Delhaize America Consolidates Human Resources Processes to Streamline Operations and Trim Millions off Expenses
 
 

Delhaize America Consolidates Human Resources Processes to Streamline Operations and Trim Millions off Expenses

Printer View Printer View

Delhaize America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group, a leading grocery retailer operating in multiple countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. Delhaize America has more than 115,000 employees and 1,620 stores operating under the banners of Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar, Harvey’s, Hannaford, and Sweetbay.

Delhaize America operates in a highly competitive retail industry where it has to keep pace with constantly changing market dynamics. Over the years, Delhaize expanded in North America through a number of acquisitions, which resulted in siloed legacy systems supporting human resources (HR) and payroll processes across the company’s various operating companies and retail banners. The multiple systems were expensive to maintain, impeded visibility across the organization, and made it challenging to introduce unified HR processes across all divisions. To improve organizational efficiency and support a companywide commitment to attract and retain top-notch talent, Delhaize looked to integrate HR operations and systems across its North American enterprise.

The company worked with Oracle Partner Infosys to consolidate its HR systems and processes on Oracle’s PeopleSoft 9.1 human resources applications. With the implementation, Delhaize America integrated its HR, payroll, and benefits processes for all divisions onto one platform to improve process efficiency and reduce operational costs. In addition, the new system will enable Delhaize America to respond more quickly to employee achievements and implement merit-based pay processes within approved pay grades, which enhances employee morale.

One year into the program, Delhaize America has saved millions of dollars by increasing HR efficiency and reducing its IT maintenance burden. By replacing a complex, disparate payroll system, Delhaize America improved efficiency and achieved 99.5% payroll accuracy in the first pay period after going live. In addition, moving to a single HR platform established the IT foundation for a broader corporate initiative to develop shared services centers to support Delhaize America’s stores.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from Delhaize America

  • “By consolidating our human resources, benefits, and payroll processes on Oracle’s PeopleSoft 9.1, we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in the efficiency of our HR processes and supporting IT environment. We have saved millions of dollars in the first year of the program and ensured unified processes that will create a strong foundation for our continued growth.” – Alan Cardinal, Vice President of Compensation, Benefits, Retirement, and Human Resources Technology, Delhaize America

  • Consolidate disparate HR, payroll, and benefits processes onto a single platform to eliminate process inefficiencies, reduce operating expenses at the corporate and individual store level, and provide a foundation for the eventual introduction of a shared services environment across the company’s U.S. operations
  • Ensure unified HR processes across operating divisions and store banners—including a harmonized process for compensation assessment and approval—to give Delhaize America a competitive advantage in hiring and retaining employees at the store, division, and corporate levels
  • Automate HR initiatives, such as processing compensation, benefits, and retirement requests, to enhance business productivity at the store level and ensure payroll accuracy
  • Eliminate disparate and maintenance-intensive legacy HR systems to reduce IT costs and enable the in-house IT team to focus on other priorities
  • Centralize access to key HR data and trend information at the corporate level to give executives greater insight into the company’s overall operations

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Worked with Oracle Partner Infosys to deploy Oracle’s PeopleSoft 9.1 applications to unify HR, payroll, and benefits processes from seven retail banners and three operating companies onto a single platform to improve visibility and operational efficiency and ensure process consistency
  • Automated and streamlined HR processes—such as transitioning benefits enrollment for employees onto one system—to enhance front-line user productivity by 10% and boost process owner (benefits, compensation, and retirement) efficiency by 10% to 20%
  • Reduced IT management costs and burden and gained the ability to optimize the use of in-house IT resources by eliminating multiple disparate systems and the need to create and maintain complex custom integrations
  • Saved millions of dollars through enhanced operational efficiency in the first year of the implementation
  • Achieved 99.5% payroll accuracy across all companies and banners in North America on the first payroll run—a significant accomplishment given the size of the company’s workforce and the complexity of its payroll, which encompasses pay structures for employees ranging from part-time, hourly employees at the store level, to corporate managers
  • Provided senior administrators with enhanced insight into HR data and trends, improving their ability to make projections regarding payroll costs, as well as timely and informed decisions related to the workforce
  • Utilized the consolidated environment to ensure the consistent implementation of HR policies and processes across Delhaize America and all acquired companies—enhancing productivity and enabling employees to move from one division to another without changes to accrued benefits
  • Set to leverage PeopleSoft ePerformance 9.1 to enhance merit-based pay processes—such as automatically ensuring that pay raises from promotions comply with company pay grades across all divisions—to better reward employees whose performance exceeds expectations
  • Developed a single HR platform to serve as the foundation for Delhaize America’s initiative to create shared services centers to support its operations
  • Leveraged Infosys’ expertise to complete the implementation in a record 11 months

Implementation Process

The initiative was designed to include multiple phases, starting with the rollout of core human resources, benefits, and payroll applications. The first phase was completed on budget in a record 11 months, with the legacy systems gradually removed to ensure a smooth transition to the new consolidated HR system. Additional phases are underway.

Partner

Infosys worked closely in association with Delhaize to prepare a detailed roadmap for project implementation. The team first conducted process and systems assessment workshops to understand Delhaize’s business requirements more clearly and identify the specific areas that required intervention. Phase one of the multi-phase project was completed on time and within budget.

“Our implementation has been nothing short of incredible. Experts told us they have never seen PeopleSoft human resources implemented as quickly as 11 months. Infosys achieved all of its targets for phase one of the implementation and successfully transitioned our company to a new software platform, with new processes and policies,” said Terry Morgan, Head of Transformation Management Office and Ex-Group Chief Information Officer, Delhaize Group.

“It was a pleasure to work with the dream team at Infosys, which truly deserves credit for implementing phase one of our HCM program. Infosys was a true partner, and its ability to listen and respond quickly to our needs was greatly appreciated,” said Alan Cardinal, vice president of compensation, benefits, retirement, and HR technology, Delhaize America.