According to Jose Maria Girona, global HR director of AIRE Ancient Baths, “we have a very particular operation, very different from other companies.” Girona is absolutely correct: AIRE Ancient Baths is a growing global network of high-end wellness spas that link customers to the relaxation traditions of the ancient world, including Rome, Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
With centres in restored historical buildings in cities from Chicago to Barcelona, London to New York, and Copenhagen to Seville – with more on the way – the company is clearly a growth business that shares many of its people’s priorities with other organisations.
Giving employees access to essential new experiences
Why did AIRE Ancient Baths choose Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) as its integrated HR solution? “Talent attraction, development, retention and engagement,” Girona answers. “We anticipate many benefits, most particularly the access it will give our 1,000 employees to internal training, as well as training for our partners in other companies.
“As AIRE is a delocalised company, Workday will also help us to standardise, as far as we can, the skills, the behaviours and of course the experience that we want across the organisation,” Girona continues. “We are an established company, giving customers unique experiences for 20 years, and it’s impossible to deliver this if you don’t first offer that to your employees. Workday will be essential in this area.”
Workday HCM will help us to standardise the skills, the behaviours and of course the experience that we want across the organisation.
Global HR Director
Playing a central role in identifying and developing talent
For a growing business like AIRE Ancient Baths, which plans to open new centres in the years ahead, it’s essential to have a deep understanding of the cultural and business norms in countries across the world.
The company expects Workday to be a powerful tool in delivering this insight in the coming years. “When we launch a new centre, we’re often also opening in a new country for the first time. Understanding the cultural differences that exist can be challenging,” Girona says. “So implementing a tool like Workday is extremely helpful, as it guarantees an understanding of how things work in Canada, for example, just as in France, Italy, Spain and the UK.”
This understanding, Girona believes, will be highly significant when it comes to identifying and developing the best people. “We’re confident that Workday will help us streamline and standardise how we first locate and then develop our talent: This is one of the biggest reasons why we’re deploying Workday.”
Standardised data enables consistency across the world
The company is already seeing first hand the benefits arising from people across AIRE’s geographic footprint being able to trust the data in Workday.
“This is new to us, as we used to operate four systems that made it impossible to cross-check information,” Girona says. “Now, in one of the most significant moves we’ve made, we’ve been able to standardise the way we treat data across all our locations. This means that everyone is working with the same information.
“And that is extremely important, because as we continue to grow we need to decentralise decision-making more and more,” Girona continues. “There is no way that decisions can be made for the whole world from a single desk at our head office. The only way we can operate is by our managers and their teams across the world making the right decisions, so the least we can give them is the right data and tools they need to do so.
“This is exactly what Workday is bringing us.”
In one of the most significant moves we’ve made, we’ve been able to standardise the way we treat data across all our locations.
Global HR Director
“Enhancing the skills of our employees at every level”
AIRE Ancient Baths is still in the early stages of its Workday implementation, but Girona feels extremely confident that it’s already proven to be a powerful tool for positive change.
“The ultimate goal of this tool is to enhance the skills of our employees at every level, and to enhance the skills of our managers when making decisions,” Girona says. “It’s the only way we have to handle scaling the business in a properly sustainable way.
“Ultimately, what we want is for our employees to be responsible, and to pilot their professional careers as much as they possibly can,” Girona adds. “We’ll give them all the tools we can to help them achieve this – and Workday is already guiding them towards the skills that are necessary for planning their onward career development.”