Singapore’s National University Health System transforms its HR by deploying the cloud-based SAP SuccessFactors HR platform with support from IBM Consulting

In 2020, when Singapore regrouped its public healthcare system into three clusters, the National University Health System (NUHS) inherited seven healthcare institutions and two disparate, on-premises HR systems that needed to be consolidated and modernized.

As a result, the NUHS HR team was managing two different HR systems for all of its staff across all their entities. Reporting was extremely cumbersome and required many different spreadsheets for every report that was put together. This took up a considerable amount of effort and time.

The two siloed HR systems also complicated efforts in submitting reports to the Ministry of Health and other government entities. As these different systems define information or data fields very differently , it was a challenging task to submit any information or statistics within a short turnaround time.

In addition, the HR user experience needed to be improved. The legacy systems were hosted on premises without mobile access. Hence, healthcare workers had to be physically present at the central workplace computers to access the HR system or contact HR staff for assistance. Mobile employees could not submit claims or leave requests, and offsite HR managers were unable to perform approvals or other tasks.

After the reclustering, executives  began to consolidate the two HR systems into a single, cloud-based system—one that also came with a  mobile HR app to allow employee self-service. NUHS evaluated the various options and decided to go with the SAP SuccessFactors, a SaaS platform designed to help organizations streamline and automate HR processes. Still, there were concerns over how long this complex transformation could take asNUHS needed the system to be up and running in less than 12 months.

NUHS needed a partner who could customize and deliver the solution that would meet NUHS’s needs. IBM understood NUHS requirements as the two entities have worked together for more than a decade. ”

A complex transformation from on premises to cloud

Due to the complexity of moving two different legacy on-premises HR systems to the cloud-based SAP SuccessFactors solution, NUHS sought an implementation collaborator with expertise in SAP and experience in Singapore’s public healthcare market. An evaluation of leading vendors led to the selection of  IBM Consulting^®. As a system integrator, IBM had relevant experience as well as cost-effective pricing. NUHS needed consultants who could customize things and deliver a solution that would meet NUHS’s needs, and IBM understood these requirements.

IBM® SAP SuccessFactors consulting services worked with NUHS to develop a two-phase plan. The first phase focused on critical payroll-related HR functions such as employee records, leave, claims and learning functions. The second phase focused on strategic HR functions such as performance management, compensation, recruitment, onboarding and succession planning. Tools and processes were put in place to access the latest technology through cloud updates.

Meeting the systems integration challenge

A major business requirement was to retain key systems on-premises, including the payroll system with its sensitive data. IBM built the SAP cloud platform to seamlessly integrate the core payroll applications with the SaaS HR and PaaS benefits solutions. This enables employees to access all required applications from a single landing page.

IBM also collaborated with NUHS Business Partner Synapxe to build a seamless and security-rich architecture. In it, SAP Cloud Platform Integration, SAP Cloud Connector, SAP Web Dispatcher and the Enterprise Service Bus linked the SAP payroll system with the cloud HR applications.

To enable employees to log on securely, IBM worked closely with Synapxe, Singapore’s HealthTech agency, to implement SAP Identity Authentication Services with two-factor authentication. NUHS also used IBM Application Management Services for Hybrid Cloud to increase operational efficiencies.

A strong partnership delivers excellent results

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the development team pivoted to remote working. Both IBM and NUHS pushed ahead despite having to support a heavy Covid-related operational workload. With the leadership and guidance of the NUHS Group Chief HR Officer, NUHS revisited employee engagement and training to comply with safe distancing measures and overcome separation restrictions.

The NUHS, Synapxe, SAP and IBM team completed the project in just 10 months, making NUHS Singapore’s first healthcare cluster to provide a cloud-based HR solution with mobile self-service capabilities.

After going live in January 2021, the SAP SuccessFactors platform made an immediate impact during its first month. More than 13,000 NUHS employees or 92% of all users, logged on to the new myHR platform And another 12,000 employees activated the myHR mobile apps. Since then, the mobile app take-up rate has risen to over 90%.

Through self-service, the mobile app allows employees and managers to submit, view and edit personal records. Employees can now access, edit and print their own documents anytime and from anywhere. This has greatly enhanced HR productivity as the employees no longer need to manually print and deliver the documents.

"The Synapxe Project Manager appreciated IBM’s strong management of user requirements, the timeline and the technical setup, which are keys to success when working with a tight schedule, a fixed budget and a huge user group."

Significant benefits from seamless and responsive HR

NUHS has gained significant benefits from the SAP SuccessFactors HR platform. It’s a huge step forward in delivering more agile and responsive HR services.

Mobile access and self-service features provided a better user experience. With a single group-wide system, NUHS can now align HR policies and processes across all their institutions. The technical team can build a single, shared HR database to support HR analytics and decision-making. The business team can streamline HR workflow by eliminating manual processes and paperwork. And the platform supports recruitment by introducing a digital candidate experience.

In addition, with the extensive new HR data that are being gathered, HR managers can now leverage the platform’s powerful reporting and analytics tools, making the budget and planning reporting much easier as users can now run reports by themselves, without having to approach the HR team.

The new platform also delivers cost savings by reducing on-premises licenses for SAP software. Plus, NUHS employees are saving time due to shortened learning curves and the ability to retest new functionality faster.

About the National University Health System (NUHS)

The National University Health System (NUHS) (link resides outside of ibm.com) aims to transform how illness is prevented and managed by discovering causes of disease, development of more effective treatments through collaborative multidisciplinary research and clinical trials, and creation of better technologies and care delivery systems in partnership with others who share the same values and vision.

Institutions in the NUHS Group include the National University Hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Jurong Community Hospital and Alexandra Hospital; three National Specialty Centres – National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS) and National University Centre for Oral Health, Singapore (NUCOHS); the National University Polyclinics (NUP); Jurong Medical Centre; and three NUS health sciences schools – NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (including the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies), NUS Faculty of Dentistry and NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.

With member institutions under a common governance structure, NUHS creates synergies for the advancement of health by integrating patient care, health science education and biomedical research. As a Regional Health System, NUHS works closely with health and social care partners across Singapore to develop and implement programmes that contribute to a healthy and engaged population in the Western part of Singapore.

About Synapxe

Synapxe (link resides outside of ibm.com) is the national HealthTech agency inspiring tomorrow’s health. The nexus of HealthTech, we connect people and systems to power a healthier Singapore. Together with partners, we create intelligent technological solutions to improve the health of millions of people every day, everywhere. Reimagine the future of health together with us at www.synapxe.sg.