Maintaining Transparency in the Cloud

The implementation of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central required a migration of all HR data from the local HR system to the cloud. Due to the large number of employees this was an enormous amount of information. It was, therefore, important to ensure that all data was migrated correctly but also to identify and close potential data gaps as soon as possible.

Additionally, the familiar overview of the organizational structure was to be maintained after the migration. Even though Employee Central does offer its own feature for the visualization of the org chart, it comes with a considerably smaller range of functions. For instance, it only displays the downstream level of a selected employee while Ingentis org.manager visualizes the hierarchy as a whole. Moreover, due to the long-term use of Ingentis org.manager throughout the company, employees were used to our software and convinced by its user friendliness and easy handling.

For Ingentis org.manager to continue to work despite the changed data source, a switch from the previously used Ingentis org.manager on-premises version to the one for SAP SuccessFactors was necessary.

Ingentis org.manager for SAP SuccessFactors provided useful support already in the course of the data migration from the SAP on-premises data system to the one integrated in SAP SuccessFactors “Employee Central”. Thanks to the visualization of the structure, it was possible to detect problems or mistakes with the migrated information early in the process. In this manner, appearing data gaps could be closed in a fast and uncomplicated way and the accuracy and integrity of the migrated data could be ensured.

After having defined requirements at the beginning of the project, the Ingentis team created a first draft of the org chart. In doing so, it was the goal to keep the display of the hierarchy as similar to the one in the former on-premises version as possible. Nevertheless, little changes, such as color matching to Merck’s branding as well as to the overall appearance of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, were made. Moreover, the list of information which is to be displayed along the organizational structure was revised and updated in the context of the transition. This first draft served as a basis for an uncomplicated, agile process during which new requirements and change requests were realized until the desired result was achieved.

Just like before three perspectives aiming at different target groups were created in Ingentis org.manager for SAP SuccessFactors. Firstly, there is an org chart accessible by all employees. It is frequently used to search for colleagues and their responsibilities, but also to build a network within the company. This can be particularly useful in the context of internal job changes. At the same time, this holistic view of the organizational structure results in increased transparency. For instance, when areas of responsibility change, they are sometimes already visualized with Ingentis org.manager before they can be officially communicated to everybody.

Secondly, there are particular views both for managers and HR business partners, which are enriched with additional information, KPIs and employee data. In this context, also the topic of reorganization plays an important role. A company the size of Merck has to face restructurings rather often. Luckily, Ingentis org.manager for SAP SuccessFactors also offers a useful feature to facilitate those.

The successful switch from Ingentis org.manager on-premises to Ingentis org.manager for SAP SuccessFactors does not mean that the cooperation has now come to an end. The next step is to use the already implemented org.simulator.

Currently, reorganizations at Merck are connected to a lot of manual effort. The plan is, therefore, to use the feature for the simulation of reorganizations in order to enable managers and HR business partners to perform modifications to the structure easily via drag-and-drop and then pass them on to the HR Services Team. This way, a more efficient implementation and a lower susceptibility to errors can be achieved. Moreover, the software offers the possibility to model various scenarios and their effects on the structure and relevant key metrics before actually putting them into place. This enables a better communication about the final design of the target organization.

Merck is also considering the use of Ingentis business rule trigger. The tool automatically passes on changes of HR core data to all objects within a configurable evaluation path in SAP SuccessFactors. Manual efforts as well as the susceptibility to error can, thus, further be reduced.

Merck is a science and technology company in the areas Healthcare, Life Science and Performance Materials. It was founded in 1688 by Friedrich Jacob Merck in Darmstadt, Germany and has become a truly global company since. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live: From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck generated sales of €16.2 billion in 66 countries.