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CLIENT CASE STUDY

European Public Service Employer: Cloud-based HR Services Boost Productivity; Reduce Costs

European Public Service Employer: cloud-based HR services boost government productivity, enhance employee performance and reduce costs.

Overview

By unlocking the power of cloud computing, a large European-based public service employer is modeling a new approach to human resources (HR). With Accenture’s help, the client has streamlined and standardized key HR services and moved them to the cloud. This shift to an innovative digital solution will seek to deliver public service for the future by improving government productivity, empowering employees through more personalized services, and significantly reducing maintenance and operating costs.

Client profile
With more than 6,000 employees, the European-based client is one of the largest public sector employers in its country. The client is responsible for overseeing employee development for all departments – a diverse group ranging from firefighters to school teachers to social workers.

Opportunity

City officials from the client’s country faced recessionary pressures challenging them to quickly curb HR costs, especially maintenance expenses for repetitive IT systems while also enhancing performance and government productivity. The solution was a web-based, shared services approach that streamlined and standardized IT systems used by departments. The cloud-based approach helped achieve a key goal by providing uniform, transparent performance management criteria with clear benchmarks. City officials hired Accenture to lead the complex transformation because of its successfully demonstrated track record in designing, developing, and implementing cloud-based SAP solutions on time and on budget.

Solution

Together with the client’s IT team and key users, Accenture oversaw development of an end-to-end solution based on SAP’s SuccessFactors, a leader in cloud-based software for employee professional development. Despite a tight one-year deadline, the project team customized the off-the-shelf software to the city’s criteria for performance, goals and training. Accenture migrated three years of relevant HR data for 6,000 city employees to a centralized data warehouse with efficient security standards. To ensure a successful transition, the project team conducted extensive testing and workshops designed to build support for a new way of working with employees.

Results

With Accenture’s help, the client launched its cloud-based HR solution, completing the ambitious transformation on budget and on time. The client’s HR on the cloud quickly delivered on its promise and serves as a model for cities worldwide. By creating a single, cloud-based IT system, the employer has reined in maintenance and operating costs for an annual savings of as well as improving government productivity and advancing professional development. Employees enjoy the convenience of logging onto services via mobile devices.

Uniform performance standards provide clear employee benchmarks and historic data access for managers, enabling even more effective performance management in the future. With aligned competency expectations, the client’s forward-looking HR solution positions the city as a next-generation workforce leader for delivering public service for the future, and its personalized services, insight-driven decisions, and sustainable and cost-effective solutions all represent the client’s commitment to high performance.