Saudi Ground Services: Embracing growth opportunities with an engaged and skilled workforce in accordance with the national aviation strategy
Supporting employees in delivering ground handling services
Saudi Ground Services Company (SGS) represents the face of a nation that is preparing to welcome significantly more airline passengers in the coming years. SGS wanted to better manage and train employees and be prepared to hire and onboard quickly during demand surges. It chose SAP SuccessFactors HCM to support these goals.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Travel and transportation—Aviation and ground handling services | Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | 16,000 employees |
reduction in time to hire.
less paperwork.
improvement in time to fill roles.
Vice President for Human Resources, Saudi Ground Services Company
Driving excellence to keep pace with growing demand
Saudi Ground Services Company (SGS) provides aircraft ground-handling services across 28 airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and is integral to the country’s “Vision 2030.” Vision 2030 is a blueprint that is diversifying the economy, empowering citizens, creating a vibrant environment for both local and international investors, and establishing Saudi Arabia as a global leader. As part of the national aviation strategy underpinned by this vision, SGS supports the country in developing as an important destination for travelers, be they related to tourism, religion, or business. Annual airline passenger numbers are currently 90 million but are set to more than triple to 300 million per year by 2030.
SGS facilitates the entire aviation ecosystem by taking care of passenger and business needs from check-in to takeoff. Its employees are proud to be part of the SGS brand that embodies the face of a nation; they are the first and last faces seen on either side of an aircraft door. With the increased demand and growth opportunities driven by Vision 2030, SGS wanted to equip its employees so they could deliver the best possible ground handling services.
However, a lack of instructors and administrative framework meant that the company was achieving only 56% of its training requirements. Up-to-date training and accreditations are critical in the regulated aviation industry, where certain courses must be renewed every two to three years. Otherwise, there’s an impact on compliance and customer service delivery standards. In addition, HR teams had to respond manually to requests (such as changes to employee data or payroll queries), which consumed a significant amount of their time. With a majority of employees working away from desks, it was difficult and time-consuming for them to get fast answers, and they had to wait until they could meet their local HR business partner in person.
To address these challenges and help ensure the company was in good shape to cope with future demand for airline travel, SGS sought an infrastructure that allowed it to quickly recruit and onboard additional staff. It recognized the need to digitalize and future-proof its HR operations.
Vice President for Human Resources, Saudi Ground Services Company
Delivering foundational and future-proof HR processes
To deliver services that meet the highest standards, SGS wanted to provide its staff with the necessary skills and experience and better manage its workforce overall. It also needed to be able to quickly identify and hire staff during busy periods, such as the holiday season or the Hajj pilgrimage. The company selected SAP SuccessFactors HCM to help optimize these processes and support its HR operations.
As part of the suite, the SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding, and SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics solutions enable SGS to quickly recruit and onboard employees in response to increased passenger and flight numbers. The SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution underpins the SGS Training Academy, which offers a structured program of training and development for employees (a major focus since 2021). SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll solutions create the foundation for an improved employee experience by providing automated self-service functionality for common core HR and payroll tasks, which reduces the burden on HR teams. The company is also using solutions for performance management, succession, and compensation.
With a largely deskless workforce, HR business partner teams in the local airports can support employees in using the various solutions on their devices and track feedback on all business requirements and training plans. Moreover, real-time and sustainable insight has helped SGS go the extra mile to identify risk and opportunities ahead of time concerning aspects of HR.
SAP Services and Support assisted the suite implementation. According to Abdullah Alghamdi, human resource information systems (HRIS) manager, “The SAP Preferred Success offering provided us with remarkable support and reports as well as access to web seminars and technologies. The services helped us identify gaps and connect with expert consultants to gain knowledge.”
HRIS Manager, Saudi Ground Services Company
Empowering employees to enhance their skills and experience
Completed training courses at SGS have increased almost sixfold to 61,000. There’s improved visibility and reporting around training, and the company can identify gaps and areas requiring attention or renewals and monitor progression. The information is available by role, and automated notifications prompt employees to undertake necessary training, helping improve compliance.
By using SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, SGS can now meet demand surges more effectively with streamlined processes and a supply of qualified candidates. And with SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding, it can quickly and efficiently bring in new hires. Both time to hire and time to fill roles have decreased by about one-third. To build a sustainable talent pipeline, SGS introduced a unique one-year ground-handling skills diploma in conjunction with local universities. The company delivers some of the modules for this basic regulated training, for example, in handling dangerous goods. Three hundred trained graduates are waiting in the wings to work right away when needed. In parallel, SGS has doubled the number of qualified instructors and enhanced their learning capabilities and availability.
In addition to better engagement and skills, satisfaction has improved because employees feel empowered and supported to complete the training while core HR self-services enhance their overall experience. Plus, these capabilities in core HR and on the training platform reduce the administrative workload and more than halve the paperwork.
Vice President for Human Resources, Saudi Ground Services Company
Streamlining workforce planning and improving the employee experience
Alongside SGS’s 10,000 salaried employees, the company will soon add its 6,000 contingent workers into SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central for greater efficiencies and cost savings. This will be a major improvement in allowing the company to monitor attendance and productivity.
SGS is currently working on plans to use stories in the SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics solution to unlock people data and better understand the story the data is telling with bespoke reports and real-time dashboards. The SAP Analytics Cloud solution will be used to produce reports for all HR processes, including onboarding, succession planning, and learning, to help with workforce and headcount planning.
SGS is also considering using the generative AI capabilities in SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting to further support its recruitment team in managing increased demand. In addition, the company is evaluating Joule to give managers and employees an AI copilot that enhances their experience and reduces time spent on manual tasks.