Learn more about how SAP is shaping the future of federal human capital management.
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The mission demands it.
It’s not possible for the workforce to deliver ever greater results if they’re not prepared with the best technology and their careers aren’t supported in a way that’s effective.
Travis Hoadley has spent his career watching the federal workforce do the improbable.
At the Department of Homeland Security and later at the Department of Commerce, he watched federal employees do what he calls “the most significant” factor in mission success: adapt, stretch and deliver under rising expectations. He saw them implement new programs overnight. He saw them hold public trust under high visibility and high pressure. And he saw something else, too: the widening gap between what federal workers were asked to do and the outdated systems they were expected to use to do it..
That tension between what missions require and what outdated systems allow is what ultimately pushed Hoadley to work with federal leaders from the other side of the table. Now, as an Industry Executive Advisor at SAP, he’s helping agencies tackle the very challenges he once faced firsthand.
His career is centered around understanding how agencies honor their workforce: by equipping them with the right systems, supporting their development and giving them the tools to thrive.
“It’s not possible for the workforce to deliver ever greater results if they’re not prepared with the best technology and their careers aren’t supported in a way that’s effective,” he said.
In other words, systems create the foundation, but people carry it forward. And for Hoadley, that’s why human capital management (HCM) modernization is mission-critical.
Leadership Voices
Travis Hoadley
Putting people at the center of federal modernization
How Travis Hoadley sees SAP redefining
federal human capital management.
Industry Executive Advisor, Federal Civilian & Defense. SAP
Sponsored by:
Serving the people who serve the nation
Federal agencies today are navigating pressures unlike any their predecessors faced: a competitive talent marketplace, rapidly evolving mission needs and an era of AI that is reshaping work in real time. To Hoadley, that reality puts HCM squarely at the center of mission readiness.
“With AI and additional technologies on the horizon, the government needs to keep pace with the world of work and with competitors out there for talent,” he said.
That support includes moments across the entire employee lifecycle, from hiring to retiring. And it’s where SAP SuccessFactors, Hoadley said, is designed to excel.
“Starting at initial hiring and onboarding through complex payroll and workforce management actions,” he said, SuccessFactors offers the full range of capabilities to support federal staffing at scale. But where agencies often see the biggest return on investment is in development and retention.
A people-centered approach is what makes HCM fundamental to mission readiness. Employees stay longer, grow faster and contribute more effectively when their development is supported by cutting-edge technology.
With AI and additional technologies on the horizon, the government needs to keep pace with the world of work and with competitors out there for talent.
A people-centered approach is what makes HCM fundamental to mission readiness. Employees stay longer, grow faster and contribute more effectively when their development is supported by cutting-edge technology.
And that matters more than ever. Even as missions expand, the civilian workforce has shrunk dramatically — from roughly 2.5% of the U.S. population after World War II to about 0.5% today. With fewer people doing more work than ever, agencies must find better ways to support existing talent and ensure optimal employee performance.
“That just drives home that these civil servants, including human capital professionals, should be supported with the best technology, systems and tools,” Hoadley said.
The future of federal work, he noted, is already taking shape. It’s a shift away from rigid job structures toward a skills-based workforce model — one where agencies can understand, develop and deploy talent with greater clarity and agility. To do that, they need systems that can map employees’ skills to mission priorities starting at hire.
SuccessFactors connects employees and their core skills to learning and career progression opportunities, helping agencies upskill, monitor expertise growth over time, and deploy skilled people where they can make the greatest impact. SAP can also streamline the operation of pay-for-performance programs for agencies able to reward employees for the application and enhancement of skills.
AI that gives time back to the mission
Federal HR teams are often stretched thin, meaning even incremental efficiencies can have a transformative impact. As a result, many agencies are looking to artificial intelligence to accelerate and automate some of their more time-consuming processes.
Across levels of government, AI tools can help HR professionals build documents more quickly, surface answers for employees and unlock insights buried in data that traditionally required entire teams to analyze. When applied effectively, AI becomes a tool that restores capacity to the mission by removing friction from everyday work.
With SAP’s AI copilot, Joule, agencies can begin automating the manual, document-heavy tasks that have long slowed HR operations. Performance plans, rote documentation and other required process artifacts can now be drafted in minutes.
“AI is freeing people up to do things that require more of that human touch,” Hoadley said. Instead of HR staff fielding repetitive inquiries from applicants and employees, “we’re able, with AI, to answer some of those questions and provide people with the relevant resources quite quickly.”
AI also elevates strategic decision-making. Instead of relying on large analysis teams or manual reporting cycles, HR leaders can access organizational insights in real time — everything from how staff time is being spent to where anomalous cases may be slowing down productivity.
AI is freeing people up to do things that require more of that human touch.
A workforce system worthy of the mission
With federal missions expanding and workforce demands rising, agencies need systems that evolve as quickly as the people they support. SAP SuccessFactors brings federal readiness and AI-enabled insights that empower agencies to modernize without the long, disruptive transformations of the past.
And with SAP SuccessFactors, agencies can deliver it.
The workforce deserves it.
