UK-based Co-op describes itself as one of the world’s largest consumer cooperatives. Doing business based on member opinions instead of big investor preferences, Co-op functions as the fifth largest food retailer, the largest funeral service provider, a major general insurer and a growing legal business servicer in the UK.

Statistically, Co-op is made up of:

• 70,000 colleagues
• 2500 food stores
• 1000 funeral homes
• 4.6 million members

A few years ago, Co-op hired a new COO and decided to investigate better HR processes which led to Oracle HCM Cloud. The implementation team hoped Oracle HCM Cloud would help them accomplish their vision of:

• Transformed function, driven by demand
• Simple processes and ways of thinking
• Better decision making
• Greater accountability
• Stronger governance
• Lower cost base

The team in charge of development and implementation hoped to reduce costs, simplify transactional activity, automate as many systems as possible, empower business leaders through tools and expertise, and increase accountability across functions.

When the team rolled out their first (unsuccessful) plan, it looked like the following:

2015 – Roll out recruitment to 20,000 colleagues, roll out performance and goals to 8,000 of the 70,000 employees and upgrade to Helpdesk 9.2

2016 & 2017 – Institute a “big bang” to all 70,000 employees including talent succession, CoreHR, payroll and compensation & benefits.

After presented with the plan, the Co-op board determined the fast-paced, lofty plan was too risky. Undeterred, the team put together a new plan that rolled out functions step-by-step, beginning by implementing CoreHR and payroll with retirees, then adding the insurance branch, and finally adding the rest of the Co-op employees. Additionally, the team planned to roll out a mobile app to 55,000 store employees providing user-access to payroll information.

The team moved forward with this board-approved plan. Along the way, they encountered a few challenges in business readiness, technology, programs and HR. Before this point, 55,000 store employees were accustomed to paper pay slips and hadn’t been assigned company email addresses. The Co-op was forced to invest time and energy in creating these email addresses, adapting for 37 integrations, writing a mobile app and managing tensions between the tech team and business leaders as they tried to stay on the project timeline.

The investment was worth it, as Co-op came out on the other side with a number of achievements. The team defines their wins, reasons for success and tips for other organizations below.

Major Achievements

• Greater access and ownership for employees
• Minimal disruption with payroll
• £4.5M savings
• Simplified processes
• Platform for growth
• One modern platform
• No customizations
• Low cost of change

Reasons for Success

1. Sponsorship and engagement
   • Active sponsorship from HR and IT
   • Strong business engagement
   • Active sponsorship at Oracle and IBM with clear escalation
2. Independent assurance and peer reviews
   • Strengthened business change workstream
   • Strengthened program management, structure and governance
3. Robust approach
   • Robust data migration and testing approach
   • Phased payroll implementation
4. People and Team
   • Program culture and environment
   • Changed personnel at the right time
   • Future technical resource involved from the outset

Tips for Other Organizations

1. Get strong, active sponsorship in your own business and from Oracle/your SI
2. Address data issues early
3. Don’t underestimate integrations
4. Phase your implementation
5. Business change is critical
6. Get your best people involved early
7. Going live is just the start

In the future, Co-op hopes to stabilize the service, add R13 and other modules, increase automation and add “HR as a Service” API gateway. To hear more about their successful implementation, watch the team’s full presentation here.