Megalabs
Where standardization and adaptability meet
As its name implies, Megalabs is a pharmaceutical giant. Its broad portfolio of market-leading therapeutics is available in more than 20 countries in the Americas—stretching from the Northernmost reaches of the US all the way down to the Southernmost reaches of Argentina and Chile.
The problem
Having grown through M&A, the organization’s HR processes were outdated. Each country and facility has its distinct local preferences, which reflect the organization’s agile, decentralized culture. While corporate leaders respect and value this autonomy, having different ways of working across more than 40 commercial, research and production facilities in multiple countries posed a dilemma. Disparate processes and inadequate systems were holding the organization back from maturing its HR function and improving key talent outcomes such as acquisition, retention, and succession planning.
Looking to support Megalabs’ growth, HR Director Amanda Garcia and other leaders decided it was time to find a comprise: implement a new HR system with the power to help enable leading practices across multiple countries, yet flexible enough to accommodate local preferences and varied ways of working, all while supporting M&A strategy and making it scalable. Megalabs found an optimal combination of standardization and adaptability in Workday Human Capital Management (HCM).
The plan
To gain widespread buy-in and ensure a smooth transition, Garcia, with the help of Deloitte’s S-LATAM team, focused on building alignment among facility leaders around key HR processes before rolling out Workday. This attention to communication and change management was a key success factor in rolling out Workday’s core HR functionality—compensation, recruiting, talent management, and performance management—to 16 facilities across eight different countries in only six months.
“Deloitte’s experience in implementing Workday HCM was a huge advantage for us,” says Garcia. “Even when things became hectic, the Deloitte team was easygoing about it: they understood our culture and how things worked, and knew how to guide us through the challenges. In addition to Workday HCM, they also knew the life sciences industry, which was essential for helping us to develop recruiting and talent development processes that really work.”
The results
Through its new Workday platform, Megalabs is realizing value from enhanced employee engagement, improved visibility into its talent pipeline, and more effective talent acquisition and development activities. Based on this success, it is presently expanding its Workday HCM transformation to encompass more countries and more modules such as Absence Management.
“Deloitte has collaborated with Megalabs in Uruguay for many years, helping them to develop and mature their processes,” observes Juan Torres, project leader and senior manager, Deloitte S-LATAM. “The Workday implementation was a natural extension of this work, since it gave us the opportunity to leverage the leading practices we had already developed; our deep understanding of their operations; and our strong relationship with Amanda and the leadership team,” says Torres.
As its Workday-enabled transformation continues, leaders expect to benefit from increased access to integrated, global HR data. Beyond the core HR pillars, they plan to carefully select the Workday modules and features that best meet each country’s needs. “The magic is seeing how Workday enables us to balance existing local and corporate requirements, while adapting to new ones as we continue to grow,” concludes Garcia.
Our collaboration with Deloitte and the adoption of Workday have not only streamlined HR operations but also granted us deeper visibility and strategic control over talent management across the region.
Rosina Morales
Juan Torres Pais
