Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Harnesses Visier Workforce Analytics to Drive Global HR Digitalization Initiative

Company enables 3,000 managers and hundreds of HR practitioners to make data-driven decisions with Visier

Managing a large and diverse global workforce is becoming increasingly complex. With more than 50,000 employees in 66 countries, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has implemented Visier People Analytics as their people strategy platform to drive a unified global HR strategy that replaces intuition-based decisions with fact-based decisions. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has multiple digitalization initiatives driving innovation from research to manufacturing. The company is also harnessing digitalization to drive innovation in the planning and management of one of its most important assets -- its people. Visier’s people analytics is being used by nearly 3,000 managers and hundreds of HR practitioners to enable the company to glean insights into all aspects of HR work including workforce planning, talent management, and the optimization of day-to-day operations. Using Visier, teams can access data on headcount, diversity, turnover, performance results, and compensation, to make decisions on a wide variety of issues to improve performance and optimize organizational structure. With Visier, HR business partners are transforming from information providers and report generators into data-enabled consultants who are now strategic advisors to business managers. “It’s not just HR doing analytics for HR. Our people analytics aims to increase the quality of people capital and the organizational decisions we make,” says Anna Lena Fritzsche, Manager People Analytics Consultancy & Organization Development, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Read Merck KGaA case study. Visier Workforce Intelligence consolidates the company’s more than 45 million single data points from sources, including SAP, SuccessFactors, and an employee engagement system. Managers and HR practitioners can access insights in Visier’s intuitive “question and answer” interface, which spans a wide range of topic areas related to organization and people management. Then they analyze and compare metrics based on the results of the entire company or specific groups, resulting in a new standard of transparency. “You cannot make decisions based on data alone in the same way you should not make decisions based only on gut feeling. It’s important to put the data -- now easily accessible with Visier -- in the right context to be able to drive better decisions,” adds Fritzsche. By implementing Visier, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has realized the following benefits:

• HR has become a strategic consultant to line managers: People no longer have to go with a gut. The company believes it has increased the quality of decisions with Human Capital while professionalizing HR as a function.

• Increased value from HR: The HR function has transitioned from information providers and report generators to data-enabled consultants who provide strategic advice to business managers.

• Data unification: Transparent access to talent-related process information supports cross-process correlations and provides the business with a single source of truth for people data.

• Support from Works Council: Many European organizations -- especially Germany-based -- must work closely with their Works Council to ensure compliance with data privacy and other regulatory requirements. Working collaboratively with their Works Council, the implementation was carried out smoothly and successfully to address data privacy and regulatory issues.

Find data-driven HR insights and tips at www.visier.com/clarity Follow Visier on Twitter @Visier Visier and Visier logo are trademarks of Visier, Inc. All other brand and product names and logos are the trademarks of their respective holders. About Visier Visier’s purpose is to help people see the truth and create a better future—now. Visier was founded to focus on what matters to business people: answering the right questions, even the ones a person might not know to ask. Questions that shape business strategy, provide the impetus for taking action, and drive better business results. Visier delivers fast, clear people insight by using all the available people data—regardless of source. With best-practice expertise built-in, decision-makers can confidently take action. Thanks to our amazing customers, Visier is the market leader in Workforce Analytics with 5,000 customers in 75 countries around the world. For more information, visit http://www.visier.com. Media Contact: Julie Galla visier(at)sparkpr(dot)com