Philips, a global leader in healthcare, embarked on a long-term journey to modernize its HR operations. With over 70,000 employees across 100+ countries, the company aimed to standardize HR processes while ensuring scalability to better serve its diverse workforce. For this transformation, Philips turned to Workday.
Efthymios Zindros, global director HRIS at Philips, explains, “The transformation we’ve undergone has been a gradual, system-led process. Each module that went live brought us closer to our goal of global standardization and simplification.”
Before adopting Workday, Philips faced challenges with fragmented systems and varying processes across regions, making it difficult to manage its global workforce effectively.
According to Zindros, “We needed a unified platform to support our employees globally and offer consistent services across regions. Workday enabled us to simplify processes and deliver standard services through shared service centers.”
Standardizing HR for global scalability.
Philips had a clear objective: to standardize HR processes across all regions while ensuring scalability for future growth. This would enable the company to run efficient operations from recruitment to compensation and performance management, all while overcoming challenges posed by inconsistent HR practices across different regions.
“With Workday, we were able to simplify processes and offer standard solutions through shared service centers—something we couldn’t have achieved before,” explains Zindros.
Philips’ HR transformation began in 2012, with the core Workday HR module going live in 2014. Over time, the company expanded its use of Workday to include talent and performance management, compensation, absence management, recruiting, onboarding, and document management solutions. “The beauty of Workday lies in its configurability and its ability to scale globally,” says Zindros. “We started developing capabilities in one country and could quickly deploy them worldwide.”
Workday’s flexibility has allowed us to scale and improve operations. Its configurable system, without the need for customization, has also helped us drive conversations toward standardization.Global Director HRIS
Driving user adoption with a trusted system.
A key factor in Philips’ success with Workday has been the system’s ability to foster trust and adoption among its users. “The biggest value we’ve gained from Workday is the trust it has instilled in the system,” says Zindros. “It has become the system of record and the source of truth for most of our people data. Having a single, trusted source has been crucial for driving employee adoption.”
The ability for Workday to support HR operations globally, with consistent data and processes, has had a direct impact on user experience. The company has seen high utilization rates and strong adoption of the various Workday modules, which has allowed them to leverage the tool for diverse use cases. “Workday’s flexibility and its standard processes have made it easy for us to scale and improve operations,” Zindros notes.
One of the key enablers for this adoption has been the configuration of Workday modules, which has reduced the need for customization. “The fact that Workday is a configurable system and doesn’t require customization has helped us steer our conversations toward standardization,” Zindros says. “That has been very important in maintaining consistency and simplifying operations across our organization.”
Unlocking insights with data-driven decision-making.
Philips has taken a significant step in workforce planning and analytics by leveraging Workday Prism Analytics and Workday Adaptive Planning. These products have allowed the company to gain deeper insights into its workforce, optimize resource allocation, and improve forecasting capabilities. “We are now able to analyze and act on our data in ways that were not possible before,” says Zindros. “With Workday Prism Analytics, we can integrate multiple data sources, providing our HR teams with richer insights to support decision-making.”
By utilizing Workday Prism Analytics, Philips has enhanced its ability to consolidate and analyze vast amounts of people data, leading to more-informed workforce strategies. The company has streamlined reporting and improved visibility into key HR metrics, ensuring leaders have real-time, data-backed insights at their fingertips. “Having access to reliable data in real time has significantly improved how we manage talent and workforce trends across different regions,” Zindros explains.
Moving forward, Philips is expanding its use of Workday Adaptive Planning to further refine workforce planning and cost forecasting, helping unify HR and finance processes.
“With the global rollout of workforce planning, we are able to forecast and plan our workforce and associated costs more accurately,” Zindros notes. By integrating these advanced analytics tools, Philips is strengthening its ability to anticipate workforce needs, align HR strategies with business objectives, and drive operational effectiveness at scale.
Workday Adaptive Planning has been a game-changer in our global operations, uniting HR and finance under one platform and providing the foundation for better forecasting and decision-making.Global Director HRIS
Innovation and AI: The road ahead.
Philips continues to advance its HR transformation, building on a decade-long partnership with Workday. “We’ve been working with Workday for over 10 years, and we’ve grown together,” says Zindros.
As Philips looks ahead, the company remains committed to innovation and efficiency in its HR processes. “What excites me most is how our partnership with Workday evolves. We’re confident that Workday will continue to be a valuable partner in our journey,” Zindros shares.
AI is one of the key areas Philips is keen to explore, recognizing its potential to reshape HR operations. “AI will be a game-changer in how we manage and support our workforce,” says Zindros. “We are taking a careful, responsible approach, ensuring that as we adopt AI it brings real value while maintaining transparency and trust in our processes.”
With a focus on continuous improvement, Philips aims to expand its capabilities in workforce planning and AI, ensuring its HR strategy remains agile and future-ready. By embracing new technologies, the company is strengthening its position as a leader in healthcare technology while delivering a seamless experience for its global workforce.
We see clear benefits from AI in both key areas and everyday tasks, improving processes and user experience. AI is here to stay, with humans at the center, and we’re adopting it responsibly, ensuring transparency and trust.Global Director HRIS