People & Operations: The Salt & Pepper of a Business Transformation

When I started at SAP, it was already clear that I would take on the role as Chief Operating Officer in addition to my role as Chief People Officer. That said, in my mind, this has been the logical combination for months already. And for me, it was certainly something I was looking forward to.  

Still, for many of you, the combination of those two roles is something new, and I receive many questions on why and how these two areas fit together. So, with that in mind, let me show you why people and operations go together like salt and pepper.  

My most important job at SAP is to drive and accelerate both our own and our customers’ business transformation to the cloud. For me, there are three key pillars that enable transformation: people, processes, and technology. These three create the essential fabric of our company’s successful transformation.  

When it comes to truly transforming a company, everything starts with the people. A holistic transformation will only work if the people who are driving it are fully behind it, motivated, creative, innovative, and willing to change the way things work. Furthermore, a business transformation requires that we build the right skills for the future and a certain culture within the company. As Chief People Officer, together with a great team, we are shaping our winning culture and make sure that our people develop the right skills for tomorrow’s business. We make sure that all colleagues are on board, convinced of the What, the Why, and the How, and are happy employees. Topics like Pledge to Flex are part of this work, something for which we received excellent feedback from colleagues across SAP.  

On the operations side of the house, we have the other two key pillars: processes and technology.  

Processes are at the heart of every company. Especially in the age of digitization and automation, processes are becoming increasingly important for companies of all industries and sizes. To enable innovative digital business models, processes need to be continuously analyzed, questioned, adapted, and, yes, sometimes re-thought. To truly transform, it is not enough to consider a single process – instead, all processes of a company must be seen as one. Together, we will harmonize, simplify, and scale our processes across the end-to-end value chain, putting the user at the center of everything we do.   

Technology builds the very foundation of an Intelligent Enterprise. As SAP runs SAP, we will continue to design and operate our core business systems. Together, we will scale our Intelligent Enterprise data platform and define key architectural boundaries, controls, and master data. By leveraging our own technology, we will build and continuously develop the digital workplace for all colleagues at SAP. With this, we make sure that mobile ways of working, for instance, are possible around the globe.  

This leads me back to people. Everything starts with people and, in fact, everything comes back to people in the end. It’s people who run and re-think processes. It’s people who make sure our technology is up and running. And it’s people who shape a culture where every colleague can thrive.  

I am humbled and excited to take on this journey and drive SAP’s business transformation together with a great team alongside me. A team that for me goes together like salt and pepper: people and operations.