1. Tulsa, Oklahoma-headquartered Williams owns and operates a huge network of pipelines and related facili es
that move about 30 percent of the na on’s natural gas. That gas is used to heat millions of homes, generate
electricity, and fuel industry. Building and opera ng this important infrastructure requires specialized talent.
With the talent pool changing,
Williams recognized several years
ago opportuni es to enhance its recrui ng
and talent acquisi on func on. It wasn’t
just about filling posi ons, but finding the
right talent to fit the specific needs of the
company’s growth, business strategy, and
culture. In 2011, Williams began using
SAP SuccessFactors Recrui ng, a so ware
pla orm for streamlining talent acquisi on.
The product was so new at the me that
there weren’t any SAP SuccessFactors
consultants trained to assist the company
with implementa on. Williams tried to
make its recrui ng processes fit into
the new pla orm, but the results were
mixed. The human resources department
found it challenging to use the system as
designed. Within a few years, Williams’
HR professionals were handling as many
recrui ng processes outside the system as
inside, while wrestling with the pla orm to
access meaningful metrics.
Making recrui ng a top priority
In 2013, the company outlined a massive
capital investment plan to build or expand
pipeline projects throughout North America
to serve growing demand for natural
gas. One major constraint Williams saw
was finding enough talent to design and
manage these large-scale infrastructure
projects so they could be built and placed
into service on schedule. The company’s
board of directors saw recrui ng as one
of the firm’s top five priori es. They, along
with management, felt that acquiring talent
was a notable weak spot in an otherwise
successful HR func on. It was me to fix it.
“Technology was one piece, but the
other pillars we had to address were
process, policy, and making sure our
talent acquisi on consultants had a way to
administer recrui ng effec vely,” recalls
Paul Boye an HR veteran experienced with
turnarounds who was brought in to upgrade
the company’s capabili es.
“Finding HR experts like us”
Boye , who is now director of talent
acquisi on for Williams, contacted SAP
SuccessFactors and explained the company’s
challenges as well as his desire to make
the SAP SuccessFactors system live up to
its poten al. Boye said he wanted SAP
SuccessFactors to find a way to resolve these
challenges or else Williams would need to
look for a new pla orm. In response, the
so ware maker’s management offered the
names of three companies – including 3D
Results – that they believed could help.
“We chose to work with 3D Results because
the consultants we would be working
with had been in corporate America and
were HR professionals before entering the
technology world,” said Boye .
3D Results met with Boye and the Williams
team in August 2014 and conducted
current-state and future-state analyses
to examine SAP SuccessFactors from the
perspec ve of an applicant, hiring manager,
and recruiter. The consul ng firm zeroed in
on several issues:
• The career site and job pos ngs were
bland and lacked the employment brand
directed at strategic hiring audiences.
• A growing number of candidates were
being sourced from LinkedIn but had no
way of applying to posi ons with their
LinkedIn profiles.
• The system only captured basic profile
informa on to apply. Applicants
subsequently had to complete paper
applica ons prior to each interview for
jobs of interest. Even more duplicate
informa on was requested in paper forms
if they were hired through the exis ng and
manual onboarding process.
• Recruiters were having to complete
addi onal job related informa on in order
to post posi ons for OFCCP and AAP
compliance sites.
• All screening was done out of the system
via phone, adding to the meline of the
hiring process and increasing the expense
to interview larger volumes of candidates.
• New hires were directed to a generic site
to obtain new hire forms; forms were
completed manually; and new hires
were presented paper guides on Day 1 to
acclimate them to the company’s culture
and benefits.
“As we probed, we learned that Williams
could take advantage of SAP SuccessFactors
Recrui ng upgrades available over the
years that had never been implemented,”
said Kevin Zelensek, a 3D Results service
manager, who specializes in recrui ng
management and onboarding.
“The system was definitely not
implemented to the best benefit of the
client,” said 3D Results Service Director
Dana Crosby, who spent more than 15 years
in HR management and opera ons before
joining the firm. “To fix it, we told Williams
they ought to do more than a piecemeal
approach. This was an opportunity to
look at the en re picture of their talent
acquisi on needs.”
Boye wanted his team to deliver an
amazing tool, not just put a patch in place
that might not meet expecta ons or gain
CASE STUDY: Williams Maximizes
Tech Tool to Fill Talent Pipeline
