and retain the best people to benefit stakeholders and customers.”

He said that modern employees today look forward to a different experience at work. He added that the workforce expects to work as they live in the moment when it comes to technology.

Bank Islam is committed to investing in the latest innovations to help employees gain their fullest potentials, according to Muazzam. One of these technologies is SAP SuccessFactors, a cloud-based HCM solution well known for being on top of the retention and recruitment game, capitalising on expert systems such as artificial intelligence (AI), and re-skilling and training the workforce.

Muazzam maintained:

“With the SAP SuccessFactors cloud-based solution, it empowers the bank to use the various functions that align with business priorities and get immediate commercial value. The solution’s seamless, mobile-friendly user experiences and social collaboration capabilities mean that employees can access information anywhere, anytime.”

Managing HR Operations Through SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central offers an automated approach to handling HR-related processes including time and attendance, global benefits, and payroll specifically localised for 46 countries.

The single global core HR platform leads to better business performance by supporting HR workflows across systems and delivering intelligent services.

Following Bank Negara Malaysia’s risk management in technology (RMiT) policy, an independent multinational professional services network conducted a risk evaluation on the cloud-based solution.

Subsequently, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd manages its HR operations through SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central’s suite of web-based applications upon passing the risk assessment exercise.

“This truly global human resource solution, renowned for being one of the best in the world, empowers our users to access information in a single consolidated view. What’s more, it will be instrumental in attracting, engaging and selecting candidates while retaining and developing existing talent,” Muazzam further said in a statement.

SAP Malaysia Supports Bank Islam’s HCM Efforts

SAP Malaysia Managing Director Hong Kok Cheong explained that Employee Central caters to today’s changing workforce landscape better than traditional, on-premise software because the solution is cloud-based. He said:

“When companies transform their HCM practices and connect their people to the corporate purpose, they can respond with agility to challenges that they face in a secure cloud environment.”

Meanwhile, Bank Islam is currently implementing the SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals Management module that allows employees to update their managers on the activities they are working on and share real-time feedback once completed. Additionally, managers will be able to hold more effective performance check-ins with employees at their convenience.

SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting Module has also been adopted by Bank Islam to match their competitors in sourcing, engaging, and employing the right talent for their organisation. 

“SAP is honoured to be part of Bank Islam’s transformational journey – the first Islamic bank in Malaysia to embrace our solution – which will ultimately take Islamic banking operations to the next level,” Hong said.

The post Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad Adopts SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.