From a stack of signatures to minutes: how Metscco approves payroll for 2,000+ employees with ZenHR
The Saudi steel manufacturer with factories in Riyadh and Jeddah replaced manual HR with a system built around its own policies, connected to government platforms and biometric attendance.
The payroll request came in, I reviewed it on the system, and approved it directly. The whole process takes no more than minutes.
About Metscco
Metscco Steel Industries has been manufacturing steel and iron in Saudi Arabia since 1979, and today employs more than 2,000 people across its factories in Riyadh and Jeddah. At that size, manual HR processes became a source of errors and delays.
The challenge: manual HR work and payroll approvals that took days
“The challenge before was that the work was manual. It was prone to errors and prone to delays: employee loan requests, following up on attendance and absence.” — Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sabhan
Payroll was the clearest example. Each month, the payroll request reached the CEO only after several departments had reviewed it and it had collected a long trail of signatures.
“Before, the request would be sent to me with a great many signatures. It was reviewed by more than one department, and it took a lot of time.” — Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sabhan
With employees working across and moving between multiple sites, HR also needed a reliable way to track who was where and connect that with the fingerprint devices on each site.
Why ZenHR
Metscco searched the market for a system that could connect with government services and fit the company’s own internal policies. ZenHR’s flexibility to customize the system around those policies was the deciding factor.
“ZenHR had flexibility in customization, designing the system to match our internal requirements. That was a very essential point. I believe it was a main reason for ZenHR’s success at Metscco.” — Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sabhan
The solution: one system built around Metscco’s policies
- Configured to internal requirements: ZenHR was set up around the company’s own policies and approval rules.
- Integration with government platforms: data no longer has to be re-entered by hand.
- Biometric attendance across multiple sites: fingerprint devices on each site feed into ZenHR, which tracks employees as they move between locations.
- Employee requests in the system: loans and attendance follow-ups move through ZenHR instead of paper.
- Payroll approvals on the mobile app: the monthly payroll request reaches the CEO directly, on his phone or computer.
“Take last month’s payroll. The request reached me in ZenHR. I have the app on my phone and on my computer here, and I log in every day. The payroll request came in, I reviewed it on the system, and approved it directly. The whole process takes no more than minutes.” — Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sabhan
Results: lower costs, higher efficiency, payroll approved in minutes
- Payroll approval in minutes, not days, replacing multi-department paper reviews.
- Significantly lower costs: a major reduction in HR operating costs since moving off manual work.
- Higher efficiency: HR work that was slow and manual now runs through the system.
- Connected attendance across sites, alongside integration with government platforms.
“Number one: reducing costs. Our costs dropped very significantly. Number two: raising efficiency. Before, the efficiency of our employee-affairs work was very weak. Now it has gone up.” — Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sabhan
In his words
“ZenHR entered a market where competition is tough, and proved itself in a short time. A beautiful, great system.” — Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sabhan
