How Aurora moved 16,000 employees to digital HR

About the Client

Aurora is one of the largest retail chains in Ukraine, a group of companies with direct foreign investment from the Horizon Capital fund. The chain has over 1,800 stores across Ukraine and serves approximately 1.1 million customers daily.

Challenge

The rapid growth of the chain creates constant pressure on HR processes. Thousands of leave requests, business trips, certificates — everything was processed in paper format. The team had clear requirements:

• Sign documents in minutes from a phone
• Individual access for each employee
• Readiness to scale across the entire network
• Integration with accounting system (ERP), Active Directory, banking systems

Solution

Together with soft Xpansion, Aurora created the "eKadry" service based on the softXspace platform and the softXspace.HR-Basis module.

• Mobile apps for iOS and Android. Biometric authentication via Face ID and fingerprint. All HR functions available from a smartphone.
• Desktop version with Active Directory. Login via corporate account system. Full-featured HR manager workstation.
• Qualified electronic signature. Legally binding signing via Diia.Pidpys and PrivatBank digital key.
• Integration with corporate systems. Accounting system (ERP) for HR records, Monobank for changing payment details, Active Directory for authentication.

What Works in the First Phase

• Leave processing — fully automated with ERP, PrivatBank, Monobank, Diia.Pidpys and Active Directory integration
• Certificates — income, employment, work record copy, character reference
• Changing bank details of salary card with Monobank support
• Business trip processing with ERP integration
• Team absence calendar — consolidated view for managers

Results

• Complete paper elimination. HR processes moved to digital format without a single paper document.
• Minutes instead of days. Leave request from smartphone instead of days of paper approvals.
• Unified platform for all. 16,000+ employees across 1,800+ locations work in one service.
• 93% readiness from day one. The vast majority of employees had QES and immediately started using the service.
• Media coverage. Launch covered by leading business media: dev.ua, ThePage, Speka, TradeMaster, UA-Retail, RAU.

What's Next

• Employee transfer processes (already in development)
• Full hiring and dismissal cycle
• Occupational health and fire safety logs
• Electronic pass and business card system
• GPT assistant for launching HR processes
• Expanded integrations with Monobank and the Diia app

Client Comment

"When starting work on the new service, the team first focused on optimizing the most typical HR processes — hiring, leave, business trips, position changes, dismissal and certificate issuance," — Oleksandr Voinalovych, Director of the R&D Department at Aurora.