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Transcript:

Keith Kirkpatrick: Welcome to another episode of the Futurum Tech podcast. I’m your host, Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director, Enterprise Applications with The Futurum Group. Today I’ll be speaking with a representative from Centric, which specializes in SAP based Solutions for HR Departments, Audit and Compliance, and today’s topic HR document processes. Now documents are central to almost all HR processes. Think of job applications, CVs, sick notes, references, promotions, and all the payroll related documents like payslips or salary increases. So if you work with SAP HCM, or SAP SuccessFactors, Centric has all the tools to complete your HR digitization. In fact, they’re so successful, SAP has recognized them as a Spotlight app. Which means that they’re among the top 2% of the most successful apps within the SAP store. Now, Philipp Robbes is a sales manager at Centric, and he’s here to talk with us today about the importance of fully digitized document processes. Welcome, Philip.

Philipp Robbes: Hello. Thanks for having me.

Keith Kirkpatrick: So Philip, maybe we can start out by talking about how the landscape of human resources has evolved in recent times.

Philipp Robbes: Well, the world and business environments are in a constant state of flux. HR departments are now tasked with doing more with fewer resources. They need to swiftly onboard new talents to align with evolving business needs, provide actionable analytics, and simultaneously streamline their routine tasks. Employee expectations has also shifted with a greater emphasis on convenience, user-friendliness, and engagement. Digitization through platforms like SAP SuccessFactors has emerged as a solution enabling self-services, analytics, or streamlined recruiting and onboarding processes. Yet recurrent feedback is the absence of a unified Employee File in SuccessFactors.

Keith Kirkpatrick: So Philip, why is the absence of a unified file a concern? Can you perhaps delve a little bit deeper into this gap and the implications on HR processes?

Philipp Robbes: Certainly. While SuccessFactors is comprehensive, it doesn’t offer centralized employee files. Essential documents, be it recruitment documents, onboarding materials, photos, or certificates are dispersed across various modules. An executive described SuccessFactors as a black hole, emphasizing the time-consuming nature of retrieving information from safe documents. Such fragmentation not only disrupts HR operations, but also consumes precious time.

Keith Kirkpatrick: I’m wondering if you could highlight some specific gaps within SuccessFactors that Employee File or other Centric solutions seeks to address?

Philipp Robbes: Of course, prominent gaps are the absence of consolidated space for recruitment documents like CVs or other documents submitted by the employees during onboarding. Employee File fills these voids, centralizing all employee related documents, ensuring they’re both accessible and organized. In addition to that, companies have a huge issue with the creation of HR documents. Most people work with Microsoft Word, for example, to create a pay raise notification. Creating documents in your SAP HCM system or in SuccessFactors is really not a pleasant experience. With our tool Document Builder, we offer a solution where HR professionals can use Microsoft Word to design templates as they’re used to. But these documents are automatically integrated into your SuccessFactors processes and data.

Keith Kirkpatrick: So Philip, why is the centralized file pivotal for seamless and automated HR operations? So how do these tools like employee file and Document Builder really enhance this?

Philipp Robbes: Streamlined HR operations are the bedrock of efficiency and precision. Fragmented systems amplify the risk of errors, delays and miscommunication. Employee File serves as the nucleus connecting all HR processes from recruitment to off-boarding, ensuring automation and speed. And Document Builder is the tool where you create all new documents so they’re automatically part of a workflow. Information from your master data, such as names, dates, or numbers are automatically integrated in the word-based document template. This can be triggered by events in SuccessFactors, such as a promotion, a change in working hours, or a long-term leave for example, people who need to review or to sign a document get notifications. The process runs smoothly since everybody gets all the tasks, the required information, and the related document right on the screen. You have a fully integrated process not only to keep, but as well as to create the documents you need. And then there’s the issue of usability. People really need tools that are easy to use. If you want to offer a seamlessly integrated digital processes in HR, the creation of documents should be easy for the user while your solutions take up the task to provide data and to offer workflows, so the documents are reviewed and signed. Compliance and security are issues that customers need to address as well. Our solutions take care of that. For example, deletion periods for documents are automatically taken into account.

Keith Kirkpatrick: So Philip, we understand that there are other alternatives available out there for document management. So how does Employee File set itself apart? Especially when we talk about things like cost.

Philipp Robbes: Well, with other solutions, we are often talking about a huge ECM system, but these are not solutions developed especially for SuccessFactors or HR processes. It’s not easy to solve the issues associated with digitization of HR document processes, that’s why we feel comfortable with our solution. And while other platforms might be exhaustive, they are also expensive. Employee File provides a nimble cloud solution, which is not only cost-efficient but also custom-made for HR processes, particularly for SuccessFactors user. We have a global conglomerates keen on substituting their older, pricier software with our offering. For example, we have a global customer in the chemical industry, which has replaced their old expensive software with our service. Many companies face cost pressures, for example, due to high energy prices or costly raw materials. So it is smart to look for a solution that can do the same or even more than the tools you already have in use. Our solutions scale very well if you really can tailor them to your individual need. You don’t need to buy a whole product suite with a lot of functionality that is never used. We work on a subscription basis, which reduces the initial financial burden on the company. We allow companies to access our solution for a recurring typically smaller fee that provides clarity on costs over time. Companies can easily forecast their expenses and budget accordingly, as they know exactly how much they’ll be spending on a particular service each month or year and they can manage the cashflow more effectively. We also offer the flexibility to scale up or down based on the company’s needs. And if you look into the TCO, a cloud-based service like ours can reduce the needs for in-house IT infrastructure and personnel to maintain and update the system leading to operational savings.

Keith Kirkpatrick: So now, Philip, IT projects they’re not without some kind of risks out there. So what kind of projects are companies looking at when they decide to use your solutions?

Philipp Robbes: Our goal is to have short and safe project implementations. We therefore use checklists and standardized project plans. We have a consulting team that specializes in the implementation of our solutions in SAP environments, and thus we can roll out Employee File productively in two months. Furthermore, we benefit from an international partner network.

Keith Kirkpatrick: Wow, two months is really impressive. Now one thing though you mentioned is that you do support a global network. One of the issues that often comes up is the issue of multilingual support and that can be a challenge for companies that are expanding globally. How does Employee File cater to these diverse HR requirements across different regions?

Philipp Robbes: Our effort is in discerning the distinct HR challenges of each region and tailoring our solution. While the core features remain uniform, Employee File is versatile enough to accommodate region specific HR needs. A testament to our multilingual prowess is our collaboration with Vitra, a prestigious Swiss furniture design firm, where we implemented not just English and German, but also integrate languages like Finnish, Hungarian, and even Japanese.

Keith Kirkpatrick: Wow. So, Phil, who stands to gain the most from integrating tools like Employee File or Document Builder into their HR software suite?

Philipp Robbes: Solutions like Employee File and Document Builder are a boon for all SuccessFactors users. However, it’s particularly beneficial for HIU business partners, HR shared service centers, HR digitization teams, HR IT coordinators, as well as in-house SuccessFactors admins and consultants. These professionals grapple with the nuances of HR processes daily and will instantly appreciate the streamlined operations this solution introduce.

Keith Kirkpatrick: Well, thank you, Philip. Allow us to finish up with one last question. The software industry is really fast moving. How does Centric ensure investment security?

Philipp Robbes: Well, first of all, Centric is a well-known and financially stable provider of high quality software products and services. In addition, Centric relies on the SAP business technology platform for the development and provision of the solution discussed here. The BTP is the strategic SAP cloud platform, which is why it is used by numerous customers worldwide. Accordingly, the complete operation and monitoring is performed by SAP in modern hyperscalers. As a build partner, we are also closely aligned with SAP in terms of the roadmap, and we are working on a future-oriented topic such as AI-based intelligent document classification, which is already available as a beta product.

Keith Kirkpatrick: Well, Philip, it looks like we’ve reached the end of our time together. I really want to thank you for sharing your expertise with us today. Your insights have been incredibly valuable and insightful.

Philipp Robbes: Thank you very much for having me, it was a pleasure. And to all listeners, please feel free to reach out if you would like to learn more. I look forward to further interesting discussions.

Keith Kirkpatrick: All right, well everybody please hit that subscribe button and join us here for all of the episodes of Futurum Tech Podcast and our interview series with so many insightful leaders from across the technology industry. Thank you very much and we’ll see you all really soon.