Purolator: Enabling rapid growth by supporting workers across the employee lifecycle
Explore Purolator’s journey with SAP
As a freight and logistics company, Purolator depends on its employees to meet growing customer needs. To nurture and develop its workforce, the company turned to SAP SuccessFactors HCM and Experience Management solutions from SAP and Qualtrics.
7
%
rise in employee engagement score, from 71% to 78%.
43
%
increase in response rates to the annual employee survey.
4.2
%
voluntary turnover rate, compared with a national average of 12.5%.
Tennyson Devoe
Senior Director of Safety and Organizational Excellence
Purolator Inc.
The Challenge
Nurturing and developing employees across the employee lifecycle
Shipping packages from, to, and within Canada for more than six decades, Purolator Inc. is one of the country’s largest courier companies. Offering an extensive delivery network, the company has adapted to keep pace with the rise of online retail shopping and increased use of innovative technologies, such as robotic process automation and IoT tracking.
In a newly digitalized sector, Purolator knew its people were key to the company’s ongoing success. However, a reliance on disparate HR solutions from multiple vendors resulted in a lack of visibility for HR professionals. To help support and develop frontline teams as they met the challenges of digital business, the company needed a single view of the truth across the entire employee lifecycle.
Listening to and enabling open dialogue with people during uncertain times was critical to understanding employees’ key concerns. The company wanted to take steps to be able to quickly pivot and offer employees the necessary support, as well as adjust operational procedures to support seamless business operations.
“In this day and age, talent is one of the most sought-after commodities. As an HR team, our number-one responsibility is making sure it doesn’t walk out the door,” Tennyson Devoe, senior director of safety and organizational excellence at Purolator, says. “Regularly engaging with employees is critical to ensure everyone’s voice is heard, their needs are addressed, and there is a positive work environment that makes people want to stay with us.”
The Solution
Unifying HR processes on a single digital foundation
Impressed by the comprehensive functionality provided by SAP SuccessFactors HCM, Purolator began a phased deployment of the technology. Beginning with solutions for learning management, talent management, and recruiting, the company went on to implement software for compensation management, succession and development planning, and performance management.
Initially carrying out an annual employee survey once a year, Purolator now uses Experience Management solutions from SAP and Qualtrics to conduct regular employee pulse surveys. The software is straightforward for internal teams to configure, which enables the HR team and business leaders to target specific groups and allows frontline employees to access surveys on work equipment, such as scanners.
Based on the pulse checks, each business area and facility creates detailed action plans that are displayed on posters for employees to see. Furthermore, thanks to integration with other solutions in SAP SuccessFactors solutions, feedback can be overlaid with data from areas, such as performance or compensation, providing in-depth analysis for strategic planning.
Based on a unified digital foundation, the HR and experience management solutions are tightly integrated, providing a smooth user experience. “All of our HR processes are now connected and draw on a single data source,” Devoe says. “This means the employees only need to use one login and they can find all the information they need in one place.”
The Result
Engaging the workforce with innovative programs
Supported by SAP solutions, Purolator introduced innovative programs to its workforce. Using the SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution, the company launched an award-winning leadership development program named “Evolve” to transform managers into leaders. “Overall, the program has generated over CAD 21 million in saved revenue,” comments Devoe. “Furthermore, we’ve seen a significant reduction in our injury frequency rate and improved union relations.” The program also gave frontline managers the skills to help a long-tenured workforce adapt to new ways of working.
In addition, Purolator migrated its existing mentoring program to the new HR foundation, reducing total cost of ownership and improving employee experiences by enabling single sign-on.
Digitalized processes are improving efficiency and enabling data-driven decision-making. For example, previously, managers met with employees three times a year to review performance. Now, SAP SuccessFactors HCM supports a continuous dialogue to help employees stay on track with their goals. Workers and managers can check in regularly to record performance information using mobile devices.
Devoe believes Experience Management solutions from SAP and Qualtrics have been instrumental in helping improve job satisfaction for employees, keeping staff turnover low. “Regular employee feedback allows staff members to raise concerns while providing our HR team with insights that are far deeper than anything we’ve been able to provide in the past,” Devoe says. “By identifying issues and addressing them quickly, we’ve raised our employee engagement score from 71% to 78%.”
“Furthermore, because of the straightforward user experience and our ability to send surveys to devices used by frontline workers, we’ve been able to increase the response rate for our annual survey from 37% to 80%,” adds Devoe.
Preparing Purolator’s workforce for digital business
Get more insights into how Purolator is filling skills gaps to transform managers into leaders and supporting employees as they adapt to a digital world.
Future Plans
Improving working life and supporting business growth
Using SAP SuccessFactors HCM, Purolator continues its journey to improve employee experiences and the strategic impact of HR on the organization’s success. The company is in the process of deploying the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution to automate and streamline core HR processes. In addition, it plans to use a diversity and inclusion solution from Qualtrics to help target key focus areas for ongoing inclusion strategies.
Purolator continues to roll out development programs to help employees adapt to a digitalized working environment. The company also plans to extend its mentoring program to employees in frontline roles, matching mentors and mentees based on competencies and key values.
As Purolator continues to grow, Devoe anticipates that Experience Management solutions from SAP and Qualtrics will play an important role in helping create best-in-class experiences for people joining the company.
“We brought more than 4,000 people into our organization last year,” he says. “Gathering feedback when people join or leave the company provides valuable insights both on what we’re doing well and what we could do better to look after a rapidly expanding workforce. In this way, we can strive to create an environment where people feel nurtured and valued.”
SAP helps Purolator run better
Key business outcomes and benefits
- Streamlined HR from hire to retire
- In-depth insights that inform future HR strategies to address rapid changes in the sector
- Improved user experience, with intuitive self-service tools that speed up HR processes
- Better employee experiences, with regular opportunities for staff members to raise issues so they can be quickly addressed
- Low staff turnover rates, due to high employee satisfaction levels
Featured solutions and services
- SAP SuccessFactors HCM empowers people to reach their full potential with a comprehensive, cloud-based human resource management system.
- Experience Management solutions from SAP and Qualtrics enable businesses to continuously listen to employees and act based on valuable employee insights.
About Purolator Inc.
Purolator Inc. is one of Canada’s largest courier companies. For 60 years, Purolator has confidently shipped packages from, to, and within Canada.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Cargo transportation and logistics | North America | 14,000 employees |
About Purolator Inc.
Purolator Inc. is one of Canada’s largest courier companies. For 60 years, Purolator has confidently shipped packages from, to, and within Canada.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Cargo transportation and logistics | North America | 14,000 employees |