Everything about the Jaguar Land Rover brand is premium, from the company’s iconic all-wheel drive vehicles to its luxury sports cars. Now this U.K.-based automotive manufacturer has the human resources (HR) software to match its hugely ambitious vision of transforming the company to better serve approximately 39,000 employees in 24 countries.
After implementing SAP SuccessFactors Talent Management and SAP SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics and Planning, Jaguar Land Rover recently won the SuccessFactors HR Excellence President’s Award. Naomi Heer, head of People Strategy at Jaguar Land Rover, described how the SAP SuccessFactors’ human theme resonated at the recent SuccessConnect Vienna event.
“We strive to be premium in everything we do, encompassing the experiences of both our customers and employees,” she said. “The human theme that SAP SuccessFactors has adopted reflects what we see as a transformation of the heart for the HR function at Jaguar Land Rover. People are very committed here to genuinely give more as we act on our passion for our premium products. This wasn’t just about switching software systems or technology making life easier. It was really about transforming to give more to the business.”
HR Transformation Pays Off
Heer credits top-down sponsorship as well as strong collaboration between the C-Suite, HR and IT teams with Jaguar Land Rover’s transformation. Automated efficiency is delivering measurable outcomes to the company. For example, the company has reduced time-to-hire from 80 to 50 business days, a 46 percent acceleration.
“Our CEO believes that people are our business, and HR has a major role to play in that strategy, ensuring we have great people working exceptionally well together, giving their best. HR couldn’t deliver the people solutions without having technology like SAP SuccessFactors,” said Farida Lockhat, IT Program Manager at Jaguar Land Rover.
Decision-makers at every leading company know data is power, and Jaguar Land Rover is no exception. Consolidating and integrating applications and data has allowed HR to more efficiently manage the entire employee life cycle from recruiting through development. “We now have all of our master data in one place, and we can use it for continuous improvement and strategic decision-making,” said Lockhat.”
The strategy has transformed HR itself, reducing that department’s project workforce profile by 20 percent despite company growth. HR expects further decreases to reach 26 percent by 2020 while generating a positive return on investment within four years. The overarching objective is to continue making HR strategic to the business.
“SAP SuccessFactors has helped us free HR from standardized administrative processes,” said Heer. “These solutions have been pivotal in enabling us to support the company’s growth strategy, deepening our relationship with the business to bring in the niche talent skills we need.”
Consumer-Like Experience for Employees
Centralizing HR services and applications on one cloud-based platform provides employees with a seamless, consistent experience similar to everyday life – something that the next generation of workers demands. It’s particularly important for Jaguar Land Rover as a company on the cutting edge of innovations like connected and electric cars. New-hires are immediately productive from the first day of employment with the right equipment and information and access to do their jobs.
“Our recruiting, onboarding, development and retention strategies have to attract and keep people with the non-traditional engineering skill sets we need for the company’s advancement,” said Heer. “Tasks like changing your address, completing your performance review, accessing training and collaborating with peers have to be as painless as using the technologies you’re familiar with as a consumer.”
Heer also mentioned the SAP SuccessFactors commitment to diversity, specifically women in leadership, which was another prominent track at the SuccessConnect Vienna event. “We are very passionate about how women are leading change within our organization,” she said. “We want to encourage more women to enter the automotive industry, and SAP Successfactors software can help us continue building that diverse skill set across our workforce.”
Lessons Learned
Lockhat advised companies in transformational mode to adopt a bigger picture view, moving beyond individual technologies to connect with the integrated vision of the organization. Moving forward, there are plans to expand access to self-service HR processes for employees, driving even greater efficiencies, as well as advanced, personalized talent solutions to bring in the best people for the business.
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