An innovative and collaborative mindset has supported the pioneering work and expansion of Materialise since its 1990 formation in Belgium. Today, the company has over 2,400 employees, is active in 21 countries around the world, and has an annual revenue in excess of €256 million.
As a result of continued global expansion, it became clear that Materialise’s fragmented HR processes and data, outdated technology, and lack of a unified system were having a notable impact on operational efficiencies. Siloed data and inefficient reporting hindered decision-making, while legacy systems failed to meet the expectations of both employees and job seekers. Furthermore, managing a diverse workforce across multiple regions required a comprehensive solution that could ensure compliance with varying local regulations.
The company decided to transform and unify HR management procedures and practices. A thorough review of potential solutions culminated with the introduction of Workday. Its unified platform promised to break down data silos, streamline HR processes, provide real-time insights, and empower data-driven decision-making. The user-friendly interface and global capabilities aligned with Materialise’s need for a modern, efficient, and compliant HR system.
A transformative HR solution that has added real value to the business.
Committed to adding even more value to the business, Materialise recognized that its existing HR infrastructure was not only struggling with fragmented data and inefficient processes but was also failing to reflect the company’s progressive image and support its global growth ambitions.
After implementing Workday, Materialise was able to automate and streamline numerous HR processes, such as goal setting, performance management, and salary review. This has reduced administrative overhead, allowing the HR team to focus on strategic initiatives. It has also improved the employee experience by creating a one-stop shop that fosters greater transparency and encourages more ownership.
Furthermore, HR has now been able to offload the burden of maintaining several internal systems, allowing the company to concentrate on its core competencies.
“Deployment of the new system was an intense but very exciting journey for the business,” says Valerie Van Sannen, global talent development manager at Materialise.
“In the first phase, we launched the human capital management (HCM) application with the goal-setting and absence modules, but this was quickly followed by the talent and learning application and the advanced compensation and benefits module,” continues Van Sannen. “It really has changed the way we work and has brought a lot of innovations to our company.”
Workday has provided a single source of truth for managers and employees alike. And, because of the system’s back-end elegance and simplicity, it’s easy to introduce additional functionalities or respond to any future adjustments in our business processes.
IT Product Owner
Data-driven decisions support growth and continuous learning.
Workday has significantly changed the way Materialise works with data, and now HR processes are truly integrated and readily accessible. This is providing a consistent and meaningful flow of real-time information and unprecedented insight for the company and its workforce. Today, Materialise is a much more data-driven business with information available at the fingertips to reflect the company’s dedication to fostering and encouraging a continuous learning environment.
“We want to make sure that our people can really thrive in their roles and our environments,” saysVan Sannen. “For a pioneering global enterprise with a multigenerational workforce spread across the globe, that’s not easy. In fact, it’s a very complex task with constantly evolving challenges,” continues Van Sannen. “We are, in effect, orchestrating a giant, diverse, and geographically spread orchestra where we are keen for every individual to shine and where the collective results are always outstanding.
“We no longer have walls and data barriers between different HR processes. With Workday everything is now totally seamless,” Van Sannen adds. “Now, for example, we can connect end-of-year review data to our talent review and then link it again to learning initiatives so that both managers and employees can really get the most out of the data. Such progressive capabilities are continuing to have a remarkable impact in all areas and at all levels of the business.”
Improving the employee experience and supporting skills development.
From the outset, Materialise was keen to streamline the onboarding process and ensure that employees were truly in the driving seat in terms of their career development.
“Effective knowledge management is vital for a technology-led business like ours, so the introduction of Workday was a really positive step forward,” says Maksym Stavisiuk, IT product owner at Materialise. “But it’s also important that our new recruits are enthused and engaged with the business from day one. Workday has helped us to make the onboarding process so much easier as it provides all new recruits with a very user-friendly system that will guide and support them throughout their journey and provide them with all the information they need.”
It is a similar story when it comes to career development as Workday provides the stimulus and opportunity for employees to use self-serve tools to not only find learning initiatives and connect with potential mentors but also to showcase their skills within the business.
Materialise is looking to leverage AI to ensure that the cutting-edge knowledge within the business is more accessible to its workforce and partners. And it is continuing to introduce new modules and functionalities to further extend the transformative impact of Workday on operational efficiencies and the employee experience.
As Stavisiuk explains, “We’re very proud of all the information we have at Materialise, and expanding its reach is a key priority for us. We aim to leverage AI to make our vast in-house knowledge more accessible to our employees.”
A positive digital experience with self-service capabilities is vital for any technology leader looking to attract and retain industry-leading expertise. Workday, and the insights it provides, is helping us to lead by example in what we do.
Global Talent Development Manager