Explore BT Group’s journey with SAP
BT Group aims to be the world’s most trusted connector of people, devices, and machines. To support this ambition and deliver a modernized, connected colleague experience, the company implemented SAP SuccessFactors HCM. Delivering on the moments that matter to colleagues is now a reality.
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Telecommunications | London, United Kingdom | 100,000 employees and 30,000 contractors | Accenture plc |
global HR processes, down from 200 processes.
million colleague productivity hours saved per year.
legacy IT systems removed.
Director of Colleague Experience and Delivery, BT Group
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Telecommunications | London, United Kingdom | 100,000 employees and 30,000 contractors | Accenture plc |
global HR processes, down from 200 processes.
million colleague productivity hours saved per year.
legacy IT systems removed.
Director of Colleague Experience and Delivery, BT Group
Simplifying and streamlining how HR gets done
BT Group is the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions, and services. It also provides managed telecommunications, security, and network and IT infrastructure services to customers across 180 countries.
Management of the staff – or colleague – lifecycle was based on inconsistent processes, minimal self-service, and a heavy reliance on HR teams manually conducting administrative activities. With 200 different HR processes, the teams needed significant time to manage talent. For example, it took five days to generate HR reports and a one-hour call with HR support to make simple changes to employee data. And the 30-plus legacy IT systems were complex, inflexible, fragmented, unscalable, and expensive to maintain and update. The various systems provided conflicting information and were not user-friendly. This neither reflected BT Group’s brand as a digital and technology company and its values of “personal, simple, and brilliant” nor empowered colleagues and managers.
BT Group wants to attract and retain top talent to further its mission of creating standout customer experiences. It sought to modernize and simplify the colleague experience of its HR systems to improve workplace attractiveness, build a strong foundation internally, and create a culture where people can be their best.
Director of Colleague Experience and Delivery, BT Group
Investing in colleagues as a strong foundation for future growth
Following the launch of a new global learning platform, delivered through the SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution, BT Group placed the colleague experience at the core of its plans with the creation of a colleague lifecycle map to address the moments that matter. The first step was to implement the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution as its core HR system. The ability to migrate core data and have a foundation for its other HR processes and the stages of the colleague lifecycle was key. At the same time, BT Group implemented the SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting solution to deliver a vastly improved candidate experience and the SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding solution to welcome and equip new hires from when they sign their contracts.
The HR platform known as “My HR” provides a modern, digital experience that reflects BT Group’s values and allows it to attract and retain top talent. As a single, unified, and self-service HR platform, My HR provides a digital colleague experience on a global scale. It allows colleagues, managers, and HR teams to complete HR lifecycle activities intuitively, efficiently, and flexibly on any device, anytime and anywhere. The cloud-based technology also contributes to greater functional responsiveness and continuous improvement, all at a lower cost.
By integrating SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, BT Group will realize the value of connecting HR and finance with improved insights, experiences, and processes. The SAP Employee Engagement solution by Qualtrics enables BT Group to run different surveys, providing it with valuable colleague feedback referred to as “Moments that Matter.” The annual engagement survey gives managers a results dashboard so they can take appropriate action, while lifecycle surveys are automatically sent at 42 points in time identified as important for employees.
Using the SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics solution gives line managers and HR partners access to self-service reports, rather than having to wait five days. Using SAP Integration Suite, run on SAP Business Technology Platform, APIs, and connectors, The SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite is integrated with other solutions, such as the SAP Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management application, SAP SuccessFactors Extended Enterprise Content Management application by OpenText, and SAP Employee Engagement by Qualtrics.
By combining SAP Preferred Success and SAP MaxAttention services, SAP Services and Support delivered a safeguarded engagement to BT Group, and subject-matter experts on the suite worked closely with the BT Group and Accenture teams to provide guidance on functional design, strategy documents, and role-based permissions. Accenture partnered with BT Group to help deliver the “brilliant HR colleague experience” through technical expertise, a deep understanding of HR, and market experience and proven methodology in supporting the deployment.
HR Technology Director, BT Group
Driving improvements for colleagues at every stage
By selecting SAP SuccessFactors HCM, BT Group is now able to better connect with colleagues across the employee lifecycle. In simplifying HR systems and processes, there is now one master data source with 76 downstream integrations and 80 redesigned and standardized global processes, instead of 200 processes. The retirement of 30 legacy systems and removal of license fees and maintenance resulted in IT efficiency and cost reduction. Moving from an HR landscape with three core systems to one system saves BT Group one million colleague productivity hours annually. Managers and HR teams can generate HR reports instantaneously, versus five days previously, and colleagues can make their changes through the self-service user interface. Now, 11,000 managers have access to eight self-service people dashboards, and the company went from 550 enhanced users with unique roles to 3,500 enhanced users with 70 roles.
With a strong foundation established, BT Group was able to confidently continue addressing all aspects of the colleague lifecycle, focusing on skills, performance, talent management, and development. By implementing further solutions in SAP SuccessFactors HCM, colleagues are supported in creating performance and development goals, with approximately 20% of the workforce completing goal plans in the first year. A skills and job architecture has been mapped out and covers 83 specialisms and 557 skills. There’s now a structured compensation strategy, with the implementation of five pay reviews in 44 countries and the introduction of an annual bonus cycle. Talent and succession planning are also being delivered along with a new mentoring system.
Elaine Bergin, director of colleague experience and delivery at BT Group, explains, “We’ve freed up IT and HR resources to focus on carrying out value-added activities rather than administrative tasks. The platform is being well received by our colleagues due to its simplicity and the extra time it creates for their work.” She adds, “Now we are starting to realize the significant organizational benefits of using the talent-focused modules in conjunction with the core HR system.”
The next phase of BT Group’s digital HR experience will deliver significant business value for its 80,000 UK-based colleagues with the implementation of a single payroll system and time-tracking and time-sheet functionality. The SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll solution will be integrated with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. And, for the first time, colleagues will be able to access their pay stubs with a mobile device.
BT Group is now considering how analytics can provide deeper insights so teams can make more-informed decisions, and it is reviewing the role of AI within its HR operations. It will also continue to drive the adoption and use of the new tools to realize even greater business benefits.
In connecting HR processes for the good of its colleagues, the improved HR experience is expected to reduce attrition and improve employee engagement and satisfaction this year. The positive people outcome supports BT Group’s strategy of building a vital internal foundation and a culture where people can thrive. This will help ensure BT Group remains competitive in the marketplace and is an employer of choice for key talent.
Featured partner
With 738,000 employees worldwide and 9,000 clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture plc has a purpose to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity. The award-winning consulting company helps clients become the next and best version of themselves. Its deep technical knowledge coupled with significant market experience enabled BT Group to fully deliver its program vision.