Minimizing SAP Talent Attrition and Costs for a Global Professional Services Firm
A global professional services organization struggled with high attrition rate among SAP-skilled talent, increasing recruitment costs and disrupting critical projects. We partnered with the organization to design a custom Hire-Train-Deploy program that stabilized their workforce, reduced costs, and built a future-proof talent pipeline.
Challenges
The client primarily faced three challenges:
- High talent attrition: With a 31% attrition rate among SAP-skilled talent, the organization experienced operational instability, which jeopardized project timelines.
- High recruitment costs: Reliance on external hiring to fill these roles drove up recruiting expenses to unsustainable levels.
- Persistent skills gaps: Even when new hires were brought in, many lacked the precise skills needed to work effectively within the client’s unique SAP environment—further hindering performance.
To make matters worse, candidates often lacked familiarity with the client’s specific technology stack and evolving project requirements.
What the firm needed was not just a staffing supplier, but a strategic talent partner to design and deliver a custom SAP talent pipeline tailored to their business, technology landscape, and long-term workforce strategy.
Our solution
We collaborated closely with the client to source high-potential candidates and implement a tailored Hire-Train-Deploy program. Centered around seven customized SAP training cohorts, the program aligned with the client’s specific business objectives and targeted specific SAP skill gaps.
Key features of the program included:
- Custom SAP training cohorts:
We developed seven training tracks — each designed keeping end client in mind:
– Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP)
– Sales & Distribution (S&D)
– Supply Chain Management (SCM)
– Finance and Controlling (FICO)
– Analytics
– Fiori
– Basis-Security
- Immersive, job-ready training:
Candidates completed 40 hours per week of virtual training program over 8 to 11 weeks — combining live instructor-led sessions, project simulations, and self-paced assignments aligned to the client’s SAP environment.
- Ongoing curriculum alignment:
Regular collaboration with the client to ensure cohort curricula remained aligned with evolving business priorities and technology demands.
- Targeted talent sourcing:
We leveraged our partnership with 2,000+ organizations and institutes to source qualified talent. All candidates, with a STEM background, underwent a proctored assessment and were selected based on client-specific locations.
Business outcomes
Our training solution delivered measurable success, transforming the client’s workforce challenges into strengths:
- High retention rate: 94% retention rate for the talent trained across all seven cohorts.
- Cost savings: 25% reduction in costs related to hiring and attrition, significantly improving the organization’s financial outlook.
- Rapid deployment: 30 candidates completed the program and were deployed across critical SAP roles, Dev, or support side of the projects.
- Sustained partnership: The organization continues to collaborate with us to create emerging tech talent, solidifying a repeat partnership based on trust and results.
We leveraged our training expertise and client insights to align requirements — effectively minimizing issues. By building a skilled and stable SAP workforce, the organization not only addressed its immediate challenges but also positioned itself for long-term success in an increasingly competitive landscape.