From a local company to a global organization: How Tescan is changing HR, collaboration and the way the company operates.

Could you introduce us to Tescan?

Today, Tescan is going through a period of rapid growth and transformation from a Czech company to a truly global organization. In addition to technological innovations, we are therefore also dealing a lot with how to set up cooperation between teams across countries and how to maintain the speed of decision-making, expertise and proximity to customers as we grow. Our goal is to be a long-term partner for the scientific and industrial community. This means not only developing quality technologies, but also being able to operate as a well-connected international company.

What is your role in the company?

My task is to help the company grow not only technologically, but also organizationally. HR is not just administration for us, but part of how the company works, cooperates and prepares for further development. A large part of the work consists of setting up processes and environments to make people's day-to-day work easier and to help managers better manage teams and priorities. Therefore, we do not see the transformation at Tescan as the implementation of the system itself, but as an opportunity to simplify the functioning of the company and better prepare it for further growth.

How many employees do the Czech branch and Tescan as a whole have?

Today, Tescan operates globally, connecting teams across Europe, America and Asia. We have production, development, sales and service centers in 11 countries. We have more than 550 employees in the Czech Republic, and a total of almost 900 colleagues. This brings a great opportunity to share know-how and build an international company, but also the need for better coordination, clearer processes and tools that allow people to collaborate regardless of location.

How did the implementation of SAP SuccessFactors evolve at Tescan and why did you decide to implement this change?

The main impulse was not the technology itself, but the need to move the company's operations forward. As Tescan grew and increasingly operated internationally, it became clear that local procedures, Excel spreadsheets or manual processes were not enough in the long run. We needed to create a more unified environment that would work across countries while providing better support for managers and employees. Therefore, we have deployed the system globally in all countries and in five language versions. Today, it covers the entire employee lifecycle — from recruiting and onboarding to performance management, remuneration or training — and is connected to other internal systems and local solutions in individual countries. However, we have never perceived SuccessFactors as a purely IT project. Rather, it was an opportunity to unify processes, reduce administration and create a better basis for further growth of the company.

What do you perceive as the biggest advantages of SuccessFactors?

SuccessFactors made sense to us mainly because it could cover the needs of a globally growing company in one environment. We were not just looking for a tool for recording HR data, but a solution that would help us unify processes across regions and work in the long term. It was also important for us that we were able to gradually develop individual areas — from recruiting to onboarding to performance management or education — without the need to combine several different systems. The availability of data and greater visibility across the organization are also a great advantage. In an international company, it is important for teams to work with the same information and have clearly set processes.

Why did you decide to work with 2S, i.e. Success Solutions, on the implementation?

2S made sense to us mainly because the team of consultants was able to work not only locally, but also in an international environment across multiple countries and teams. Experience with individual modules and references from similarly focused technology companies were important to us. In addition to expertise, however, the way of cooperation also played a big role for us. We needed a partner who would be able to communicate openly, look for practical solutions and understand how Tescan works as a company.

If you found yourself in the role of a consultant, what advice would you give to companies that are considering implementing SuccessFactors?

I would definitely recommend spending enough time preparing. At the beginning, clearly state why the company is making the change and what it expects from it. In larger international companies, it's not just about technology, but mainly about aligning processes, cooperation and functioning across teams. Working with data is often underestimated. If the company has been operating in different local systems or Excel spreadsheets for a long time, data unification is usually a bigger task than it seems at the beginning. Strong internal ownership of the project is also important. An external partner can bring experience, but the change must be managed from within the company.

How did the internal communication with employees and managers take place?

From the beginning, we knew that such a change could not be just about launching a new system. Therefore, we took communication as an important part of the entire transformation and tried to continuously involve people in the individual phases of the project. In addition to official announcements, we also involved managers and key users in testing or commenting on processes so that the change was not perceived as something "ordered from above". It was important for us to explain not only what is changing, but mainly why we are making the change and how it can make people's daily work easier.

So the implementation was successful?

Yes, we evaluate the implementation as successful today. Almost a year has passed since the launch of the first modules, so we can monitor not only the deployment of the system itself, but mainly how the organization has gradually mastered it in its normal functioning. Of course, we also encountered a number of challenges during the project, which is natural for such a large-scale international change. However, it is important that we managed to set a stable foundation for the further development of the company and unify the functioning across the organization.

Do you have any positive feedback from your employees?

Yes, we receive positive feedback mainly from managers and teams that work across regions and need quick access to information and a better overview of the organization. A great benefit for them is the centralization of data and easier work with information in everyday functioning. Employees especially appreciate the fact that they have important information and their data available in one place and that they are gradually unifying the environment across the company.

What development would you like for Tescan in the future?

In the future, we would like to further strengthen the interconnection of individual systems and simplify the daily work of employees and managers as much as possible. Integrations are a big topic — for example, in the area of payroll or related internal processes, where there is still room for greater automation. We are also gradually looking at other areas that can support the functioning of a global organization, such as electronic signing of documents or a deeper connection of HR processes with other company tools.

What tip would you give the implementer for improvement?

In my opinion, the ability not only to perceive the implementation in technical terms, but to understand the broader functioning of the company and its current situation, is of great value. Every organization works differently and especially in an international environment, needs change rapidly. Therefore, it is important to be able to listen, understand how the company works in practice, and not just look for a "textbook" solution. Projects where the implementer does not act only as a system supplier, but as a partner, work best.

Any other message you'd like to share with Success Solutions and its clients?

In my opinion, the implementation of a similar system is not primarily an HR or IT project. If handled correctly, it can significantly help the functioning of the entire company and support its further growth. A big thank you therefore goes to the entire team on both sides of the project. During the implementation, we went through different phases — from enthusiasm to moments when, in normal operation and without capacity reinforcement, we felt that the light at the end of the tunnel was still very far away or disappearing. Hence the Implementation Survivor label. That is why we appreciate all the more today that we managed to complete the project together. It is experiences like this that will bring the team together a lot in the end.