Hyundai Australia boosts employee satisfaction by 41 percent with SAP SuccessFactors

Hyundai Motor Company Australia has automated some of its human resources processes with SAP SuccessFactors, giving its HR staff more resources to improve the company’s workplace culture.

Hyundai implemented SAP SuccessFactors solutions Employee Central, Onboarding and Performance & Goals, which it said delivered a 60 percent reduction in HR administration work and a 23 percentage point increase in its employee satisfaction index.

“Hyundai’s objective is to build a positive, high-performance environment that aligns with the business’s strategic pillars of quality growth, brand development, and culture transformation,” Hyundai Australia Head of People and Culture Rebecca Bert said.

“SAP SuccessFactors solutions have been instrumental in helping us to achieve this.”

The solutions helped reduce the time spent on HR activities like entering data, generating reports and undertaking performance reviews, so Hyundai’s people and culture (P&C) team became less reactive and can now focus on bolstering workplace culture.

“In terms of improving our culture, we’ve been on a journey of change for two years. Employee satisfaction survey results over that period have been a good indication of how things compare between then and now,” Bert said.

“Our index was sitting at 56 percent, and we’re thrilled that it’s now at 79 percent.”

The company also reported improved employee experiences with SAP SuccessFactors, citing managers’ ability to self-serve and providing a more intuitive and less cumbersome system with a single sign-on and touch point.

Documentation for performance reviews, calibration sessions and individual development plans are also digitalised through SAP SuccessFactors, ensuring accuracy of the reports being pulled by the P&C team.

“Now, we trust our metrics, and SAP SuccessFactors solutions have given us the functionality and systems to automate things, so managers are self-sufficient,” Bert said.

“This ranges from small things like finding out someone’s work level or remuneration so they don’t need to send us an e-mail to understanding turnover levels or planning recruitment needs.”

HR challenges impacting the business

Hyundai looked to transform its company culture as it dealt with low results from employee satisfaction surveys, high levels of employee turnover and out of date operational processes.

Bert acknowledged that HR challenges had affected the company at every level. Executive teams were turning over every four years, resulting in constantly changing leadership style and focus. Mid-level managers were being promoted without a clear framework to guide their leadership training. The general workforce was also dealing with a historic focus on sales teams and targets, leading to some feeling overlooked or disengaged, which then led to high turnover and poor retention.

Modernising processes were also a major priority for Hyundai, which had an over-reliance on spreadsheets and disjointed systems that kept information in silos. This meant staff were dealing with data inaccuracies and a lack of transparency across the business.

“We were in a position where we couldn’t trust the data, and people were becoming frustrated. Metric reports came from different sources, and none of the information matched,” Bert said.

“We needed to ensure we had the right information in one place and to find a solution that was capable of expanding as we grew.”

SAP SuccessFactors to the rescue

Hyundai chose SAP SuccessFactors for the strategic alignment, expertise and functionality. It added the solution stood out against its competitors in the HR focus areas of managing talent, fostering growth, cultivating culture, and streamlining evaluation and rewards processes.

The solution was also picked for its scalability as Hyundai looked to continue evolving within the region. The modular design also meant the HR team could pace the implementation, rolling out new modules in alignment with the demands of ongoing business initiatives.

“The implementation process was managed through a mix of in-person and online support. We always had the opportunity to talk to the team, and questions were answered quickly,” Bert said.

“Most of the P&C team hadn’t gone through an implementation before, and the learning process and capability building that resulted were great.”

The company worked with SAP partner EPI-USE for the implementation. “The key is selecting the right partner to help, because without finding the right match, it’s difficult to do,” Bert added.

Looking ahead, Hyundai is also set to go live with SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, while the SAP SuccessFactors Compensation solution is the next solution the company plans to implement.

“We’re a small team that needs to focus strategically, and we don’t have the option of adding head count to do the work. SAP SuccessFactors solutions have enabled us to use resources effectively,” Bert said.

“Automation allows us to reduce time spent on reactive tasks so we can focus on the initiatives that are going to bring more value, like building our culture and our leadership capabilities.”