9 Digital HR Case Studies with Business Impact

Digital HR is a hot topic in HR. Being an emerging field it’s important to show the value it can deliver to organizations. In this article, we have collected some of the best Digital HR case studies we’ve come across. They’re good examples of organizations that really get Digital HR and make the most of it. Each case study is connected to a specific business imperative.

What’s in?
1. Anchor Trust 
2. Arvato
3. Atos
4. Deloitte 
5. Global Energy Firm
6. Grolsch
7. KPMG
8. LASD
9. Walmart

1. Anchor Trust

Using chatbots to create the best possible candidate experience 

The Anchor Group, the biggest not-for-profit housing association in the UK, wanted to create a better recruitment process while providing the best possible candidate experience. More specifically, the organization wanted to increase the number of people their recruiters engaged with.

The company decided to start using a purpose-built recruitment Chatbot built into Facebook Messenger with questions that allow them to screen and engage with candidates directly. 

The initiative didn’t just involve the technology though. 

It also required creating targeted social media campaigns to guide people to the Chatbot. Facebook’s analytics feature allowed the company to figure out what messages would appeal most to their target audience. 

Since Anchor Trust launched the chatbot their recruitment process has improved on several fronts:

Where the ‘old’ recruitment method (applying via uploading a CV to a website) had a conversion rate of 2.04%, the conversion rate for the chatbot lies at over 27%. 

The average cost per applicant for previous recruitment campaigns was 51 GBP, the use of the chatbot has cut this cost by 65% to 18 GBP. 

The number of average monthly applicants has gone up by 82%. 

2. Arvato

Using technology to align candidates and culture

Arvato Bertelsmann is a global provider of customer support services. The company was facing high turnover in several locations and was looking for a way to address this issue. After some research into why employees left prematurely, they found out that this was mainly due to a disconnect between what candidates expected the job to be and the reality.

For Arvato, the solution came in the form of a pre-employment assessment. By letting candidates flow autonomously through an online environment they got a realistic job preview, a virtual peek into their future work environment and a feel for the company’s culture. The results were rather impressive: Arvato’s unwanted turnover decreased by no less than 63%.

3. Atos

A strategy focused on transformation 

Atos’ eTransformation initiative aims to streamline data management, administration, and processes for employees, managers and operational HR. 

One of the challenges in that regard was the existing gap between the data in the company’s core HR system on the one hand and the employee document management function on the other. To close this gap, the company needed a tool that would allow employees, managers, and HR to take part in end-to-end HR Service delivery.  

The cloud-based solution Atos went for was implemented in 70 countries at the same time.  

By syncing its Employee File Management with the recruiting module of their HRIS, Atos was able to streamline HR operations and automate its offer letter process, something that used to be very paper-driven. 

Now, instead of a manager sending an email to HR to approve a new hire, the manager goes directly into the HRIS and pushes a button that generates an offer letter. 

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4. Deloitte

Making learning all fun and games

Back in January 2013, Harvard Business Review published an article entitled How Deloitte Made Learning a Game. It’s a good example of how gamification can enhance an already existing digital process and environment.  

Deloitte wanted to increase the use of one of its training programs called the Deloitte Leadership Academy (DLA). Not an easy task, since training is often not the first thing that comes to mind when people have some free time on their hands. 

The solution came in the form of gamification, the use of game elements like fun, play, design and competition in a real-world, non-gaming context. 

By embedding missions, badges, and leaderboards into a user-friendly platform with video lectures, in-depth courses, tests and quizzes, Deloitte was able to engage its users. 

The result? An increase of no less than 37% in the number of users returning to the DLA site every week. 

5. Global Energy Firm

Making Digital HR a reality 

While it’s important to focus on providing digital platforms to improve your customer experience, it’s just as important to recognize the importance of Digital HR to improve your employee experience.

A globally operating energy company was facing a significant disconnect between its external and internal digitalization. Their Learning delivery and Compliance training, for instance, was incredibly outdated and ineffective. 

The company’s Interim HR Change & Innovation Director took an innovative gamification approach to tackle the issue. 

This resulted in a new Training app that enables employees to collect badges and obtain high scores visible across the entire employee base. Percentage completion is tracked and email access restricted if the training isn’t completed within a set timeframe. 

The approach showed impressive results: it ensured an almost 100% uptake on the tests and Compliance training was completed in 3 months instead of the 9 months it used to take.  

6. Grolsch

From benefits administration to benefits communication 

At multinational beer brewer Grolsch, the communication on labor conditions and benefits can be quite a challenge. With over 650 employees, it’s hard to keep track of all the changes and personal preferences. 

Which is exactly why they wanted a change.

A more efficient, eco-friendly system that would give employees better insights into their labor conditions and benefits. 

This involved the digitalization of the company’s employment terms in a system that shows every employee’s personal situation and benefits whenever they register changes.

And so the idea of My Benefits was born; a digital HR system ready-to-serve the new working era without the administrative hassle. 

The solution is currently being used by Grolsch to gather all the labor conditions of its employees. A satisfaction survey held among the company’s workforce showed increased contentment from a 6.8 (out of 10) with the old, paper-driven, system to an 8.2 with My Benefits. 

7. KPMG

Starting the employee journey right after the signature

At KPMG Belgium, they wanted to improve their employee onboarding. The company didn’t have a pre-boarding process in place for new hires. Especially for graduates, this sometimes made the waiting period between the moment they signed the contract and their first day in the office a bit long. 

To solve this issue and to create a structured process, KPMG decided to use an integrated and secure onboarding software solution. 

The company’s onboarding process now starts as soon as the contract is signed. The app sends new hires all the practical information they need to know before their first day, contact details of their new colleagues, etc.

After two years of using the onboarding app, KPMG employees give their hiring experience a 4.45 out of 5 and their first week a 4.12 with an 81% app activation rate.   

8. LASD

Reinventing outdated processes 

On September 26, 2019, the HR Technologist published an article entitled: HR Automation that Showed Results: Case Studies You Can Learn From. The article explored, among other things, how the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department uses automation technology to automate key HR processes. 

The LASD is the largest sheriff’s department in the world and the fourth largest police agency in the United States. Naturally, the department’s selection process has rigorous background check procedures. 

A paper file used to be created for each recruit, sometimes containing over 1000 pages. These kinds of manual processes created security, efficiency and accuracy issues.   

To address these issues, the LASD implemented an automation solution that allowed them to electronically collect information that used to be printed on thousands of pages of paper. 

Some of the benefits that the department got from automating their key HR processes include: 

• A considerable reduction in time to hire (used to be 18 months)
• An improved candidate experience
• Increased data security 

9. Walmart

Automation as a way to more meaningful work 

Walmart is one of those large organizations that’s always on the lookout for innovation. The company constantly searches for opportunities to create better experiences, not just for its customers, but also for its employees. 

As such, Walmart looks for transactional roles that can be automated and then gives its people opportunities to have a more personal touch with the customers. 

One example of this can be found in the company’s fast-growing personal shopping assistance area. The firm reduced the number of cashiers in favor of self-checkout stations and then trained its best workers for a new role as a personal shopper. 

To get its employees up and running, Walmart uses virtual reality to help train and prepare its workers for various scenarios that they might run into.

This shift from repeatable work to more meaningful work has led to higher satisfaction among the company’s employees…. and customers. 

Before You Go

In this article, we’ve discussed 9 Digital HR case studies making an impact for larger and smaller companies. I’m sure there are (a lot) more Digital HR case studies out there. If you know of a good one, please leave a comment about the study with a reference to the source and I will be happy to include it in this list.