Modern HR technology, from AI-powered insights to cloud-based platforms, can automate repetitive tasks, surface valuable data patterns, and improve operational efficiency across the employee lifecycle.

Last month, SAP SuccessConnect brought together HR leaders, technology innovators, and solution experts in Las Vegas for three days of learning, networking, and future-focused discussions. Representing SD Worx SAP Solutions, Johan Buys, Portfolio Manager/Business Development SAP & SuccessFactors, and Henrik Lillieqvist Sorensen, Solution Architect, joined the event to explore what’s next for HR, payroll, and time in the cloud. 

Organisations need a payroll strategy that's accurate, timely and scalable, one that supports how your business evolves without adding complexity. 

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.  

Flexible working has shifted from fringe benefit to business norm. Yet many organisations are still stuck in reactive mode, tweaking policies or reverting to old defaults instead of leaning into the change and leveraging it.  

At work with Europe.

Explore the biggest workplace shifts from Europe’s largest annual HR study, including what employees and HR leaders really think about careers, trust, payroll and sustainability. 

The research involved 16,000 employees and 5,625 HR decision makers from 16 European countries.