McCarthy Building Companies: Building a future-ready workforce on an employee data foundation
Explore McCarthy Building Companies’ journey to transforming workforce intelligence to scale growth and diversify its business with SAP SuccessFactors HCM
McCarthy Building Companies Inc., a 100% employee-owned construction leader with 160 years of history, faced a startling reality: LinkedIn knew more about its employees than its own HR systems did. With SAP SuccessFactors HCM, the company transformed tribal knowledge into data-driven workforce intelligence—enabling growth while maintaining employee retention and preparing it for an AI-enabled future.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Construction and real estate | St. Louis, Missouri | 8,000 |
Employee turnover rate (around 40% lower than the industry average)—strengthening retention in a labor-scarce market
Visibility into employee skills, history, and performance for more informed staffing decisions
Digital pay processes, eliminating paper pay stubs, and simplifying payroll administration
VP of HR Operations, McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Construction and real estate | St. Louis, Missouri | 8,000 |
Employee turnover rate (around 40% lower than the industry average)—strengthening retention in a labor-scarce market
Visibility into employee skills, history, and performance for more informed staffing decisions
Digital pay processes, eliminating paper pay stubs, and simplifying payroll administration
VP of HR Operations, McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
Rethinking workforce intelligence for sustainable growth
McCarthy Building Companies’ journey from building farms and barns in 1864 to constructing Allegiant Stadium and the upcoming Oakland A’s stadium spans more than architectural evolution. The company has built what the United States needs: healthcare facilities, educational institutions, wastewater treatment plants, and critical infrastructure. This 100% employee-owned firm is now scaling rapidly—and not just in traditional construction: with several utility-scale solar projects underway, McCarthy is diversifying into renewable energy infrastructure while continuing to grow its core business.
As McCarthy entered an aggressive growth phase, aiming to scale the business toward $10 billion in revenue by 2028, the company confronted an uncomfortable truth. “We actually were at a place where LinkedIn knew more about our employees than our HR system did,” reflects Lisa Sanders, VP of HR Operations at McCarthy Building Companies. The HR systems captured only the bare minimum—enough to process payroll, nothing more. Managers had zero visibility into employee skills, project history, or performance records, making it nearly impossible to staff projects effectively.
In construction, people are the product. McCarthy’s workforce moves constantly from project to project across the US, working under complex union agreements while meeting federal contractor requirements. In an industry facing severe labor shortages, this fragmented approach threatened its ability to compete for talent. The company needed a scalable people data foundation that could enable informed decisions and create consistent experiences across its distributed workforce.
VP of HR Operations, McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
Building an integrated HCM platform from the ground up with SAP SuccessFactors HCM
After a previous implementation with another vendor never reached go-live due to significant challenges, McCarthy approached its next technology selection with hard-earned clarity: it needed a system flexible enough for the complexities of construction and a partner committed to long-term success. SAP SuccessFactors solutions and SAP stood out for two reasons above all—the portfolio’s extensibility and the strength of SAP’s partner ecosystem, which allowed McCarthy to integrate specialized solutions to meet the unique complexities of construction.
McCarthy recognized that no single human capital management (HCM) vendor could fully support the unique demands of construction, especially highly complex, union-heavy payroll. What differentiated SAP was its willingness to integrate deeply with specialized partners. For example, construction-specific payroll extensions—built by experts with SAP payroll backgrounds—could be embedded directly into the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll solution, providing the accuracy, configurability, and compliance that other vendors simply couldn’t match.
The company implemented the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution as its core HR system. From day one, managers gained full visibility into employee histories. At the same time, McCarthy launched the SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding solution and the SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution, giving new hires a seamless and integrated digital experience.
Its rollout strategy mirrored construction project discipline: build a solid foundation first, then expand deliberately. The company introduced solutions at natural moments in the employee lifecycle—for example, making the SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solution available in January to align with annual goal-setting—driving immediate adoption and minimizing change fatigue. The company also implemented SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll, eliminating manual processes such as printing pay stubs.
Creating workforce intelligence that drives retention and growth
McCarthy’s transformation has delivered a measurable impact across operations, performance, and culture. With SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, the company now has a solid foundation for employee data—a core center of truth critical to informed decision-making. This holistic view of employees has empowered managers to make better, faster decisions throughout the organization.
Today, the company uses the SAP SuccessFactors home page as a centralized launchpad for employees. Single sign-on enables McCarthy to navigate smoothly between SAP SuccessFactors HCM and SAP Solution Extensions partners— Benefitfocus for benefits administration, OpenText for document management, and Qualtrics for employee surveys—creating a frictionless experience. Most employees seamlessly navigate between systems without realizing it, allowing technology to fade into the background and enabling employees to stay focused on their work.
McCarthy has achieved a remarkable 10% employee turnover rate—well below the industry average of 18%. This translates directly into competitive strength in a labor-starved market. Better employee-manager connections have played a key role, stemming from managers having improved insights into their team members.
Workforce adoption of SAP SuccessFactors HCM reveals its genuine value. Salaried employees demonstrate near-universal daily engagement, while construction workers who are traditionally less connected to corporate technology regularly access the system for pay information, personal updates, and learning content. This was achieved by aligning the technology to genuine business needs and the natural flow of work. Managers now have access to complete project histories, performance records, development goals, and skills data, empowering them to guide meaningful career development conversations.
By replacing its previous learning management system with SAP SuccessFactors Learning, McCarthy has achieved immediate cost savings while maintaining full functionality. Integration expenses have dropped substantially because fewer systems mean fewer integrations to build, maintain, and troubleshoot. “McCarthy is 100% employee-owned. Every dollar we save goes right back to our employees, motivating them to make better, smarter choices that ultimately benefit their own pockets,” says Lisa Sanders.
VP of HR Operations, McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
Preparing employee owners for an AI-augmented future
McCarthy’s AI philosophy is clear: augmentation, not replacement. “Our goal is to maximize the value of our employees, not replace them. AI plus our people equals greater value,” says Lisa. This strategy focuses on empowering employees while unlocking efficiencies that drive meaningful business outcomes.
Aligned with the philosophy, McCarthy is building a robust people data foundation to implement AI capabilities that will augment workforce decision-making. The company is already exploring the Joule copilot to assist managers with critical tasks, such as goal setting, development planning, and actionable career path recommendations, focusing on immediate and practical applications that empower managers and employees to make informed decisions.
To enable smarter, skills-led team formation, the company plans to use a centralized skills framework and AI-enabled insights to match projects with employees whose skills, experience, and development potential will deliver the greatest impact.
McCarthy is also exploring SmartRecruiters as an applicant tracking system to unify the talent acquisition lifecycle—from first candidate contact through onboarding, development, and career progression—supported by integrated data and AI-supported insights.
These initiatives aim to unlock greater efficiency, empower employees to take ownership of their growth, and ensure teams are equipped to meet evolving business priorities. By embedding skills and AI into workforce planning and development, McCarthy will position itself to make data-driven decisions, respond to emerging challenges, and create meaningful value for employees, customers, and the business.