Transform Purdue: A look into the Human Capital Management project transformation

Human Capital Management project team: (Front row, from left) Amy Deitrich, Tracy Sondgerath, Sasse Steele, Melanie Bell, (back, from left) Katya Giannios, Tammy Synesael, Amy Clawson, Craig Fee, Linda Baer, Adedayo Adeniyi, John Lahrman and Sonia Hooker. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood) Download image

The plan to transform Purdue continues through the Business Process Reengineering team. The multilayered approach to the transformation, geared to do business better across the University, is spearheaded by the ongoing projects --Enterprise Asset Management, General Ledger (Finance), Human Capital Management Reporting and Technology.

To better understand each project within the transformation, Purdue Today will explore each one.

Here, Linda Baer, Human Capital Management team lead, answers questions about the team and its work:

Who is on the HCM team?

Adedayo Adeniyi, Melanie Bell, Amy Clawson, Amy Deitrich, Lindsey Farrell, Craig Fee, Katya Giannios, Sonia Hooker, John Lahrman, Tracy Sondgerath, Sasse Steele and Tammy Synesael.

We work closely with Denny Darrow, vice president for human resources, and his leadership team.

Our team is also joined by subject matter experts from a variety of departments throughout the University, and each brings with them a passion for improving Purdue.

What are the overall goals/mission of your team?

Our goal is to rebuild the core human resource structure. We are reengineering processes, focusing on ways we can streamline complex tasks and approvals. We are looking forward to implementing SAP SuccessFactors. This is a cloud-based integrated application that integrates recruiting, onboarding, compensation, performance management, time/payroll and more. Our reengineered processes, plus enabling technology, will help us decrease paper forms and manual data entry (sometimes duplicate). It will also help us deliver consistent, transparent reporting. In addition, we are implementing a new benefits administrator to provide an easier system interface and process simplification.

What has the team been working on so far during the design phase?

We have been working through each of the work streams associated with HCM. We started with workshops focused on the organizational structure, employee central (this is where everything comes together) then worked our way through recruiting, onboarding and compensation. Currently, we are concentrating on time and payroll processes.

What challenges have you encountered? 

I think reengineering processes is the most challenging. We’ve really asked our team and the subject matter experts attending workshops to "think big." Some of our processes, best practices and policies date back to 1970 or earlier. Not only has technology changed since then, but our workforce has, too. We have an organization that wants empowerment and to embrace accountability. Our processes need to reflect that.

How many workshops have you held as part of the design phase? Which units been involved, and what topics have been discussed?

We have completed 34 out of 45 workshops that make up the design phase. During design phase we are mapping out our "to-be" processes, along with understanding SAP SuccessFactors’ functionality. We are really excited about how easily information will flow from recruiting to onboarding to performance management and so on. 

Our design phase is organized into the following workshop topics and activities:

* Employee Self Service -- Employee information, direct deposit, tax information.
* Onboarding/off-boarding -- Similar to ESS but also includes new hire information, I-9 process and off-boarding requirements.
* Time management -- Work schedules, time-off requests and balances, attendance, overtime, team calendars.
* Compensation -- Merit metrics and increases, budget planning and distribution, job family structure (job, position), reclassifications.
* Employee Central  -- Hire,  rehire, transfer, retire and term processes.
* Payroll -- Payroll processing, reporting, posting.
* Organizational Management -- Organizational unit, job, position, reorganization processes.
* Benefits -- Benefits administration, reconciliation, reporting.
* Recruiting -- Creating and approving requisitions, job posting, candidate search, offer letters, approval process.
* Learning Management System -- Create, assign and enroll user to business-related training/courses.
* Manager Self Service  -- Approvals, workflow.
* Performance Management  -- Goal categories, review process, peer and 360 feedback processes.

Design phase workshop documentation can be found on our HCM webpage.

What is coming up for your group in the next few months?

The results of the workshops will be reviewed during a "play back" session and then land in a process design document. The processes outlined in the document will be used to build the system. It is a continuous improvement cycle. We will continue to fine-tune the process through the playback and into the build phase.

We continue to partner with the other project teams. For example, we are working with the financial team as they redefine cost centers so they have a one-to-one relationship with organizational units.

What do you want faculty and staff to know about your team and efforts?

We are making great progress! Today, a lot of human resource-related processes are very paper-oriented, requiring manual data entry, some times more than once. The idea that we could have information easily flow (because everything is integrated) from recruiting to retirement will save us both time and money. It also will allow managers to strategically manage their workforce. Our new core structure will lead to accessible data and better reporting.

More on the transformation projects

* Review the first three articles in this series:
-- Efforts to Transform Purdue business: A BPR Overview (March 20, 2017)
-- Transform Purdue: A look into the Enterprise Asset Management project transformation (March 21, 2017)
-- Transform Purdue: A look into the General Ledger / Finance project transformation (March 22, 2017)

* Explore our website for an overview of the transformation projects.

* Provide feedback by submitting a pain point, completing a survey or sending an email.

* View previous presentations and publications for more information.