SAP HCM Room for Improvement
The organizational management (OM) side needs improvement due to frequent reorganization which makes it tedious to make all the movement changes and combinations.
View full review »SAP HCM needs to be more customizable to fit unique organizational processes. The UI could be more user-friendly, and documentation should be more readily accessible.
View full review »MT
Manoj-Tiwari
Global Practice Head Sap HCM/Succeess at Sutherland Global Services
We are able to optimize a lot of processes but there is always room for improvement. Optimizing some processes was challenging, and initially, some change management needed to be included.
View full review »Buyer's Guide
SAP HCM
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about SAP HCM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Functions are critically important in the product ReadyNodes. Regarding vSAN ReadyNodes, there needs to be a clear assessment of areas that require improvement from the product perspective.
View full review »There's still room for improvement. We need end-to-end systems. Only the HR team uses HCM, but employees don't have access to their data. With Employee Central, employees can see their ratings, increment cycles, and other details, making things more transparent.
SAP's technical support is okay. In my last job, when we had a P1 issue, just raising a ticket wasn't enough. You need to follow up every ten minutes and call them for updates. It depends on the person handling it. I don't just rely on SAP's support system. Even though it's automated, it's about the people who want to solve the problem quickly. I don't think the support team understands how serious production downtime is.
I want SAP HCM to adopt new changes faster, like AI and analytics, for future releases. SAP HCM is slow compared to Tableau or Power BI. In Fiori, we faced challenges creating dashboards. It should work fast to compete with startups in areas like AI-powered queries and instant dashboards.
View full review »SM
Suneeta More
General Manager at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Based on my experience, SAP HCM and analogous solutions are robust, yet the current emphasis should lie in fostering employee engagement through enhanced features. Employee adoption thrives when tools are easily accessible. Implementing features like actionable notifications for pending tasks such as learning recommendations, initiating subordinate reviews, and reminders to approve crucial travel requests can significantly bolster adoption rates. Such proactive prompts and recommendations naturally encourage task completion. Leveraging AI tools to deliver timely prompts with pertinent data insights further enhances this process."
Adapting to new platforms often presents challenges. Consider a scenario where a company has a portal that its employees rely on daily; persuading them to transition to a new system, regardless of its superiority, proves to be a daunting task. This challenge extends beyond older employees; younger generations may also resist change if information isn't readily accessible at their fingertips.
To improve SAP HCM, the focus should be on enhancing user experience. While many products offer various features, the key lies in user-friendliness and speed. It's essential to balance providing necessary notifications and insights without overwhelming users with too much information, screens and clicks. Ease of use is crucial. Additionally, incorporating AI-driven recommendations can enhance user experience. While I haven't explored the latest versions of SAP's cloud products, prioritizing user experience will improve the overall solution. Currently, users don't want to do too many clicks or move between too many screens.
When meeting with customers, we mainly receive feedback about the high cost of user training. Despite the balance between stability, scalability, and resource allocation, the primary concern remains the expense of training.
A better user interface and greater AI integration are crucial. Which is now a part of the road map ahead.
Integration isn't an issue anymore; they've solved that. The current integration is fairly seamless.
View full review »The limitation of HCM compared to new-era human capital management solutions is the cost. While those solutions offer similar features at a lower price, they are not typically used by large enterprises.
However, for small and medium enterprises, the HCM licensing and maintenance costs are quite high. There are numerous solutions like Zoho and Odoo that offer subscription models at a much lower cost, even as low as $10. This significantly impacts SAP's market share, especially among smaller businesses.
The high cost is the main reason why it's not widely adopted by smaller businesses. Currently, it's largely used by big enterprises, and only a small percentage of SAP users actually utilize HCM, even though they might be using other SAP modules. The small organizations are not keen on using it.
View full review »What can be improved in SAP HCM depends on the industry it serves. The system's navigation could be simplified for users. The flow and integration between parts, like core HR, payroll, and recruiting, must be communicated properly. Users should focus on how doing things correctly from the start will improve things in the long run rather than feeling overwhelmed by tasks.
View full review »The product's learning and development features could be better, including new exclusive LMS tools. Additionally, the data analytics feature could have more depth, similar to Workday.
View full review »MA
Mohammad Alsuhail
SAP HCM Professional at Al Rajhi International for Investment
The product could be improved in terms of cost. Additionally, having a reliable support partner who thoroughly understands our needs and can promptly address issues would enhance the overall user experience.
View full review »The product's license is very expensive.
View full review »MN
MuhammadNadeem2
SAP manager at Pakistan Telecommunication Limited
HCM could improve compatibility, making it more accessible via web applications and graphical interfaces. Additionally, pricing could be more competitive compared to SuccessFactors.
MM
Maheen Mehmood
HR Intern at Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd
SAP HCM's long and tedious transactions can be improved.
View full review »SG
Solomon Gummadi
SAP Delivery Manager at Tec Grato
What cannot be facilitated through the product's standard functions can be done through development. Success factors also come into the picture in the new cloud management aspect and integrations. For instance, S/4HANA. The two aspects are development, with reports, interfaces, conversion, enhancement, prompts, and smart forms. The reporting aspect covers employee and manager self-service, anything the employee can do. Then there are already success factors for the cloud solution which cannot be integrated into S/4 HANA.
View full review »VK
Vishal-K
Software Engineer at Nexogic
When performing reconciliation, manual entry is sometimes required, and barcode scanning isn't always available. Integration with barcodes would make reconciliation smoother and track every product. If I enter data for many products and need to go back, I want the process saved so I can resume without starting over. Integration would help.
For HR processes, SAP HCM is very effective. It handles large employee data sets, making onboarding, paperwork, and document storage easy. It also manages tickets and other HR tasks efficiently. Overall, I find it excellent for HR.
View full review »
NK
Naomi Kreinz
HR Assistant at Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization - CTBTO
SAP HCM cannot integrate with other third-party applications. One of the drawbacks we encounter with SAP HCM, specifically in payroll management, is the limitation regarding changing payroll areas within the same month. For instance, if an employee transitions from staff to non-staff status during the month, we face difficulties because the system doesn't allow us to change the payroll.
We encounter issues related to employee repatriation, especially when individuals return within a two-year timeframe. The system sometimes picks up previously processed data, complicating the repatriation process. As a result, we often have to find workarounds to address these issues. These challenges may stem from our system configuration, but we're still investigating to determine the exact cause.
View full review »SAP HCM needs to improve its UI.
View full review »There are several issues with GuI, and it's not easy to use. Additionally, it requires a significant amount of configuration, and we haven't been able to find anyone who can meet our specific data configuration needs. But the major issue it's a really old fashion app. We are in 2023, there is no need to use an app that looks like this.
View full review »BP
Belinda Pearson
SAP specialist at Dis-Chem Pharmacies Ltd
I think that with the cloud's introduction and because of the new changes, SAP HCM will become dormant. The talent components in SAP HCM are not really viable anymore. One thing that I know is that SAP HCM has no workforce planning. But in the olden days, we had personnel planning, which worked very well for finance or budgeting. So if there was something similar to it in the solution, I'm not too sure about it since I haven't had all the exposure to workforce planning to see how different it works from personnel planning.
The talent modules are lacking in HCM, so I would recommend switching to SuccessFactors for talent management, but HCM excels at time management and payroll.
View full review »SAP needs a total upgrade to the user interface. I've worked with the performance module and the objectives and goals module in HCM and they're far from being satisfying to any customer compared to what exists now with SuccessFactors.
SAP also needs to apply better practices to the talent management modules. There needs to be a renovation of the interface and functionalities of the talent management modules.
DS
Darweesh Saber
SAP HCM Senior Consultant at WadiDegla
We aim to keep business and business scenarios updated and customized within the system. Thus, we want to receive frequent updates.
View full review »We input all of our workflows into SAP to make our work environment better. All of our new projects and new policies will be implemented in SAP. It would be very helpful for our company if a new version was released with the ability to contain all of the things that we have newly introduced in our company.
View full review »SAP HCM could improve by having more resources and making it more user-friendly. It is complex.
View full review »HCM is actually moving over to the cloud, which is Success Factors or S/4HANA. It's a better solution than the current platform because the current platform is quite rigid and not as flexible and end-user friendly as other HR solutions.
This is a transaction driven type of system, whereby a user actually has to know or understand a certain transaction code.
If they have no idea, they will not be able to do anything. From that perspective, there are a couple of drawbacks. The solution is of course not as flexible. It's more than an application. It was the best back then, but things have evolved and technology has evolved significantly. People want easier to work with applications.
The graphic user interface could be improved. It's not for a use of 20. I think the most improvement will be on the front-end than the back-end.
View full review »AR
Asad Rehman
Management Executive at Pak-Arab Refinery Ltd.
The solution's reporting feature could have customization options. Also, its dashboard features need to be better compared to Oracle.
View full review »VK
VenuKammari
Senior Consultant at HRPAth
Some reports need to be added on the time management side.
View full review »The extensibility that SuccessFactors talks about is when we are required to create an add-on solution or a small application, that could be developed within the ecosystem of the Oracle HCM itself, and then integrate it easily.
This is a feature that we can look forward to seeing in SAP as well.
The extensibility of the integration could be improved.
View full review »I'm currently working for a state-owned government company, and we need to follow some standards and regulations. We also have a strategy to be followed. Sometimes the template and the format are not available in the SAP HCM, so we have to work around this limitation. The tax also sometimes changes in my country, and we have to redo everything to change the payroll calculations, benefits, and things like that.
The talent management feature can be improved. It is currently very simple in SAP HCM.
SAP is also very hard to integrate. In terms of monitoring, there are no monitoring tools, but as long as we take care of the disk capacity, there is no problem.
This solution needs to be more configurable and user-friendly.
People who work with HCM need to have the proper knowledge of coding.
View full review »If SAP could streamline the onboarding process directly, it would be more efficient.
View full review »We find some challenges in the integration between SAP HCM and SAP SuccessFactors.
View full review »One area that could be improved is the time-tracking and attendance system. We currently have an external system that uploads the data into SAP HCM.
We recently launched the system on a mobile app, and people have become accustomed to it. It's been easy for them, so we don't want to ask them to change to something else. We don't want to make too many changes too often.
Other than that, I find SAP HCM quite convenient and easy to use. The only issue so far is with the pricing.
View full review »The solution is rather expensive.
I'd like to see the solution offer even more stability in future releases.
View full review »AG
Ashaylin Govender
Applications Specialist at Bidvest Tank Terminals
The Time Management feature is not very user-friendly.
The speed of technical support can be improved.
The configuration requires somebody with technical know-how, and it would be better if it were easier to do.
View full review »I would like it to move more towards a single data space or a single data source. SAP as a platform relies on multiple data sources because traditionally, it has been bolted together by the acquisition of other products rather than a single database. That's why there are a lot of points of failure and a lot of required points of integration. They need a single integration point.
AA
AhmedAbdelhady
Executive Manager & CO. Founder at Phoenix Consulting
This product has a lot of features that are much improved and more advanced than other solutions. In our area of the Gulf region and the Middle East, a lot of organizations depend on it because it meets with regulation compliance and security concerns. So government and banking depend on the SAP HCM solution for administration on-premises.
SAP had developed new screens for the latest release of SAP HANA for HR on the cloud. They are doing the most innovation for HR on the cloud. So, there are some screens right now for both on-premises and cloud but the company is focused mostly on cloud development. A lot of the clients who deal with regulations must currently stay with on-premises solutions for critical data. SAP needs to continue trying from time-to-time to develop and release some new screens and new tools for HR on-premise that facilitate the working and interaction with the interface. They should do this in parallel with the cloud. Instead, they are leaving the on-premises customers behind.
For the next release of HCM, I would like to see more interactive screens and parallel development for on-prem and cloud. SAP now does the most innovation for the cloud solution and less innovation for the on-premises client. In our experience and with our clients almost all customers depend on the on-premises solution for sensitive data — either by choice or regulation. It would be nice to see a mobile interface as well.
View full review »The implementation of the solution can be a bit difficult. They should make it easier. If it could be as simple as the SuccessFactors implementation that would be ideal.
There should be integration with iOS products. It would be nice if we could integrate it into the field currently, but it's not active.
View full review »SAP is not ready to sell any licenses in the Middle East.
SAP is not ready to sell the license on time and delays the progress of projects. It's better to work with a competitor like Oracle. Those that are selling the product just go through powerpoints and don't have the knowledge necessary to sell. They can't answer any questions.
View full review »The organizational structure visualization could be improved in future releases. The solution has a very poor interface.
View full review »LM
LangfordMunthali
Owner at Simply HR
It is a bit tedious and manual to work with.
At first, it was impossible for us to pull up a report of employees by status and region, though this was eventually fixed. Going forward, they should fix more things in the reports. E.g., I want to see on the reports the age of the employees, their position, their salary with their salary scales, and any promotions that they have had. People want to see these reports.
View full review »The interface is data-based and outdated, without many features, so it could be modernized.
This solution is sufficiently complex that many end-users do not know how to operate it.
It takes a long time to apply an update patch to the system. It is a headache for any functional users because it requires a lot of IT involvement. This is unlike other solutions where either I can do it, or for cloud-based deployments, the vendor can do it online. With the time required for patching and testing, the internal IT teams sometimes try to avoid it and then perform patching only once or twice a year. In the meantime, the business is doing things manually.
I recall that SAP was not that flexible when it came to creating the interface, or new tables, because there were limitations when we were developing one of the new pension schemes. I remember that they were struggling to get things done. Also, when you do this, the internal business has to manually connect and configure whatever they've developed.
This is a very costly solution.
View full review »PD
Porsche D'Oliveira
Specialist SAP Division at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The management side needs improvement. To me, I think people have underestimated this solution because we know what consists of all the objects in regards to the organizational structures, positions, departments, training, there could be better improvement on that.
On the personnel administration side, it's very difficult to do custom development. You're always dependent on your editors to do that. And now again, I'm comparing it to SuccessFactors because on SuccessFactors it's very easy to do. Any additional fields or stuff you want, they have the ability to apply all those changes. I would say that's where this solution really falls short. It makes the maintenance and the support of the system very complicated as well. There needs to be more support for the HCM solution.
View full review »US
HeHR893021
Head HRM Technology at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
- System usability is a challenge.
- It needs a lot of end user training as it is not intuitive at all.
Integration is challenging and companies are struggling when it comes to integration between HCM and other systems.
View full review »Service support.
View full review »It's intuitive, but not as intuitive or user-friendly as it should be. It's 2017, and I should be able to click once and just breeze through it. It's far more complicated than it should be.
View full review »VS
Vladimir Semashko
Sr. SAP HCM Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Talent management: SAP has acquired SuccessFactors and does not invest in the SAP HCM Talent Management module any more.
View full review »Graphic interface and usability for end users.
SAP is not a last generation system. Users experience the use of the system as it was in 1998. I started working then and nothing has changed until now. Nowadays, people are used to web interfaces, user-friendly screens and rapid deployment functionalities. A different way of using the system in my opinion could avoid the thought that this system is not up-to-date.
The payroll area for managing employee salaries has room for improvement;
Payroll area for managing employee salary, regarding SAP HCM system, is an area with complex issues because Italian tax and labor legislation and regulations are often changed; so several implementations of this module need custom integration from a consultant.
It would be better if SAP HCM could manage several topics, like absence protected like sickness, maternity.
In the last years, several implementations/developments on the SAP HCM system were done concerning several topics, but above all, integration with other module sof SAP HCM, like Time Management, for example.
View full review »Processing large volumes of data during processes such as payroll is time consuming, which could be an area to work on.
View full review »The Core Talent Modules should have been improved, but SAP has introduced SuccessFactors, which has the best solution for Talent Management. I think SAP has covered the earlier gaps in the latest version, but it’s still too early to say.
View full review »It would be nice if the solution migrated to S/4HANA, although this is not an immediate need of ours.
Buyer's Guide
SAP HCM
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about SAP HCM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.