Doosan is a multinational conglomerate founded in 1896 with more than 30,000 employees spread across the globe today. The highly diversified manufacturing and service companies operate worldwide, offering services such as electronic components production or logistics equipment manufacturing.
Doosan’s business portfolio consists of diverse industries, including the heavy industry that mainly focuses on power plants generated by fuel, nuclear, or sustainable resources such as solar and wind, the construction equipment industry that is renowned for Bobcat compact tractors and Doosan forklifts, as well as the high-tech industry that includes robotics, electronic components, and network equipment manufacturing.
The goal of the human resources department of Doosan Holdings was to maximize work engagement level. Doosan improved individual employee satisfaction by providing opportunities for self-driven career development. The company provided HR applications for co-growth, both on the employee and corporate side, such as through matching talented employees with appropriate job opportunities across the company. This transparency allowed employees to be aware of vacant positions.
The newly designed internal job posting process spans from internal job search and application to screening and anonymized reporting. After a review is conducted through the anonymized blind report and the document screening is completed, the selected applicants can be interviewed.
Defining the Scope with All Relevant Stakeholders
After defining the broad scope of the use case, the so-called exploration phase of the joint project began, aiming to clarify the purpose of the project together with all relevant stakeholders. The project team conducted a virtual exploration workshop, using the collaboration tool MURAL and the Innovation Culture Toolkit for virtual collaboration by SAP AppHaus. Based on interviews with relevant stakeholders from Doosan, objectives, expectations, the scope, as well as roles and responsibilities, could be clarified.
Prototyping and Iteration Based on the Needs of End Users
In the discovery phase, the project team conducted end-user interviews with HR managers from Doosan to identify their needs and pain points related to the internal recruitment process. After synthesizing the gained insights, the SAP AppHaus team created a rapid user interface (UI) design prototype.
End-user insights and needs served as valuable assets in deciding which features were needed and what exactly had to be prioritized in the development of the solution. Low-fidelity prototypes could be iterated regularly so that a user-friendly, tailored solution would be developed.
“In working with Doosan, we developed a use case along SAP’s human-centered approach to innovation. We decided to implement an enhanced job candidate screening through specific job requisitions,” said Kay Schmitteckert, developer, SAP Strategic Customer Engagements. “I really enjoyed working together with SAP AppHaus and Doosan Digital Innovation.”
The Enabler of the Use Case: SAP Business Technology Platform
The core of the use case is the candidate screening functionality for the internal hiring process, built with SAP Business Technology Platform. Its technological capabilities allowed Doosan to transform into an intelligent enterprise using customized functions on SAP Extension Suite as well as SAP SuccessFactors solutions.
It automatically generates candidate scores based on the results of the past competency evaluation and provides appropriate recommendations, priorities, and anonymous reports.
The anonymized reports created enhance the applicants’ experience and avoid exposure during the internal recruitment process. Finally, HR managers can quickly assess the suitability of multiple candidates through the in-depth evaluation of candidate information provided.
An Intelligent and Cutting-Edge Hiring Platform
Doosan’s internal job posting project is a prime use case for future HR management, unfolding its strengths in two dimensions:
- At the process level, the developed solution represents a cutting-edge increase in HR process efficiency leading to high time and cost savings.
- At the cultural level, the platform contributes to a culture underlining the possibility of internal job transfers, which ultimately leads to more diversified employee skill sets, highly engaged employees, and lower fluctuation.
“It was a great opportunity to experience the whole process from UX to design thinking, development, and collaboration. It was a delightful experience as an SAP Fiori developer due to the strong backup of UX designers that made such development possible,” said Minchoul Jung, project manager and SAP Fiori developer l, Doosan Digital Innovation. “We will develop the last components on this basis and create value when set in production.”
The integration and extension capabilities of SAP Business Technology Platform are the key foundation of the use case. The solution provides a suitable candidate list through data screening based on the existing data on SAP Success Factors solutions. The more data evaluated, the more intelligent and effective the HR process will finally become.
Esther Lee is a project lead and senior UX design specialist at SAP AppHaus Seoul.