Known as ¡°Japan¡¯s Amazon,¡± Rakuten is a conglomerate of 200 companies across 30 countries. ¡°It¡¯s a very diverse and complex organization, with diverse and complex data,¡± says Head of Global HRIS Regina Krug.
When Krug joined the business, Rakuten was operating at? localized and regionalized levels¡ªsometimes using manual HR processes that made it challenging for HR to see the employee base and manage talent globally. Krug oversaw the rollout of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Human Capital Management (HCM), closely followed by ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Recruiting to support skills-based talent management.
Then, armed with integrated, globalized data, Krug began looking at how other ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ products could support Rakuten¡¯s HR strategy and vision.
Streamlining the integration of new acquisitions.
Rakuten¡¯s global growth has been accelerated by its fast-paced acquisition strategy, resulting in what Krug calls ¡°a pretty extensive M&A process.¡± Krug says ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ has been essential in helping to navigate the challenges of rapidly integrating each new entity, including setting up legal controls. ¡°Whether we¡¯re creating a new company, or buying or divesting a company, those controls feed directly into ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, helping to create a solid structure,¡± says Krug.
For us, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ is more than an HCM system. It¡¯s really a global integration platform.
Head of Global HRIS
Using data insights to move at speed.
To help the business extract insights from its diverse data sources, Krug introduced ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Prism Analytics to the team. The analytics platform has helped Rakuten to organize, integrate, and discover information. ¡°It¡¯s allowed us to normalize and standardize data from very unique, localized situations,¡± says Krug, noting that executives are now getting real-time insights from analytics and visualization tools, helping to improve the company¡¯s speed to market. ¡°From a technology standpoint, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Prism Analytics has helped us move our whole organization forward.¡±
²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Prism Analytics has been a game changer for us.
Head of Global HRIS
Making AI part of HR strategy.
Next on Krug¡¯s list is ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Illuminate? to help accelerate routine tasks using Gen AI, orchestrate end-to-end business processes, and introduce an AI-powered assistant to guide people through complex processes so teams can focus on more strategic work. ¡°We have an organizational mandate to leverage AI in whatever capacity we can,¡± Krug explains. ¡°It¡¯s a big part of our HR strategy.¡±
At the forefront of that strategy is the intentional, ethical, and secure use of employee data and AI. Krug appreciates the high degree of integrity and focus on ethics in the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ approach to AI. ¡°They are helping us manage risk as we embed AI in people processes,¡± Krug says.
If we don¡¯t embrace AI, we¡¯re going to be behind.
Head of Global HRIS
Multiplying return on investment.
Krug is also leaning into the expertise, support, and education that come with ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Success Plans, commenting on the¡°high value¡± of working with technology experts to optimize platform performance. ¡°The services are amazing,¡± Krug says. ¡°Getting that big picture view of utilization and configuration¡ªthat¡¯s given us a new depth of understanding of the platform and how we are operating inside it.¡±