How to integrate human resources data and utilize it in management strategy to put Japanese companies on a growth trajectory What is the epoch-making solution of "Workday" introduced by major companies in the world?

In Japan, where DX is rushing, there are solutions that major companies are introducing one after another. It is a cloud-based personnel, finance, and planning management system called "Workday." This system has been adopted by 9,500 companies in 175 countries around the world. More than 50% of the Fortune 500 companies in the world have introduced it, and more than 70% of the top 50 companies have introduced it. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a platform for personnel / financial management and business planning. Since the establishment of the Japanese subsidiary in 2013, large companies such as Hitachi, Rakuten, Tokyo Electron, Mitsui Chemicals, and Nihon Keizai Shimbun have been introduced one after another. And now, Japanese medium-sized companies are also enthusiastic about it. Therefore, Workday announced the introduction approach "Workday Launch" that realizes a rapid project. Why are the world's leading companies choosing Workday? Why are so many Japanese companies seriously considering the introduction? We asked Mr. Takumi Masai, President of Workday Japan, about the reason and background.

Delays in human resource transformation cast a big shadow on management strategy

Japanese companies are accelerating DX (digital transformation) in the wake of the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Now that the environment for telework has been improved, it has become possible to freely collaborate while sharing data with anyone, wherever they are. Along with this, the movement to review the old corporate system is becoming active. However, there are still areas in the DX of Japanese companies that are far behind those of Europe and the United States. It is essentially an area of ​​human resources strategy that should be closely linked to business strategy.

"In the world, it is more important than ever to manage and analyze human resources data in an integrated manner using a management method called HCM (Human Capital Management) and utilize it in management strategies. DX in Japanese companies It has been expanded to the human resources area even after suffering the corona damage, "says Takumi Masai, president of Workday Japan.

HCM is a management method born in the United States based on the idea that people are regarded as capital and invested for training to produce the maximum results. The introduction of a system for that purpose has become a common sense in corporate management.

However, in many Japanese companies, the personnel department and other business organizations are still separated, and personnel information that should be shared and utilized has become a black box. As a result, reforms in the HCM domain tend to be delayed, which has become a hindrance to DX initiatives that should support corporate reforms.

"With such an old-fashioned system, it is difficult to proceed with company-wide management reforms in a rapidly changing business environment," said President Masai.

There are four reasons for this, but the first is that the liquidation of human resources is accelerating.

"Now, the world has entered a major retirement era, and it is expected that the movement to change jobs and re-employment will become more and more serious in Japan. Definition of skills that will be needed in the future and management and training of such skills within the company New human resources requirements that are difficult to manage and support with the old system, such as external promotion / procurement, career development plans for individual employees, and engagement management, are occurring one after another, and as it is, only human resources strategies are being created. However, it may hinder the overall management strategy. "(President Masai)

The second reason is the flow of business automation. In order to introduce an automated system that utilizes AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) to solve the labor shortage in the market, it is necessary to analyze and determine the optimum balance between employees and automated systems with data. be. Therefore, digitization of human resources information is inevitable.

The third reason is that in recent years, the gap (skill gap) between the abilities required by companies and the abilities possessed by employees has widened. In order to fill this gap, it is necessary to accurately grasp the skills and experience of each employee and then develop a training plan that suits each individual.

"But in today's situation where the business environment is changing drastically and rapidly, the conventional method is to accurately and quickly grasp the skills, abilities, and experiences of individual employees and link them to various measures. It's extremely difficult to go "(President Masai)

The fourth reason is that due to changes in the work environment due to the expansion of remote work by Korona-ka, it is becoming difficult for even the managers of each department, not to mention the personnel department, to manage the employees who belong to their own department. Be done.

"Due to these circumstances, DX in the personnel field is in a situation without waiting" (President Masai)

Takumi Masai Executive President and General Manager of Japan, Workday Co., Ltd. Started his career at IBM Japan, President of Japan, and recently became Area VP and General Manager of Japan at Pivotal Japan. As a sales director at Microsoft Japan, he led the expansion of the cloud business. He has been in his current position since August 2020.

"Workday Launch" for medium-sized enterprises that realizes speedy introduction

The original purpose of DX is for companies to leverage data and digital technology to respond to drastic changes in the business environment. Now, companies are establishing management strategies such as overseas expansion, launch of new businesses, organizational restructuring, consolidation, and M & A one after another. Each of these measures always involves new human resource strategies such as the introduction of new skills, relocation of human resources, organizational restructuring, and standardization of global evaluation systems.

Therefore, what kind of skills are currently enrolled in the company, what kind of skills will be required in the future business, and how to utilize human resources inside and outside the company to close the gap between the two. Will it be filled while? Unless management can have such insights, it is difficult to formulate an effective management strategy and execute it speedily. In that sense, management strategy and human resources strategy are one.

Workday is exactly what appeared in response to such a request. Since it was established in California, USA in 2005, it has been adopted by the world's largest companies, and in Japan it has been introduced one after another by major companies such as Rakuten, Hitachi, Sony, Nissan Motor, and recently Mitsui Chemicals and Nihon Keizai Shimbun. There is. And now, even medium-sized companies are getting a lot of attention.

Therefore, Workday has launched a new introduction support service "Workday Launch" specialized for medium-sized companies with up to 3,500 employees.

"Workday Launch is a package of standard solutions and implementation approaches based on the key features required by midsize enterprises, based on our global deployment experience. Business applications and platforms. It is the same as what we have provided for large companies so far. "(President Masai)

In medium-sized companies, the reorganization / integration of internal organizations and changes in business models occur more drastically than in large companies. Rather than designing and building it in detail from the beginning, he decided that it would be better to meet the needs by quickly introducing it and then growing it into a shape that suits the company's culture and climate as it changes.

It is also possible to link with existing systems and add functions after introduction, and it is possible to respond immediately to changes in the organization or system.

What is worrisome is the period required for introduction, but "in some cases, medium-sized companies implement it in about half a year," said President Masai.

For example, Cookpad, which operates a cooking recipe search site, completed the simultaneous introduction of Workday HCM and Workday Financial Management in nine months. In addition, Sansan, which develops various services centered on a cloud-based business card management system, has completed the introduction of Workday HCM in just five months. What's more, it was the personnel department, not the IT department, that led the project internally.

"One of the features of Workday is that there are cases where not only the IT department but also the business department that actually uses the most after the introduction takes the lead in implementing the introduction project and maintenance after the introduction." (President Masai)

These are the advantages of being able to implement customer's individual requirements using the workflow and reporting mechanism provided by Workday as standard, but using "Workday Launch" to develop an implementation project based on a preset solution. As a result, it will be possible for medium-sized companies to enjoy the benefits of shortening the project period, controlling investment, and reducing risk.

New features created based on the latest technology and global achievements

Workday is announcing new features to add to this HCM solution. For example, in 2021, the employee's "Corona Vaccine Management Solution" was announced. In addition, more than 1000 companies have introduced a function called "Workday Skills Cloud," which proposes a learning plan to bridge the gap between the skills of individual employees and the career they desire. These new business features are best practices derived from the usage of 55 million workday end users around the world.

"In the era of new normal, how to connect individual employees, managers, and personnel departments while utilizing advanced technology, and to link human resources strategy and management strategy based on data-driven business plans. What we can do is the key to corporate reform. Workday's solution is to achieve that. ”(President Masai)

In this way, Workday is not only effective in formulating management strategies, but also reduces and streamlines middle management personnel-related work, and improves employee motivation and engagement. It is an effective solution for managers, managers, and employees.

Companies have various issues such as evaluation system, human resource development, diversity, compliance, talent management, promotion of external human resources, and so on. Until now, business requirements have been expanded for each issue based on the traditional personnel management system, so many companies should have patched systems. However, if the data is different for each theme, it is difficult to grasp the whole picture with agility.

In order to respond quickly and appropriately to changes, it is necessary to grasp the results of integrating and analyzing all human resources-related data in real time. Not only does Workday make it possible, but it is also a solution that can be used as a DX one-stop solution in human resources strategy by linking with Workday's financial management solution.

"Why don't you start working on human resources reform, which is the key to completing DX in a company, together with Workday, in line with the arrival of the New Normal era?" (President Masai)

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