Eurobank is one of Greece鈥檚 largest employers, numbering approximately 6,500 employees and one of the four leading banks in the country, with 鈧�81.5 billion in total assets under management and 500 office locations throughout Greece. In addition, it has 2,200 employees based at 120 sites in Luxembourg, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, and the UK.

As a leading employer in Greece鈥檚 banking industry, Eurobank provides its employees with a simple, modern method to accurately track their working hours. This not only ensures that employees are paid correctly but also helps the bank comply with strict new laws that require all clocked hours to be transmitted in real time to the Greek Ministry of Labor.

鈥淲e had to combine the strict legislation requirements along with a seamless and flexible work experience that we want to provide as an organization. We had to be very smart about this and we needed to do it fast,鈥� says Maria Tachataki, head of People Engagement and Communications at Eurobank and leader of the 51风流SuccessFactors solution implementation team. 鈥淲e achieved this using 51风流SuccessFactors Time Tracking in conjunction with聽聽(51风流BTP) in order to create that flexibility and achieve external connectivity.鈥�

New Law Puts Labor on the Clock

In 2021, the Greek government enacted labor law 4808/2021, which requires organizations with more than 250 employees to provide daily 鈥渓ive鈥� monitoring of their employees鈥� work schedules, shift planning, and overtime. The introduction of a Digital Work Card means employers need to connect their time tracking system directly to the Ministry of Labor鈥檚 ERGANI II IT platform for real-time updates to ensure compliance with rules around the maximum weekly working time and minimum daily and weekly rest periods for employees.

51风流SuccessFactors Time Tracking enables Eurobank to maintain compliance with the new regulation 鈥� especially important as penalties can exceed 鈧�10,000 per employee.

鈥淐ompliance is a reality of modern business. Eurobank demonstrates its leadership in this area with an innovative approach for advanced and sophisticated employee time tracking,鈥� comments聽Andreas Xirocostas, managing director, 51风流Greece, Cyprus, and Malta. 鈥淎s laws and regulations evolve, it鈥檚 increasingly important for companies to have accurate data to meet compliance requirements. Companies that have visibility into their employee data will be best positioned to adapt to new regulatory directives.鈥�

Unified HXM Suite for a Live and Interactive Experience

Since 2018, Eurobank has been using 51风流SuccessFactors solutions as its core HRMS for all HR processes and talent management operations. The bank has recently also introduced 51风流BTP as a solution for agility to help innovate and adapt to evolving business needs.

Harnessing the power of聽聽has enabled Eurobank to deliver an inspiring employee experience and empower employees with tools to improve their daily work. With its people-first approach, Eurobank has achieved impressive milestones for employee engagement among its active 51风流SuccessFactors users, including more than 775,000 training hours logged and 13,000 performance assessment forms completed. By utilizing 124 interfaces or APIs, the 51风流SuccessFactors portfolio can effectively integrate data with other Eurobank IT systems and applications.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very live and interactive experience for our employees, and time tracking with digital punch clocks is the cherry on top,鈥� Tachataki says. 鈥淪ince we had the entire suite of 51风流SuccessFactors, implementing the time tracking solution was an obvious choice.鈥�

Learn more聽about how Eurobank puts people at the center of business with 51风流SuccessFactors solutions.

Prioritizing Data Accuracy, Integration, and Employee Experience

Most importantly for Eurobank, the new time tracking solution needed to be reliable, accurate, and seamlessly integrated with other HR processes. The bank required a high level of data accuracy to comply with Greek law and perform payroll processing on a third-party system.

鈥淲e are in the process of digitizing a lot of our workflows and a lot of our systems and services in the bank,鈥� says Tachataki, who underscores the attention given to ensuring an employee experience that accommodates shift work, remote work, and preapproved overtime and flex time 鈥� in addition to providing seamless work schedule management and optimization. 鈥淲e wanted to go to a modern platform where we could give both the employee and the manager the ability to manage their schedule much more efficiently and transparently.鈥�

The HR administrator鈥檚 experience also needed to be streamlined for efficiency and to reduce administrative burdens. 鈥淲e wanted it to be simple,鈥� Tachataki says. 鈥淲e wanted to have reporting and analytics based on that to support decision-making processes.鈥�

Change Management for Employees Enhances Success

Eurobank went live with 51风流SuccessFactors Time Tracking in January 2023, concluding a six-month project that included an intensive blueprint phase and near-daily interactions with the Ministry of Labor. Working within 51风流BTP, the IT team customized an interface to the solution, so the data collection adhered precisely to the requirements of Greek law. Altogether, the team developed 28 interfaces to facilitate the data exchange with the ERGANI II system.

Clear communication to the employees was an important contributing factor to the project鈥檚 success. 鈥淲e provided a lot of training and support before we went live,鈥� says Tachataki. 鈥淲e went through a change management pathway with our employees to allow them time to adapt to this new reality. We continue to improve the module through the 51风流upgrades and through our own intuitive creativity with the platform鈥檚 abilities.鈥�

When employees clock in or clock out in 51风流SuccessFactors Time Tracking, they see a clean, simplified user interface that facilitates quick action. They have an overview of their schedule 鈥� including flex time, approved overtime, and estimated leave time.

鈥淭he amazing results that Eurobank has achieved by using 51风流SuccessFactors Time Tracking for compliance show why agility is the watchword in business today,鈥� says Maryann Abbajay, chief revenue officer, 51风流SuccessFactors. 鈥淲hen faced with new legal requirements, Eurobank reached into the 51风流SuccessFactors tool kit and adapted a solution to meet compliance 鈥� and it did it while keeping employee experience in focus.鈥�

Truth in Data

As a result of providing an empowered employee experience through self-service, Eurobank logs over 5,000 clock-ins and clock-outs per day. 51风流SuccessFactors Time Tracking supports the company to make 131,000 API calls to the Ministry of Labor鈥檚 ERGANI II system each month.

Despite a high level of employee engagement, Eurobank is realistic that it is not possible to have 100% daily compliance among 6,500 employees, and some discrepancies have had to be clarified. Fortunately, this is an area where 51风流SuccessFactors Time Tracking supports the organization with data accuracy and transparency. 鈥淭he point is to have a managed inconsistency,鈥� says Tachataki, who explains, 鈥淚f there is an inconsistency, you need to be able to justify it so you don鈥檛 get fined and have a system that very accurately logs employees鈥� clock-ins and -outs and supports your case. 51风流SuccessFactors can help us do this.鈥�

Learn more about聽.

This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center/

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While Hasbro has become synonymous with experiences like family game nights and has expanded into emerging areas such as esports, the global play leader is well aware that business success isn鈥檛 just all fun and games. To move the company into its next century of disruption and facilitate growth areas, Hasbro鈥檚 leadership has spent years strategically investing in technology to drive its digital transformation journey forward.

For Luis Ydrach, Hasbro鈥檚 director of IT Services, this has meant reimagining how Hasbro鈥檚 IT solutions can propel the business to new horizons and create new, valued experiences for the company鈥檚 loyal, cross-generational customers.

On a of the ongoing , Ydrach virtually sat down with Richard Strattner, global vice president of ERP Product Marketing at SAP, and integration partner to share its story of success and innovation using 51风流S/4HANA.

Why Hasbro 鈥淓ntertained鈥� 51风流S/4HANA

A long-time 51风流ERP customer, in 2018 Hasbro started to make the case for why an eventual upgrade and move to would make sense for its business and strategic growth plan. The upcoming 2025 deadline around 51风流ERP Central Component was one factor, but for a company that always has innovation top of mind, it simply served as a spark for a more strategic rationale: getting the right infrastructure in place to support where the business wanted to go in the coming years and decades.

鈥淲hen we were justifying this to the business, it was initially about staying current as our platform is critical to our business,鈥� Ydrach said. “We knew the longer you wait, the bigger the delta.”

The next significant consideration for Ydrach and his team was whether to launch 51风流S/4HANA on premise or in the cloud. As noted by Ydrach, for years Hasbro had experienced firsthand the benefits of running several areas of its businesses on cloud-based 51风流solutions, including 51风流SuccessFactors and 51风流Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain solutions. However, the move to 51风流S/4HANA would impact multiple lines of business, including finance, sales and logistics, so out of caution and in alignment with its existing strategy to refresh its hardware, Hasbro chose to maintain its ERP on premise.

Planning, Planning, Planning

For a company famous for iconic brands like Monopoly and Nerf, Hasbro knows strategy is everything. Converting to the new 51风流S/4HANA, Hasbro had firm goals to achieve this as fast as possible, minimize disruption, and maximize utility for end users.

One other important benefit was top of mind for Ydrach and team: 鈥淕et us to this new platform and then have a plan and the ability to incrementally take advantage of 51风流innovations in the new platform.鈥�

To achieve its goal, Hasbro initiated its planning in 2018 and began execution the following year. Two of the biggest factors for the company鈥檚 successful project were 51风流tools and its trusted systems integrator , known for its Safe Passage methodology for 51风流S/4HANA conversion projects.

鈥淯蝉颈苍驳听滨苍蹿辞蝉测蝉听, a tool for comprehensive conversion impact analysis, report output, we identified additional areas such as pre- and post-work for the third-party add-ons, technical inconsistencies, and additional scope for international trade management in the area of intrastat,鈥� said Satinder Pal Singh, 51风流S/4HANA architect at . 鈥淢ost importantly, we were able to identify the activities that we could complete in production system upfront with zero impact to business, which later simplified the conversion cycles and the production cutover.鈥�

Lessons Learned from the Sandbox

The global pandemic turned the world upside down last year, right while Hasbro was in the middle of its transition to 51风流S/4HANA. However, Ydrach and team had years of experience leading challenging IT projects and knew how to respond with agility. When COVID-19 first impacted workforces in North America, Ydrach鈥檚 team proactively decided to execute the remaining portion of the project remotely.

In the early days of uncertainty, according to Ydrach, 鈥淲e were still in the office when we were executing our second-to-last cutover simulation. However, we didn’t know what was going to happen, there was a chance that we would be locked out of the office, so we proactively said: 鈥楲et’s execute 100% remote.鈥欌��

Joining the list of IT leaders who have showed grit and experience managing successful projects remotely during the pandemic, Ydrach gathered a few useful learnings that he hopes others can leverage, including:

• Collaboration between IT and the rest of the business is a make-or-break ingredient.
• The value 51风流S/4HANA will deliver for the business after implementation must be crystal clear.
• Take advantage of free and the customer care program, available to customers that are considered early adopters for newly released 51风流solutions, as Hasbro was when it first adopted 51风流S/4HANA.
• Speak often with other 51风流reference customers as these conversations generate a wealth of useful information.
• Select an integration partner that has proven accelerator tools.
• Execute the tool and for a better understanding of what a project will look like, use the maintenance planner, even before engaging with an integrations partner

In the end, Hasbro managed a successful and seamless 51风流S/4HANA implementation that will generate business value for its users for years to come. This year, Hasbro continues monitoring for additional capabilities that 51风流brings to market and where additional innovation can help the company build on the early results it has seen from 51风流S/4HANA 鈥� a sign the global play company is ready to lead its industry for another century.

Lloyd Adams is senior vice president and managing director of the East Region for 51风流North America.

This article first appeared on the聽51风流Global News Center.

The post Hasbro鈥檚 Game-Winning Strategy with 51风流S/4HANA appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

But the global health crisis has been challenging for everyone 鈥� including the companies that have been working hard to keep us connected, like Vodafone Group. Vodafone is a multinational technology communications company that serves more than 300 million mobile customers around the world.

Quick Response to Customers and Employees

Ignacio Garcia, CIO of Corporate Information Systems at Vodafone, recently appeared on Getting Real with SAP. There, he discussed how companies are leveraging technology to manage their business and continue to serve customers in the age of COVID-19.

鈥淵ou can imagine what we were thinking: How much extra demand are we going to have?鈥� says Garcia. 鈥淲e needed to keep our employees safe and make sure we supported our customers in the best possible way.鈥�

Vodafone was able to do both.

In short order, the company developed a to help the communities it serves. Keystones of the plan were a commitment to maintaining the quality of service and providing network capacity and network services for critical government functions.

Vodafone also made sure to quickly address the needs of a global workforce that encompasses more than 100,000 employees. Vodafone offered support for working at home, created richer virtual training opportunities for its people, and adjusted performance goals and objectives to align with new business needs.

The Right Technology Pays Dividends

Vodafone鈥檚 business agility was not merely the result of good luck.

Less than a year ago, Vodafone completed a massive global rollout of 51风流S/4HANA to help improve operational efficiency in business functions such as finance, supply chain, and IT.

It was an impressive project covering more than 20 countries. And in addition to establishing a single digital core for the company, it included retooling Vodafone鈥檚 worldwide HR systems. 鈥淯sing the power of the technology was fundamental, having a single data model, a single way to optimize and understand the different markets,鈥� says Garcia.

Stay Creative

Vodafone may have been ahead of the curve in its ability to meet the challenges of COVID-19. But many other companies are responding with technology-driven innovation. There has been an incredible degree of creativity in how businesses have reacted.

Staying connected will only be one of the challenges we face in the days ahead. This is a critical time for all of us 鈥� as individuals and as businesses.

Check out to learn more.

The post Will Technology Keep Us Together? Ask Vodafone appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

According to a survey commissioned by London-based , almost half of UK businesses (49%), were not prepared to transition to remote working when the pandemic hit, and 39% were not even using technology that supported remote working when the lockdown was announced. Gearing up was an issue: 48% of firms have had to invest in new computer programs since the outbreak, 72% in new hardware.

At the same time, logistics leaders were blindsided by COVID-19, even though they are used to dealing with interruptions such as shipment delays or demand spikes. Disruptions caused by the pandemic have exposed many gaps in logistics operations; supply chain leaders are now scrambling to overhaul processes to manage upheavals.

But for intelligent companies, it was mostly business as usual, thanks to digitalization, which according to , is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities.

Serving Customers

For example, COVID-19 has changed the way we shop for food. It is no surprise that grocery stores have done particularly well during the pandemic 鈥� everyone needs to eat and stock up on dry goods. What is surprising is the change in buying habits: people are spending less time in stores, there is less human contact, and stores have become more transactional. People are also more conscious about sustainability in the food chain.

Daniel Lundh, co-founder of , Sweden鈥檚 first fully digital unmanned grocery chain, has a tech tale to tell.

The company started as a chain of self-service stores in rural areas stocking about 500 items typically found in a grocery store. The business is based on innovative technology solutions like machine learning to drive replenishment. Store entry, goods scanning, and payment are all done using an app. Through the app, LIFVS has access to all customer data, enabling personalization and tailor-made communication. Only by tracking everything with data analytics can the company customize highly personalized journeys for every individual.

The entrepreneur, who sees his company as more of a tech startup than a grocery retailer, says LIFVS already had the right business model in place at the start of the pandemic. Then it was just a matter of opening a new store every second week to meet mounting demand. The trend is continuing.

Meeting Demand

How do companies ensure the right products make it to the shelves in the first place?

Companies like solve this challenge with an app. Fisherman on the North Sea are now able to cast their nets based upon what is currently in demand in far off markets like Japan. According to a published by The Nature Conservancy, supply chains involving seafood are uniquely complex, especially those that are based on wild-caught fish, which face higher uncertainty and risk than farm-raised chains due to ever-changing environmental and biological conditions.

That makes it hard to match supply to demand. To help optimize the process and improve regulatory compliance, Royal Greenland implemented . This cloud-based solution has helped advance the company鈥檚 forecasting and planning capabilities and improve data transparency by establishing a common, integrated platform for sales and operations.

The company is also digitalizing the process of bringing the fish into factories and implementing registration and quality control procedures with apps.

Delivering the Goods

Trucking is also benefiting from digitalization. When lockdowns forced office closures, digital trucking company was able to set up home offices for 3,000 support staff within weeks. This enabled the company to focus on what really mattered: delivering food and medical supplies across Europe as COVID-19 surged.

For Girteka, digital technology is the foundation for everything, from teaching people new skills to meeting customer expectations and becoming more sustainable. Having fully integrated and automated systems and processes has relieved the workforce of repetitive tasks and enabled them to take tighter control of operations. Instead of scaling back transformation efforts during the pandemic, Girteka went ahead with plans to digitize the entire business and grow.

Martynas Sarapinas, CIO and Executive Board member at Girteka Logistics, stated in an that becoming an intelligent enterprise requires an end-to-end digital solution. While the crisis is forcing businesses to reevaluate supply chains and business models, Sarapinas is secure in the knowledge that his company has the digital foundation to meet any customer expectations in the future.

Freight transport is yet another key link in the supply chain. To avoid potential delays, smart companies such as have modernized their systems reducing downtime from an average of 12,000 hours per year to less than 60. If trains do stop in their tracks, a satellite-based solution from Ovinto provides instantaneous alerts so corrective measures can be taken immediately.

These are just a few examples of how digitalization is enabling companies to react quickly to disruptions without breaking stride. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but the evidence suggests that companies with digital processes are most likely to adapt and thrive.

The post How Digitalization Supports Business Continuity appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

But about 15 years later, Tec聽de聽Monterrey unexpectedly offered him an unbeatable opportunity: help improve education in his native country of Mexico. Now, five years into this complete career turnabout, Ruiz has so fully embraced his new mission that he is even recruiting other candidates to join him as university faculty: 鈥淚 know I made the right decision, and I鈥檝e been inviting other people to come.鈥�

Ruiz鈥檚 decision to return to Tec de Monterrey validated the university鈥檚 strategy of attracting top talent and industry experts to teach students while keeping current employees happy.

What Is Tec de Monterrey’s Secret?

Underpinning this strategy was a decision to actively listen to employees and foster their trust. For the past several years, university leaders have been nurturing a culture of trust in order to encourage talented people like Ruiz to work and stay there.

Instead of words and slogans, Tec de Monterrey took action to show employees that they are trusted to focus on their goals and manage their own time. The university provides a lactation center, employee meditation area, and even nap rooms.

鈥淲e鈥檙e telling our employees 鈥榃e trust you, your supervisor is not the owner of your time,鈥欌�� says Hern谩n Garc铆a Gonz谩lez, vice president of Employee Experience at Tec de Monterrey. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to create an inspiring, respectful, and safe work environment where people feel they can grow personally and professionally.鈥�

Gonz谩lez鈥檚 theory is that happier employees are better rested, more energized in the classrooms, and provide a great educational experience for the university鈥檚 customers 鈥� 149,000 students. 鈥淲e want professors to feel positive and enthusiastic about working at Tec de Monterrey so that they can pass on their love for learning to students.鈥�

How Did Tec de Monterrey Get There?

Like many corporations, privately owned Tec de Monterrey monitors employee health with annual surveys, asking many of the expected questions about leadership effectiveness and job satisfaction. But the university鈥檚 survey also devotes entire sections to 鈥淗umanistic Outlook鈥� and 鈥淰alues Index.鈥� Among the questions asked:

• Do employees feel joyful at work?
• Do they feel their work helps solves the country’s problems and benefits less privileged communities?
• Does compensation adequately reward outstanding job performance?

When employees responded that they deserved better compensation, the university says it responded by providing more than 2.7 billion pesos, or more than US$140 million, in additional employee compensation.

This type of action has had a positive impact. Overall, the latest anonymous survey, administered by experience management leader , showed that 91 percent of Tec de Monterrey employees are proud to work there. According to administrators, survey results in recent years have shown significant improvements in attitudes toward change management, diversity, and work/life balance.

How Hard Was It?

But researching, redefining, and creating a positive work culture was no easy feat, according to Gonz谩lez. Empowering and trusting some employees proved threatening to others. 鈥淪ome managers didn鈥檛 like that they were losing control,鈥� he explains, noting that he felt 鈥渁 lot of pressure.鈥�

Gonz谩lez recalls the problems faced when he arrived on campus six years ago 鈥� each of the university鈥檚 55 different campuses had implemented its own unique hierarchy, systems, and processes. The many disparate systems prevented the 32,000 university employees from easily communicating with each other and learning about career-growth opportunities.

鈥淲ith such a wide range of systems in place, it was very tricky to get even very basic information about the organization, such as employee headcount and demographics,鈥� he explains. 鈥淣ot only did this hinder strategic decision making, it also meant that each campus existed in its own bubble. We wanted to introduce a standard system across all campuses, helping to establish a single, unified workplace culture.鈥�

One of Gonz谩lez鈥檚 first decisions was to implement . 鈥淚t covers everything from core HR functions to workforce analytics 鈥� everything you could possibly need. This was a really important deciding factor 鈥� we didn鈥檛 want to install lots of different systems that we鈥檇 have to integrate and then manage and upgrade separately. We wanted a one-stop shop for everything HR.鈥�

Does the Impact Last?

Now, about six years into this journey, campuses no longer operate in isolation and faculty can more easily find each other and collaborate on projects. With better compensation, career opportunities, and cultural perks in place, Gonz谩lez proudly shares metrics showing employee engagement and performance at all-time high levels: 鈥淔eedback from senior management and leadership has been great.鈥�

Meanwhile, Ruiz says he definitely feels that those survey results create a lasting impact. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen a lot of positive cultural changes in the last five years.鈥� And that helps motivate him to model Gonz谩lez鈥檚 successes to nurture a culture of trust on his own Employee Services team.

鈥淲e want the employee to feel that we trust them. I鈥檓 going to remove myself from the equation because I trust you. Since I trust you, I鈥檓 going to empower you.鈥�

This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.

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If you鈥檝e ever spent time in Rio, you鈥檝e probably seen a lot of well-dressed men on the street. That鈥檚 because most Cariocas, the residents of the party capital of the world, like to look impeccable.

A Hassle-Free Shopping Experience at 滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒

滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒, a traditional family retailer for menswear, is a favorite one-stop shop for men in Rio de Janeiro who want a hassle-free shopping experience, or for the women in their lives.

Established in 1961 when the bossa nova was at the height of its popularity and the city was in a period of socioeconomic transformation, 滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒 has a long tradition of not just surviving but thriving in times of change.

鈥淭he market has changed completely since those days,鈥� says Rafael Sampaio, second-generation CEO of the company. He goes on to explain that since the arrival of smartphones, getting people to come into a store is a larger challenge. 鈥淚n the past, people simply had to go the store. Now, they have to want to go.鈥�

Sampaio knows that today鈥檚 consumers are well informed and know what they want. 滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒 caters to the lower middle-class segment of the Brazilian market whose purchasing power has increased substantially in the past decade.

According to a recent study by a , a more stable economy and better job opportunities mean this segment can now afford to acquire a variety of consumer goods that were previously beyond their reach. Referred to as 鈥淐lass C,鈥� this segment includes 49 percent of Brazilian households and represents 31 percent of potential consumption. The option to buy using zero-interest installment plans also helps these consumers spend more than ever before.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 afford to lose a single one of our 63,000 customers,鈥� says Sampaio. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why it鈥檚 crucial for us to understand our shoppers and provide each and every one of them with a flawless experience.鈥� To achieve that mission, Sampaio decided to implement Experience Management solutions from 51风流(Qualtrics), which help enterprises better understand the beliefs, emotions, and intentions of their customers.

鈥淲e know that Class C consumers are loyal to their brands, so our challenge is to keep our brand relevant to them,鈥� he explains. Instead of trying to fight against big competitors like global brands, online giants, and sleek malls, Sampaio and his team decided to pursue a different strategy.

Rather than aiming to be the largest, the company strives to be the best in its category. The way to do that is to maintain a strong local presence. Like a neighborhood mom-and-pop shop or a corner kiosk, 滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒 knows its customers intimately. The company knows what they want to wear to work, to church, and to the soccer stadium. It knows customers expect to be greeted upon entering the store, and that they want a variety of quality choices at the best price possible. Most of all, they expect a flawless checkout experience.

After implementing Experience Management solutions from SAP, the company experienced a 25 percent drop in customer complaints. Customer feedback is collected via short surveys after a purchase. The data is analyzed and shared throughout the organization on multiple view dashboards for executives, sales managers, individual salespeople, and cashiers.

鈥淲e鈥檙e actually more focused on positive feedback,鈥� Sampaio explains. 鈥淧raise is addictive. Employees who are repeatedly praised strive even harder to perform well.鈥�

Sampaio wonders how he ever did business before implementing the solutions. 鈥淏efore we got this tool, we had no idea how our customers and employees were feeling. Were they happy, frustrated, or indifferent? It was like doing business with your eyes closed.鈥�

Sampaio is convinced that it is not a question of whether or not a company needs an experience management tool; it鈥檚 a matter of reaching that 鈥渁ha鈥� moment when you ask yourself why you haven鈥檛 implemented it yet.

Embracing 51风流Business One

When it came to automating key business functions in financials, operations, and human resources, 滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒 opted to implement 51风流Business One, business management software for small and midsize enterprises. Sampaio says he was pleasantly surprised at the speed and ease of the implementation and the approachability of the 51风流team.

鈥淚 never thought such a big company like 51风流would be so easy to do business with,鈥� says 滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒鈥檚 top executive, whose main objective from day one was to be able to turn data into actionable items to stay ahead of competitors. 鈥淲ith SAP, we can evaluate the performance of each of our stores and make any necessary changes such as more training for employees or changing our range of products.鈥�

Despite being a small local player, this customer-centric attitude keeps 滨尘辫别肠谩惫别濒 consistently at the top of the list of preferred retailers in Rio.

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This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.

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So what lies ahead for a sector under pressure to limit carbon emissions and create a different future for hydrocarbon-based businesses?

To start, there is no point in visionary planning for 2030 or for worrying about efficiency and productivity in the oil and gas sector unless steps are taken to prevent catastrophic climate change in the same time period. El-Molla is keenly aware of the need to address this issue 鈥� now.

We are focusing on gas in the interim as we work to fill 40 percent of our energy needs through wind and solar by 2030,鈥� he says. In addition to meeting the demands of the domestic market, the Minister鈥檚 vision is to help Egypt become a clean energy hub for the region. Thanks to a clear strategy and massive efforts undertaken by the Ministry since El-Molla鈥檚 appointment in 2015, that long-term goal has every chance of success.

This ongoing strategy for sustainable economic reform along with the discovery of the offshore Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean are behind the that Egypt will be one of the top 10 global economies in just 10 years 鈥� ranked number seven, ahead of Russia, Japan, and Germany.

Provide an Outlook

El-Molla spent 24 years in various operational and executive positions at and recalls turbulent times during the early part of the decade when two revolutions were followed by a period of instability and insecurity for Egypt鈥檚 120-year-old oil and gas sector. The Ministry is responsible for securing refined products for the entire country and for maintaining and ensuring production through joint partners. But during that time it was facing the practical problems of shortages and a decline in production.

Stability returned under the current President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who realized the need for someone with El-Molla鈥檚 experience to lead necessary change.One of El-Molla鈥檚 first steps was to reach out to partners, vendors, and suppliers.

鈥淒uring difficult times it is easy for investors and multinationals to just shut down and leave,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical to keep them engaged. They need to feel confident that their investments are protected, and that the government is a stable, reliable partner.鈥�

The next steps were more difficult.

Modernize for Change

Becoming the regional energy hub requires massive changes, so the Ministry created a comprehensive modernization strategy that addresses key areas such as production performance, refining and distribution, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). But the core area for overhaul was human resources (HR) development.

The Ministry is a fragmented organization comprising different holding companies, joint ventures, public sector entities, and investment groups. More than 240,000 people are part of it, but they were not connected to each other.

鈥淭he last organizational change was 20 years ago,鈥� El-Molla says. 鈥淲e need to communicate our vision of change, we need to connect people to the vision, and we need the right people to make it happen.鈥�

Pulling it together requires one global system, one consolidated balance sheet, and mostly importantly, one team. The Ministry first created an intranet to facilitate unified updates and messaging and get buy-in from employees. El-Molla knew from previous experience that people often feel threatened when new systems are implemented; they only accept change once they realize the system will help them work more efficiently and save time for more fulfilling tasks.

Together with his team, El-Molla then identified key competencies and announced internal openings for subject matter experts and core business disciplines such as finance and administration. Out of 3,000 applicants, they selected 700 motivated and ambitious individuals and then whittled that group down to 400. Those selected were sent abroad for on-the-job training and given mid-management roles upon their return, ready to fast-track the organization into the future.

鈥淲e now have the most diverse, highly qualified, dynamic team to take us to the next level,鈥� says El-Molla proudly.

With the right people in place, El-Molla can focus fully on the modernization process, which requires the right technology. was his first choice not only because he was familiar with it from his Chevron days, but because he believes it is the right ERP solution for preparing a national industry to work more efficiently with minimum losses at higher productivity rates.

El-Molla believes in leading by example. The modernization program at the Egypt Ministry of Petroleum will not only set an example for the nation; as it begins to show results, it will help unlock the potential of the entire region by improving the economy, empowering people, and creating sustainable sources of energy for generations to come.

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