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#132 - Nina Kirr | AI Roadmap, Efficiency & Quality Matrix, Post Meger Integrations
39 Plays7 days ago
Nina Kirr is the Senior Vice President People & Culture at Proalpha, a leading ERP and business software provider with more than 2,400 employees across nine countries and 12 business units. She is transforming traditional HR into a modern People & Culture organization and has established P&C as a shared service across the group, creating common frameworks and collaboration across units and countries. A key part of her role is integrating newly acquired companies and their teams, while navigating current challenges such as automation and AI. Nina focuses on empowering high-performing teams, strengthening culture, and shaping a People & Culture function that supports sustainable growth — always guided by the vision of empowering people and creating impact.
Shownotes
00:00 - Intro & Context
05:00 - How AI and automation drive real impact in HR: recruiting, self-service, and reporting
18:00 - Rebuilding the HR tech stack: harmonized data and scalable processes as the foundation for AI
42:00 - HR as a business partner: ROI, KPIs, low attrition, and AI as an enabler
Links
Guest Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninakirr/
Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/
Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com
pplwise: https://pplwise.com/
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Transcript
Impact of Automation on HR
00:00:00
Speaker
Where did you see on the on on your metrics in terms of um our save plus quality increased, where do you see the the processes with the biggest impact so far?
00:00:10
Speaker
It is talent acquisition, for instance, CV screenings or candidate um interview scheduling. There is a lot possible with automation how to how to scale it more efficiently. Then we see that in PNC operations for reportings, for self-service for our employees. We see that also for talent management or employee service feedback. There are a lot of possibilities with automation, how to structure that better, how to gain via AI. And here AI really is an enabler, um supports you with um actions, um how actually...
00:00:48
Speaker
create then or ah draw from the feedback actions that you can work together with the managers and people to really then increase better solutions in the organization.
Introducing Nina Kirr and ProAlpha
00:00:59
Speaker
Today's guest Nina Kirr, SVP president of People and Culture at ProAlpha, a very successful um tech company here in Germany. And maybe Nina, I'm i'm really glad that you're here and ah we start with an introduction about yourself.
00:01:17
Speaker
Yes, ah thank you very much, Thomas. um Thanks for the invitation and for having me and I'm happy to start with a short introduction. So as you said, um and Nina, I'm SVP People and Culture at ProAlpha. We're a leading ERP software company and we're providing um our services for midsize industrial companies, primarily with a focus on the DACH region.
00:01:42
Speaker
Today, um the group consists of 12 specialized software units with more than 2,400 employees and we're operating in nine different countries.
00:01:53
Speaker
And we're supporting thousands of customers driving digital transformation, operational excellence, long-term growth with our products that they use. To myself, a few words might be interesting as well. So um I'm with the company ah for almost three years.
Transforming HR into a Strategic Function
00:02:08
Speaker
And when I stepped in that role, I inherited a function that was still, I must say, focused on administrative HR tasks. So my mission was um to transform into a modern strategic ah people and cultural organization.
00:02:24
Speaker
On the one hand, that connects a diverse group of companies that we acquire throughout positions and to combine them with a shared framework, with common principles, with yeah regular collaboration across countries and the business units.
00:02:40
Speaker
And today, um my team and I, we're working um on one of the biggest opportunities, I think, that many HR leaders and teams are facing, and that is demonstrating real success Yeah, return on investment through technology use and AI plays a very important role here. And we have a situation that we were forced to change our HCM system in a very short way. I will share that in a second in more detail. And that really brought us in a situation to completely rethink our tech stack and how we can actually bring automation and AI into our people and culture
Adopting AI in ProAlpha's HCM Strategy
00:03:15
Speaker
department. Can you share why you had to change? So, short notice.
00:03:20
Speaker
Sure. So that was, I think, a very unuseful situation. But actually, our service provider decided to um end the corporation for strategic reasons. We have in our ProAlpha group our own HCM product. And um for strategic reasons, the service provider decided that they do not want to have a custom added are actually having their own HCM product in their portfolio. Okay, because of competitiveness, for instance. okay Okay, understood. Okay, that's um a really a hoc scenario then. um
00:03:53
Speaker
What was then the timeline for you and um what were the implications? Yeah, so um the timeline was quite tough because um the termination period was six months. So we had six months receiving the termination and making sure that we go live with our new product.
00:04:10
Speaker
We're actually short before Go Live because actually Go Live is planned for January. ah So we're in the final steps. And um as I said, it it brought the opportunity to really rethink our own tech stack.
00:04:22
Speaker
It brought secondly the opportunity that we can use our own products in the group now, our product persistence and teaser work. And we will add or have already added an external ATS system um to combine um the tech stack that we're using.
00:04:37
Speaker
And what was also very important is that with creating um a new tech stack, we got the chance that we really build now a structure with a more cleaner data, would say, with more harmonized processes and which really builds a good foundation for automation.
00:04:55
Speaker
And that is very, very much important for us. um what What data did you harmonize? Is it um the classical stack of recruiting data with the HR data with maybe some payroll data?
00:05:08
Speaker
um We started actually a bit earlier. So we started first of all with our infrastructure. So um our HCM system was implemented, think it was seven years ago. And as we're growing so fast via acquisitions, we have now a different situation in the company. um We have aligned much more how controlling is actually looking at the business.
00:05:28
Speaker
And reflecting that in our new HDM box structure, we have also added more opportunities how to actually look at the organization from a matrix perspective, from a controlling perspective, from a legal entity structure, from an employment structure. And we have then um harmonized processes to the needs that we see in the organization with the different entities we have.
00:05:51
Speaker
We're able to include also works council processes, which is important for us as well to reflect this. And um yes, we have included payroll processes, have also aligned that to be scalable and integrate that for the different countries as well. And it will make us much more powerful in the future and more efficient.
00:06:08
Speaker
How many companies did you acquire? um We have acquired, we're now a set out of 12 companies. ah We acquire per year two to four companies in average.
00:06:20
Speaker
And what is the focus there? Is it varying over time or do you have a certain strategy?
Acquisitions and ERP Enhancement Strategy
00:06:25
Speaker
ah We do have a strategy. So our core product is ERP. That is really where ProAlpha has been established 30 years ago. And seven years ago, we took the decision that we want to um change the strategy and that we not only want to grow with our own ERP product, but acquire solutions that will add to our ERP product like HCM, like CRM solutions, like finance solutions, everything that provides a benefit to our own ERP product to our customers. And we're having always 100 120, I would say, assets in the pipeline where we're looking, okay, what makes sense to add? And what is important, we have created um lines of businesses. So for Teaserware, Pairs, Gripply, this is our HCM product. It's their own line of business. We have financial products that are supporting the financial needs of our clients. And we're always looking when we acquire new companies, which line of business does this fit best? And what are the needs that we see at our customers? And that brings the advantage that we have a high cross-selling potential yeah for all our ERP customers that we already have.
00:07:31
Speaker
But we have also a high opportunity for the acquired companies that they can do cross-selling. And we are more than diverse in our business when we see, for instance, at the moment for automotive, bit challenging the situation.
00:07:47
Speaker
And we are more diverse with our products to tangle different industries. Wow. Okay. And how do you decide if you want to um integrate a company into your overall structure or you just keep them independent? and Do you have as a one-size-fits-all approach or do you just also determine case by case?
00:08:08
Speaker
We have a strategy. and i would say it's a light integration approach. So what we do is that we um we keep the brand because most of the time it is a USP that we acquire the brand. um We um focus and keep the go-to-market functions in the business unit. And we um integrate in a shared service model the general and admin functions, I would say, like people and culture, like IT, like internal controlling, finance, legal, etc.
00:08:39
Speaker
And um that way we combine both of best worlds that, um especially for people like culture, when we acquire companies that are usually smaller than pro alpha, so they usually around 80%.
00:08:50
Speaker
between 30 to 120 employees, they're always very open to get a professionalized people and culture team with the benefits, with the talent structures, with the compensation structures. And we support their teams and include our formats and processes to that new acquired companies. That's one aspect. And the second one is that we see that is very important that we are able to create A common culture that means we do respect and we need the individual cultures that we acquire when we acquire companies. And at the same time, we need to build a framework that every single employee makes themselves familiar with being also an employee of the pro-alpha group. And um therefore, it is helping to have common processes for talent development, for um payment development, for um yeah celebrating together to actually create that framework. And that is how we do integration.
00:09:49
Speaker
And how long does an integration take for you? Did you say it's done? It's maybe never done, but when you say, okay, it's good enough. Never finished. Yeah, it's the transformation. That's right. But um we usually start quite after the closing of the deal so that we get in contact with the relevant stakeholders. So in my part, it's usually the HR responsibility or whoever owns HR. um And we so it's usually a process of six to 12 months, depending how large they are, what they have and what their needs are. We're always checking what is the business situation and the needs of the business. We do not want to interfere or risk any kind of business because of the integration activities. But usually we have to share services rolled out. So products after 12 months, the talent management process take a bit longer because it requires certain standards that we integrate together with the acquired companies um time after time.
00:10:42
Speaker
okay um ah Interesting.
Implementing AI in HR Processes
00:10:46
Speaker
You shared that you are also um automating a lot and ah trying um a lot of AI um use cases.
00:10:53
Speaker
Can you maybe share what was or is on your automation in the AI roadmap? Yeah, sure. Yeah. So, um yeah, what did we do? So we had, we were sitting down after that HCM situation occurred and looked very critical at our tech stack and we said, okay,
00:11:10
Speaker
We need a roadmap here and we need clear milestones how we want to proceed and what we want to achieve. So we have um a clear focus on talent acquisition because there are a lot of repetitive tasks where automation and AI can help. On PNC operations, so everything which is a transactional business and on analytics and decision support.
00:11:31
Speaker
What we do is, what we have created is that we measure really the return on investment. That is very important for me, return on investment and KPIs. So we really measure the saved hours in FTE equivalent. And we also measure the service quality improvements because that is also what it's about. We want to have happy customers, which are our managers and our employees.
00:11:53
Speaker
um How do we approach when we integrate the automation solution? So what we do is that we... lead the selection of the tools that we need, but we have a strong support from our IT department, which is very important. So they actually ensure together with us that we select solutions that are and really based on our needs, but also guarantees that technical quality, security and the integration in our existing tech stack and the company will be successful.
00:12:25
Speaker
And um what we're very clear about, and that is always important for me to say, is that if AI is for me not the destination. AI is for me the enabler inside a broader automation roadmap. You need firstly ensure balanced processes, then start with automation, and then add AI. And that is really the key for success for me to really integrate AI successfully with a roadmap. And where did you see on the on on your metrics in terms of um our save plus quality increased, where do you see the the processes with the biggest impact so far?
00:13:00
Speaker
It is talent acquisition, for instance, CV screenings or candidate um interview scheduling. There is a lot possible with automation how to scale it more efficiently. Then we see that in PNC operations for um reportings, for self-service for our employees. We see that also for talent management or employee service feedback. There are a lot of possibilities with automation, how to structure that better, how to gain via AI. And here AI really is an enabler, um supports you with um actions, um how actually...
00:13:38
Speaker
create or draw from the feedback actions that you can work together with the managers and people to really then increase better solutions in the organization.
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. but What I also see is a very um great increase in ah reporting and creating certain reports from unorganized data, what you maybe in the past you would need to draw an export, then you need to manipulate the data in a certain way that you can create chart or something.
00:14:13
Speaker
And this is what I see also as a very big, also what do you see, but also this is also something additionally what I see that um reporting can get way more easier and faster and pragmatic with just um throwing a certain data um source that can be unorganized.
00:14:31
Speaker
into a tool and then it's organizing it for you very, ah very fast and also very simple through prompting. um I see this very um often through our note takers we use, but also um through our um reporting in terms of hires we made and so on that you could just prompt and say okay um what are the number or what are the hires we made in a certain sector for instance in the IT professional service space in Germany and for for instance SAP integrations and then you get a list of candidates and then
00:15:05
Speaker
Otherwise you would need to filter, you need to build a list and so on. And this is really interesting for me, especially if I'm talking to customers, for instance, who also want maybe sometimes some benchmarking data. This is really powerful because in the past it would take hours of preparation and sometimes now it can happen live in a call while prompting.
00:15:23
Speaker
Absolutely agreed. And that is also something I think which is for HR so important because, I mean, you will Always get the attention that you need and the say in the C-level if you have really proof of your numbers, right? And and you have arguments that you can um fill with figures. And even especially, I mean, if we're talking salaries, increases and everything, that's also very, very powerful when we think about co-pilot, that they can actually access your company data, you prompt there something and...
00:15:52
Speaker
get in a second perfect, not perfect, but almost perfect results. And you can then add additional questions to get the one or the other tweak that you really need to present. And that is something which is absolutely powerful. I totally agree.
00:16:04
Speaker
um What I really like in your style is the clarity on how you describe things, the strategic and perspective and also the commercial perspective in a people and culture function.
00:16:16
Speaker
Now I would be really interesting on um what is your and your C-levels or CFO and CEO's relationship perspective towards the HR budget?
00:16:29
Speaker
Because often I see that this is just seen as a cost center and then they don't have a say and so on. um And then they never get out of this situation. let's say perspective where it's not really um a value adding function. it It has to be done.
Strategic HR Budget Management
00:16:45
Speaker
um And this is, I think, not a good state of of people and culture. yeah um yeah Can you share some some insights or experience from your end? Sure, yeah. And then I say, yes, it's always challenge for me as well. But I think we're making good progress here. So um I'm in the um in a very good situation that our C-level, our CEO and our CFO, they do understand that we're in software and the people business. And um that it's all about the people and that actually the people are the ones that bring the results and the success of the company. So they do understand that it's very important that we have a strong
00:17:19
Speaker
invest in our people and also in the culture. um And that's why um how it works for us is I get a budget and I can fill that budget with the needs that I see. i get budget additionals if I think that they're necessary. What I need to do then is, and are we coming back, I really need to present a business case. I need to show why I believe that it's important to do, what are actually the efficiencies that we have. And ideally, i have to present that in numbers and in figures. And what is the benefit for the company and the business? Exactly what you just said. And if I'm able to present that, then um we're having usually an alignment that is the right way to proceed and I do get to budget.
00:18:03
Speaker
On the other hand, to be honest, we have sometimes challenging situations. I've experienced that where we need to do budget restraints and everybody, and that is for people in culture the same, needs to contribute to that. So yes, sometimes we need to challenge critical or budget and have to make cuts off, but we always make a decision here. And what is important for me is that I have overall the um backup from my C-level, that they understand that the function is important and we need to invest here.
00:18:30
Speaker
And how did you get there? Was it always like that or did you build that reputation? I think um i yeah I was part of it, I would say, to build that reputation. So um what really helps is, as I said, showing figures and numbers, we have a very low attrition rate. It's below 4% at the moment, which is for the software industry very, very low. yeah And um I'm talking about voluntary attrition. And that has even, since I'm in the company, declined from 8%, which was already low. But ah we are constantly moving um in a good direction. um
00:19:02
Speaker
And um we are doing feedbacks. We're a receiving positive feedbacks. We're having good community rate where they see. And um they um have you understood that if we are able to retain our value,
00:19:16
Speaker
Our talents that we can save costs a lot. I mean, everybody knows you better than me. I believe how expensive it is, actually a valuable source, valuable employee to actually... 100%. Yeah, it costs much more.
00:19:28
Speaker
And also it's hard to build up that knowledge again. So yeah, it goes time over time for the different processes and the feedback they see and then it actually works. and Nina, therefore, I have a really good example for you. um we are just We are also a service um company and we don't have our own software or something, right? But um let's say I get a monthly executive summary from my finance team on the productivity per employee, also financial productivity per employee.
00:19:57
Speaker
And sometimes when um there is somebody leaving the company, then I'm always looking at the lifetime um productivity and I see the longer people stay, the higher, not just the absolute number is because, okay, the longer they stay, the longer they are productive, like the longer they are profitable, of course, the number is higher. But also in percentage, if you compare it, you can see that the longer they stay, um that um the increase in productivity at some point, of course, has a ceiling, but is increasing over time until year one to two. And then it stays a bit of like flat, but consistent.
00:20:34
Speaker
um And I had this year and last year um two cases where we um in the probation period ended or the person um ah just rejected and and and left.
00:20:50
Speaker
And there we saw a negative impact on um the productivity as well. And it just cost money. If somebody leaves after one year, it's not ideal because you never get in this leverage phase.
00:21:02
Speaker
um So I see how much it it um costs in terms of people leaving the company early, also the context that is lost that is not just um considered there, it's just a financial perspective, but I really always see see it black and white in front of me and just try to focus on retention and with our incentive program and so on. um And when companies do this right, I think they really have um the ability um to to make a difference, especially in the in in the service field as well, um because a lot of things are happening also through relationships and so on. And and there you can see ah a big leverage um and momentum effects that are also not measurable. um So that's definitely the case.
AI in Recruitment and Employer Branding
00:21:47
Speaker
Yeah, and that actually brings us back to automation and AI in terms of retention as well, because I do see In my example earlier, we're receiving um more than 200,000 applications per month. So somebody needs to look at all these applications and to see these. And I think if I have the capability to reduce this yeah repetitive kind of boring task and free up that space that those people can actually create more valuable tasks, and coach and work closer with the hiring managers together. That does always ah does also something to do with retention. We are having to retain them, developing the people with that. And I think that is something that is also an important aspect. At the same time, we need to balance that we do not um yeah ask for too much at the same time from the people, that we help them to get there, that we train them, that we get feedback. That is an important aspect. But overall, I think it's a fantastic chance for the whole team to grow and develop.
00:22:47
Speaker
I also saw um on a post from Alex Meyer in your team that I think you were also winning the employer branding abort or something? Yeah, as Alex received that as employer branding manager of the year, yes.
00:22:59
Speaker
Yes, so um I must say. Yeah, ah great. So what what i'm contributed to that? Yeah, so um that was one of the of the yeah projects I would say that I soon started after i joined ProAlpha. I said, okay, we need to work on our on our um employer brand. And what is very important for me was we always had a quite good repetitive or yeah a brand external. But what was for me very important was to remember and remind our people inside, our employees, that we're actually quite a good employer, that we have interesting benefits, career opportunities. And actually the project was for me even more about reputation inside than external. So um we did a project where we really integrated employees from all our business units, management, we did workshops and we created
00:23:49
Speaker
and work, what is actually the value proposition as an employer that we have? And from that together, we created our our strategy and our claim, which is ProU, where we say we really want to put the people at the center of what we do at ProAlpha, because as I said, we are in the people business. It is about our people to being successful.
00:24:08
Speaker
And Alex, our run manager and talent acquisition manager, she together with the team um actually created the entire content about it, led the work let the um workshops. We did communication internal. We have um worked closely with our um employees. We did a complete rebranding of our career website, which was also received very, very positive external, but also internal. And that is now a strong part of our PNC DNA and of the company, our ProU employer brand. I really need to get her on on the show for that as well, because I think that's really, really interesting. Okay, we'll laugh it. Yeah. Okay. there anything that you could give um our audience as learning or as a main and learning from your perspective when they ah want to automate or um yeah something that you did with the AI roadmap, efficiency, quality?
Advice on Starting Small with Automation
00:25:03
Speaker
I think... um Just start would be my um advice. It might look very big, but just sit down and start and you can start small.
00:25:14
Speaker
Measure an impact on one process. Make sure that you balance them first. As I said, then invest in smart automation and then add AI and then share that story. It's very important that we in HR people and culture also share the stories and success so the people hear that.
00:25:32
Speaker
And what is also important, I think very important to get the team on board. it is not about replacing people automation and AI. It's really not about it. It's more about focusing the human side of HR and making it more important because it actually frees up more time to focus on the really valuable part of HR, of coaching, consulting, supporting leadership, building, fostering culture. And if you consider this, I think you will be certainly successful in being or increasing automation in the day.
00:26:03
Speaker
Great. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you to Thomas very much. It was fun and I wish you fantastic rest of the day. You too.