Twenty companies, one payroll.
A fast-growing industrial services company was going public. It needed public-company controls, but its operating companies ran different payroll setups on several ERPs, and some had no ERP at all. Digineer matured the practices behind the transformation and moved 16,000 employees onto a single payroll platform.
At a glance
- Client
- A newly public industrial services company
- Program
- Business process transformation and payroll consolidation
- Scale
- 20 operating companies, 6 ERP systems, national and international operations
- Engagement
- Service-area maturity and program delivery, 2021 to 2023
- Capability
- Transformation & Value Management · Organizational Effectiveness & Change Readiness
The situation
Going public without the processes to match
Moving from private to public meant becoming SOX compliant, and it meant an IT culture that hit milestones and delivery dates. The company had grown largely by acquiring smaller companies, and each had kept its own business practices, tools and payroll.
Project delivery practices were immature, which led to compliance failures and inconsistent execution. Deadlines had been missed before, earlier implementations had not met expectations, and end users were losing confidence. The first payroll solution did not meet all of the business’s needs, and decisions often stalled because nobody clearly owned them.
Warning signs
- A history of missed deadlines
- Different standards in every operating company
- Several ERPs, and some companies with none
- A payroll solution that fell short of business needs
- Decisions stalling without a clear owner
What we did
Measure the practices, then lead them
Digineer started with a cost-benefit analysis of the payroll solution and baseline maturity assessments of four service areas: project management, business analysis, organizational change management and launch management. The client then appointed Digineer consultants as service leads to close the gaps.
Delivery practices that hold
An enterprise PMO assessment and roadmap, a working change management practice, a business analysis center of practice and a launch management process built for repeatable go-lives.
One payroll across twenty companies
Employee data migrated onto a new payroll and HCM platform and integrated with six ERP systems, so employees could see earnings statements, W-2s and tax forms online. General ledger updates were automated, with launch, hypercare and production support.
Visibility for the C-suite
One-page roadmaps with dates committed by the accountable teams, “race charts” that made every team-to-team handoff explicit, Power BI and ServiceNow dashboards, and status reporting to the C-suite during important implementations.
The outcome
Benefits delivered as planned
One payroll, with self-service
16,000 employees moved from their source ERP systems onto one payroll platform, with self-service earnings statements, W-2s and payroll tax services across 20 companies.
Seven go-lives
Seven launches. Two companies moved to a new payroll ERP, and five companies now run the full payroll solution.
Compliance built into delivery
Digineer owned passing the SDLC and security compliance checks every quarter, and streamlined the SDLC so large strategic projects and smaller IT initiatives each follow a process that fits.
Practices the client keeps
Mature PMO, business analysis, change management and launch management service areas, plus a training library of business practices and vendor job aids.
“You each take full ownership of your role in the success of our various projects, and I’m grateful to work with you!”
Segment payroll director
Business process transformation
Growing faster than your processes?
Digineer brings rigor, accountability and follow-through to transformation programs, pushes decisions forward and holds vendors to their commitments.
Scale your processes with your growth
Client name withheld for confidentiality.