Lion migrates staff onboarding process from SAP into ServiceNow

Beverage company Lion has consolidated four onboarding tools into a single platform as part of a broader push to simplify its HR operations.

Samantha Copping, Lion (second right), at ServiceNow Federal Forum in Canberra.

The Australian drinks company migrated its entire onboarding, cross-boarding and off-boarding processes from its core HR system, SAP SuccessFactors, into ServiceNow.

Speaking at the ServiceNow Federal Forum in Canberra, Lion’s people systems experience leader Sam Copping said the move came ahead of a “big digital optimisation” program across HR, which includes plans to completely rework payroll from the ground up.

“The core HR systems are great at collecting things like your address, your payroll details and your tax file number and things like that,” Copping said.

“What they aren't great at doing is being able to serve up the information to our new starters before they start, as well as being able to have those cross-functional communications.”

Lion revealed last year that it had revamped its existing ServiceNow portal to make it more user-focused, resulting in increased uptake of employee self-service.

Built on ServiceNow’s Knowledge module, the rechristened Employee Service Centre functions as a single platform for employees to “go and get everything they need for support,” Copping said.

“We have consolidated our technology stack. We have SAP SuccessFactors as our core employee system and [SAP’s] Employee Central Payroll.

“They sit in the background and play the roles they need to play... while ServiceNow is our digital front door.”

A key function of the system is assisting both full-time and casual employees with leave applications, including directing them to the appropriate platform.

“Because we are very targeted around our personas, we have almost two sets of workforces,” Copping explained.

“We've got a workforce that uses a time and attendance system, and then we have a corporate workforce that doesn't. 

“The delineation between those two segments is that if you use the time and attendance system, you apply for leave in the time of attendance application, and if you don't, then you apply for leave in SuccessFactors.”

The portal now provides a knowledge article explaining how to apply for leave, which system to use, and includes a direct link.

Although Copping said the company would never move its “core master data service” into ServiceNow, she indicated that other parts of HR are up for transformation.

"We're doing a big digital optimisation piece in people [services] mainly,” she said.

“We're looking at blowing up payroll as it is today and starting again.”

Copping added that a key factor in the program’s success was the collaboration between her team and IT, with IT forming part of the people function's decision-making stakeholder group and steering committee.

“I have to have a seat at the table,” Copping said. “It's taken us a while to get to where we are. It hasn't necessarily been an easy task. But we're now to the point where I have a seat at the IT table, and IT has a seat at the people [function] table.”

Eleanor Dickinson attended ServiceNow Federal Forum in Canberra as a guest of ServiceNow.