When YeeLin Chong joined Air Liquide as head of HR Digital Solutions, the company was just embarking on what Chong calls “a very exciting journey of HR transformation.” As Chong remembers, there were many important challenges to overcome.
“We had to go back to basics to understand why we needed to reinvent ourselves,” Chong says. “We needed to set up a new, centralised way of delivering HR services that embraced everybody across our diverse organisation. We needed to create HR centres of excellence, which had never existed before. We needed a new shared services centre to deliver HR services efficiently. We needed HR business partners to work together cohesively and bring about a new employee experience that was more efficient, simpler and easier for everybody.
Delivering a “one-company” experience for all
One system gave us the intuitive look and feel we wanted, the user interface, and the ability to deliver mobile access and self-service for employees and managers.
YeeLin Chong, Head of HR Digital Solutions
“We needed to tie everything together with a single technology platform or HR system – something we’d never had before at Air Liquide,” Chong continues. “The right technology platform is crucial to the delivery of any HR programme. Employee satisfaction and experience are fundamental to the success of anything we try to deliver. We knew we needed something that could not only connect our employee populations, but more importantly it had to be intuitive and engaging, and deliver a great user experience.”
In the end, the decision was straightforward. As Chong says, “One system gave us the intuitive look and feel we wanted, the user interface and the ability to deliver mobile access and self-service for employees and managers. That system was Workday – and it’s giving us the ‘one-company’ experience we were looking for.”
Anticipating and responding to workforce trends
Accelerating change in the workplace, intensified by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has made it particularly important for Air Liquide to anticipate and respond to workforce trends so that the company can future-proof its programmes and stay relevant in the years ahead.
According to Chong, one of the most important changes is the shift to hybrid working. As Chong says, “Managing remote teams is increasingly essential for us, and the mobile access that Workday allows is a valuable benefit. We have a greater proportion of frontline workers out in the field, so it’s highly convenient, both for them and for the managers, who are now quickly able to approve requests from employees.”
Winning the fight for talent
Another present and increasingly important reality for Chong and HR colleagues is the fight for talent. “There is a constant refrain from our HR leaders about the need to grow our talent and their skills, so we can better retain and attract the best,” Chong says. “Now that we’ve got to the point with our Workday implementation that the foundation system is in place, we’re really well positioned to leverage the technology and address priority areas such as learning, talent management and workforce planning.”
Chong believes that this accentuates the true purpose behind the company’s digital transformation. “At the end of the day, what we are aiming for is a better overall experience for our employees, for all our people. There can be no better outcome than improving employees’ satisfaction and their daily experience of working at Air Liquide.”
There can be no better outcome than improving employees’ satisfaction and their daily experience of working at Air Liquide.
YeeLin Chong, Head of HR Digital Solutions
Changing the organisation radically for the better
Overall, Chong believes the changes underway at Air Liquide are radically changing the organisation for the better. And Chong is quick to highlight the company spirit that has made this possible.
“Change-makers aren’t afraid to make big decisions, but at the same time they recognise the need to stay compassionate, humane and empathetic in this world of disruptive work,” Chong says. “Whether as people managers or employees, we’re working in close concert with one another, cutting across boundaries, and breaking silos to deliver meaningful change that can improve employees’ experience at all the moments that matter in the employee journey.”
Chong is very confident in the progress made to date. “Our HR transformation is already revolutionary. With the new Workday HR operating system at its heart, it’s bringing us a new way of working that ties together HR business partners, the HR centres of excellence and the chat services to bring about a new experience for managers and employees.”