By Lori Mitchell-Keller, SAP Global General Manager of Consumer Industries
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Motivating Employees Through Technology
Oxford Economics surveyed more than 4,100 executives and employees around the world and from diverse industries and found that companies that get digital leadership right perform better in the marketplace and have happier, more engaged employees.
Take Brooks Brothers, for example. Until recently, Brooks Brothers’ commitment to its employees was not matched by the company’s paper-based processes. A new hire would be asked to enter personal details into multiple documents, some of which were then faxed to different departments. In the back office, it took time to pick up and separately reenter the data into payroll, human capital management, and related systems, with inevitable errors and delay. In addition, reporting was based on manual data exports to spreadsheets, e-mailed back and forth with multiple requests for reformatting.
By moving to a cloud delivery model, the solutions are now immediately available worldwide to all staff with no on-site implementation necessary, offering the flexibility and adaptability that would fit the company’s needs. Some of the key benefits Brooks Brothers has experienced include a 50% increase in employee data efficiency, the elimination of 15 paper-based processes, and a 10% hike in productivity by reducing administrative time spent on hiring and onboarding of new associates.
Results—Thriving Experience for Customers
It pays to incorporate digital practices in HR operations. The Leaders 2020 study shows that companies leading the digital transformation charge are 38% more likely than others to report strong revenue and profit growth. They also have more mature strategies and programs for hiring skilled talent (85% vs. 64%) and building diversity (56% vs. 48%). In addition, their employees are more satisfied (87% vs. 63%) and more likely to stay in their jobs if given the chance to leave (75% vs. 54%).
There’s a lot that goes into hiring, training, and motivating retail employees, but it’s important that the process is done with the right strategy—and technology—in place. Taking these extra steps to ensure you hire the right talent, train your employees effectively, and motivate them to perform to their full potential through digital processes will translate to increased customer ratings, productivity, and profitability.
Lori Mitchell-Keller is Global General Manager of Consumer Industries at SAP. In this role, she leads the Retail, Wholesale Distribution, Consumer Products, and Life Sciences Industries with a strong focus on helping SAP customers transform their business and derive value while getting closer to their customers. Mitchell-Keller brings over 25 years of experience in the software and consumer goods industries, including more than fifteen years as an executive driving business strategy while building strong and sustainable relationships with customers, partners, financial analysts and industry experts.