Implementation of New Technologies in HR Function

By Eo-Kyung Moon, VP HR for Apac, Alstom

Eo-Kyung Moon, VP HR for Apac, Alstom

Alstom, the French rail transport major with operations and markets across the globe has been a forerunner in advanced and intuitive technology adoption. Robust technology solutions that provide ease of operations and scalability to match business vision have been its focus. In 2014, when GE acquired the power generation and electricity transmission business, Alstom had a tough business transformation challenge at hand. It had to find a suitable HR technology to support the organization grounds up, in the least possible time and without disturbing the functioning of its 30,000 plus employees spread across the five continents. The new HR system required to work autonomously, operate at scale, with improved user experience. Alstom was looking for a technology solution that could enable the following:

• Allow Alstom to have an agile solution, fully adapted to new size without compromising on cost, quality and functionality

• Deploy fully integrated solution that optimizes data flow and improves user experience

Robust Solution, Quick Implementation

The time was of essence and so was the agility and scalability of solutions. Alstom stated its search for the best technology solutions for its HR function in December 2014. After five months of rigorous evaluation of relevant solutions from some of the leading global technology vendors it could zero in on SAP Success Factors as its technology partner. Alstom was looking for a comprehensive, expansive and intuitive HR solution that could be customized to serve its varied needs. The SAP Success Factors was thus a perfect choice as it could cover almost all the functionalities for various roles in HR and connects the three pillars of HR namely, HRBP role, Employee Service role and COE (Center of Expertise) role.

The biggest achievement however was the quick turn-around – Alstom IT solutions team, HR teams and implementing partners’ team collaborated to have the system up and running in just seven months. By January 2016, Alstom could go live with almost all essential HR functions, including the following:

-HR Core Data

-Compensation and Benefits, including Salary Review, Calculation of bonus, and management of Long- Term Compensation Scheme

-Recruiting and Internal Job boards

-Performance Management: objective setting-up and Performance Evaluation

-Review of Talents, and People Development Plan follow-up

-Reporting

Alstom is driven by the values of team, trust and action. Our technology initiatives too are designed to foster collaboration, confidence and a secure and safe digital experience

-Competency Assessment

-International & National Assignment Management

-On-boarding Induction Plan and Exit Interview

The Learning Management System was implemented in October 2016 when we launched a new mobile enabled learning interface called i-Learn.

Seamless Integration, Easier Access

With the successful implementation of the cloud based HR solution, Alstom could get customized experience for its spread of operations with ease and agility. It could also streamline its data visibility and integrate stand-alone processes under one platform. The new implementation made HR processes more accessible and easier to interact and brought the business, HR and technology support on the same page. Also, functions like recruitment, core HR, HR learning, and HR reporting were hitherto operating in silos could be integrated one stop solution called ALPS.

Alstom could also simplify the processes for greater ease of adoption and avoid duplication or the complexity of double entry of data. For instance, the management of international assignment for employees has been simplified, as both the home country and the host country can now use the same record of the assignee’s employment profile. Hence, we don’t need to maintain and compare both sides’ record. Further, data accuracy and efficiency is also improved with HRIS being the single point of data input for personnel data. The user friendly interfaces and easy to manage processes gave a boost to the HR annual management cycle (objective setting / performance evaluation) and resulted in a significant lift in on-time evaluation of performances – in the first year itself, it reached 97 percent!

Driving the Vision of Digital Mobility

Alstom is committed to Digital Mobility. It has invested in some of the cutting edge and transformative technologies, aimed not only at cost optimization but to deliver the business goals. In line with our focus on enabling technologies, we are soon going to implement tools that make communication and reporting easier and seamless across our offices spread all over the world. We have some of the exciting tech lined up such as:

1. Video Interview: We are evaluating the technologies to conduct Video Interview for the first round screening. With this new tool, the cost of hiring is expected to drop remarkably for countries where a large number of young graduates / engineers are recruited.

2. Digital Learning: We believe that learning is not just sitting in a classroom but a lifelong exercise, imbibed through different means. For almost a year now we have i-Learn, a mobile application for our employees to access online courses in different categories, from anywhere. Employees can explore various MOOCs and Ted Talks right on their smartphones. We will be further strengthening the digital learning function and introduce more employee centric courses from both internal and external sources in the near future.

Alstom is driven by the values of team, trust and action. Our technology initiatives too are designed to foster collaboration, confidence and a secure and safe digital experience.