Introducing…. These are the nominees for the first HR Technology Awards: Enza Zaden
The HR Technology Awards were presented for the very first time last week. There were three nominees competing for the category Best HR transformation using Technology. Enza Zaden was one of them. In this article, CHRO Anke Schouten and Roland Kool, Global HR Operations Manager, tell you all about the HR transformation undertaken by Enza Zaden from Enkhuizen.
Can you start by briefly introducing yourself to us?
“I am Anke Schouten, VP HR for Enza Zaden, which means that I am responsible for HR worldwide. I’ve worked at Enza for over four years now and I manage not only the HR technology transformation, but also the whole HR transformation. Although we don’t use the term transformation here. What it boils down to is that we are professionalizing the HR positions and the HR processes.”
“I am Roland Kool. I work at Enza Zaden as Global HR Operations Manager. I started here nine years ago, and around four years ago I switched to the HR department. I am responsible for HR services and HR applications, so actually the HRIT side of things. Together, Anke and I are shaping Enza Zaden’s digital HR portfolio for the coming years.”
Can you tell us more about Enza Zaden and the company’s HRIT transformation?
Anke: “Enza Zaden is a family business that began in 1938 as Enkhuizer Zaadwinkel. It is now an internationally operating vegetable breeding company, with its head offices in West Friesland. We have grown particularly fast over the past twenty years. But nevertheless, we still exhibit all the characteristics of a family-run business, with full focus on our employees. With such accelerated growth, we realized a few years ago that we needed to change our way of working if we want to remain successful in the future.”
Roland: “Enza Zaden employs around 2800 people, depending on the season, and we have branches in 28 countries. Our head office is in Enkhuizen and we also have offices in Germany, Spain, the US, Canada, Mexico, Tanzania, India and Malaysia. Almost half of Enza Zaden’s employees work in Research & Development (R&D). We focus on more than 30 vegetable crops, including lettuce, sweet paprika, tomato, cucumber and onion. The seeds are produced and sold all over the world.”
Anke: “The HR Leadership Team and I mapped out the global HR strategy and identified which systems and tools could provide support. We soon discovered that a global HR system is a must. We were working with various local payroll systems, Excel and sometimes even still with pen and paper. Each country has its own systems and processes. There was a need to streamline and standardize those processes.”
You enlisted the help of SuccessDay before, during and after the implementation of a global HRIT system. How come?
Anke: “I had already experienced similar HRIT implementation processes twice before with previous employers, so I knew just how much work it is and that you must have the right in-house expertise to manage it properly. I quickly discovered that we were not ready at Enza to do this ourselves. I started looking for a partner who would be a good fit for us as a family business. We like to figure things out for ourselves and are not so keen on being told what to do by third parties. After searching I came across SuccessDay. We started talking and it soon became clear that we were a good match. Our collaboration is based on trust. They have now helped us with supplier selection, the preparatory phase preceding the implementation, the implementation itself and they also provide after care, in the form of Application Managed Services.”
Roland: “The choice eventually fell on Workday. The system is well constructed and is originally an HCM package, with state-of-the-art technology. The process-driven approach also appealed to us. The system has now been rolled out in the first six countries. This covers the basic HR processes for the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the US, Canada and Mexico, and accounts for around 65% of our workforce. The remaining 22 countries will follow in six weeks’ time. I expect the launch to go according to plan. But I will keep in mind that everything may not run smoothly. The biggest challenge is the gigantic change process we are facing. We try to prepare our managers and employees using e-learnings and walk-in-sessions for support. SuccessDay is also involved in this. Another major challenge is having to work process oriented. At Enza Zaden there is a high degree of entrepreneurship and autonomy, but people will soon have to work within a framework. We see this as ‘freedom within a framework’. It is important that people don’t feel like they are being tied down.”
Why did you choose to take part in the HR Technology Awards and what did you think of the award show?
Anke: “We were encouraged to submit our project. I was hesitant at first, because I didn’t think we were doing anything particularly special. We’re just doing what needs to be done. But I’ve heard from so many people how exceptional it is that our HRIT implementation is going completely according to plan, that I now understand the encouragement. We eventually made it to the final, so the jury also saw the merits of our project. Of course, it’s a shame we didn’t win in the end, but the other nominees in our category have achieved great things. At the end of the day, it’s not about winning, but taking part and recognition. We felt like winners anyway. It was great to hear more about the other submissions and to share our experiences. The event was very well organized. I was impressed by the names on the jury, by the speakers, by the turnout. It was a good mixture of suppliers and organizations and CHROs and HR managers. And the venue was well chosen. So, hats off!”
What can you now do with the help of HR technology that you could not do before?
Roland: “We now have much more insight into our people analytics. Now we know exactly who is working where and soon we will also know what talents and ambitions our people have. We often used to say that LinkedIn knew more about our own people than we did, but that will change soon! We will be better equipped to ensure that our knowledge does not walk away. And we no longer have to manage based on gut feeling. Now we can make decisions based on data. We can always fall back on the facts. Not all at once, but step by step.”
What is the most important lesson you have learned so far?
Roland: “That you should arrange the change component in your own organization as much as possible. Your own people know the company best. You can easily outsource the role of Test Lead, just like an HCM Lead. This is knowledge that can easily be transferred. But change is so specific that it can’t easily be outsourced.”
Anke Schouten
VP HR at Enza Zaden
Roland Kool
Global HR Operations Manager at Enza Zaden
About the HR Technology Awards
As no independent awards have yet been presented for HR technology in the Netherlands, Bas Eggelaar, founder of SuccessDay, decided it was high time to make it happen. Several partners soon joined the event.
The jury of the HR Technology Awards consisted of chairman Anne Jaakke (HR Changemaker) Louis Luijten (Diverse Board positions & Alumni CIO ASML) Rolf Jorna (Alumni Head of Group HR Action), Derk Jan Koole (Business Leader Career at Mercer), Helen Richardson (CHRO at Renewi), Erwin Hoogeveen (CHRO Fugro) and Pascale Peters (Professor of Strategic Human Resource Management at Nyenrode Business University).
The Award show took place on September 19th at De Kazerne in Brainport, the heart of European innovation. THE networking event in the field of HR Technology was attended by approximately 100 CHROs, CIOs, and HR and IT Directors. In addition to the previously mentioned categories, awards were also presented in the categories of Best HR Technology Product Innovation of the Year and Best NextGen HR Technology.
