Hyundai Motor Company Australia: Building and embedding a high-performance culture in its regional workforce
Improving culture and productivity
Using SAP SuccessFactors solutions, Hyundai Motor Company Australia has paved the way for culture change and transformed how employees engage with their work and each other. The result is an innovative environment that inspires the workforce to strive for excellence and helps Hyundai realise its vision as an automotive industry leader.
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Automotive | Sydney, Australia | 336 employees | EPI-USE |
reduction in HR administration.
reduction in time spent on reporting.
increase in the employee satisfaction index.
Head of People and Culture, Hyundai Motor Company Australia
Transforming culture and modernising HR processes
Industry-leading innovation has been a by-product of Hyundai Motor Company’s massive success as one of the world’s leading steel and automotive manufacturers. In 2023, global consultancy Interbrand ranked the company 32 out of its 100 Best Global Brands. Hyundai’s “Progress for Humanity” vision is based on smart mobility technologies that lead the world in meeting rapidly changing consumer needs and advancing crucial sustainability goals.
At Hyundai Australia, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, almost 350 employees perform a range of sales, marketing, and corporate services activities in connection with a large independent dealer and franchisee network.
Recently, the people and culture (P&C) team decided to bring Hyundai’s aspirational message for customers – “Imagine that” – to life internally, transforming it into an employee value proposition.
However, results from employee satisfaction surveys were low, and CEO Ted Lee had a focus on culture transformation. Several hurdles stood in the way of building a more cohesive culture, so the P&C team searched for solutions to support a much-needed program of change.
Rebecca Bert, Hyundai’s head of people and culture, began by acknowledging that HR challenges were affecting the organisation at every level. Tasked with supporting all Australian employees, her small P&C, talent acquisition, and learning and development team had a lot to accomplish.
In addition, with executive teams turning over every four years, the company’s leadership style and focus continuously changed. As new leaders came in, the lack of a systemised HR culture was undermining employee unity.
Mid-level managers, while highly skilled in their specialised roles, were often promoted without a clear framework to guide their development as leaders. This added to the lack of direction.
What’s more, a historic focus on sales teams and targets meant a proportion of the general workforce felt overlooked or disengaged, leading to high turnover and poor retention.
Finally, operational processes were out of date, and modernising them was a major priority. There was an over-reliance on spreadsheets, and disjointed systems kept information in silos, all of which led to frustrating data inaccuracies and a lack of transparency. Overall, existing HR software solutions lacked scalability.
It was clear that building a robust culture and modernising processes were intertwined, and both were crucial in setting the stage for a more efficient, forward-looking HQ.
Head of People and Culture, Hyundai Motor Company Australia
Partnering with trusted solutions providers
Hyundai opted to implement the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding and SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solutions. This decision came down to a blend of strategic alignment, proven expertise, and functionality – a combination the solutions delivered on across all fronts.
While the company considered offerings from other providers, SAP SuccessFactors solutions stood out as superior in four key HR focus areas – managing talent, fostering growth, cultivating culture, and streamlining evaluation and rewards processes.
One striking advantage was intuitive usability across the board. Whether for team members, managers, or the HR department, SAP SuccessFactors solutions promised a level of insight into employee information, performance metrics, and recruitment activities that was both outstanding and overwhelmingly clear.
As Hyundai evolved within the region, scalability was another key determining factor. SAP SuccessFactors solutions were the perfect fit, capable of smoothly supporting an expanding team. Also, their modular design meant HR could pace the implementation, rolling out new modules in alignment with the demands of ongoing business initiatives.
When asked about her top tips for others looking to revamp their HR solutions, Bert points out, “The key is selecting the right partner to help, because without finding the right match, it’s difficult to do.” As an SAP partner, EPI-USE played a crucial role in delivering a road map for change and delivering Hyundai’s new solutions. The teams’ approaches and values matched perfectly and resulted in a great working relationship.
The implementation team got employees on board by showing them the benefits of systemisation and automation and selecting key people to test the system. It created a communication plan before launch and a series of web seminars to help with awareness and understanding.
Head of People and Culture, Hyundai Motor Company Australia
Delivering process and culture change
SAP SuccessFactors solutions have helped reduce the time spent on a range of HR activities such as entering data, generating reports, and undertaking performance reviews. These efficiencies have been transformative for the team at Hyundai.
The business has seen improved employee experiences, with managers able to self-serve and employees having access to a more intuitive and less cumbersome system with a single sign-on and touch point.
Previously, the P&C team spent too much time pulling reports that weren’t accurate. In addition, there were ineffective, inefficient paper trails of performance reviews, calibration sessions, and individual development plans. With SAP SuccessFactors solutions, these documents are now digitalized.
According to Bert, “Now, we trust our metrics, and SAP SuccessFactors solutions have given us the functionality and systems to automate things so managers are self-sufficient. This ranges from small things like finding out someone’s work level or remuneration so they don’t need to send us an e-mail to understanding turnover levels or planning recruitment needs.”
As a result of Hyundai’s new HR systems, the P&C team is less reactive and can work with the organisation to help build a successful culture. Bert explains that things have shifted dramatically as the team’s time has been freed up to coach managers on core behaviours and values.
“In terms of improving our culture, we’ve been on a journey of change for two years. Employee satisfaction survey results over that period have been a good indication of how things compare between then and now. Our index was sitting at 56%, and we’re thrilled that it’s now at 79%,” Bert says.
Head of People and Culture, Hyundai Motor Company Australia
Forging the road ahead for a high-performing workforce
Looking to the future, Hyundai has just released the SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting solution, which it has successfully demonstrated to the leadership team.
Deploying the SAP SuccessFactors Compensation solution is the next piece of the puzzle, and the Hyundai team is confident it will bring about even more benefits.
Featured partner
EPI-USE is a world-leading HR and payroll specialist. Its People Experience Management solution based on SAP SuccessFactors solutions was the perfect choice for Hyundai Australia. With the help of EPI-USE, Hyundai developed a clear implementation road map, enabling it to realise better and faster results from its new solutions.