North Caspian Operating Company N.V. is transforming HR processes with SAP SuccessFactors

2021: Launch HR Process Optimization with SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Human Capital Management (HCM)

On August 30, 2021, the company TerraLink announced that the transformation of HR processes based on SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) was launched at North Caspian Operating Company N.V. (NCOC), which operates in Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan). The system is already used by about 3,000 employees of NCOC.

1st stage of Kashagan development in harsh environmental conditions at sea

NKOK is one of the largest enterprises in the oil and gas industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is engaged in the implementation of a project for the development of offshore oil and gas fields in the Republic of Kazakhstan. With the development of the company, additional capacity is introduced into the work and in order to maintain such growth without losing efficiency, the company needed tools to manage HR resources.

The main condition for HR transformation was the integration into a single system of end-to-end, understandable and easy-to-use HR processes for all employees. It was supposed to cover the full functional cycle of personnel management on a single platform, as well as meet high reliability standards, taking into account the requirements applicable to working with personal data of foreign employees and related to the industry specifics of the business.

"One of the key trends in the market is the active introduction of technologies and innovative tools that help meet time requirements. To remain effective, you need to be flexible and dynamic, quickly respond to changes, and quickly eliminate outdated processes and unnecessary costs. The main requirements for a solution that would solve modern challenges were the presence of a single platform and the ability to build end-to-end processes based on best practices, as we moved towards minimizing castomized solutions in the company. We needed instant access to innovative technologies, which is why we chose the SAP SuccessFactors cloud solution. We had quite ambitious goals that required not only changing approaches to processes, but also creating a new culture of interaction at all levels, " says Darkhan Bekbauov, manager of organizational support and personnel of NCOC.

The project is designed for two years and, it is expected that it will be completed in 2022, the implementation is in successive stages. As part of the first stage, modules on setting goals, assessing the effectiveness and competencies of staff, career development and remuneration management were launched. In the second, the module on basic HR processes and self-service services, recruitment and training, and SAP HCM. In addition, an interface for travel management based on Fiori, modules for personnel administration, organizational management, time management and payroll were introduced, all necessary integration interfaces with existing NCOC systems were connected. The third stage starts with modules on personnel adaptation and analytics.

"NKOK is the operator of Kashagan oil field, one of the largest in the world. The field is difficult to develop: shelf, weather conditions, high reservoir pressure, environmental features. To develop the field, the largest global companies of the oil and gas industry were involved. This caused both the complexity of the IT landscape of the company and the high requirements for managing human capital. The company employs local staff, seconded employees of joint-stock companies living in different countries, as well as many specialists hired indirectly through personnel agencies and contracting organizations. Talent management, staff development, compensation and other personnel processes in these conditions required a flexible and functional digital solution. SAP was SuccessFactors able to meet all the difficult requirements and laid the foundation for the development of the human resources function, "- commented by Andrey Krechuk, deputy managing director of TerraLink.

At the end of August 2021, each NCOC employee received an individual profile in SAP SuccessFactors, where his personal data is stored, career goals are indicated, performance and effectiveness assessments, as well as information on the training events completed and much more. The process of setting goals has seriously changed, it has become more transparent and controlled. Employees "goals are now clearly aligned with the overall strategy of the company, managers can easily track the stages of their implementation. The company also successfully uses the functionality to collect continuous feedback, now employees and managers during regular meetings jointly discuss progress towards achieving the goals.

Compensation and benefits accounting functions have also become available, employee promotion processes and bonus plans are taken into account. Employees can enter their own time sheets, coordinate absence from the workplace. SAP HCM aggregates all entries and calculates payroll. According to the company, in 2021 the implementation of transactional systems in which HR data accumulates will end. The next step is to connect analytical systems that work with data from transactional ones.

"The introduction of a single platform will be the foundation for further restructuring and development of HR processes in the company. Based on the enhanced HR analytics received, it will be possible to build and adjust personnel plans, make balanced management decisions, " noted Evgeny Teremov, Managing Director of SAP Kazakhstan