A great employee experience isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a business imperative. Every interaction, every HR touchpoint shapes how employees feel, engage, and perform. But as expectations rise and workplaces evolve, HR teams need new ways to meet the moment. That means delivering faster, more personalized, high-quality support—and doing so at scale.
With AI-powered innovation and a unified approach to HR service delivery, organizations can create the seamless, connected experiences employees expect while unlocking new levels of efficiency and strategic impact for HR. That’s exactly what SAP is enabling with the SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management solution, recently delivered in the 1H 2025 SAP SuccessFactors HCM release and now available.
Leading companies like Döhler Group, a global producer of natural ingredients for the food and beverage industry, are already seeing the impact, with benefits such as:
- 33% reduction in case resolution times
- 4X productivity increase
- 80% reduction in e-mail writing time using generative AI
Paul Wittig, head of HR Operations & Services, Döhler, said, “Enterprise service management for HR is a huge step towards a more digital and, therefore, more transparent and structured way of work.”
The future of HR service delivery is now
The employee experience is shaped not just by big career moments, but by everyday opportunities, interactions, and the ability to get support when it’s needed. That’s why one of the most critical HR touchpoints in any organization is the HR help desk—and it’s also one of the most overburdened.
HR service reps at large enterprises often work in shared business centers and are responsible for managing high case volumes and diverse requests, ensuring accuracy and compliance. They may process hundreds of service requests in a month, each taking 1-3 days to resolve depending on the complexity of the issue, leaving employees waiting for the answers they need and HR teams overwhelmed by volume.
But this model is evolving—advancements in technology solutions are fundamentally reshaping how this work gets done. It’s no longer just about processing more cases, faster. It’s about preventing many of those cases from being raised in the first place. Intelligent, AI-powered tools enable employees to find answers independently, reducing case volumes and allowing HR teams to focus on more complex issues that require human expertise.
According to Gartner*, “By 2025, 70% of organizations with more than 2,500 employees will have invested in an HR service management solution.”
The momentum is clear, and organizations taking action are already seeing the benefits: reduced case volumes, faster resolution times, and a more seamless experience for both employees and HR teams.
The potential of AI to transform service delivery is also reflected in recent SAP SuccessFactors research. In one survey, 89% of employees said their workplace experience would improve if they could use AI to get answers to HR questions. In a related survey, HR leaders identified self-service and other AI-enabled administrative tasks as the most valuable use cases for their teams—freeing them from repetitive requests and creating space for more meaningful conversations with employees, from career development to conflict resolution.
The question is: what does HR service really look like in an era where embedded AI has the potential to transform not just the speed, but the entire nature of support?
The benefits of a single cloud platform, powered by AI
SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management enables organizations to completely reimagine HR service delivery with a unified cloud platform powered by AI.
Enhancing the employee experience is among the top benefits of SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management. Delivering added value to HR, the solution can harness the power of AI to help search, analyze, and update the underlying knowledge base and policy data, enabling it to better address employees’ questions in the future before cases are generated. SAP’s AI copilot Joule can give employees instant access to the answers and support they need through collaboration tools, a rich knowledge base, and omnichannel self-service experiences.
For example, imagine an employee with questions about parental leave. Instead of submitting a case and waiting for an HR response, the employee can simply ask Joule the question from directly within the platform. Joule can provide accurate, personalized guidance based on company policies and the employee’s specific eligibility, helping to instantly resolve the inquiry without any manual intervention. If the question is more complex or requires documentation, the technology helps seamlessly create and route the case to an HR service rep, along with all relevant details, working to ensure fast, informed support. The best part: Joule can be accessed from anywhere across SAP and is not just contained within HR.
The solution also benefits HR teams by helping to simplify daily operations and significantly scale efficiency. SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management can enhance HR service delivery behind the scenes with AI-driven case management, automated document handling, and intelligent knowledge updates, working to reduce manual effort for service reps and improve compliance. AI at work is central to this process, enabling auto-classification of service requests, content summarization to give agents a concise, contextual view of each case, and next-best action recommendations to help resolve issues quickly and effectively. The solution can continuously learn from past interactions, helping to make classification and resolution processes smarter and more accurate over time. Generative AI can further elevate efficiency by automatically generating clear interaction summaries, consistent resolution recaps, and professional, personalized e-mail drafts—helping to accelerate case handling, enhance communication quality, and ensure a more seamless, consistent service experience for both employees and HR teams.
With embedded SAP Analytics Cloud, HR teams can gain real-time visibility into service performance, enabling data-driven decisions to further optimize operations and elevate the employee experience.
A win for the business, employees, and HR
SAP customers that already use SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central for core HR are well positioned to quickly implement and reap the benefits of SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management. Together, these solutions can create a unified, AI-powered foundation that can deliver personalized, compliant HR support at every touchpoint.
Real-time, trusted core HR data from SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central helps ensure employees receive accurate, context-aware support, while quick actions embedded in the solution can make it easy to complete common HR tasks with just a few clicks—all within the flow of work. Within SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management’s case management experience, HR service reps can also benefit from direct access to the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central people profile, available as a mash-up, helping to provide immediate, secure visibility into relevant employee information without the need to switch systems. The solution can extend core SAP SuccessFactors HCM investments with a secure, compliant service layer to help maintain centralized data governance, streamline service processes, and reduce manual effort—working to ensure a seamless, intuitive experience for employees and HR teams alike.
We all know that HR is not just a back-office function. It is central to shaping employee experience and driving business outcomes. With SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management, powered by SAP Business AI, organizations can deliver the support employees expect while reducing HR workloads and improving efficiency. The result? A triple win for the business, employees, and HR.
Learn more about SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management for HR service delivery.
Lara Albert is chief marketing officer at SAP SuccessFactors.
*Source: Gartner: Market Guide for Integrated HR Service Management solutions, May 2024
