Developing talent to

drive strategic growth

How a global petroleum company leveraged technology
to transform its talent management business processes
and enable long-term business strategy execution.
Consulting

SAP Business Applications

Utilities
November 2013

Clients challenge
A large oil and natural gas exploration and production company was growing domestically and
overseas, employing over 5,000 people globally and supporting an increasingly diverse workforce.
Though the company was based in the U.S., its personnel was spread across a wide variety of
locations, including offshore drilling sites where employees did not have access to technology at all
times. To improve its business strategy execution, leadership wanted to put more emphasis on
talent development across the enterprise. To do so, it needed to enhance delivery of talent
management services across diverse geographic locations and streamline its process efficiency and
effectiveness.
Although the petroleum company had made strategic hires in human resources and talent
management, and had a clear vision of where it wanted to take the business in the future, the
company lacked the systems and capabilities to pursue its goals effectively. It suffered from
inconsistent and inefficient talent management processes that required time-consuming and costly
manual effort across global locations. Challenges that the company faced included:

Lack of a unified global data repository: System of record had insufficient data quality and
governance and no streamlined global process for data collection or management
Lack of goal alignment across different levels of organization, so goals could not be
properly cascaded down to business unit and employee-level goals
Inconsistent processes across regions, hindering accurate and effective reporting

The company knew that to achieve its long-term goals for growth, it needed to focus on talent
development, talent tracking, and overall talent management, and it needed modern technology
tools that were accessible and flexible enough to support its goals in a meaningful way.

PwCs Advisory solution

The company worked with PwC to implement SuccessFactors integrated SAP Human Capital
Management (HCM) SaaS solution in a hybrid architecture that could leverage its existing
investment in SAP HCM. The capabilities of SuccessFactors made the solution a good fit for the
companys field-based workforce.
The PwC team brought an unmatched combination of talent management business process
experience and deep technical knowledge of the SuccessFactors tools. We helped align business
processes with the technology to support the companys strategy and leveraged our strong
relationships with SAP and SuccessFactors to help the client resolve issues during the project. We
used our proven Transform methodology to help enable a rapid, thorough and flexible approach to
the design, development, testing, and implementation. The methodology and our supporting tools
helped systematically plan, execute, test, and support a full process transformation.
Developed specifically for business transformation and ERP implementation initiatives, our
methodology includes a detailed set of leading practices, proprietary tools, templates, and
accelerators, and promotes client self-reliance. We collaborated closely with the client to develop an
approach that was tailored to its unique culture. By using a fully dedicated on-site team (despite the
cloud-based implementation), we were able to provide critical process guidance across all areas of
talent management and advise how best to leverage the SuccessFactors technology to meet strategic
goals. We embedded our change management programs throughout our approach and proactively
focused on identifying and smoothly navigating areas of concern. Our on-site presence promoted
knowledge sharing and transfer in a flexible and effective manner.
We assisted in the implementation of the following SuccessFactors modules: Employee Profile,
Performance Management, Goal Management, Career Development Planning, Compensation, and
Variable Pay.

Impact on clients business

The client now has a globally consistent talent management process and technology platform to
deliver its programs. Whereas before our engagement it had very little visibility into what was being
done across locations and in the field, the client now has a wealth of reporting and understanding
around not only all of its employees, but also trends that are affecting the broader workforce.
Theres now a much clearer understanding of the value that is being delivered by HR, with talent
management processes becoming more efficient and effective. For instance, a previously laborintensive annual compensation process has been reduced by 50 percent through automation,
advanced capabilities of the tool, and real-time integration with the companys core HRMS. Other
wins include eliminating the freeze on the clients SAP application during the two-and-a-halfmonth compensation process, and the ability to look at talent across domestic and international
locations in a consistent and standardized way, delivering greater visibility into the talent pool.
With the ability to map goals in the performance management process and measure that with real
data, the company is in a stronger position to execute on its long-term roadmap for growth.

2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.
PwC refers to the US member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see
www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.

For more information, please visit

www.pwc.com/US

Or contact
Kevin Pennington
Director
(972) 832-0265
kevin.s.pennington@us.pwc.com

2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.
PwC refers to the US member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see
www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.