Total 627 words used.
Innovative Use of Technology in Human Resources
The Saudi Council of Ministers in May 2021 approved the merging of the General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) and the General Authority of Customs (GAC) to form the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) with over 12,000 employees. The merger intended to improve the authority’s tax and customs procedures. Digitization & innovation, and employee capability development were identified as key strategic enablers of the merged entity. To that end, the development of ZATCA’s unified Human Resources Information System (HRIS) became a crucial initiative for the entity.
The HRIS infrastructure for each authority was built in different systems. Each authority has its own Human Resources policies, grade levels, salary scales, benefits, and automated processes that required separate configurations until the final ZATCA Human Resources policy is in place.
The management selected SAP as the ERP of choice for ZATCA with the goal of implementing SAP S4HANA Solution as the main ERP and SAP SuccessFactors as HRIS system of records by 2023. As a result, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has developed a strategy for the future of Human Resources systems with the following objectives:
- A unified integrated HRIS infrastructure
- Enhanced HRIS capabilities
- Ensure business continuity
- Timed implementation for different employment types Build a stronger alignment between HR functional groups
- Strong integration with existing ZATCA systems
- A 360º view of HR processes and employees
- Defined objectives for employee experiences
- Enhancement of the employee and manager self-service needs
- Clean HR data with advanced reporting and document management
The ERP Merger Program will significantly alter the ERP landscape as part of ZATCA Digital Transformation Initiative. The program consisted of four phases, the first phase was to replicate the GAC Human Resources policy configuration and migrate the employee data to SAP SuccessFactors. The migration included implementing the full HR processes from Oracle to SAP ECC & SuccessFactors with 3rd party solutions legacy applications. This includes building the following:
- Org Structure
- Payroll
- Recruitment & Onboarding
- Performance forms
- Learning content and forms
- Time management
- Grievance
- Roles and permissions, etc...
The second phase included doing the same for the Civil Services employees. The third phase started after the unified ZATCA HR policy approval, which included re-implementing the HRIS to match the new HR policies, grades, salary scales, benefits, and automated processes. The final stage, will include upgrading the SAP ECC ERP to SAP S4 HANA.
Post-implementation support tasks were one of the main challenges we faced, which needed to be quick and clear. The change management activities played a major role in activating the use of the new technology. Taking into consideration the different cultures of the entities previously. Creativity and innovation were essential components in the delivery of information, which included the distribution of User Manuals and small training videos for each procedure explaining the task in a simple and clear way.
Beside the automation of multiple processes several times with different configurations, significant efforts were required from HR, IT, and employees all of which was during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority planning to use AI in its services, especially the project with HR like ChatBot which has been approved by the management. The goal of the project is to ‘Activate artificial intelligence through chatbots to increase efficiency and effectiveness of process varying from internal services to dispute resolution’. This is projected to have a positive impact on time, cost, and accuracy (through increasing automation) and reduce human errors and other contradictions.
Through the successful rollout of the migration project, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority was able to achieve the following outcomes:
- Improving the productivity and increasing the efficiencies of employees by using technology and providing them with all training and guidance
- Automating all employee-related processes
Nomination Title: ZATCA HRIS Migration Projects
