TRANSFORMATION IS A JOURNEY – WHY HR SHOULD JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON…

Transformation is a key term in any organisation today, and without continuous transformation, organisations risk losing their relevance. It ultimately comes down to enabling employees to deliver the best shareholder value. The organisational challenge lies in how to remain relevant to customers and secure a sustainable future in the market.

Transformation can take many forms, including process transformation, automation, and digital transformation, which all help organisations maintain peak performance while optimizing cost efficiency.

Should HR Keep Up with the Transformation Journey Just Like Other Business Functions?

When discussing transformation, most of the focus is on the business-facing side. However, back-office transformation is equally important and often gets overlooked until later in the process. Despite its delayed recognition, back-office transformation is vital. Having had the opportunity to work on several transformation projects, and the recent experience with an HR transformation project has been particularly rewarding.

It is clear that HR, as a back-office function, must take the lead in transformation, moving alongside the rest of the organisation. Failing to keep pace with the broader transformation effort will hold the organisation back and hinder its ability to move forward efficiently. If HR is left behind, it will drag the entire organisation down. Therefore, just as the entire organisation undergoes transformation, every function, including HR, must be part of that journey.

While HRs contribution in transformation is within HR and organisation transformation it self this write up focuses on transformation approach for HR as a function.

Reflection and Learning from Transformation Projects

Exposure to transformation journey spans multiple areas, and been fortunate to contribute to customer experience transformations in both B2C and B2B contexts. When we embarked on the HR transformation journey, one of the first things needed was reflect on what went well, what could have been improved, and what lessons we could learn. The phrase

fail fast, learn fast

rings true in this context—knowing when to pivot and restart is crucial. Every transformation project presents challenges, but the real success comes when you rally the majority around a single vision and execute it.

One of the key takeaways is the importance of having the right sponsors and allies. Equally critical is having a team with the right skills. In many cases, the team’s day-to-day responsibilities often take precedence, which can cause transformation efforts to take a backseat. This is why it’s essential to align the team effectively and ensure that transformation remains a priority.

A special thanks goes to the board for challenging us, a major takeaway is the significance of having the right sponsors and allies, as well as a team with the right skill set. Often, daily responsibilities can overshadow transformation efforts, making it imperative to align the team and prioritize transformation.

In the Hire-to-Retire (H2R) transformation project, we worked diligently to set the team up for success from the outset. We sought regular feedback and posed critical questions, such as whether employees genuinely stay until retirement or if we needed to rethink the process. Ultimately, we renamed the project “Hire to Inspire” (H2i) to reflect our vision of making the employee and HR journey not just good, but great.

Sponsorship and Team Success

In the first 12-15 months of the HR transformation, the HR transformation function reported to both the Chief People Officer and the Chief Digital Officer. Having strong sponsorship and ownership is essential. Top-down support is necessary because, ultimately, the transformation must deliver value to shareholders.

When setting up for success, going to the drawing board and sketching out different operational models helped to align to the best working model and after five iterations we developed an effective operating model with two teams: the T-team (Transformation Team) and the O-team (Operations Team). Though some were initially skeptical, this structure helped drive better progress and clearer delivery results.

The T-team tackled the challenges, processes, and pain points identified by the O-team and filtered them through a structured process to deliver the desired outcomes. Having measurable KPIs for the O-team based on their specific areas was key. The T-team, in turn, took on overall HR KPIs related to elimination, automation, digitization, analytics, and adoption. The T team comprised of a process analyst and with a business tech lead and systems expert. Having the key skills needed dedicated for HR is one reason for success, else the resource crunch always creates a set back.

Process and Cost Efficiency

1. Process Elimination – Set targets for things that can be eliminated. There’s no need to keep unnecessary processes.

2. Process Streamlining – Before automating, it’s crucial to review and streamline processes. Never automate an inefficient or outdated processes.

3. Automation and Digitization – Once processes are streamlined, focus on making things available to internal customers. Why should they wait for HR when they could complete tasks on their own time? Improving the internal customer journey is essential.

1. Stay away from CR’s (change requests) this will hinder the future smooth transition to version upgrades
2. Build the HR data-lake and build analytics based reporting, this helps in the long term and for data parity. Remember, still if its garbage in, it’s garbage out! Hence, the check and balances and audits still play a strong role.  
3. AI based self help enablement is a need and chatbots is one way to go!

4. Understanding Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – If we don’t understand where our money is going, we have less control over our budgets. Lay out all costs, including initial costs, direct and indirect costs, product costs, maintenance, and hidden costs etc.

Measuring Success: what gets measured gets done:

Measuring the employee experience throughout their journey is crucial. This should happen at multiple touch-points, both during and after events. You can assess this regularly—weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually—and set benchmarks or baseline scores. Incorporating these measurements into HR’s KPIs ensures ownership and consistent delivery.

1. Employee Effort Score (EES)

2. Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)

3. Happiness Index (HI)

4. Employee Satisfaction (ESAT)

5. Employee Engagement Survey Results (EES)

Challenges, no fun without it

Despite the need for transformation, there are always challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is the resistance to letting go of old tools i.e. Excel spreadsheets. The “not invented here” mentality. Employees can resist to change in their job areas and helping them to understand the value of their contribution is key. Managing change effectively showcasing the new value that comes with letting go of outdated practices is essential.

Achievements

The ultimate achievement of the HR transformation was bringing everyone onboard and delivering results that enhanced efficiency, cost optimization, and improved employee and HR experiences. By the end of the 18-month project, satisfaction indices had improved significantly, with double-digit increases quarter on quarter. The millions saved went back to the organisation, benefiting both employees and shareholders. When we make the best efforts to deliver the best results, everyone reaps the rewards.

The Continuous Journey of Transformation

Transformation is a continuous journey toward greatness. Just as we no longer have the same haircut we did as kids, or wear the same clothes, our work habits must evolve as well. HR must remain relevant—not just as a cost center but as a value driver for both employees and the organisation. By changing our approach, we can highlight the value HR brings and secure our place at the table.

Transformation is ongoing, and every function within an organisation must evolve to keep up. As everything outside moves rapidly, the organisation’s DNA must embrace the need and desire for change. Stay relevant, and keep delivering continuous shareholder value.

By Rekha Weerasooriya