Purpose is becoming an essential part of job satisfaction today. Almost 90% of Gen Z and Millennials say this is the case. These generations are also likely to decline future career opportunities with employers that don’t align with their values.

As these cohorts collectively account for almost half of today’s workforce, it is imperative today that businesses integrate these insights into their retention strategies.

In 2021, SAP launched the Pro Bono for Economic Equity program, a collaborative effort with Pyxera Global that supports historically under-resourced businesses and social enterprises across North America through employees participating as pro bono consultants, addressing systemic and critical strategic business challenges. Over these last three years, SAP employees have dedicated over 22,000 hours to providing pro bono consulting to more than 70 Black and Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada and the United States.

The Pro Bono for Economic Equity program is a testament to the value of integrating pro bono work into corporate development strategies. Ninety-five percent of participating business expressed confidence that the involvement in the program helped them feel more prepared to address future challenges for their organization. The exceptionally high Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 92 further underscores the program’s effectiveness and the participant satisfaction.

Anthony Wingham, co-founder of Nuez Acres, said that one of the most impressive aspects of the program was the openness and honesty from the beginning: “As an Indigenous person, I’m used to conversations about business that either come with a price tag or feel exploitative, where ideas might be taken without genuine support. However, from the start, the discussions were transparent and collaborative. We were able to share our unique strategies and delve into areas where we needed real support.” 

Marsha Guerrier, CEO and founder of HerSuiteSpot, shared about the impact of the participants and the work they did together on her business: “The people that are volunteering in these programs come with a level of expertise that when we’re so small we simply can’t afford. The team that SAP gave me to support my challenges and needs was dynamite. They really went all out for me. It felt good to meet with the team.”

The program doesn’t just benefit participant businesses, but also SAP employee participants.

Pro Bono as a Leadership Development Tool 

“Pro bono work provides a platform to upskill employees and grow the company’s leaders,” said Katie Booth, head of North America Corporate Social Responsibility for SAP. “Employees report significant gains in critical areas like teamwork, intercultural sensitivity, and strategic planning, which are core competencies that drive business success in a globalized economy.” 

While this initiative forms part of the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, it also invests in employee development that pays dividends in human capital and business acumen. 

In fact, 98% of SAP employees involved in the Pro Bono for Economic Equity program have reported acquiring or refining essential skills.

Verena Lommatzsch, head of Technical Services for SAP Business Technology Platform at SAP, reflected that stepping out of her comfort zone and collaborating with people from diverse cultural backgrounds was incredibly enriching: “It sharpened my ability to navigate complex, multicultural business environments.” 

“On a personal level, the program prompted me to rethink my approach to new challenges, reminding me that success isn’t solely about maximizing profit,” she added. “Professionally, it was incredibly valuable as well. As a global leader, I am often distanced from day-to-day business activities. Being hands-on and working directly with two colleagues I hadn’t met before was a great opportunity to challenge myself and learn new skills. I also gained a new perspective on what it means to be an entrepreneur, including using software to establish an online store and managing wholesale connections.” 

This intersection of personal growth and professional development is where the Pro Bono for Economic Equity program truly shines. Participants are not only building their own capabilities but are also contributing to the resilience and adaptability of the businesses they support.

SAP employee Rahaf Assaleh shared that the program provided a deeper understanding of Indigenous cultures and their unique business practices: “It taught me to think creatively and resourcefully with the limited resources that Indigenous business owners often have, helping me to explore innovative ways to achieve business goals and foster growth.” 

The program’s impact extends beyond individual development with 74% of participants reporting that their involvement has prompted them to engage more deeply with local, historically-marginalized communities. This increased engagement enriches employees’ lives and strengthens SAP’s commitment to breaking down unconscious bias and continuing support for the social justice movement, alongside its focus on social responsibility.

“At SAP, we believe in the power of shared growth,” Booth said. “The program exemplifies how pro bono initiatives can drive innovation, enhance employee satisfaction, and contribute to economic equity. It’s a win-win that benefits our employees, the businesses we support, and society at large.” 

Companies that prioritize aligning employee development with social impact initiatives are not only investing in the future of their workforce but are also positioning themselves, and the impact businesses they work with for long-term success.

The time is now to rethink corporate strategies and ensure that they reflect the values of today’s purpose-driven workforce.

Megan Smith is head of Human Resources for SAP North America.

In the coming decades, humanity will achieve feats that would have seemed like magic to our grandparents. The rapid acceleration of progress, fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies, is enabling us to solve problems once thought impossible. Some leaders are even calling this new era the intelligent age.

As our capabilities grow, businesses are embracing AI and other technologies strategically. SAP is leading the way, offering a smarter approach to business transformation services, combining cutting-edge tools with human expertise to help organizations unlock the full potential of these advancements.

In this new era, cloud technologies, AI, and human intelligence are converging, resulting in remarkable advancements in areas like demand forecasting, supply chain resilience, and process automation. As a result, businesses are increasingly shifting their focus to high-value tasks and real-time collaboration, allowing them to unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation.

While the opportunities are immense, the benefits are not guaranteed. The winners in this new era will be those organizations that can transform their operations digitally in increasingly more intelligent ways to set themselves up for success. For example, getting the most from business AI requires first moving your systems to a cloud ERP with SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Winning in the age of intelligence requires a newer and more intelligent approach to business transformation and the stakes could not be higher. 

Combining the Power of Human Expertise with Technology

While the potential of AI-driven cloud systems is vast, some companies still struggle to fully leverage them. Many digital transformations fail to meet their objectives. Common pitfalls include a lack of technical expertise and employee engagement, inadequate management support, poor cross-functional collaboration, and a lack of accountability. Furthermore, sustaining a transformation’s impact typically requires a major reset in mindsets and behaviors.

Often the most difficult part of transforming businesses isn’t determining what to do, but rather how to do it. To address these challenges, SAP is building on a time-tested approach, combining cutting-edge tools with the power of human judgment, and taking it to the next level.

At the heart of this strategy is RISE with SAP, a game-changing initiative designed to help businesses continuously transform. To date, 7,000 companies – representing 32% of the global economy – have embraced RISE with SAP. These companies are already experiencing the benefits, including two percent lower operating costs and three percent lower inventory.

The critical “human” component of the RISE methodology are the enterprise architects, transformation experts who guide businesses through the intricacies of their digital transformation, ensuring they maximize the value of SAP tools and services.

Enterprise architects not only help customers utilize the RISE with SAP Methodology, but also harmonize all elements of the transformation, guiding customers to the modular cloud suite. This ensures a cohesive, effective process whereby the enterprise architect becomes a trusted advisor for the customer. By leveraging SAP’s integrated toolchain — across SAP Signavio, SAP LeanIX, SAP Cloud ALM, SAP Business Technology Platform, and WalkMe — enterprise architects help SAP customers transform holistically through their processes, data, systems, and their people, supporting their long-term success.

SAP has already seen a strong internal response to this approach, seasoned individuals are lining up for the role. Our recruitment and tailored enablement efforts are in full swing, with hundreds of cohorts currently going through training. We are also fine-tuning our enterprise architect operational and commercial model to simplify how we engage with customers and the early customer response has been very positive.

Shaping the Future of Business Transformations

Our early customer successes show the power and the potential of SAP’s intelligent transformation approach. By combining human expertise with advanced AI and cloud technologies, SAP is setting a new standard for what is possible through business transformations. As we look to the future, this integrated approach will continue to enable businesses to unlock new value and drive sustainable success.

At SAP, our vision is to redefine the way businesses transform, setting a benchmark for intelligent and integrated business transformations that drive real, measurable results. And for those organizations that adopt it, the possibilities in this new age are limitless.

Thomas Saueressig is a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, leading Customer Services & Delivery.
Thomas Pfiester is executive vice president and head of Global Customer Engagement & Services at SAP.

SAP’s extensive partner ecosystem empowers thousands of customers around the world to consistently improve and grow their businesses with cloud solutions from SAP. To continue supporting the growth of this vibrant and dynamic partner community, SAP is equipping partners with digital practices, tools, and methodologies to help serve more customers faster and more responsively while enhancing their own efficiencies.

Inetum has been an SAP partner since 1998. With over 28,000 professionals, 2,700 are SAP consultants across the EMEA, MEE, and LATAM regions. As a European leader in digital services, it specializes in SAP solutions across 19 countries, with a focus on the GROW with SAP offering.

“In some countries, such as Spain, Inetum has traditionally served public sector and large enterprises, but, as part of our cloud growth strategy, our aim was to also expand into midmarket and new territories,” said David Bayon, global SAP go-to-market director at Inetum. “The traditional sales approach we relied on couldn’t meet the demands of engaging midmarket customers at scale, and our collaboration with the SAP EMEA digital hub, then subsequently with the MEE hub as well, was critical in helping us make this transition.”

Located on six continents and 15 locations, SAP digital hubs are home to more than 1,000 digitally native, highly skilled, multidisciplinary teams. These teams innovate with artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest intelligent technologies, like digital modalities, to virtually serve large numbers of SAP customers at exceptional velocity while delivering high-quality, immersive, and personalized customer experiences and expert advice, whenever and wherever customers need it.

“Thanks to the digital approach and replicable digital assets and practices, we’ve reduced the time it takes to enter new markets – from six weeks to kick off our midmarket outreach in Spain to three weeks to do the same in Portugal and two in Morocco! This has led to an increase of 400% in the efficiency of our SAP sales specialist team, helping us exceed our first-half 2024 targets by 192%,” Bayon explained.

Inetum’s work with SAP digital hubs enables the company to quickly validate which customers it can bring the most value to at any given time, in a given territory, while addressing local languages and cultural specifics. The partner also has access to the SAP digital hub modalities, which are based on AI and immersive technologies, to help support the creation of compelling customer value propositions at scale and speed while also making them available to customers via tailored microsites in a self-service mode for elevated agility. Digital modalities can further provide continuous feedback and data on what works and what doesn’t, as well as how the process needs to be tweaked for maximum impact.

“The partnership with Inetum is a prime example of how SAP digital hubs synergistically collaborate with SAP partners to add value to customers’ value journeys with SAP. We share our digital methodologies – digital modalities for high-quality customer engagements at scale and speed – and we support our joint customers with digital adoption tools and practices, ensuring faster time-to-value from SAP solutions. We’re also learning from Inetum’s experience on new industry best practices, and we test innovative and award-winning digital practices together,” said Sam Masri, global head of SAP Digital Hubs.

By the end of 2024, Inetum will also be serving customers in Mexico, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, and the UK and Ireland while also releasing its own intellectual property for the strong digital support of the retail, wholesale distribution, and engineering and construction industries. The company also plans to launch capabilities to help SAP Business One customers migrate to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition within the same period.