Sphera, an operational risk and sustainability software company, helps organizations keep people safe, protect the environment, and operate more efficiently. Its software, data, and consulting services give businesses the insight to manage environmental, health and safety, sustainability, and operational risks with confidence.
As the company expanded—both organically and through acquisitions—its rapid growth exposed gaps in how it supported its own people. With more than 1,300 employees across 21 countries and 14 time zones, Sphera was working within a patchwork of HR systems and manual processes. The result was unnecessary complexity, slower responses, and an uneven employee experience.
As Chief Human Resources Officer Kimberly Kolb says, “Our job is not just to see the forest or the trees. It's to see the horizon.” To match the sophistication of the solutions it provides customers, Sphera set out to bring its HR, payroll, and employee support onto a single, streamlined platform—making work simpler and more connected for its global teams.
A new horizon for people and performance.
The company wanted a single, scalable cloud platform to unify data and processes across the enterprise, balancing global consistency with the flexibility to navigate specific country regulations. Sphera opted for Workday GO. It’s a deployment package with all the features and capabilities of Workday at a price designed for small and midsize organizations to go live quickly. Sphera was able to do so, with Workday Human Capital Management, in just five months.
Key to this success was embracing established practices included in the Workday GO approach, rather than building workflows from scratch. “Adopt, don’t adapt,” says Nicholas Price, vice president, global total rewards & HR operations. This accelerated Sphera’s timeline and its ability to establish a globally consistent and auditable HR foundation for long-term growth and scalability.
Transforming HR to empower every employee.
One of the first visible benefits was greater employee empowerment. With fewer disconnected systems and manual processes, employees can easily access the information and support they need, wherever they are in the world. This shift has improved both individual productivity and overall operational efficiency.
Workday Help has also enabled the HR team to focus on higher-value tasks rather than answering redundant queries. "The number of HR tickets created is down by 45%,” says Kolb. “Our HR team has much more time now to be a strategic partner across the business."
Payroll was another win. The consolidation of a variety of payroll systems into a single global system has shifted the HR team and employees’ focus. “We're not caught up in the minute details of tracking payroll changes in spreadsheets and antiquated systems. Those business processes are solved and running through workflows,” Kolb says.
“Employees now spend more time focused on what they're passionate about and what matters to our organization,” says Price.
Where people lead and technology supports.
Sphera knows agility is key to its growth goals and believes Workday Illuminate™ will support this flexibility. “AI technology empowers our human base with the right information,” says Kolb.
Price adds, “We are excited about Workday Illuminate and prioritize leveraging our Workday partnership each and every day.”
Employees now spend more time focused on what they're passionate about and what matters to our organization.
Vice President, Global Total Rewards & HR Operations