How Sanofi reduced global HR case duration by 87%

Managing 93,000 employees across 11 disconnected systems

Global operations created data silos and process blind spots

Sanofi faced the classic challenge of success at global scale. With 93,000 employees across 90 countries, even simple internal processes became incredibly complex. Their data was scattered across 11 different SAP systems, making it impossible to see the complete picture of how processes actually worked versus how they were designed to work.

Sanofi’s internal job change process was overly complex and slow

One critical process highlighted their challenges: when an employee wanted to change jobs internally, it required 6 different steps involving 8 different people. The process typically took 8 days to complete, but extreme cases dragged on for 33 days, leaving employees frustrated and waiting.

Problems were known, but never proven with data

Sanofi already knew that certain parts of their processes weren’t working well — like delays, inefficiencies, or inconsistencies — but they had no concrete data or metrics to clearly show where and why those problems were happening.

"Some of the challenges we were facing were already known, but they were never visualized in KPIs and numbers," explains Christian Mueller, Head of Process Intelligence.

Without quantified data, getting stakeholder alignment on improvements was nearly impossible. Problems remained invisible and unactionable, hidden within the complexity of their 11 disconnected systems.

Creating a digital twin of the job change process with QPR ProcessAnalyzer

With the help of QPR ProcessAnalyzer, a process mining tool that turns system data like SAP logs into clear visual maps, Sanofi was able to see where their job change process was getting stuck and redesign it based on real insights.

QPR’s four-step methodology

1. Creating a digital twin
The transformation began with a virtual "digital twin" of the job change process to uncover unknown insights and validate known pain points. This analysis phase revealed the stark difference between their designed processes and operational reality.

2. Using data to align stakeholders
Next, they used concrete data to highlight improvement opportunities and formed steering committees with experts from across the value chain. Having numbers instead of opinions changed everything about how stakeholders engaged with process improvement discussions.

3. Adopting a user-centric approach
In the third phase, lean tools were used to interview end users and understand their real needs and difficulties when executing job changes. This ensured that solutions would work in practice—not just on paper.

4. Implementing and validating the new process
Finally, the redesigned process was rolled out with comprehensive training and post-implementation checks, ensuring the improvements were sustained and successful over time.
Discovering what was really happening

"We set out to discover the truth about our processes," says Christian Mueller. "We wanted to see how our designed processes actually worked in reality, rather than relying on what we thought was happening."

When they could finally see everything clearly, they found specific problems:

• Process bottlenecks that created unnecessary delays
• Cases going into loops and getting stuck
• Country-specific configurations causing lead time issues
• Approval steps that consistently created problems
• Too many data fields employees had to fill out

One dashboard delivers dramatic time and cost savings

Bringing 11 SAP systems together

QPR ProcessAnalyzer solved Sanofi's biggest challenge: it took information from all 11 separate SAP systems and put it on one easy-to-use dashboard. For the first time, they could see their complete operation in one place instead of trying to piece together fragments from different systems.

Job changes are now completed on time

The biggest tangible result achieved through this initiative was the improvement in the on-time completion rate of job change processes. Before the changes, Sanofi couldn't get job changes done on time or done right. But with the new streamlined process and clear step-by-step guidance, job changes now consistently finish on schedule and without errors.

Global HR process median case duration reduced by 87%

The transformation delivered dramatic time reductions that exceeded all expectations:

• Median job change time: 87% reduction (7.8 days → 1 day)
• Average job change time: 80% reduction (33 days → 6.5 days)

From 6 steps to 2 steps

The new lean process design cut the number of steps in the job change process from 6 steps down to just 2. This dramatically reduced both the time needed to complete job changes and the amount of manual work required to keep the process running. With this increased efficiency, the team could focus on more valuable activities instead of managing complicated paperwork.

Clear explanations eliminate confusion

By redesigning the process around what employees actually needed, Sanofi made job changes much easier to get right the first time. The new system guides people step-by-step with clear explanations for each field, so employees and managers no longer get confused about what information to enter. This means fewer mistakes, less back-and-forth corrections, and people can complete their job changes without calling for help.

Pinpointing exactly where job changes get stuck

The 12-week analysis showed Sanofi exactly which steps were causing the biggest problems in their job change process. Instead of guessing why things took so long, they could see the specific bottlenecks, the fields people struggled with, and the approval steps where requests consistently got stuck. This meant they could fix the actual problems instead of wasting time on things that weren't really issues.

30,000 fewer monthly late payments

The benefits went far beyond job changes. They eliminated 30,000 late payments every month, could see what was happening across all their global offices, and dramatically improved how different departments worked together. They also discovered opportunities to automate repetitive tasks and made it much easier to roll out consistent processes worldwide.

Implementing Manager Self-Service eliminates HR bottlenecks

The new process introduced Manager Self-Service functionality, allowing managers to handle job change requests directly. By giving managers direct control over their team changes, Sanofi could move faster on strategic initiatives and keep their best talent engaged.

Happier employees and less time spent on paperwork

The new system completely changed the experience for employees and managers. Instead of a month-long ordeal with confusing steps, job changes now happen in a day with clear guidance throughout the process. Employees are much happier, and managers spend less time on paperwork.