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Delivering special moments for 225 years—and counting
PostNL has been connecting people across the Netherlands for more than two centuries, delivering parcels, letters, and meaningful moments to every street in the country. As the nation’s trusted postal service, PostNL handles an average of 1.2 million parcels and 6.3 million letters each working day. With SAP SuccessFactors solutions and AI capabilities through the Joule copilot, PostNL is transforming how it supports its diverse workforce—freeing HR professionals from manual tasks and delivering personalized employee experiences in real time.
IndustryRegionCompany SizePostal ServicesThe Hague, Netherlands32,400 employees
90%
reduction in payroll processing time, from five days to four hours
80%
expected reduction in cost to manage payroll inquiries with Joule
20 weeks
to complete cloud migration—on time and exceeding expectations
With SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll, payroll went from five days to just four hours. Our cloud implementation finished in only 20 weeks—exceeding expectations—and the AI feature, Explain Pay, is helping us deliver personalized support to employees.
Jack Naudé
Solution Consultant, PostNL N.V.
IndustryRegionCompany SizePostal ServicesThe Hague, Netherlands32,400 employees
90%
reduction in payroll processing time, from five days to four hours
80%
expected reduction in cost to manage payroll inquiries with Joule
20 weeks
to complete cloud migration—on time and exceeding expectations
With SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll, payroll went from five days to just four hours. Our cloud implementation finished in only 20 weeks—exceeding expectations—and the AI feature, Explain Pay, is helping us deliver personalized support to employees.
Jack Naudé
Solution Consultant, PostNL N.V.
Eliminating payroll fragmentation to support a diverse workforce with accuracy
Every day, PostNL delivers more than parcels and letters—it delivers moments that matter. Whether it’s a package under the tree, a birthday gift, or a handwritten note from grandma, each delivery represents a meaningful connection between people. Behind these moments stands a complex operation powered by thousands of employees across the Netherlands and beyond.
For PostNL, connecting people through these moments is more than logistics—it’s who they are. But as the company modernized how it supports its 32,400 employees, it faced a growing challenge: a fragmented payroll landscape. More than 15 separate applications managed payroll processes, creating a divided system that was difficult to maintain. Processing payroll consumed five full days each month—time the HR team could have spent more strategically.
At one stage, fewer than five HR professionals were running monthly payroll for 32,400 employees—from postal carriers and warehouse teams to corporate staff—each with unique labor agreements, schedules, and pay structures. Tracking employee information, managing constant turnover, and ensuring payroll accuracy across such a diverse workforce proved increasingly difficult.
For PostNL, accuracy wasn’t negotiable. Any error in payroll could break the trust employees placed in the company. The company needed an agile, scalable solution to manage payroll efficiently—while keeping every employee valued, supported, and paid with precision.
Happy employees deliver happy moments to people. For us, payroll isn’t just about numbers – it’s about trust. If we get that right, our people can focus on delivering smiles across the country.
Jack Naudé
Solution Consultant, PostNL N.V.
Consolidating payroll in the cloud for speed and precision
PostNL made the strategic decision to consolidate its fragmented payroll landscape through SAP SuccessFactors solutions. As an SAP SuccessFactors customer since 2013, the company began its journey with SAP SuccessFactors Learning solutions and SAP SuccessFactors Talent solutions before deciding to move its core HR and payroll processes to the cloud.
PostNL began its HR transformation by moving from its on-premises SAP ERP Human Capital Management solution to the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution as its core HR system. The company then completed the transformation with the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll solution, migrating 500,000 employee records and 200 gigabytes of data in just 20 weeks as planned.
Enhanced by payroll control center capabilities, the new system provides PostNL’s lean HR team with unprecedented visibility and control over payroll. The system automatically processes employee data from SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central through payroll runs, while the control center add-on provides better visibility into exceptions, errors, and actionable items.
Driving payroll efficiency and empowering employees with AI
PostNL’s cloud transformation has delivered measurable results. Payroll processing time dropped by 90%, from five full days to just four hours. The cloud foundation also delivered critical scalability for PostNL’s business model, handling seasonal peaks when parcel volume surges during periods like Christmas, while adapting to constantly changing workforce needs.
The team shifted from reactive reporting to proactive problem-solving—identifying and resolving issues within the same system instead of running reports for days. These time savings freed HR to focus on strategic workforce priorities and continuous improvement.
PostNL piloted AI capabilities in SAP SuccessFactors solutions through the Joule copilot to address thousands of annual payroll-related inquiries. The company selected the Explain Pay feature as its first AI use case, empowering employees to get personalized answers to their payroll-related questions, including, for example, pay variations, deductions, bonuses, company policies, and so on. Initial feedback showed employees were impressed with the clarity and speed.
By introducing Joule, PostNL expects to reduce payroll support costs while maintaining accuracy and trust—as well as helping its employees focus on what matters most: delivering smiles across the country.
Before, it could take hours to sort out payroll questions. Now, with the AI feature, Explain Pay, people get personalized answers in seconds—and that makes a real difference. We’re expecting up to an 80% reduction in support costs.
Jack Naudé
Solution Consultant, PostNL N.V.
Expanding AI capabilities to drive efficiency and engagement
Building on the success of its cloud and AI transformation, PostNL plans to expand its use of SAP SuccessFactors solutions and Joule to create even more intelligent, connected HR processes. The company aims to leverage AI-assisted insights to optimize workforce planning, enhance employee experiences, and ensure its HR team continues to focus on what matters most—supporting its people.
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