The media group chooses the EASY for SAP
solution to create job references

Now, the media group is involved in another project to optimize work processes and move beyond electronic files. A large number of different processes at the group start with the creation of a form, and end with a finished document. One example for this is job reference creation. ProSiebenSat.1 offers a variety of educational opportunities, from trainee programs to voluntary work and internships. As you might expect, the number of reference letters the company needs to write each year is also very large. The company was looking for a way to improve the process, to reduce effort for the HR department, and to accelerate reference creation.

“That’s why we were looking for a software that HR admins, HR business partners, and managers could use to create forms and documents within their usual SAP environment, and also initiate and monitor processes,” explains Sabine Lieckfeldt, IT Business Partner and responsible project manager at ProSiebenSat.1. References were the first concrete project, but the company plans to use the software in the same way for other typicalHR business cases like onboarding, changes to working hours, or raises.

The company has already had good experiences in the past using EASY nextPCM for electronic personnel files. Andrea Mittelmeier, Head of HR Systems at ProSiebenSat.1, says: “Nevertheless, we did search the market thoroughly when we were thinking about process design. EASY nextPCM Process2Design won us over, because EASY delivers concrete business content with the solution – in this case, for reference creation. We were able to get a prototype up and running very quickly. We will also be able to use the software to handle more business cases in the future as well.”

In comparison to other solutions, including SAP ERP HCM Processes and Forms, the EASY nextPCM software is equally strong in all three areas – forms, documents, and workflows. It’s also based on established standard processes. Furthermore, the system is very easy to operate, even for diverse professional divisions. They don’t always need to call IT, for instance, if they want to add extra text building blocks. The media group implemented the software in April of 2014. Two months later, they had already used it to create numerous job references, and documented their creation in an audit-proof manner. In an iterative process, the HR department started with final job references, then added intermediate job references and internship certifications as well.

EASY nextPCM Process2Design is linked to the HR portal directly, which helps it effectively support managers and the HR department in reference creation. References always start out in the HR department. Managers or employees themselves can make a request for a reference there. Then, the HR administrator starts the creation process. All the manager needs to do is enter the personnel number, and all personal data is pre-filled into a new form – an advantage of the direct SAP integration offered by EASY nextPCM. The solution also automatically suggests an introductory paragraph and corporate text.

The next step in the workflow is completed by the manager – managers see a new work item in the universal work list in their manager self service portal. They can click on the task “reference assessment” to open the reference tool. Then, they fill the reference with content using the two new tabs “duties” and “assessment.” There are a series of pre-formulated text building blocks to select from under “assessment.” This saves managers from constantly having to reformulate the same or very similar content. Additionally, pre-formulated text guarantees that the reference complies with legal requirements by avoiding phrases that could be questionable under labour laws.

There are 15 assessment categories (work success, qualifications, behaviour, etc.) each have three grades, with two to four text variations each. If none of these fits, the manager can write an alternative suggestion in a comment field. “Despite the pre-set, standardized fields, this allows each reference to have a customized flavour, because there is such a large selection of text building blocks,” Andrea Mittelmeier explains. ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE manages the building blocks in Excel, and previously transferred them from there directly into Word documents. During the project, these documents were transferred into the EASY nextPCM Software. After the manager fills out the reference with duties, assessments, and a conclusion, the process goes back to the HR officer. They review the content, insert any suggested comments, and can even add these as new text building blocks to the software if they want. This means the comment field can also function as a means of communication between process participants.

The HR team can manage the text building blocks in the “Document creation” module itself, without needing any support from IT. The HR admin also adds authorized signatories – at ProSiebenSat.1, these are usually the HR staff member and the HR business partner. Finally, the process goes back to the HR business partner, who can make more changes if desired. At every level of the process, all participants are able to monitor the current status of the project using a PDF preview at any time. Managers then receive the reference for a final review – they can start another correction process here if needed. This process is allowing the media group to sustainably optimize its reference creation processes.