European audit of HR processes and information systems
The aim of the HR audit project carried out for an international group comprising ten companies in several European countries was to better understand and rationalise the growing complexity of HR processes and information systems within the group. Each country in the network operates according to its own legislation and has specific tools adapted to local requirements, which over the years has led to a diversity of practices and systems that make HR management at global level increasingly complex. The aim of this cross-functional audit was to obtain an overview of local disparities and specificities in order to facilitate the harmonisation and optimisation of HR processes and information systems. Thanks to this approach, the Group will not only be able to simplify and modernise its HR operations, but also strengthen the coherence and efficiency of its human resources management across all its sites in Europe.
Gain better visibility of HR Processes and Information Systems
Périmètre
10 subsidiaries in 9 countries
Limited to 9 HR processes per country
Défis & Contraintes
Difficult availability of local experts
Resistance to change
Complex and poorly documented processes and information systems
Parties Prenantes
The customer
The Information Systems department
The HR department
1 HR representative for each country
1 Information Systems representative for each country
A few ad hoc experts
Rôles & Responsabilités
Senior Project Manager: Responsible for coordination between subsidiaries and implementing a unified project management methodology.
Internal Communication Facilitator: Liaising between HR and IT departments and local teams to ensure an efficient flow of information despite the complexity of processes and geographical diversity.
Process Analyst: Conducts audits of HR processes and information systems to identify areas of friction and best practice tools to be rolled out across the Group.
Change Manager: Coaching local teams to overcome resistance to change by presenting the challenges of this audit and involving them in the design of an appropriate solution.
Analysis of objectives: Understand the Group’s specific challenges in terms of HR management and information systems and determine the success indicators.
Stakeholder identification: Engage HR and operational managers in each subsidiary to ensure their involvement.
Define the scope: Establish clear boundaries for the audit by precisely identifying the HR processes and information system elements that will be analysed.
Drawing up the project charter: Documenting the objectives, expectations, scope of the audit, constraints, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the team members.
Detailed audit plan: Break down the audit into sub-projects for each country, identifying the specific aspects to be audited (processes, tools, infrastructure, compliance).
Methodology development: Design a suitable audit method, including the tools for gathering information (questionnaires, interviews, observations) and the format for representing the information. 2 pilot countries to test and adapt the methodology. 2 pilot countries to test and adapt the methodology.
Allocation of resources: Plan the collaboration with the local teams.
Timetable: Define the validation stages and the overall project schedule, including regular reviews.
Risk management: Identifying potential risks (unavailability of certain information, resistance to change, etc.) and drawing up mitigation plans.
3. Exécution
Launching local audits: Engage local teams to start audits in each country according to the audit plan.
Information gathering: Conduct surveys, interviews and analyses of existing processes and tools, and document current practices in a consistent manner.
Analysis and evaluation: Examine the data collected to identify specific difficulties, redundancies and opportunities for improvement.
Interim reporting: Produce country reports and consolidate initial results to validate the consistency and relevance of the information obtained.
4. Surveillance & Contrôle
Progress monitoring: Comparing progress with the initial schedule, identifying any gaps and recalibrating if necessary to stay on schedule.
Information quality control: Checking the accuracy and relevance of the data collected to ensure that it is usable and consistent between countries.
Regular communication with stakeholders: Sharing and validating progress and key findings with HR management, IS management and local managers to ensure alignment.
Managing adjustments: Mainly in the first 2 pilot countries, adapting the methodology or priorities according to obstacles encountered or new information.
5. Clôture
Consolidation of audit reports: Bringing together the reports from each country into a global report, highlighting common issues and local particularities.
Formulation of recommendations: Propose concrete actions to simplify, harmonise and optimise HR processes and systems at group level.
Presenting the results: Organise a closing meeting with stakeholders to present the conclusions and recommended action plan.
Documenting learnings: Formalise the lessons learned from the audit, good practices and difficulties encountered to improve future similar projects.
Creation of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to divide the project into Lots, Countries and Tasks.
Test iterations in 2 pilot countries to adapt our methodology. Then, planning of iterations for the other countries (2 by 2). This also enabled us to react quickly to false information or contradictions.
Use of a Kanban board with MS Planner, to visualise the progress of each audited task.
Creation and monitoring of a GANTT with Excel for a clear view of the timeframe while taking account of dependencies.
Audit
Development of semi-structured interview guides, using Power Point, to conduct qualitative interviews with local HR and IS stakeholders. These interviews enable a deeper understanding of processes and the collection of nuanced insights.
Use of a Power Point template enhanced by macros to model or quickly correct the processes in order to visually represent the HR workflows in each country in BPMN format. These workflows were then linked to a modelling of software architecture diagrams to provide a better understanding of how these processes interact with the information systems. This comprehensive mapping enables redundancies, critical steps and points of divergence between subsidiaries to be identified.
Collaboration and communication with local teams via MS Teams.
Create comprehensive, interactive audit reports in Power Point format for each country and for easy use.
Résultats obtenus
Local and global mapping: For each country, local maps of HR processes and associated information systems have been drawn up, taking into account specific legal and organisational requirements. At the same time, a global map, covering all countries, was created to provide an overview and reveal the points of divergence and convergence between subsidiaries.
Improved local visibility: Certain subsidiaries, which had limited knowledge of their own processes and systems due to the complexity or age of their practices, have acquired a clearer vision of their HR operations. The local maps were particularly appreciated during the integration of new employees, providing a clear visual aid for understanding the processes and tools in place.
Support for Budget Negotiations: This audit report not only provided clear visibility of the complexities and needs for optimisation, but also strengthened the credibility of the project with senior management. By demonstrating in a structured way the impact of current processes and systems on efficiency and compliance, it made it possible to justify and negotiate a budget to launch optimisation actions.
Preparing for optimisation: The consolidated and documented view of HR processes and information systems now provides a solid basis for embarking on an optimisation phase. The report specifically identifies areas for improvement, such as harmonising processes, standardising tools and integrating more modern, interoperable solutions.
