The client

Wolters Kluwer is a global organisation that provides information, software, and services to professionals in healthcare, tax, law, and finance. Just ten years ago, 75 per cent of the group’s sales were generated from printing activities. Now it’s less than 12%.

In moving from traditional publisher to online knowledge provider, Wolters Kluwer has undergone a significant transformation in recent years.

The challenge

Wolters Kluwer was considering implementing a new global HR information system. They already had SuccessFactors in place, but it was too narrowly focused on talent management, and they had no real core HR solution.

The project team wanted to run a competition between Workday and SuccessFactors. They asked Change Associates to help design an HRIS selection and negotiation process that was informed and objective.

What we did

Our consultants started with a research exercise on both vendors, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. This meant we knew where to test them during the selection process.

Working alongside a core team from Wolters Kluwer, including HR, procurement, IT and finance professionals, we refined the business case. We then prepared it for presentation and approval by the Executive Committee

Change Associates experts supported the procurement activities, from request for proposal (RFP) design and running demo events, to developing scoring solutions. We also developed the negotiation strategy and advised the team on getting the best deal from the vendors.

Our consultants also helped the core team identify and plan for the operating model changes that would be needed when they embarked on a systems-enabled transformation programme.

The result

  • The implementation of our HRIS selection and negotiation strategy resulted in the ideal system being secured for 40% less than the vendor’s initial bid.
  • Implementation costs were 30% less than the initial bid.
  • This successful piece of work led to a long-term partnership between Wolters Kluwer and Change Associates that continues to this day.

Image (c) Shutterstock | Mark Agnor

“Change Associates not only enabled us to make an informed and objective selection of the HRIS we will use; they helped us save 40% of the cost too.

Bill Baker

SVP and CHRO, Wolters Kluwer