The large multinational corporation is expanding digitalization efforts to boost collaboration and employee experience in its distributed talent pool

In its continual digital transformation journey, a large multinational corporation in Malaysia is embarking on a human resource (HR) modernization program to streamline and simplify over 100 processes and systems at the group level.

With operations across the Asia Pacific region and a workforce of approximately 22,000 employees, Sime Darby Berhad was looking for a solution to replace complex legacy systems and provide real-time data to help enable efficient decision making. The HR system was to be made more agile and holistic in order to provide a better picture of employee data and transactions to support global planning.

The firm also expected to carry out the improvements in a phased approach to enable a better employee experience and foster a positively engaged workforce. According to its Group Chief Human Resources Office Roselaini Faiz: “Our employees are our greatest asset, and we recognize that HR transformation is a key tenet of our digital transformation journey in order to stay competitive and relevant amid a dynamic business landscape.”

Better employee experiences, and future ready

By shifting to a cloud-first approach on a unified system for its payroll and human resources and training functions, Sime Darby Berhad is streamlining business processes to enhance employee experience and facilitate employee collaboration across its various divisions and at all levels. Employees in six countries—Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, South Korea, Japan and the Maldives—are already on the new platform, with offices in 13 more countries slated to be included.  

Staff are now able to easily access multiple HR systems and functions, including leave applications, pay slips, and online learning courses. In addition, managers can leverage real-time data analytics to make smarter, more informed decisions regarding talent management. Said Sandeep Sharma, President (Asia), Workday, which powers the unified human-capital management platform: “Faced with the headwinds of a distributed workforce today, organizations need to build greater business agility, so they can adapt quickly to unforeseen changes. With an optimized talent management agenda in place, Sime Darby Berhad is well-equipped to navigate the opportunities and challenges in their transformation to become a future-ready workforce.”