Employee Central is the backbone – but only if the foundation is clean

With our Ask the Expert series, we explore current topics around SAP SuccessFactors and Digital HR. In this episode, Lesley-Ann talks to Susana Ferreira, Managing Consultant at tts Switzerland, about SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central – the core of the SuccessFactors suite and the place where global standards, local requirements and everyday HR processes come together.

Employee Central is often described as the backbone of SAP SuccessFactors. But what does that actually mean in practice? And why do companies often only realize its importance once they start transforming their HR landscape?

Lesley-Ann:
Susana, Employee Central is often described as the backbone of SAP SuccessFactors. What does that really mean in practice? And when do companies realize just how important this foundation is?

Susana:
When we say that Employee Central is the backbone of SAP SuccessFactors, we mean that it provides the trusted foundation for the entire HR landscape.

This is where information about employees, organizational structures, jobs and many related HR elements comes together. And this information drives much more than HR administration. It influences payroll, time management, recruiting, reporting, approvals and even other connected systems.

So if this foundation is not consistent, the impact travels very quickly across the whole organization. Companies often recognize this during transformations, international rollouts or implementations. They discover that different locations may use different terms, follow different processes or maintain data according to different standards.

Employee Central creates the opportunity to establish one reliable source of HR data. But that also means companies need to agree on how data is defined, who is responsible for it and how it should be maintained. So Employee Central is not simply an HR system. It is an enabler for digitalization.

Lesley-Ann:
When companies move from local HR systems or SAP HCM to Employee Central, what do they most often underestimate before the rollout begins?

Susana:
They often underestimate how important it is to really understand the data and the existing system landscape.

Different systems are built in different ways, and they have to talk to each other. So the key question is: How do we translate what we had in the old system into the new one?

If we are talking about a move from SAP HCM to SAP SuccessFactors, there are proposals and guidance from SAP. That can help. But every customer has their own differences, their own history and their own strategy. So we cannot just take a standard proposal and use it fully without looking carefully at what makes sense for that specific customer.

The technological part is manageable. The more difficult part is understanding the data: how to map it, where to maintain it, where the dependencies are and how this fits with the future HR strategy.

Lesley-Ann:
You support companies in international rollouts. How do they decide what should be globally standardized and where local requirements need room?

Susana:
This is one of the first things we need to align with the customer when we start such an implementation: the overall approach.

Is it a global approach? Is it more localized? Or is it something in between? This decision is key.

We often see the need for a global approach and more harmonization across the group. But having global processes or a global template does not mean that every country has to be identical. And it also does not mean that country-specific requirements should be ignored.

A global approach can create consistency, and that consistency can bring a lot of value to the organization. It is also a chance to transform and harmonize. Sometimes this is about a global definition of particular data or fields. In other cases, it is a more strategic decision, for example how to design an approval process and who should be involved.

The important point is to decide this consciously. Companies need to know where global consistency creates value and where local requirements are necessary.

Lesley-Ann:
Employee Central can be adapted in many ways: business rules, workflows, permissions, objects and so on. At what point does flexibility become complexity? And how can companies avoid overengineering the system?

Susana:
The system is very flexible, and there are many tools we can use so that it works in the customer’s favor. Business rules, processes, permissions and other configuration options can really help improve the overall experience in the system.

But of course the other side of flexibility is complexity.

We always have to weigh the value that a configuration brings against how difficult it will be to maintain, control and operate later. The problem is often not during the implementation. The real challenge comes afterwards, when the company has to operate the system, keep it up to date, document everything and understand the complexity that was created.

So flexibility is positive. We can use it to really help the customer. But we have to be careful not to cross the line where it no longer helps anyone and simply becomes complex, difficult to maintain and hard to operate.

Lesley-Ann:
Employee Central is not the only module in the SuccessFactors suite. There can also be payroll, time, reporting and other systems involved. What should companies get right when they connect Employee Central with other parts of their HR landscape?

Susana:
The first requirement is to clearly define which system owns which data or process.

Very often, Employee Central is the source system for employee information. But in some cases, part of the information may be maintained in another system. Payroll is a simple example. Certain payroll-relevant data or processes might sit elsewhere, depending on the landscape.

This understanding is very important because it tells you where data needs to be maintained, how data flows through the systems, who is responsible for it and what needs to be considered in each system.

Sometimes you may see an error in an interface, but the interface itself is not the actual problem. The real issue might be data quality. Maybe certain data is missing or not maintained in the right way. And that becomes critical for the data flow between systems.

It is also important to define who should act in which system and who has permission to perform which actions. The key message is: companies should think in end-to-end processes. They should not look at systems independently, but at the full process, including all dependencies between systems, roles and responsibilities.

Lesley-Ann:
After Employee Central, payroll, time or other modules have been implemented, everyone is usually looking forward to go-live. But what happens after that? What does good governance or continuous improvement look like once Employee Central is live?

Susana:
I usually tell my customers close to go-live: after go-live is when the actual work starts. That is when the fun starts.

This is also where you see whether there was a strong governance plan or strategy. Good governance means clear and defined responsibilities. And this is not only about who technically owns the system. It is also about who owns the processes, security, integrations and local requirements.

Companies need to define their operating model. How do they assess changes in the system? How do they evaluate business value, requirements, technical updates and the impact across the full landscape?

This should be defined before go-live.

And then there is continuous improvement. Employee Central is a live system. It changes, and that is part of the value of using such a system. But it also means that companies need processes for releases, updates, documentation, testing and involvement of the right people.

The work does not stop at go-live. In many ways, it only starts there.

Lesley-Ann:
Let’s move a little bit away from the project view and talk about the Employee Central community. What are the benefits of working in such a community?

Susana:
The community gives us the opportunity to exchange with colleagues who have different backgrounds and broad experience across many projects, landscapes, business requirements and HR strategies.

Some colleagues bring more technical experience. Others bring more HR process or business experience. Together, this creates a very valuable perspective.

We can share experiences, but we can also identify patterns that appear across different customers, entities, businesses and approaches. So it goes beyond simply sharing knowledge. It allows us to challenge our designs, discuss lessons learned and identify consequences that might not be obvious from one project perspective alone.

For the customer, this means they benefit not only from the team directly involved in the project. They also benefit from the broader community that supports and challenges the solution from different angles.

Lesley-Ann:
Employee Central is a huge system, but sometimes very small decisions can have a surprisingly big impact. Is there a decision that may look small at first, but can become expensive or difficult later?

Susana:
There are several examples. One is how you define job classification.

In Employee Central, it may look like just a field with a list of values. But it can have a big impact on many business processes and several areas, for example talent, payouts, job definitions or job profiles.

So it is not just a question of uploading data. There is much more behind it.

Another example is how you define the company structure. At first, it may look simple: you have the objects and you use them. But in reality, the definition has many implications in the background.

You need to understand the company strategy, but also the technical landscape and the systems that are integrated. These decisions may look small in the beginning, but they can make a big difference later.

Employee Central can be the backbone of SAP SuccessFactors – but only if the foundation is clean. That means clear data definitions, reliable responsibilities, thoughtful governance and a shared understanding of end-to-end processes.

For international organizations, Employee Central is more than a place to store HR data. It is the foundation for harmonization, digitalization and better decision-making across the HR landscape. But the value does not come from the system alone. It comes from the decisions companies make around data, processes, ownership and governance.

For companies planning or running an Employee Central transformation, the key question is therefore not only: How do we implement the system?
It is also: How do we want HR to work in the future?