Our client is a multinational high-end sportswear brand that entered the Chinese market in the 2010s. Against the backdrop of rapid business expansion, the company built a directly operated network covering headquarters and stores in China, employing approximately 3,000 people.

Faced with the management complexity of multiple business formats operating simultaneously, the original HR management model relying on the Workday system was insufficient in terms of localization adaptation, flexibility, and user experience. To address this, the client partnered with CDP to advance the construction of an integrated HR digital platform centered on "unified platform and independent controllability”, providing solid support for efficient collaboration and refined operations during rapid organizational growth.

Rapid Business Growth Urgently Requires a Unified Platform and Data Integration

With rapid business expansion and the increasing complexity of the retail industry, the company faced challenges in human resource management, primarily in the following three aspects:

Challenge 1: The Need to Upgrade Global System Localization Capabilities
Given the high demands of the retail industry for complex management scenarios, the company's existing Workday system struggled to effectively support business processes, data compliance, and operational habits. A solution more adapted to the Chinese market was urgently needed to help the Chinese HR team achieve efficient implementation.

Challenge 2: System Fragmentation and Data Silos
Data on headquarters office employees and retail store employees was scattered across different systems, necessitating the establishment of a unified core employee master database. The existing enterprise portal also required upgrades in technical architecture and iteration capabilities to better support the needs of operational management and corporate culture development during rapid business expansion.

Challenge 3: Dual Pressures of Management Complexity and Employee Experience
With the continuous expansion of the retail store network and the increasing complexity of management, HR operations face a heavy burden of manual operations and system switching. Employees, on the other hand, have to deal with multiple systems, resulting in cumbersome processes. This is especially true for the new generation of employees in the retail industry, who require integrated and mobile-friendly services.

Unified Platform, Flexible Adaptation to Business Growth

1. Management Architecture: One Platform, Two Logics

CDP built a unified employee management platform for this client, integrating data from headquarters office employees and retail store employees into the same HCM system, covering approximately 3,000 people. Through flexible configuration capabilities, the system simultaneously supports the "one person, one position" job system in the office and the "one position, multiple people" employment model in the retail sector, achieving an innovative management model of "one platform, two logics”, balancing the dual needs of refined control at headquarters and flexible staffing in stores.

2. Retail Experience: In-depth Scenario Understanding, Refined Management

The CDP project team has extensive experience serving retail enterprises and is familiar with the refined management needs of retail companies. We designed and developed numerous functions adapted to the client's business scenarios. For example, the "One-Click Store Opening" feature automatically generates a standard job description system and approval process when a new store is established, significantly improving opening efficiency. Simultaneously, the mobile application allows store managers to complete employee onboarding and store transfers via their mobile phones, improving store management responsiveness.

3. Technical Experience: Unified Portal and Visualization Capabilities

CDP built an enterprise-level portal for this client, initially covering approximately 1,000 employees at headquarters. It integrates multiple business systems, including HR, finance, procurement, and ERP, achieving data synergy and a unified entry point. The portal integrates to-do lists, messages, and a calendar (synchronized with Outlook), featuring a beautiful and modern UI design that significantly enhances the employee experience and consistently conveys the brand image.

Furthermore, the system includes a built-in organizational structure visualization function, supporting the display of organizational changes, vacancy status, and future departure information along a timeline. Clear color coding facilitates personnel management for HR managers and reporting to senior management.

4. Integration and Interoperability: System Interoperability and Data Stability

CDP has experience collaborating with Workday's official interface, enabling stable master data integration and helping the client reduce the risk of switching from their existing system. Simultaneously, the enterprise-level portal is deeply integrated with multiple systems such as HR, finance, procurement, and ERP, forming a unified digital foundation. This supports efficient collaboration of enterprise-level business processes and achieves a comprehensive upgrade of the original system's technical architecture and scalability.

5. System Expansion: Portal Foundation, Multifunctional Extension

The CDP system possesses excellent scalability, capable of meeting the dual needs of IT system construction and HR operations. It builds an integrated, scalable digital management platform, providing strong support for the retail enterprise's continuous business growth and management upgrades. Based on the foundation of HCM and the enterprise-level portal, the system can be flexibly expanded to include core HR modules such as payroll and performance management, and supports diverse application scenarios such as corporate culture activities, internal community operations, and new employee 180-day integration. Through continuous iteration, it continuously improves employee experience and enhances the digital platform's support capabilities for business development.

The Value of Digital Implementation

The project underwent rigorous business process research, including over 20 business requirements communication meetings and over 15 interface solution discussions. Ultimately, it identified and implemented 8 core business scenarios and 21 key processes covering the entire employee lifecycle, ensuring the solution met complex management needs while maintaining high operability.

Implementation results and highlights are as follows:

• Significantly Improved Operational Efficiency: HR no longer needs to frequently switch between multiple systems; reports are automatically generated, and HR-related administrative work time is expected to be reduced by more than 50%.
• Comprehensive Improvement in Data Quality: A unified data source eliminated logical errors caused by fragmented systems (such as store locations being moved but job status not being updated), achieving a 100% improvement in data accuracy.
• Enhanced Management Transparency: Management can view organizational health in real-time through visual charts, making decisions more data-driven, precise, and efficient.
• Optimized Employee Experience: Convenient mobile operation and a unified portal allow the new generation of employees to truly experience a modern and welcoming employer brand image, significantly improving satisfaction and a sense of belonging.
• Empowering Business: A solid HR data foundation provides strong support for subsequent store budgeting, employee efficiency analysis, and other business insights, enabling more scientific and precise business decisions.

The successful implementation of this project provides a replicable and implementable model for digital transformation of human resources in the retail chain industry. Leveraging its extensive retail management experience and strong localization capabilities, CDP accurately addresses the core needs of both foreign and domestic retail companies developing in China—breaking down data barriers between offices and stores, and building a unified yet flexible HR digital platform to help companies achieve refined management, continuously optimize employee experience, and deeply support business development.

In the future, CDP will continue to leverage its innovative DNA and deep industry expertise to accompany more retail companies in achieving digital upgrades in the Chinese market, driving high-quality organizational and talent growth through the dual engines of technology and service.