Mergers and acquisitions are central to Brown & Brown’s growth strategy. While most of its nearly 500 offices are in the United States, the 2022 acquisition of the London-based Global Risk Partners Ltd. gave the company a significant footprint in the United Kingdom and expanded operations in Ireland and continental Europe.
The move into international markets not only gave the company more than 3,000 non-US employees, but also meant adjusting to dual accounting standards, working with multiple currencies, and meeting new tax requirements.
Having relied on Workday Financial Management since 2016 and having recently implemented Workday HCM, Brown & Brown was confident that Workday could serve as a single global platform for HR and finance.
However, leaders in both departments soon realized that Workday offered features and functions that weren’t being fully used, and that other IT technologies might help streamline workflows and improve productivity. With further acquisitions ahead, it was time to reexamine how technology could meet Brown and Brown’s evolving and highly specific needs.
Thinking about tomorrow’s challenges today
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Today Brown & Brown’s HR and finance teams are better informed about Workday’s capabilities and aligned on their priorities for applying them. After considering specific needs and use cases across both functions, some new features are being enabled. Integration efforts are progressing. The company has consolidated financials and HR data, and European offices are transacting within Workday.
By establishing global HR and finance on a single technology platform, Brown & Brown is better equipped to continue its M&A-driven growth plans in the US and other markets. As financial, reporting, and tax issues become more complex, improved Workday Financial Management capabilities will help streamline workflows and improve data sharing. For HR, Workday HCM will make it easier to add new employees and analyze performance data.
IT leadership is better informed about potentially important solutions from a range of sources, and ready to assess new solutions and organizational structures.
Equipped with a plan to manage global growth
Developed all the necessary processes to support a single, modernized digital platform serving the entire enterprise
Migrated 290,000 employees from legacy systems to Oracle Cloud
Increased insight-driven decision making across functions, driving performance and growth gains
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Company-wide
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Decreased balance sheet reconciliations
by 85%
Achieved a consolidated retail and
corporate close within a shortened period
Reduced the types of P&L statements from 100+ to 4
Reduced operations costs across the board
Enhanced availability of data-driven insights that help to capture maximum value during acquisitions
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HR
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Deployed a custom application for union-rule processing enabling a single HCM platform to administer benefits to all employee populations under 800+ complex union agreements
Created a digital-first, digital anywhere experience resulting in higher employee engagement
Reduced new-hire onboarding time
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Reduced new hire onboarding time
Streamlined and improved the process integration of new employees post-acquisition
Integrate processes and technology across the employee lifecycle from recruiting through compensation and performance
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Brown & Brown will continue to pursue the longer-term initiatives and activities defined in an 18-month transformation roadmap.
For HR, next steps will include evaluating Workday Learning and Workday Performance Enablement modules as a possible replacement for its current learning management system, and testing Workday VNDLY Extended Workforce Management functionality.
Finance leaders will expand the use of Workday Adaptive Planning OfficeConnect capabilities as a way to streamline certain reconciliations and other controls.
And with a better understanding of robotic process automation and other technologies, the IT team will evaluate their potential impact on internal processes and customer-facing services.
Continue to enhance analytics-driven planning and forecasting
Optimize the supply chain
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Achieve a continuous, virtual accounting close
Achieved a consolidated retail and corporate close within a shortened period
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HR
vision
Establish a continual feedback-and-improvement loop based on quarterly HR reports from the field and deployment of new capabilities
Migrate payroll, benefits, and absence management to Oracle cloud for 2023
Insource benefits administration
An agenda for change and future learning
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