Strategic & Sustainable HR

In this episode of the SAP HR Mavericks podcast, our colleague Silvia Moreno Rodriguez, SAP Marketing Director, is joined by Elton Schwerzel, SAP Sales Director, to explore what cloud sovereignty really means when it comes to employee data and HR systems.

In this episode, we cover: 

• Why organisations are accelerating data governance initiatives: Payroll data, performance records, health information and career histories directly affect people's lives, pushing sovereignty from an IT question into a leadership and trust issue. 
• How geopolitical pressure is reshaping cloud strategies: European organisations are increasingly weighing local and regional cloud providers as reliance on global infrastructure comes under scrutiny. 
• What "data sovereignty" really means beyond infrastructure: It's not just about where data is stored, but about who can access it, under which laws it's processed, and how transparent organisations are with employees about it. 
• Why this isn't a separate project, but embedded in every HR and payroll decision: From jurisdiction and cross-border data flows to AI-driven people analytics, sovereignty now touches nearly every decision HR and IT make together.

At SD Worx, we see this every day. Success does not come from choosing cloud vs on-premise. It comes from building a strategy that aligns technology, compliance, and operations from the start.

Choosing an HR and payroll vendor is not like choosing a software subscription. You’re not selecting a tool, you’re selecting a partner that’s going to sit at the heart of your operations, touch every employee in every country that you operate in, and either grow with you or hold you back. 

This year’s HR & Payroll Pulse report brings those pressures into focus, offering a clear view of where the foundations of work are holding and where they are starting to strain.

In this episode of the SAP HR Mavericks Podcast, we kick off a new series exploring the future of HR. Our host, Silvia Moreno and Ruud van Galen share perspectives on how HR is evolving from an operational function to a true strategic partner in the business. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• The key HR trends shaping 2026: From evolving roles to new priorities, HR is rapidly transforming into a strategic driver of business success. 
• Why AI is transforming HR and what companies often get wrong: While AI offers huge potential, many organisations underestimate the need for a clear strategy and proper foundations.
• The importance of data quality before AI adoption: Without accurate and reliable data, AI-driven insights can lead to poor or misleading decisions. 
• How HR can speak the language of finance and drive business value: Translating people metrics into financial outcomes is key to influencing leadership and shaping strategy. 
• The role of SAP SuccessFactors in enabling strategic HR: Modern solutions are helping HR teams become more data-driven, integrated and aligned with business goals. 
• Why skills, workforce planning, and payroll are more critical than ever: Talent gaps, ageing workforces and complex payroll environments are driving new priorities for HR.

International growth rarely comes with an HR blueprint. One moment you’re handling two countries and a handful of spreadsheets; the next you’re running payroll across six markets with different calendars, contracts, and compliance rules. 

If you’re leading HR or Payroll in a fast‑growing, multi-country business, chances are you’re using fragmented systems and relying on local vendors and email threads while leadership expects perfect payroll, clean headcount insights, and a consistent employee experience. 

Meanwhile, costs are climbing, risk is building, and decisions are taking longer than they should.  

Here are three scale‑up challenges that matter most. 

Discover how to build a scalable, decision-ready HR strategy that supports international growth, simplifies complexity, and aligns with your business goals. 

Picture this: Margaret, your company's payroll manager for 28 years, announces her retirement. She's the one who knows exactly why certain employees get that mysterious quarterly adjustment, how to navigate the labyrinthine state tax codes for your multi-location business, and which vendor relationships took years to cultivate. In three weeks, she'll be gone—and with her, nearly three decades of hard-earned expertise that no manual or system documentation could ever capture. 

Margaret's story isn't unique. Across organisations worldwide, a seismic shift is reshaping the HR and payroll landscape as baby boomers retire at a rate of 10,000 a day, taking with them an irreplaceable treasury of institutional knowledge, relationship dynamics, and battle-tested problem-solving approaches that can't be easily transferred through a handover document. 

In today’s competitive talent landscape, work-life balance is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic priority. At SD Worx, we’ve made it part of our DNA, not only to attract and retain top talent, but to foster a culture where people thrive. Here are five practical ways organisations can support work-life balance, with examples from our own journey.

If you ask employees how they feel about their pay, you’ll rarely hear: “It’s perfect.”  

And that’s not surprising. In organisations across Europe, most people believe they’re underpaid, even when their salary is above the market rate. And while pay rises can create a short-lived sense of progress, the satisfaction often fades fast. So the real question is: can pay actually motivate people, and if so, how? 

What happens if we keep treating sustainability as someone else’s job? What if short-term wins come at the cost of long-term well-being, equity or adaptability? And what happens if your people outgrow the systems around them? 

AI won’t replace HR, but HR that doesn’t evolve is quietly slipping out of relevance. It’s a reality many leaders are slowly waking up to. We’re entering a new chapter in how people and performance intersect, shaped by intelligent systems, changing expectations and more fluid ways of working.