HR as a business enabler

The CHT Group, a globally operating group of companies for specialty chemicals with headquarters in Tübingen for almost 70 years, has also recognized and implemented the added value of a company-wide cloud-based solution for HR management. In order to ensure efficient and globally consistent HR processes and to meet the demands of professional and modern HR work in the future, the rapidly growing company with over 2,400 employees has transformed its group-wide HR processes. 

Until 2018, HR work - whether in recruiting, HR controlling or HR support - was strongly characterized by manual processes. A "stand-alone" HR management system could not meet the requirements of digital and efficient HR management. In addition to low user acceptance, the system lacked: a global, integrated concept that could be used quickly and cost-effectively in the worldwide companies; a transparent overview of the distributed workforce; tools for digital recruiting and global HR management; and modern talent and performance management.

The CHT Group had a clear idea of what a new solution had to offer. In addition to end-to-end cloud-based HR management, the focus was on a solution that would suit a company with complex structures and high growth ambitions, be agile and act as a future-proof basis, 

CHT selected Workday's Enterprise Management Cloud, including Workday Human Capital Management, Workday Recruiting, Workday Learning, Workday Talent & Performance Management solutions, after an intensive selection process. CHT was able to complete the deployment in July 2019 after less than ten months of implementation.

Preparing employees optimally for the change - that was a crucial point for CHT. The change process was accompanied from the very beginning with appropriate training and a company-wide communication strategy. This approach was particularly important in order to make the change as simple and intuitive as possible for all employees and managers. Hallenberger on this: "Our aim was not only to increase acceptance, but also to clearly focus on the added value of the new HR system for each individual employee. During the implementation, we focused on topics such as recruiting, vacation requests, etc., payslip, as well as talent processes. The efficient further development and integration of HR processes was our main focus during the implementation."

HR as cloud

With Workday, CHT relies on a cloud architecture that flexibly adapts to growth, accommodates regulatory changes, offers innovations such as AI and machine learning, and is updated twice a year with no additional installation effort. As a result, the midmarket company is positioning itself optimally for the future of HR and modern, hybrid working models. With the mobile-first approach, access to HR-relevant processes and data is possible for all 2,400 employees on all five continents at any time and around the clock. 

The digitization of HR processes and a unified system has significantly accelerated the application and hiring process at CHT: "Our HR department is now almost paperless. Pay slips, vacation requests, HR reports, etc. are only processed digitally. This speeds up our processes immensely and makes processing very simple and efficient for everyone involved."says Hallenberger. The medium-sized company is now also creating greater transparency in talent management: employees can create their personal talent profile in the system and thus document individual competencies and experiences, expand their skills through the learning offering, hold feedback meetings and advance their professional careers within the CHT Group. 

Focus of HR Strategy 2025

In order to successfully position itself in the competition for experienced and young talent, CHT wants to strengthen its position for the future in the areas of employee development, leadership and global cooperation. Hallenberger sees the global HR team for this change as a "business enabler" and important success factor in order to assert itself globally as a modern, attractive employer in the SME sector. He also sees openness to new innovations and developments as a matter of course.

"We will look at topics such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in HR - one example here is Workday's chatbot function, which helps us to continuously improve and take efficient HR processes to the next level. This is how we make our contribution as HR so that CHT Group can continue to grow sustainably and profitably as a ONE Winning Team."Rainer Hallenberger confirms in conclusion.