Wolf Theiss Modernizes Its HR Landscape with SAP SuccessFactors

Established HR processes, decentralized master data, and different systems made it difficult for Wolf Theiss to gain a clear view of its international HR landscape. Together with ORBIS, the law firm implemented SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central as a central cloud-based platform. The result: greater transparency, standardized reporting, and scalable HR processes.

With more than 400 lawyers across 13 offices, including locations such as Brussels, Wolf Theiss is one of the leading law firms in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.

The firm combines local expertise with international competence and supports clients in the region’s dynamic markets with legal, financial, and business know-how.

As one of the first law firms focused on the CEE/SEE region, Wolf Theiss has experienced significant growth in recent years. With this growth came increasing complexity. Different HR processes across 13 offices, more than 800 employees, numerous standalone solutions, and a heterogeneous system landscape led to data silos and high administrative effort.

HR data was primarily maintained centrally, making coordination time-consuming while providing employees with few opportunities to manage their own data independently.

As a result, the need for an end-to-end, modern, and user-friendly HR platform became increasingly apparent. An intuitive platform with genuine self-service capabilities and full compliance with all regulatory requirements, including GDPR, was particularly important.

The final decision was SAP SuccessFactors, implemented together with ORBIS. The solution stood out because it combines and optimally supports the four HR pillars most important to Wolf Theiss: People, Processes, Structures, and Technology within a single integrated platform.

Equally important was ORBIS as a trusted partner that impressed from the outset with a structured, transparent, and highly customer-centric approach. The ORBIS expert team ensured a deep understanding of the firm’s specific requirements, from country-specific differences and long-established processes to the high importance of employee experience.

The HR community across all 13 offices welcomed the SAP SuccessFactors project enthusiastically. At the same time, implementing the new solution represented a major effort, as it had to be completed alongside day-to-day operations.

Together with ORBIS, an ambitious yet realistic timeline was developed that also considered vacation periods and potential absences to avoid project delays.

Change management was another essential contributor to project success because technology alone is not enough. Successful transformation requires technology, people, processes, and structures to be aligned and work together effectively.

“Every system is only as good as the people behind it. That is why I am very grateful that the project timeline was well thought out and that the collaboration with ORBIS worked so well,” says Oehlzand.

Another key success factor was data quality. This was particularly challenging in an internationally operating law firm with historically developed ways of working and different process realities. It quickly became clear that the new system could only operate efficiently with reliable, consistent, and complete data. Reporting and analytics depend on this foundation.

Based on this foundation, Wolf Theiss used SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central to consolidate various systems into one global HR platform and establish consistent, cloud-based master data management.

Today, HR data is maintained centrally across countries, processes are more transparent, and the data foundation is more consistent.

For the HR organization, this brings several tangible benefits. Reporting can be standardized across countries, information is available more quickly, and administrative effort has been reduced.

At the same time, employees are actively involved through Employee Self Service. They can maintain their own data, reducing the workload for HR while significantly improving data quality and accuracy.

In addition, the project supports a broader cloud strategy. Together with SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud and other existing systems, a modern system landscape is emerging in which processes are seamlessly integrated and information can be leveraged across systems. 

With Employee Central, the transformation is far from complete. On the contrary, the new data foundation creates the basis for future steps across the entire employee lifecycle.

With SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking, time management is already being moved to the cloud, adding another central HR component to the platform.

Building on this, additional opportunities arise. Modules such as Onboarding, Recruiting, Performance Management, and Compensation can be integrated step by step.

The key enabler is the consistent data foundation, which allows processes to be connected, media disruptions to be avoided, and HR to be managed holistically.

At the same time, this HR data landscape creates the conditions needed to benefit from future technological innovations, including AI-supported capabilities.

For Wolf Theiss, SAP SuccessFactors is therefore much more than a new HR system. The solution provides a stable foundation for international HR operations, increases transparency across borders, and enables the HR landscape to evolve step by step. 

Further Insights

In an interview with ITWelt, Marcus Oehlzand discusses the challenges of HR transformation, the importance of transparency, and the reasons behind Wolf Theiss’s decision to implement SAP SuccessFactors.

Get here to the interview