IBM > Case Studies > Co-operative Financial Services HR Operations improve value, quality and flexibility

Co-operative Financial Services HR Operations improve value, quality and flexibility

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Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
  • Europe
Country
  • United Kingdom
Product
  • Oracle E-Business Suite Human Resources Management
Tech Stack
  • Oracle
Implementation Scale
  • Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
  • Cost Savings
  • Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
  • Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries
  • Finance & Insurance
Applicable Functions
  • Human Resources
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
  • System Integration
About The Customer
The Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) is a group of businesses that includes The Co-operative Insurance, The Co-operative Investments and The Co-operative Bank. Part of The Co-operative Group, the UK’s largest consumer co-operative, CFS has around 6.5 million customers. Based in Manchester, the HR function at CFS serves approximately 7,500 people mainly located at three major sites in the North West. The HR department was under pressure from the business to increase the value it offers. The business wanted greater support in attracting and retaining high calibre people, managing performance and ensuring talent was developed through appropriate learning opportunities. There was also a drive to reduce costs, improve efficiency and improve quality of service.
The Challenge
The Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) was under pressure to increase the value it offers. The business wanted greater support in attracting and retaining high calibre people, managing performance and ensuring talent was developed through appropriate learning opportunities. There was also a drive to reduce costs, improve efficiency and improve quality of service. As far as the provision of basic HR services was concerned, CFS had a number of challenges. Its general HR administration system was located in-house while the payroll system was outsourced. The two systems were linked by batch interfaces which impacted the timeliness and accuracy of information, a particular challenge when creating the monthly payroll. There was no self-service access to HR information and details were gathered on paper forms or through emails and then keyed into the in-house system or sent to the payroll provider for keying. Management information, insight and analysis were difficult to obtain and the cost of running the two systems was high.
The Solution
In partnership with IBM, HR has transformed its operating model, offering self-service access to core HR processes and information, tiered levels of support to the business and a flexible platform for future service improvements. The first phase of the transformation at CFS involved implementing core HR functionality and payroll, with all services hosted and supported by IBM. This was achieved in just 22 weeks, IBM’s fastest implementation of the Oracle E-Business Suite Human Resources Management. CFS had a similar experience when the self-service facility went live. All the processes were implemented in one go and went very smoothly. People had immediate access to the tools they need to manage their own HR data. The speed and success with which the new HR solution was implemented at CFS is all the more remarkable considering the enormous cultural change and learning curve involved.
Operational Impact
  • Following implementation of its HR solution, CFS has an extremely reliable infrastructure on which to deliver consistent, dependable services.
  • System integration has resulted in far greater accuracy in the monthly payroll and, combined with giving people responsibility for their own data, has improved the quality of all HR information.
  • Driving out paper-based processes has removed costly administration from the HR function.
  • The overall cost of system ownership has also fallen because HR now has only one system to support and maintain rather than several.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Around 20% cost reduction within the HR Operations department
  • More accurate payroll due to improved quality of information
  • Robust support for decision-making through reliable management information plus strong analysis tools and reporting
  • Increased flexibility in payroll and reward systems

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