To help transform the world of work, Dell started at home
“How do you manage the biggest merger in tech history while simultaneously turning the company 180 degrees? Dell Technologies did just that, with help from Deloitte”
Dell’s acquisition of EMC in 2016 was the biggest merger in the history of the tech sector. A combined workforce of 140,000 employees in 180 countries, generating more than $74 billion in total revenue, had to be integrated.
And this at a time when the market was changing fast. Dell needed to pivot from a product seller to a services and solutions provider.
So, what if the organisation could do more than implement the usual post-merger efficiencies and synergies, and also completely reimagine how it operates and serves its customers? This was the challenge that Dell’s CHRO Steve Price set Deloitte, a long-standing consulting partner.
First, Deloitte’s professionals worked with Dell to draw up a new HR operating model. The plan was to deliver Deloitte’s Future of Work framework through widescale digital transformation.
The next step was the cloud transformation of the HR function through Workday – the workforce data management solution that enables organisations to make optimal decisions based on the insights generated from its talent data. Our team also helped Dell’s HR leaders adopt an AI solution to optimise talent acquisition, as well as robotic process automation (RPA) to automate routine tasks and free up staff for more value-added work.
A core goal of the transformation process was to upskill the workforce to prepare people for the company’s new direction.
Dana Swanson Switzer, Deloitte Human Capital principal, says: “Dell shifting dramatically, moving from products to solutions, was a very big pivot for the business… How do you help your team members and leaders to go do that work?”
Switzer says the success of Deloitte’s work with Dell is down to a closely collaborative relationship. The initial HR transformation led to an estimated $24 million in HR savings, and an additional $8 million in firm-wide savings, over five years.
Deloitte is currently working with Dell on further development of automation solutions – on top of the impressive 70-plus bots already in operation.
We have also helped the company build a programme for greater mobility across its global workforce.
Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell has acknowledged the central role of HR in shaping the company’s future. “Our HR organisation has been tremendously agile and helped drive a lot of business performance and transformation as we’ve had to evolve as a company.”
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