Unlocking Workforce Potential: SAP SuccessFactors for Carnegie

Investing in one truth

In 2017, Carnegie Investment Bank decided it was time for them to invest in a global people management system. The Nordic market leader was challenged by inconsistent processes and multiple systems across offices in six countries and wanted to ensure full master data control, data process compliance, as well as an ideal framework for the continued development of their employees.

Their mainly manual processes were time-consuming, errorprone, and made it difficult to find time for anything other than day-to-day administration — least of all optimizing efforts across the employee lifecycle. “We wanted a system that could help us streamline our processes across all countries. Plus, with all our HR master data in one system, we would have one single source of truth,” says Hanna Gembel, HR Specialist at Carnegie.

Based on their needs, they decided SAP SuccessFactors was a perfect match. NTT DATA was chosen as implementation partner to do a two-phase rollout in 2018 and 2019 using the ready2run® approach to ensure a rapid, low-risk, and cost-effective implementation. Today, Carnegie uses most of the SuccessFactors modules, but while the rollout went smoothly, the true test came when people started using the solution. “ready2run® was a great way to get started, but once you go live, that’s when the real work starts.”

Technology is only one piece of the puzzle

Right from the start, HR took great care to ease the new solution and new ways of working into the organization. “Any change is hard at first. So, we put a lot of effort into identifying ambassadors outside of HR, doing learning sessions, group workshops, highlighting improvements — and just being there to help our colleagues,” says Oskar Håkansson, HR Specialist at Carnegie.

The complexity of bringing six countries with different data points, demands, etc., into the same solution added to the task — especially in countries without a dedicated HR resource. Having all countries onboard from the start and super users available to help was therefore key. Today, they have a better and more engaging cooperation because the solution is their connection point. “Even now, years after the rollout, we still have ongoing conversations and sparring about our processes — only now they’re based on the same foundation.”

Building on the right foundation

Thanks to their new solution, Carnegie enjoys leaner HR processes, less time spent on administration, higher efficiency, and more employee engagement. E.g., a common onboarding process now helps boost connectedness from day one. This means they can now spend more time analyzing data than collecting it, and the risk of manual errors and security breaches has gone down significantly thanks to more automated processes.

Carnegie is still trying to make their processes better, more digital, and easier to analyze and follow up on. And the
time saved on administration — as much as 65% for one process — is spent gaining a better understanding of the entire employee lifecycle. “The more we know about each part of the employee lifecycle, the more we can improve our processes — and having all our insights in the same solution gives us a transparent picture that enables better decisionmaking
and employee development,” says Hanna Gembel.

As attracting and retaining the right people gets harder, this transparency also enables Carnegie to spend more time on strategic initiatives like employer branding — and long-term
partner NTT DATA helps ensure they are always getting the full benefit from their solution. “Today, we still work together with the consultant that initial did the implementation — so they know us very well and we have a great collaboration where they also help us be proactive as both we and the solution evolve.”