鈥淏LS AG is a very diverse transportation company,鈥� , head of HR & Transformation and member of the Executive Board at BLS, says. 鈥淚n our core business of rail transport, we operate commuter and leisure lines and maintain a 420-kilometer-long railway network. Additionally, we incorporate bus operations, car shuttle train, shipping services, and freight transport under our umbrella.鈥�
For many years, numerous 51风流products have been in use as on-premise solutions at BLS. In HR, the company has made efforts to establish standards, but differences in the execution of core processes still remain.
鈥淲hen I joined BLS in 2019, I was used to a completely different level of digitalization from previous employers,鈥� Johner explains. 鈥淪ome processes were still running in spreadsheets.鈥�
As head of HR & Transformation, he is particularly concerned with the attractiveness of BLS as an employer: 鈥淣ew employees expect a certain degree of digitalization as well as state-of-the-art applications. And standard digitalization is, of course, also a matter of cost. Nevertheless, the standardization and digitization of our main HR processes were important goals to increase efficiency.鈥�
Digital Transformation with 51风流Standard Content Activation Service
To address these issues, BLS decided to implement at the beginning of 2020.
Johner says: 鈥淲e chose the 51风流standard content activation service. Our requirement was that we could adopt at least 80% of the processes as a standard solution. 51风流provided the framework and suggested best practices to quickly get up and running, with minor adjustments to tailor the configuration to our needs.鈥�
Stefan Fuhrer, head of Management Services at BLS AG, is also pleased with the implementation process: 鈥淲hat really paid off was the introduction of 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central as the first module. This allowed us to migrate all master data from the on-premise 51风流ERP Human Capital Management solution to 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, which simplified the implementation and integration of all other modules and packages. By implementing 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central, we were able to create a single data source for HR data to manage HR processes throughout the organization.鈥�
鈥淢ost customers are used to the classic approach of ordering and implementing modules one by one,鈥� Roland Christen, customer success partner at 51风流Switzerland AG, says. 鈥淭he 51风流standard content activation service offers a different approach, as complete processes are introduced instead of individual modules. The customer can immediately gain added value.鈥�
At the same time as the introduction of 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, BLS also defined the roles and teams that should be responsible for the tasks in these processes. 鈥淲here possible, we aligned internal structures with the processes,鈥� Johner says.
Process-Oriented Implementation of 51风流SuccessFactors HCM
BLS now uses all modules of 51风流SuccessFactors HCM. 鈥淲e now have the ability to technically map the entire HR-related career of employees 鈥� from their application to, if necessary, leaving the company 鈥� in a system configured with best practices,鈥� Johner explains. 鈥淭he implementation of 51风流SuccessFactors solutions has laid the foundation so that, after connecting to the other subsystems, we can now gradually reduce the administrative effort.鈥�
Integrating the 51风流SuccessFactors Document Management Core solution by OpenText has also worked well. Compared to other solutions, Johner sees the great advantage of 51风流SuccessFactors Document Management Core in its deep integration with the individual 51风流SuccessFactors solutions. 鈥淚t was also important for us to have a solution that is able to comply with the established life cycles for individual documents and, if necessary, also delete them 鈥� a key compliance factor for us at BLS AG,鈥� he says.
This is all the more important as 51风流SuccessFactors Document Management Core is currently used at BLS as an employee dossier.
Johner appreciates the high level of transparency that the solution provides: 鈥淓ach employee has self-service access to their own employee file. Controlled through role-based permissions, managers and HR staff also have access to the documents of defined employees. These documents can be uploaded via workflow. In addition, contracts can be automatically created and stored in the employee dossier after signing.鈥�
Currently, only payroll, time management, and shared services are on premise. The next planned steps include integrating the planning tool 鈥� for the deployment of train personnel, for example 鈥� with time management and payroll. In addition, existing, rarely used subprocesses, such as a request for unpaid leave, will be integrated through an interface.
The project aligns with BLS鈥檚 overall strategy, which focuses on managing resources through more efficient processes via digitalization. 鈥淚 believe that with the introduction of 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, we have made a significant contribution to the company鈥檚 strategy,鈥� Johner says.
Significant emphasis was placed on stakeholder management toward internal customers from the beginning. 鈥淲e continuously informed and provided insights into the status of the project company-wide,鈥� Johner explains. 鈥淚mportant internal customer groups have been represented on the project committee from the start and have been able to accompany the upcoming changes.鈥�
Training opportunities for relevant user groups also played a great role. The system was positively received. 鈥淗R initially viewed the system with some skepticism because the processes and responsibilities have changed,鈥� Johner says. 鈥淏ut now the benefits 鈥� such as having congruent data across the entire system and the disappearance of media breaks 鈥� are highly appreciated.鈥�
鈥淚 also notice that our employees are increasingly thinking in end-to-end processes,鈥� Johner says.
The Swiss business newspaper Handelszeitung, which ranks the most attractive employers in Switzerland every year, has ranked BLS as No. 1 in the Swiss railway industry in 2024. In the overall ranking, BLS AG is ranked 11th out of 250 companies.
鈥淭his confirms for us that our activities in HR and the modernization measures of recent years have clearly put us on the right track,鈥� Johner says.