Case Study
WINKLER DIGITIZES ITS HR DEPARTMENT
OptimiZation of structures and processes
winkler introduces aconso nubea as a pilot customer: secure and mobile access to personnel files for HR and managerial staff
COMPANY
- 42 sites
- 1.600 employees
CHALLENGES
- Pilot project
- Large number of paper files and high storage costs
- Further specific requirements after project start
SOLUTION
- Mobile and secure HR processes with aconso nubea
- Digital Personnel File
The project
With 42 sites, 1,600 employees and a full range of 200,000 parts, the winkler group is one of the largest commercial vehicle specialists in Europe, and the first port of call for light commercial vehicle owners, bus companies, agricultural businesses, workshops and international trading partners. For over 100 years, the company has been a distributor of spare parts, accessories and workshop equipment for commercial vehicles. At its company headquarters in Stuttgart, the personnel department looks after all aspects of HR – from recruitment right through to the management and development of personnel. After introducing the aconso Digital Personnel File, the winkler group, acting as a pilot company, was able to contribute to the further development and optimization of the aconso nubea HR cloud platform, and today benefits from its mobile and secure HR processes.
winkler says goodbye to the era of paper files
When winkler was searching for an appropriate solution to finally put an end to the era of paper filing, not only did they look at the actual software and functionality, they also took into consideration the people responsible for helping to implement the system. Head of Human Rescources at the winkler group, Sabine Zinke, says: “With such a fundamental change process, it was important to us that we were not only convinced by the product, we also wanted the right fit on a human level between the responsible parties at winkler and aconso.”
significantly lowering administration efforts
After introducing the aconso Digital Personnel File, the administrative burden within the HR department at winkler was substantially reduced. Sabine Zinke is happy to confirm: “Our aim was to free ourselves of this old-fashioned mass of paper – and we’ve managed to do just that. Introducing the Digital Personnel File has enabled us to significantly shorten HR processing times and by doing away with paper files we are also saving on storage costs.” Over the course of time, two specific requirements arose which the executive board of winkler expressed a desire to incorporate: that particular personnel files should be available to view for managerial staff and also that user-specific information be made available, with a notes facility enabling managers to attach personal notes to employee files.
Recording of comments
“Our CEO Rüdiger Hahn works in regular, close collaboration with our staff,” Sabine Zinke explains. “His concern was that after employee appraisals he wanted it to be possible to record comments and personal notes for use in future discussions.” The historical systems for recording notes no longer complied with winkler security requirements. What’s more, they could not be integrated into the Digital Personnel File, which increased the administrative burden. That’s why the winkler group turned to the aconso team and shared their ideas.
winkler group selected as pilot customer
In order to accommodate the wishes of the winkler group, Michael Linke (Director of Enterprise Cloud Services at aconso) worked in close collaboration with Jan Bruns (Head of Research & Development at aconso). After a series of detailed discussions, a decision was made to integrate the new requirements set out by winkler into the preliminary design of what is now the current version of aconso nubea, to make the new functions available to all users of the system. Head of HR Sabine Zinke continues: “After the development and programming phase at aconso, we had the opportunity to carry out a test phase from November 2017 and put the newly developed functions through their paces. We regularly gave aconso suggestions for improvements, providing fresh momentum, and together we made the solution into what it is today, step by step.”
Expansion to additional user groups
The HR department and management board at winkler have been working with aconso nubea since March 2018, and all data from previous data collection systems has been gradually transferred.
The next step for the winkler group is to roll out aconso nubea to middle management and thus extend the advantages of the system to additional user groups.
Taking the route to digitiZation with aconso
The winkler group particularly values the quick digital and mobile access to employee documents afforded by aconso nubea. This is particularly true for winkler managerial staff when they conduct employee appraisals at different locations: the system makes it possible to view important documents directly via a laptop computer or tablet and, as a result, there is no longer a need to send the documents back and forth, which increases data security immensely.
Data security increased
winkler is also satisfied with the functions that were developed jointly between themselves and aconso. Not only does aconso nubea let management staff view specific files, it also means that following an employee appraisal they can attach individual notes to the personnel file. Ms Zinke states: “For us, the introduction of aconso nubea represented the first step on the route to digitization. For both HR and managerial staff, it has given us a convenient and transparent process with a high level of security.”
winkler is also very satisfied with the support it receives from aconso and the mutual cooperation. “From our experience with other suppliers we can say that those responsible at aconso work to very high standards,” Ms Zinke comments. “The main factors contributing to aconso nubea being implemented so smoothly in our company were the high level of commitment from our contact partners, good communication and professional project management.”
Further projects in the pipeline
The digitization strategy in the HR department has caused winkler to examine other company processes more closely and streamline them, too. Overall, this has helped to make the company faster, more transparent and more flexible. For the winkler group, the route to digitization is not yet complete as they plan to carry out more projects in future using aconso. The modular concept of aconso nubea makes it possible to gradually implement additional processes, such as the Digital Employee Postbox, or Document Upload for sick notes etc. and thereby drive forward digitization within the company.
Sabine Zinke concludes: “These days, employees want to know more than ever before how we as a company handle their documents and personal data. That’s why aconso nubea will remain indispensable to us in future as a digital mobile solution with a high level of security.”
