About Scott Bader
Scott Bader is a distinguished global chemical manufacturer with a rich history spanning over 100 years. What sets the company apart is its unique status as an employee-owned organisation, a legacy gifted by Ernest Bader to its workforce in the 1950s. Decision-making at Scott Bader involves input from colleagues throughout the organisation, ensuring a diverse perspective. With approximately 850 colleagues worldwide and operations in over 20 countries, Scott Bader’s products may not be prominently displayed on retail shelves, but they often play a crucial role in various consumer and industrial goods.
The Drive for Technological Transformation
The decision for Scott Bader to implement Oracle stemmed from a realisation that its technology infrastructure was outdated. Scott Bader’s IT systems had remained stagnant for quite some time, which resulted in challenges such as efforts to consolidate information across the group.
Operating largely in silos within their respective countries, with little consistency in processes or data management, prompted the need for change and a vision for a unified global system. The primary drive behind this initiative was the need for real-time visibility into the workforce metrics, as it currently took over a week to ascertain the employee count.
Scott Bader sought to transition to a more streamlined approach, fostering consistency and efficiency across the organisation. The implementation of Oracle Cloud HCM aimed to facilitate better visibility and operational consistency, ensuring that processes and procedures were standardised across the board.
Partnering for Success: The Role of Oracle Consulting
Several factors influenced Scott Bader’s decision to engage with Oracle Consulting’s Evolve services. Initially, the transition from implementation to post Go-Live system ownership prompted the need for ongoing support. The decision to adopt Evolve was driven by the need to manage its Oracle Cloud HCM system within the organisation.
Initially intended as a temporary solution to address any bandwidth and skillset challenges within the team arising post-implementation, Evolve was envisioned as a stopgap measure to bridge gaps in expertise and support. The introduction of Evolve marked the beginning of an important chapter in the organisation’s journey towards effective system management and harnessing the continuous innovation brought forth from quarterly releases.
Since then, Scott Bader has continued its engagement with Oracle Consulting due to the value the organisation has derived from the Evolve services. With limited resources to employ technical personnel internally, particularly for specialised roles, outsourcing this expertise provides flexibility and scalability. Despite being a relatively small organisation, Scott Bader operates in a complex manner, making external support invaluable. This arrangement allows Scott Bader to leverage technical expertise as needed, providing the flexibility to adapt to changing requirements and project demands.
The Impact of Oracle Cloud HCM and Evolve Services
Scott Bader’s usage of specific products has evolved over time to address various organisational needs. Initially, the company relied on Evolve to aid with the Learn and Recruitment modules, addressing lingering issues and ensuring smooth functionality. Since then, the Evolve team has supported other areas such as Core HCM, Compensation, and Absence, where Scott Bader needed to enhance the functionality to support employees, managers, and the HR team.
The complexity of Scott Bader’s organisational structure required support in managing hierarchical approval processes, which spanned across different levels within the organisation. Evolve played a crucial role in providing the necessary support to navigate these intricate approval workflows.
More recently, Scott Bader embarked on a payroll integration project, where Oracle Consulting’s expertise became indispensable. Their involvement in this project was instrumental, providing invaluable support and expertise, without which the project would have faced significant challenges. This payroll integration project has been a focal point for Scott Bader over the past couple of years, highlighting the ongoing partnership with Oracle Consulting and the importance of its support in driving key initiatives within the organisation.
Scott Bader views the Evolve team as an extension of its own. Although initially expecting the partnership to be short-term, over time roles have evolved, with Scott Bader individuals absorbing as much knowledge as possible. This deeper understanding has facilitated more efficient issue resolution, as they can pinpoint areas of concern and provide focused input to the Evolve team. While the team is eager to learn, they recognise their limitations as non-technical individuals. Instead of expanding the internal team, they leverage Evolve’s expertise to handle the technical aspects of projects. The Evolve team not only executes tasks but also shares knowledge, aiding in Scott Bader’s overall understanding of the systems and processes involved, thereby allowing them to make informed decisions as they focus on their system implementation roadmap and how it supports their HR strategy by utilising new functionality as it evolves.
This collaborative approach has led to a shift in mindset. Rather than relying solely on Evolve to execute tasks, Scott Bader sees Oracle Consulting as a partner enabling their own professional growth with the successful execution of projects. The Evolve team acts as a “Trusted Advisor” to recommend and challenge requests to ensure the best use of the technology for Scott Bader. As roles have adapted, this change has been embraced, recognising the value of focusing on system innovations to support their HR strategy while leveraging Oracle Consulting’s technical expertise for support.
Scott Bader’s overall experience with the Evolve team in Oracle Consulting has been extremely positive. The team is noted for its responsiveness and understanding, with a handful of core consultants proving incredibly valuable. The relationship between Scott Bader and the Evolve team is personal rather than transactional, with consultants willing to challenge when necessary, in order to provide the best outcome for Scott Bader.