For nearly a century, Denmark-based ALK has worked to improve the lives of people who suffer from allergies. As the global leader in allergy immunotherapy, the innovative pharmaceutical company is unique in its commitment to research-driven products and solutions that not only address allergy symptoms but also provide long-lasting relief by targeting the root causes.
As a result of organic growth, acquisitions and mergers, ALK has grown to more than 2,300 employees in 20 different countries. Its HR leaders knew they had to find an innovative solution that addressed the changing needs of the company. Temporary bolt-on systems were not going to work. Enter Workday.
The big picture.
“Starting in 2013, we had a strategy to globalise HR and optimise our HR processes”, explains Pernille Tang Raschke, senior vice president of HR and internal communications at ALK. “With numerous disparate tools, processes and applications spread across the company – including more than 19 HR IT applications, 10 payroll processes and 15 different countries doing double bookkeeping of personnel administration and FTE data – we knew we needed an efficient, standardised system that allowed us to interlink globally.
“It was important to implement a system that let us confidently make critical data-driven decisions with real-time reporting, gain increased visibility into our workforce and performance, and move forward with better management of compensation costs”, Tang Raschke continues. “Additionally, we wanted HR to be able to add real value to the business rather than be stuck performing time-consuming manual and operational tasks.”
With Workday, ALK was able to create a truly unified and global HR system. “It’s been a success”, says Minje de Lasson, director of HR Effectiveness and HRIS. “We went live on time, on budget, with data that was correct, and with 80% adoption.” And the benefits were immediately apparent after the short seven-month deployment.
Workday is helping us drive optimisation within the company and HR. With global processes, the quality is aligned across countries and ensures global managers and HR can work more efficiently.
Director of HR Effectiveness and HRIS
Simplifying with a unified data core.
“Our managers used to do a lot of manual work with numerous processes and tools, which were different in every country”, shares de Lasson. “When you’re using so many different tools, how can you be expected to gain the complete picture of the organisation needed to manage effectively?” With a single accessible system and complete HR data in Workday, ALK now has real-time insight into its data and talent so it can offer better guidance for decision-making.
Transparency was another one of the key business reasons ALK sought a new HR system. “Transparency in data allows us to look at trends and see the big picture rather than speculate on the individual level”, de Lasson explains. Having transparent data makes it more valuable for ALK’s HR team and leaders. “We can now challenge the business itself with data we can trust. HR is better equipped for qualified discussions and for challenging and supporting organisational decisions and changes, such as growth and acquisitions.”
“ALK has gone through a lot of big reorganisations and with Workday, it’s very easy”, explains de Lasson. “Previously, business process changes were big and painful. With Workday, it’s easy to make changes as the business evolves and it’s easy to see the new organisation.”
Intuitive and innovative.
The ability to create well-run globalised processes – with more efficiency, compliance, quality and clear governance – was important to ALK. But it’s not the only reason ALK chose Workday. “Workday was the most intuitive user experience”, says de Lasson. “There is no question – it’s easy to use.”
“We felt like we are taking a step into the future. We are getting a future-proof solution here”, shares Raschke.
And that experience is being felt company-wide. As Eduardo Vilas Ventura, head of Product Supply in Spain, explains, “Workday really helps managers increase ownership. Sitting with employees, you don’t have to say ‘I’ll speak with HR’ because Workday makes it easy to answer questions in real time. It’s overall more empowering for managers and employees.”
Realising global goals.
As ALK continues to develop exciting innovations in immunotherapy, Workday is helping the organisation realise its HR globalisation goals. “Workday allows us to support the business by delivering cost-efficient HR services, ensuring strong local HR competencies and growing the business by driving an engaging people agenda. We now have the tools and processes in place to be able to adapt and support our always-changing business”, Tang Raschke explains.