Duni: SuccessFactors and SNP E-Time implementation

Project goals

The beginning of 2020 at Duni coincided with the go-live of the new HCM system. The launch of the new platform supporting the full range of HR and payroll processes was of course a big event for the HR department, but it also brought about a noticeable and tangible change for all employees: employee self-service, mobile applications, pay slips on the phone, work schedules available and updated online…

But first things first.

The aim of the project was to create a comprehensive cloud platform for HR. Poland is the first country in the Duni Group to have decided to migrate to SAP SuccessFactors. The partner of Duni in this project was SNP Poland.

Currently, the full range of HR and payroll services are provided for employees in the state-of-the-art SAP and SNP solutions in the SaaS (Software as a Service) model. Duni uses SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, a solution that supports personnel administration, and Employee Central Payroll for payroll accounting. Working time planning and accounting is done in SNP E-Time, an application that provides advanced time management features in a self-service model. The solutions are integrated with the company’s basic transaction system – SAP ERP.

In turquoise

Duni in Poland is made up of three companies, diversified in terms of the type of operations, as well as the character of work and the time planning model.

Duni Poland is a plant producing mainly printed and unprinted napkins. The sale of all products offered is a responsibility of Duni Sales Poland, a sales company. The sales employees are located all over the country, so they have limited access to their direct superiors and at the same time, the greatest experience in working online and using mobile devices. Duni EFF is a financial and accounting shared services center that supports most of the Group’s entities worldwide and external customers.

Production employees work in three shifts, from Monday to Friday based on standard schedules. Office employees work flexible hours. They can also work from home. All the companies are located in Poznań, employing approximately 600 people in total.

The turquoise organization model – that Duni strives for – is based on the responsibility, cooperation and initiative of employees. In the organizations managed in a modern way, one of the ways to build motivation and commitment is to provide IT tools that support communication between the company and its employees, as well as increase self-service and a sense of agency in processes that are important for the employee.

Joanna Stanišić, Site Manager, Duni Poland

Employee self-service portal

The HR process monitoring and management tool that is launched in the organization and used by the HR department is also available to employees and managers as a flexible self-service portal, accessible online on a desktop, tablet or smartphone at any time and at any place.

After logging in to SuccessFactors, employees, first of all, gain access to the most frequently searched-for HR information: leave quotas, current work schedules as well as pay amounts and components. The online pay slip is particularly important for production employees as the amount of their pay depends on many variable components.

In addition to passive checking of information, the most important task of SAP SuccessFactors and SNP E-Time is to enable employees to actively participate in HR processes.

The most common form of self-service is the submission of an e-leave request by an employee. Employees can also change data in the system on their own (e.g. a bank account number, an address), which significantly reduces the flow of traditional documents in the organization.

The prerequisite for the acceptance of changes and involvement of employees in executing HR processes on their own was their maximum simplification, ergonomic presentation and navigation in shared applications, as well as mobility. The employee and manager experience has always been the focus of HR decision makers at Duni.

The implementation of SAP SuccessFactors and SNP E-Time brings benefits to everyone. Employees have easy access to information important for them. They save time because instead of going to the HR department or their superiors to submit leave requests or ask questions like: “How many more leave days can I take this year?”, they just reach for the phone. (And it is worth remembering that some employees work in a three-shift system and their working hours do not overlap with those of the administration employees).

From an organizational point of view, the benefits are manifold: the most obvious one is the considerable simplification of communication by reducing the flow of paper applications and additional files. This means lower labor costs and considerable paper savings. For a company that is moving towards a turquoise management model, good employer branding is equally important as it translates into greater responsibility, commitment and loyalty of the staff. When there is a shortage of employees on the market, a positive answer to the question: “Would you recommend your company to your friends as a good place to work?” has its measurable value.

Jacek Szymański, Process Development & CIO, PD&IT, Duni Group

Unexpected benefits

The benefits of the highly advanced employee self-service and online working options provided by SAP SuccessFactors became apparent very quickly in practice – during the coronavirus epidemic. The employees of the HR department were able to switch to the remote working mode practically overnight and stay at home as recommended. Current HR tasks as well as the payroll calculation during movement restrictions are carried out normally using Employee Central and Employee Central Payroll tools available at any place.

Production management in dynamically changing circumstances, adaptation of work plans to new conditions and quickly informing employees about schedule adjustments in the SNP E-Time application went smoothly.

The employee self-service portal, available on any computer or mobile device, allowed employees to submit leave or childcare requests without leaving home.

The communication with employees that the modern HR platform allows the company to maintain has proved to have an additional value during the lockdown.

Jakub Dolata, Manager HR, Duni Poland

Working time management

SuccessFactors Employee Central, a solution implemented at Duni , was complemented by SNP E-Time, an application for working time planning. The solution allows shift managers to plan the time of their subordinates. SNP E-Time is an environment that combines in one place all the data needed to plan working time (including labor demand, legal conditions, employee preferences). 

The conditions and restrictions embedded in the application guarantee the compliance of work schedules with legal and company regulations (taking into account daily and weekly rests, a 24-hour work cycle, quotas of hours and overtime, days off, scheduled absences, etc.). SNP E-Time also gives voice to employees – they can not only view their schedules, but also enter preferences regarding their working time at the application level. The supervisor can take them into account and optimize the schedule. Employees can use this option, for example, when they want to work on weekends and overtime.

According to the law, the working time schedule should be known to employees one week in advance, and of course this is the case. However, due to a large number of variables (a change of production plans, machine stoppages and breakdowns, unscheduled absences of employees), plans have to be adjusted very often (even several times during a shift). Their dynamic adaptability to new circumstances and the option of notifying employees thereof immediately are highly appreciated by both shift managers and their subordinates.

A sudden change no longer involves the need to start the whole “puzzle” again. For example, when the machine operator informs that he is ill, the shift manager introduces new conditions into SNP E-Time and after a few seconds the system suggests him an optimal solution, taking into account all requirements and limitations. After the approval of the adjusted schedule, the employees concerned receive the relevant information.

Previously, the preparation and adjustments of working time plans “cost” over a dozen hours of work for each shift. Thanks to the automation of these activities in SNP E-Time, this time was reduced to several minutes.

Online access to work schedules is very important for production employees, who work in the shift and equivalent time system. Other companies – the sales company and the shared service center – also use SNP E-Time.

HR platform at Duni:
SAP SuccessFactors and SNP E-Time

Further steps to automate HR processes

The handling of HR and payroll processes on the SuccessFactors Employee Central and Employee Central Payroll platforms in integration with SNP E-Time opened up opportunities for further automation of HR activities.

As part of the project, Duni launched SNP E-Deklaracje (E-Tax Returns), a solution that allows you to generate PIT-11, PIT-8C and PIT-40 tax forms in the appropriate format and to send them electronically directly from SuccessFactors to the Ministry of Finance IT system.

During the work (in July 2019), Duni was covered by the statutory obligation to introduce Employee Capital Plans (PPK), a universal savings plan for which employers and employees participating in the program should pay contributions. SNP PPK, an application that was included in the scope of the project, enables keeping PPK records in integration with SuccessFactors and EC Payroll, handling PPK processes (employee-employer) in the system and accounting for contributions on the payroll. The solution also enables the exchange of files with a financial institution selected to run the program.

Application management

Every HR solution, even a solution in the cloud, requires maintenance. Changes resulting from law (provided by SAP) or development changes (related to the business environment and users’ expectations) are supported by the SNP Poland SAP Application Management Service (AMS). SNP consultants can help key system users in Duni with selected business processes (e.g. payroll calculation) or system updates.

Conclusion

The result of the implementation project at Duni is an HR model supported by modern IT tools and open to the needs of key recipients. The beneficiaries of the system are no longer just HR specialists but all employees. The majority of activities related to human resources matters can be performed by employees using SuccessFactors. Working time management was automated. Based on the requirements introduced, SNP E-Time is able to generate an optimal schedule compliant with the labor code rules and taking into account the preferences of employees. The payroll calculated in EC Payroll provides employees with pay slips on their mobile devices. Polish Duni companies are precursors of HR digitalization in the Group.