Burda: Empowering staff and making HR operations more efficient
Supporting the entire employee lifecycle
Hubert Burda Media, one of Germany’s leading technology and media companies, needed to harmonize its HR processes. As a modern employer, it wanted to attract new talent as well as nurture and empower employees. It chose to move from the on-premise SAP ERP Human Capital Management solution to SAP SuccessFactors solutions to harmonize its core HR processes and improve transparency, compliance, and data privacy.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Media | Offenburg and Munich, Germany | 10,500 employees |
reduction in the number of performance-related forms.
self-service scenarios.
of employees use the mobile app.
Corporate HR, Hubert Burda Media Holding KG
Driving digitalization and transparency for HR processes
As a technology and media business comprising more than 200 separate entities, Hubert Burda Media Holding KG often used various manual, paper-based HR processes and tools across the company. Many of these processes and tools weren’t connected to its on-premise ERP system, leading to inefficiencies. The lack of digitalization and common structure made it difficult to access the relevant data. The IT landscape favored an administrative approach to working with people data, and the fragmented structure sometimes made it difficult for managers and employees to know what tasks to perform and where.
People are central to everything Burda does. As a company operating in the digital sector, and with recruitment and retention becoming more challenging, Burda wanted to build on its credentials of a modern employer capable of attracting the right candidates and nurturing existing staff.
With its people as diverse as the media titles promoted by the company, Burda wanted to involve, empower, and engage employees and managers in its HR processes that could be made available to all entities. So it needed to equip itself to operate more efficiently.
Head of Middleware and Lead Architect, Burda Digital Systems GmbH
Empowering employees and managers to take control of data
Burda had been using the SAP ERP Human Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM) solution and wanted to continue using the on-premise payroll solution. With the support of Burda Digital Systems, its corporate IT consulting unit, the company chose the cloud-based SAP SuccessFactors portfolio as it was best placed to integrate with it. Having a nonintegrated core HR system would become a huge challenge leading to greater risk.
An initial implementation of the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution for 5,000 employees in Germany has enabled managers and employees to check and maintain all types of employee data and automatically transfer it to the payroll function in SAP ERP HCM. Staff can see salary components and positions, request leave, and upload documents. At the same time, the solution helps enforce compliant processes and also takes local regulatory and data protection requirements into account.
With the SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting solution, data from recruitment channels is centrally collected and, where required, feeds into the onboarding process linked to the core HR solution. The SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding solution enables a structured and automated process providing an improved employee experience, and service centers no longer need to manually capture new employee information, saving time and avoiding mistakes.
The SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solution has allowed Burda to reduce the number of performance-related forms from 40 to 10 across its various entities. It also enables a more streamlined performance management process. There’s been immediate adoption of the SAP SuccessFactors Mobile app, which users can access from their business or private mobile phones. This is proving particularly beneficial for the approval of leave requests.
Meanwhile, Burda partnered with SAP Preferred Success services, gaining access to SAP experts to assist with complex topics, contribute to enhanced incident management, and provide in-depth release guidance through a tailored plan. This resulted in faster release preparations and improved feature adoption.
Head of Middleware and Lead Architect, Burda Digital Systems GmbH
Enabling HR teams to focus on improving the employee experience and adding strategic value to the business
With SAP SuccessFactors solutions, Burda has achieved its main goals of harmonizing HR processes, implementing compliance rules in one place, driving transparency for employees and managers, and improving data privacy.
The company can support the employee lifecycle from recruitment and onboarding to performance and development, compensation and benefits, leadership and change, and offboarding. Managers and employees are now in control of checking and inputting data with a central entry point for HR activities, offering improved user experiences and receiving positive feedback.
Reporting is more efficient and effective as senior executives and line managers can run reports and get a full overview for their teams. By tracking employee tenure, compensation, and benefits, Burda can model and analyze datasets in greater detail. It can also support the executive management team and provide more value.
With less time spent on administration, the HR team can focus on strategic projects, such as improving its compensation and benefits offering.
Corporate HR, Hubert Burda Media Holding KG
Expanding the reach and use of SAP SuccessFactors solutions
Burda plans on implementing SAP SuccessFactors solutions across more of its entities. With the majority of employees located outside Germany, it’s currently looking at which countries make good business sense for the rollout.
The company is also considering using the SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics solution. This would offer new reporting capabilities to address specific issues and provide additional insights for managers about employees and salaries.
Going forward, Burda will continue to harness synergies within its individual entities to maximize growth opportunities in data, technology, marketing, content creation, and monetization.