Van Hessen simplifies HR and empowers global employees with Oracle Cloud

Waste not, want not. Netherlands-based Van Hessen puts the adage into action as the leading global provider of natural meat casings, the tubing that contains bratwurst, sausage, and other delicacies. Besides supplying casings, Van Hessen ships animal materials to the pharmaceutical industry, which uses them in creating medications and dietary supplements.

As Van Hessen grew, it realized it needed to standardize and unify HR processes such as performance management and job postings across its locations in North and South America, Europe, Russia, Asia, and Oceania. 

The company also needed to improve succession planning for its business units. With standardized procedures, Van Hessen could avoid monthlong gaps in replacing outgoing executives, as well as losing institutional knowledge as job holders come and go.

Employees at all levels faced limited career mobility within the organization. To meet this challenge, Van Hessen sought better ways to promote job opportunities beyond employees’ own networks and let employees nominate themselves for open jobs.

Important factors in Van Hessen’s decision to deploy Oracle Cloud HCM were its ease of use, scalability, and security. The software gives more than 2,000 direct employees (6,000 direct and indirect) access to the digital MyHR platform—from anywhere at any time, including on mobile devices—letting them more easily complete HR tasks from start to finish.

Partnering with Oracle and technology consultant Profource, Van Hessen rolled out a single global HR platform, providing employees in 26 countries access to most HR data and tasks. All tasks and processes are accessible via the MyHR portal.

Standardized performance evaluations, including a corporatewide grading system, help employees succeed in current roles and prepare them for advancement within the organization. To support business transformation, Van Hessen can now track employee performance against strategic goals. Overall, employee retention has increased noticeably.

With Oracle Succession Planning, the company shortened the time to fill vacancies significantly and strengthened cross-divisional staffing. Standardized HR processes have sparked a huge increase in self-service instances. As a result, the HR team spends far less time on ad-hoc requests.

By transitioning to cloud-based software, Van Hessen now reacts swiftly to changing circumstances and uses its HR insights to deliver value to the business.

Van Hessen worked with its preferred partner Profource to introduce the HCM project in six waves. Profource is a dedicated Oracle implementation partner in The Netherlands.