Providence’s HR Transformation using Oracle HCM Cloud

HR transformation and modernization using Oracle Cloud HCM experience was recently shared by the AVP of HR Operations and Service Delivery and AVP of HR and WFM Applications at Providence.  Read on to learn how Providence was able to leverage Oracle HCM Cloud to bring harmony to their complex not-for-profit organization and position themselves more advantageously for the future.

Background 

Providence is a comprehensive health organization in the US. As an organization, Providence is caring for more people, advancing best practices, and continuing its 165-year tradition of serving those who are poor and vulnerable.

Providence employs 120,000 caregivers including 36,000 nurses and 25,000 physicians. There are 52 hospitals across 7 states with an annual patient visit count of 25.6 million. The graphic below displays additional statistics regarding the non-profit organization:

Providence works within the legal requirements of all 7 states while adhering to a highly unionized workforce. Set-ups are varied and complex across the organization.

As a not-for-profit organization, there is a mission supporting everything that caregivers—the title for employees—do at Providence. The Providence promise is “Know me, care for me, ease my way.” As Providence continues their journey of modernization and transformation through technology, they aim to keep their caregivers at the heart of the matter, easing their way and simplifying the experience.

As for Providence’s HR Transformation using Oracle HCM Cloud, the first step was to outsource business processes through partnerships. They focused on partnering with others where processes and services could be performed at a higher quality and lower cost.

The second step to transforming their HR using Oracle HCM Cloud was a project Providence called Genesis, which involved becoming a leading-edge health system with integrated processes and technology for HR, Supply Chain, and Finance, enabled by Oracle HCM Cloud technology.

At a high level, Providence’s previous state looked like this:

• Outdated technology limited innovation potential
• Multiple ERP systems and fragmented processes, which created manual work
• Inconsistent processes hindered scalability
• Poor caregiver experiences led to low engagement and inefficiency

The previous state was a result of several mergers and acquisitions. There wasn’t always time to harmonize systems. The results were a multitude of processes and systems, which made insights and innovation difficult to tap into.

Through Genesis, including the implementation of Oracle ERP Cloud system, simplified processes and enterprise-wide Kronos, Providence created a future of:

• Cloud technology with enhanced organizational agility
• Single source of truth that enabled insights and decisions
• Simplified processes enabling faster scaling
• Intuitive tools that ease the caregiver experience

Genesis Oracle Fusion Applications Footprint

It took 3 years to implement Oracle Fusion Applications and complete their HR transformation using Oracle HCM Cloud. It included Finance, Supply Chain, and HCM HR. Given the landscape of the organization, there are complex payroll hoops to jump through which Oracle helped apply to Providence’s HCM.

Stepping back to the journey and timeframe of Genesis, the implementation process included conversations surrounding position management, one-to-one controls, automation, and approvals. At go-live in July of 2022, Providence had already learned several lessons and continued to talk through decisions such as hiring ahead and simplifying the job architecture and compensation models. Using implementation as an opportunity to harmonize, standardize, and transform was advantageous for the organization.

How using Oracle HCM Cloud is Enabled Modernization and Transformation

As for enabling modernization and transformation at Providence, there were four key points:

• Foundation for Stabilization – Increase consistency across regions and ministries by consolidating multiple ERP systems and business processes while laying the foundation for future transformation
  • Example: Process and policy design and alignment includes one path for position approval using AOR
• Ease the Caregiver Experience – Delivers modern, user-friendly tools that ease the way for core leaders and caregivers
  • Example: Oracle provides logical search capabilities without much support and training
• Insights and Decisions – Enables integration and streamlining of many manual processes
  • Example: Oracle will replace multiple systems and provide a hub for talent processes
• Optimization & Organizational Agility – Provides strong technical foundation for additional optimization and continuous improvement, leverages systemized workflows and automation to implement aligned policies and procedures
  • Example: Foundation design will allow for centralized Magnet reporting in the future

Creating a Foundation for Stabilization includes:

• Behavior Changes
  • Leadership & partnership engagement throughout journey
  • Cross functional change curve
  • Opportunity to change problematic cultural practices
• Standardization of Policy and Processes
  • Harmonization of pay and job requirements
  • Alignment of policies to enable efficient and consistent practices
  • Compliance with regulatory and legal requirements
• Design Decisions to Establish Foundation for Future Work
  • Single workflow design
  • Discernment process to avoid unnecessary variation
  • Harmonization of access to information

Easing the Caregiver Experience includes:

• Ease of Use
  • Logical interface allows for quicker core leader access
  • Enhancements to operations and service delivery
  • Oracle Guided Learning
• Direct Access by Core Leaders and Caregivers
  • Right level of direct access based on business requirements
  • Constantly revisiting process design to enable the experience
• Full Utilization of Oracle Capabilities
  • Revisiting process design to enable the experience
  • Active quarterly release process and road map

Insights and Decisions includes:

• Design with Our Patients at the Core
  • Act upon the voice of our core leaders and caregivers
  • Working across functions (Supply Chain & Finance) to align on priorities
  • Fully integrated HR to meet organizational reporting needs
• Building Efficiencies for Processes
  • Quick action design sessions to act on insights
  • Utilize analytics to track trends and insights
• Sustainability Model
  • World of cross functional ownership
  • Sustainability design and support (Business + IS support design)

Optimization & Organizational Agility includes:

• Continuous Improvement
  • Change requests with focus on business enablers and efficiencies
  • Nimble governance processes – Shared voice between business and IS
  • Prioritization across HR functions, not within
  • Managing workforce and operational efficiency based on analytics
• Agility
  • Release management cycle design
  • Lean and cross functional mindset
  • End-to-end solutions enabling timely decisions

Key Takeaway

Providence’s experience of HR transformation using Oracle Cloud HCM has not been easy, but it has been worth it. After focusing on this transition for several years, the team has found greater harmony and standardization across the board. They were able to create a foundation for stabilization, ease the caregiver experience, leverage the process as an opportunity to gain insights and make decisions, and achieve optimization and organizational agility with a focus on continuous improvement.

For more information about Providence’s HR transformation using Oracle Cloud HCM, watch the following Quest Cloud Week 2022 Session Recording.