Historically, Fugro was decentralized, with 200 separately run companies. None of the companies had a solution for HR, recruitment, or training in place, and they all used spreadsheets to record employee data. This data was often out of date, leaving the companies dependent on the payroll system for a true record of employee information.
As part of a digital strategy, Fugro wanted to transform HR, centralizing control under a single solution that would help recruit and retain staff more effectively.
With Workday, we finally have the technology to look at our people’s capabilities in combination with their ambitions and development paths. Workday has transformed the way we manage our talent.
Chief Human Resources Officer
User-centric, real-time, and innovative.
With Workday, Fugro gained a worldwide system that’s centrally managed and easily maintained. We aligned with its digitization strategy to automate business processes and allow employees to complete key tasks on the go. The company also gained real-time visibility into its global workforce, and HR now has access to analytics on various processes, as well as a tool to model the organization structure.
The flexibility of Workday means HR can engage with employees across multiple devices while staff work in the office or on the move. Erwin Hoogeveen, chief human resources officer at Fugro, says: “Workday is the best solution for Fugro. We want the latest technology that can adapt to future needs. Workday provides an excellent user experience, which our people enjoy. And most importantly, it actually works!”
Transforming talent management.
Many of Fugro’s employees are highly skilled engineers that the company needs to retain for continued success. Using the data in Workday, Fugro can identify employees’ talent and plan their career paths to keep them engaged with their work and the company.
Managers can pull reports on their teams to see how employees are developing. With the Workday Cloud platform, they can pull relevant CVs, enabling the business to respond quickly to client demands based on availability of competent project resources. Compensation data is fully loaded in the system, which allows managers to identify if personnel are being paid at the market rate—helping retention—and any skill shortages that may need supplementing.
In addition, Workday Learning empowers employees to share their skills and ambitions, and learn what training they need to take to achieve their goals. “We have moved our Fugro Academy toward Workday Learning, bringing the availability of training to everybody,” says Erwin.
Superior data governance.
The company has better control over access to HR data, which now comes in a standardized format. The old spreadsheet-based system made access management difficult, and data format issues were a constant headache. With Workday, data governance is clear, and formats are standardized. Erwin adds: “The configuration in Workday is state-of-the-art. You can easily lock down who gains access to what data.”
Fantastic user experience.
Fugro employees can access Workday through desktop, tablet, and smartphones. Erwin says: “Workday is the coolest technology that’s happened to Fugro. It’s not only me saying this, but more importantly, our employees.”
The convenience of the Workday app has made a tangible difference to the lives of the HR team. Erwin adds: “Now, for example, when I’m in board meetings or traveling, and I receive a request for the latest information on an employee, I can access it straightaway through the Workday app. In the past, I had to contact the HR information system manager, and it could take two weeks to get the data. Another important benefit is that our managers can do the same, saving themselves and their teams a lot of time.”
Driving diversity.
Fugro’s diversity and inclusion roadmap is designed to support its aspiration to build a diverse talent pipeline, and create a culture of fairness and inclusion. And the company particularly wanted to look at succession planning for women in its workforce.
Through Workday, Fugro now has precise data on the number of women across the business. It knows the number of women holding leadership positions, figures to ensure equal pay for women, and details on which managers have completed unconscious bias workshops. “We can finally drive real change,” says Erwin.
Workplace diversity is something we’re working on. But you can’t fix it if you don’t have the data. Using Workday, we can measure diversity against our goals and stay on track.
Chief Human Resources Officer