The Ultimate HR Makeover: Douglas’ Journey to a Unified Cloud Solution

The DOUGLAS Group at a Glance

The DOUGLAS Group is the number one omnichannel premium beauty destination in Europe. With a 200-year legacy and a presence in around 1,900 stores across the continent, DOUGLAS offers a carefully curated assortment spanning fragrance, cosmetics, skincare, haircare- and beauty treatments. As a trusted partner to top global brands and a champion of self-expression, DOUGLAS combines a strong retail heritage with a vibrant online and offline presence.

From Fragmentation to Unity: A Transformation Story

The DOUGLAS Group, a leading beauty and retail company operating across 22 countries, embarked on a transformative journey to unify its HR landscape. With over 19,200 employees and a highly varied HR setup across regions—from spreadsheets to SAP on-premise systems and outsourced payroll providers—the Group faced the challenge of moving from a fragmented legacy infrastructure to a single, cloud-based global HR platform.

At the heart of this transformation was a desire for a united HR technology solution that drives standardised processes, ownership and transparency of HR data, and strengthened reporting —particularly important to support the DOUGLAS Group’s overall strategic direction to digitalise and focus on value creation.

The Challenge: A Heterogeneous Landscape

The project revealed early complexities. In many regions, HR operations were still reliant on disparate systems—or in some cases, simply Excel. Germany and France ran SAP on-prem solutions, while other countries had outsourced payroll to a mix of local firms. The result was disparate HR processes, varying levels of data ownership, and largely manual and effort-intensive global HR reporting.

“Transitioning so many countries from a such a diverse HR landscape to a unified cloud solution is no small feat.” said Falko Kranz, the Regional Leader for Germany at Effective People. “The DOUGLAS Group showed a real commitment to building internal capability, setting ambitious milestones and driving the project forward. Where needed, we increased our efforts to support — particularly with integration and data migration across the 22 countries. It was a true partnership.”

The Solution: Standardization Through SAP SuccessFactors

Douglas partnered with Effective People to implement SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, Performance & Goals Management and Compensation & Variable Pay. In addition, the core HR solution was accompanied by deep integration work to connect country-specific downstream systems. While initial plans called for integrations in only six major countries, the Group expanded the scope to cover nearly all 22 countries—driven by a strong desire to eliminate manual processes and deliver reliable HR data from one central source.

Key capabilities delivered:

• Centralized HR master data in SAP SuccessFactors

• Full integration with payroll systems across countries

• Building of a strong data baseline from a 22 different source systems through robust data migration

• End-to-end user engagement in testing and training

Results: A Global HR Platform Built for Control and Compliance

Despite the complexity, the DOUGLAS Group achieved what many would call exceptional:

• 100% data readiness across all countries for User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

• Live integrations connecting to local payroll systems across the region

• On-time Employee Central go-live delivered in time for peak retail season

• Parallel go-lives for Performance & Goals Management, Compensation & Variable Pay

• Standardized processes and global data visibility

• Improved compliance and internal control of HR data

Falko noted, “Achieving 100% data readiness already in time for UAT across 22 countries is something you usually only hope for in the lead up to go-live. This result is a testament to the hard work and commitment from both DOUGLAS Group and Effective People teams - not just centrally but also in each individual country HR department”.

Likewise, the Group viewed this exercise as a tremendous achievement for the team.

Collaboration at Its Best: Engagement, Accountability and Testing Excellence

One standout aspect of the project was the DOUGLAS Group’s pragmatic, hands-on approach to user enablement. Traditional change management methods gave way to targeted and practical solutions more fitting with the fast-paced retail organisation, supporting the Group’s team to fully mobilize their HR community for the key milestone of User Acceptance Testing.

“UAT was leveraged as a training exercise for the entire Group HR community” Falko shared. “It was a massive engagement effort, with nearly every HR professional in Europe involved in onsite testing across four regional hubs. The preparation and coordination from the DOUGLAS Group was next-level—they were the owners of their system and we at Effective People were at their side in each of the hubs to ensure enablement of their team and to provide the necessary technical support. It was a great exercise in collaboration!”

The Group ensured that the UAT was well-planned, stringently executed and documented, which yielded not only high-quality input but also strong user adoption and increased confidence in the usage of the solution.

Conclusion: Building the Foundation for Strategic HR

The DOUGLAS Group now has a global HR foundation that enables strategic decision-making, ensures compliance, and supports future growth. With unified master data and real-time insights, they’ve positioned themselves as a digitally mature HR organization.

This transformation isn’t just a tech success—it’s a people success. It’s a story of adaptability, shared ownership, and the power of getting it done together.

This wasn’tjust about delivering a system — it was about supporting Douglas in building the capabilities and control they needed for the future. It’s been rewarding to see that transformation take hold.We’re looking forward to our continued partnership as Douglas continues their journey.

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