In the past year, Symrise began restructuring its human resources function. In this interview, Dr. Stephanie Coßmann, the member of the Symrise Executive Board responsible for HR and Legal, describes how three functions are being combined into one to create a uniform global HR team for the entire Symrise Group. At the same time, Human Resources is working to introduce a software solution that will make things easier in the future for managers, employees and HR specialists and support the implementation of other future projects. In addition, three executives from the HR organization report on details of the HR strategy.

GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Dr. Coßmann, you joined the Executive Board in February 2023 to take responsibility for the new HR and Legal function. After your first year, what is your impression of the corporate culture at Symrise and where do you see the challenges?
Symrise has a fantastic culture that impressed me from the start. It is the people and how they work together that make the difference. The company’s employees have a very entrepreneurial mindset, with a pragmatic and hands-on approach to solving problems. They are sometimes hindered by what I see as the biggest challenge in our function. The strong growth and many acquisitions in recent years have changed the company but the structures and processes haven’t quite kept pace. We lack a suitable framework for both HR and compliance. 

What is your response to this?
In order to refocus on the company’s employees, as we should do in our work, we need to create structures like a transparent salary structure that enables us to see what talents we have and track the performance of both our employees and business units. If we don’t do this, we’ll be stuck in silos. Our starting point is the tHRive project, which is aimed at making our HR organization fit for the future. A core element of this is harmonizing the framework and procedures for all the company’s HR teams. 

How will their work change? 
We have established four Centers of Expertise covering “Talent Acquisition,” “Compensation and Benefits,” “Talent Management” and “Systems, Analytics and Sustainability.” These are all future issues that impact the entire company. 

This is certain to change the tasks of our HR colleagues. Could you give some examples?
The old ways of working are not adequate in the battle for new employees. Our recruiters now operate in global networks, using LinkedIn and other social media to identify future candidates. They are able to engage with them and hopefully attract them to join us. Another example: We are working on uniform remuneration structures and job titles to also facilitate the transfer of employees between regions. To date, there have been no standard assessment criteria in talent management and few talent programs. In order to implement all these plans, we are introducing Workday, a human capital management tool. The first module should be up and running by the end of the year. There’s still a lot of work to be done before then in order to collate, analyze and process all the existing data within the company. The system will represent a quantum leap for us, enabling us to work faster, more transparently and with greater focus. It will also put us in a better position to achieve the fourth goal of our work. As part of our sustainability activities, we must intensify our reporting of HR indicators such as diversity and occupational safety and manage these accordingly.

It sounds as if a lot of effort is involved. Why is HR doing this? 
We are living in an era in which companies have to compete for talents and not vice versa as used to be the case. People still want to be paid well for their work, but aspects such as a company’s purpose, culture, products and teams are becoming increasingly important. We at Symrise have a lot to offer – and we aim to highlight this.  

A company’s purpose, culture, products and teams are becoming increasingly important. We at Symrise have a lot to offerDr. Stephanie Coßmann., President Human Resources & Legal

On the path to “One HR”

As the Program Manager for tHRive, I am responsible for implementing the new structure for our HR function worldwide. In the past, we were very fragmented, with different roles, processes and standards in the various regions and segments. Now we are working on a new system that functions in all countries and organizations, no matter how big they are. The goal is “One HR,” a global HR community. In this connection, we have redefined some roles. These employees will move from being generalists to specialists who perform a variety of tasks. They will provide global process support to their colleagues in the regions, who in turn will ensure that the processes are applied regionally. HR work is often governed by different rules depending on the country. Cultural circumstances vary, employment contracts may be structured differently and laws and regulations aren’t the same everywhere. All this needs to be taken into account.

We are currently in the transition phase toward a joint system with harmonized global standards that will be mapped in our Workday HR suite. It is important that the entire team is on board with this. We are training some 200 employees who are all very experienced in their own fields and familiar with the specific features of their regions. It is remarkable to see the commitment demonstrated by our colleagues in all time zones and the expertise they are contributing to shape this change. We will be supporting them in familiarizing themselves with the new structure and working in a digitalized process landscape. One thing is clear: Such far-reaching changes require equally intensive support. And we also should not forget that it’s a work in progress – and that’s a great challenge. However, I’m very confident that we will achieve excellent results working with our colleagues and their teams.

Elke Kegelmann, tHRive Program Manager

“We are currently in the transition phase toward a joint system with harmonized global standards that will be mapped in our Workday HR suite.”

Elke Kegelmann,
tHRive Program Manager

Focus on employee satisfaction

In Workday, we have chosen a platform that will enable us to implement all our HR processes. On the one hand, this applies to our HR colleagues, who will be able to map the recruitment, talent management, HR planning and all other core processes in many different languages. It also applies to the company’s employees. They will receive access to Workday, which is being implemented as a cloud solution, enabling them to consult their own data and documents and to obtain information about development opportunities. We want satisfied employees and Workday will help achieve this. It will also be a powerful tool for the company’s executives. They will be able to analyze which talents they have in their organization, identify suitable development opportunities and plan further steps together with their employees. In a later expansion phase, this transparency will also increase mobility within the company.

By involving employees more closely in this way, we hope to keep them with the company longer. It is known that transparency and an open corporate culture can contribute to this. We are aiming to reach the entire workforce of some 13,000 employees, including those in production roles. That is why it was important to us that employees can also use Workday on their private cellphones – of course, in compliance with clear security rules.

At the moment, we are preparing the data and consulting on the processes worldwide. We are leaving behind a fragmented system landscape in which various systems previously ran in parallel. We now have to collect, validate and cleanse data so that we can make a fresh start with Workday. This will help Symrise to evolve successfully in the long term.

Abdou-Chakour Daro, Head of Global HR Information Systems, Analytics & Sustainability

Interface between HR and the business

In many companies, HR has the task of covering the backs of the people who work in business operations. The focus is on recruitment, employer branding, onboarding processes, contract design and training and development. These are all important tasks without which a company cannot function. At Symrise, we are now going one step further by becoming a strategic business partner which strengthens the link between HR and business strategies.

One example of this is strategic HR planning, which we intend to address with a stronger focus. We will be creating structures that enable us to document our employees’ strengths worldwide. This will enable us to see where we need certain skills within the company and plan better for the next five years. It will also make it possible to improve the management of our business activities and facilitate the transfer of talents. As a result, we won’t be a pure service function but will be involved in conception and design, working both with the individual segments and across the entire company. To this end, we have created new structures in which four HR Business Partners have regional responsibility while three others work globally across the different stages of the value chain. This close connection to the business is also evident in my case. I was formerly Director Category & Product Management in the APAC region; now I’m the Global HR Business Partner and a member of the Leadership team in the Taste, Nutrition & Health segment. We will use our experience to act as the interface, strengthening and developing the link between the business and HR.

Tanja Schrader, Taste, Nutrition & Health Global HR Business Partner