Transforming law from the core
ME is distinguished from other major commercial and corporate firms by its diversity of practice. And its profit line. Total revenue in 2019/2020 was $653 million thanks in part to 1.7(M) billable hours logged that year, and the doubling of MinterEllison’s workforce in six years.
With collective strength and expertise in legal jurisdictions such as international trade negotiations, government advisory work and mergers and acquisitions, MinterEllison also recognises supporting its people is paramount.
MinterEllison knew they needed to streamline processes, rationalise systems, achieve economies of scale and provide a single source of information to deliver the best experience for its growing workforce – Digital Enablement was the solution. Coupled with this, their current payroll system was coming to end of life in July 2021, which helped to expedite the Talent transformation project.
Pinpoint HRM kick start MinterEllison’s Talent Transformation journey
MinterEllison engaged Pinpoint HRM as their HR tech partner in 2019 to assist in articulating their future state vision for Talent and Payroll, to build a business case for change and to identify the best fit-for-purpose cloud-based HCM solution to deliver on that vision.
Taking a partner-first approach was the obvious path for Mary Lyras, Chief Talent Officer and key sponsor of this project. “Pinpoint had the capability we didn’t have, and we recognised that upfront. We were absolutely determined to take a risk mitigation approach with this project. We were looking for a partner with diverse experience we could work with over the long haul to help us deliver the best outcomes, and Pinpoint have been that for us.”
Craig Aunger, Founder and Managing Director of Pinpoint HRM reflects back to this time 3 years ago “MinterEllison wanted to do this project properly and they started by looking for an organisation like Pinpoint to compliment their team. We built a great relationship very quickly because they were listening to our expertise from the get-go. They looked to us as the experts to guide them through the whole journey.”
SAP SuccessFactors selected to support MinterEllison’s business and talent strategy
At the top of MinterEllison’s strategic wish list was the development of an employee-centric mobile app and integrated payroll system. Functionality and flexibility through technology to enable a more agile workforce was vital, and having a unified platform for both Talent and Payroll was preferred.
After a rigorous evaluation process, and in the face of the pandemic, SAP SuccessFactors was the chosen platform to support MinterEllison’s growth plans and Pinpoint continued as the implementation partner. Phase One of the project kicked off in May 2020 and saw Core HR and Payroll rolled out on the mobile-enabled SAP SF Platform by May 2021.
These changes enabled digitised workflows to action tasks faster and give partners and supporting leaders a reliable reporting method. Via the SAP SF mobile app, employees can book and approve leave, update personal and banking information, create career profiles as well as maintain practising certificates and other professional accreditations.
Coined “myME”, the app has been a game-changer, says Lindon Egan, MinterEllison Chief Operating Officer (and former CFO) by ensuring accessibility is everything. A pre-launch myME video created by Pinpoint HRM, drove employees to the app, which was downloaded by 60% of the business in the first two weeks of going live. In that same period over 1,000 employees booked 10,000 days of leave on the platform and 33 spoken languages were registered by MinterEllison’s staff around the globe.
“SAP SuccessFactors is supporting MinterEllison’s business transformation ambitions by making information more readily accessible whether our employees are working at home or in the office, on a phone or on a laptop,” says Lindon Egan, “It’s putting tools and information right into the hands of our people. This allows them to grow their careers with MinterEllison and empowers them to work in a much more seamless and agile way.”
Lindon Egan, Chief Operating Officer, MinterEllison.
myME continues to drive talent transformation and organisational agility
In MinterEllison’s Annual Report 2020: Transform, Connect, Reflect, Chairman David O’Brien summed up the ethos of Australia’s largest law firm.
“Striving to create lasting impacts is our common purpose,” he says. “It means we are continually striving for excellence while supporting our people to work in sustainable ways…. this is what makes us a great place to work.”
In 2021 MinterEllison advised on ground-breaking deals such as the $620 million acquisition of Travelodge, the largest hotel portfolio transaction in the Australian market and Global Forest Partner’s $700 million sale of Green Triangle Forest Products.
Pinpoint HRM continues to work with MinterEllison to roll out Phase Two of myME. This will add Talent modules such as recruitment, onboarding, learning, performance, and succession to the fingertips of Minter Ellison’s evolving workforce.
Justin Bussell, the MinterEllison Program Manager sums it up well, “We had a vision for the future of the firm that was more than just an HR technology outcome. Pinpoint HRM has been our trusted partner and extension of our team, helping us to design and deliver on that future state and the SAP SuccessFactors platform has provided the depth of functionality and flexibility to enable true business transformation.”
