Case Study III - Engineering

Background

This case study is about a global engineering company, which provides leading-edge engineering solutions to customers in sectors as diverse as automotive, oil retail and drinks dispensing. It has some of the world’s largest brands as its customers. Based in the UK, but with 15,000 staff spread across every continent, the company provides its customers with a full ‘end-to-end’ offer, ie R&D, design, engineering, manufacturing and service.

Challenge

Although most HR processes were devolved to the individual business units, certain key processes were run centrally. In 2003, the company decided to launch a global senior management talent programme. The first stage was an application to join the programme from individual employees, followed by several stages of screening by the company. Using their existing IT systems, ie MS Word and email, would have created a major administrative burden for the central HR team, and risked delays in the entire roll-out of the programme. To enable the process to run more efficiently, a new approach was needed.

Response

WorkSmart was contracted to run the entire application and screening process. In practical terms this meant information packs, questionnaires, application forms, case studies, assessment reports and invitations were processed through the WorkSmart solution. Successful outcomes at each stage triggered the next step in the process. Also, using WorkSmart enabled the central HR team to monitor the progress of every applicant in real time and, through the innovative reporting tool, they were able to manage the whole process from start to finish. From an applicant’s perspective, WorkSmart guided them through each step of the process, whilst the material they worked through was so user-friendly that many commented that it felt like they were using MS Word.

Outcome

By using WorkSmart, the company was able to process over 500 applications with minimal administrative support required from HR. For applicants, the process ran exactly as promised, with no time delays, lost documentation or confusion. The company was so impressed with WorkSmart that it now uses the software to run its head office and senior management appraisal processes and is intending to use WorkSmart in the future to support the development planning and on-job development of programme applicants.

Client Comment

“If you are looking for a tool that can automate your HR processes in a user-friendly way, then you should take a good look at WorkSmart”– Head of Global Senior Development.