Christina Yue, Customer Learning Manager

Pella, one of the largest windows and doors companies in the United States, began the journey to the cloud simply as an alternative to a PeopleSoft upgrade. Before long, the benefits of Oracle HCM Cloud became valued as a strategic initiative for the business.

The Pella team’s original goals for the upgrade were to automate processes and modernize by using data for tracking and analysis. They knew that they also needed succession management. They chose Oracle HCM Cloud to meet these goals and asked Deloitte to help drive business value with personalized solutions. They launched the journey with recruiting (Taleo), then implemented HCM Core with payroll and benefits. (Lancaster said she later wished Pella had implemented HCM Core first.) The third step was learning management in Taleo and was followed by talent modules with succession planning and development; onboarding; compensation; and most recently social sourcing.

Implementing Oracle HCM Cloud had challenges. Lancasters said the words “lift and shift” are alluring at the onset but if you are leaving a highly customized, complicated system, those words do not apply. The Pella team recognized these growing pains were necessary, though, to remove complexities and start fresh with best practices. They began to build plans and strategies for refreshes and test environments. They adopted consistent practices, which Lancaster said, the system intrinsically encourages. The result had many benefits with the implementation of strategic HR applications and continual updates on top of the list.

The Oracle HCM  implementation – with its focus on planning, process, strategy, and management – modernized processes for HR at Pella. It also modernized the employee strategy for HR.  According to Hassman, it changed the priorities for driving engagement with employees. This, said Hassman, is critical especially for keeping a vibrant, youthful workforce.

The Pella team outlined the steps they needed to create an environment where employees would want to work – and they credited Oracle HCM for making much of it possible. For work to be meaningful, team members needed autonomy, select-to-fit practices for employee placement, small empowered teams, and even time to slack. Hands-on management benefitted from stated goals, coaching, well-funded management development, and modern performance management. A positive work environment demanded flexibility; a culture of recognition; and an inclusive, diverse work environment. Opportunities for growth included training and support on the job, facilitated talent mobility and self-directed dynamic learning. Trust in leadership facilitated all steps with a clear mission and purpose, investment in people, transparency, honesty and inspiration.

With the Oracle Cloud implementation, Pella’s leadership agenda could focus on accelerating talent development to drive growth. The agenda had many facets, but identifying talent became key. The HR team worked to escalate and plan for succession. They also focused on challenging team members and encouraging active engagement. The new culture of employee engagement made the company attractive to young employees who want to build their competencies and contribute.

Watch the complete presentation here.