The Schneider Group, founded in 1865, is an internationally oriented medium-sized forwarding company. With over 1,200 employees at 74 locations in Switzerland, Europe, the USA and Asia, it coordinates cross-border freight transportation for its customers. As well as land transportation, sea and air freight, Schneider offers comprehensive services in customs clearance, logistics and special services.
Schneider needed a HR system to manage this growth effectively. “For us, it was important that we have a program that we can distribute in every country because we are a company that’s growing very fast worldwide. Every year, several new branches are joining the Schneider family,” explains Claudia Steingrube, Schneider Transport’s head of human resources.
The company wanted a system that would be easy to use, with self-service options for employees to apply for leave. Schneider also needed the system to provide higher levels of access to managers, who would have visibility of important staff data to help their decision making.
After searching the market, Schneider found Grouper, which offered a HR tool that would meet all its needs and more. Grouper also provided project management and integration services to ensure the business could deploy the tool quickly and efficiently.
“At the very beginning, the service level was very high. We had the chance to work together with our account manager, who was brilliant. He’s so service oriented, and he wants to understand our needs and our issues. He’s so quick, when I have a request he always responds immediately, and we are really happy,” Claudia says.
Employee onboarding is an important process for Schneider, which uses the HR system to manage hiring. It can send a contract offer to successful applicants through the app, which they can sign on their mobile devices. Automatically, the system informs their direct manager when this has happened.
Schneider also uses the system to delegate tasks to managers, such as setting a reminder to organise a probation interview for a new recruit after three months, or automatically informing staff when the new hire needs to be supplied with a work space and company email address.
The company can also use the system to share any other paperwork with new recruits, such as the employee code of conduct, or easily send documents needed to comply with particular regulations. No matter what country they are based in, the person can easily sign these documents electronically and they are then allocated to the right employee file.
The system has removed the need to cross-check key information in different spreadsheets. Managers can quickly and easily see who has signed, and follow up with any outstanding queries.
This has been a big help in allowing Schneider to implement consistent global processes across the entire group, even as it acquires new companies in different territories. It also reduces the administration burden for Schneider’s HR team: Claudia estimates it has led to one-third less paperwork compared to the previous system.
“We have had a lot of really positive feedback from management about the system; they see the modern working style we have introduced with a digitalised system, and they can be involved in HR processes like onboarding from the beginning,” she says.
Schneider runs its payroll through a separate system, so Grouper set up integration between the two systems during the implementation process. This way, company staff can see their monthly payslips and yearly payment statement through the HR system, along with important documents like their contract of employment. “This makes it really handy for the employee: they have access on their mobile phone and private computer, because it’s an online solution,” Claudia explains.
With Grouper’s help, the company is currently planning a project that will provide managers with dashboards that use data from the HR system, as part of preparing reports ahead of staff performance reviews.
Schneider is satisfied the solution matches its needs and helps it to achieve its goals. With new visibility over the company’s development and the entire team, Schneider can enhance its decision making using data, and measure future actions and success. “For us, it’s the most important HR tool. We are using it for all HR data,” Claudia adds. “Our goal is for it to drive decision making, making it easier to make the right decisions and move in the right direction.”
