SAP doesn't need enhanced. It is your business process that is wrong. (source)
A consulting friend Tweeted this phrase a few days ago and it immediately brought a smile to my face. It reminded me of the times I have configured, twisted and contorted SAP HR to fit a client's unique process requirements that they just had to have. Even though the SAP HR software had, in my opinion anyway, an already delivered, acceptable process, and I could see no value in the client's additional requirements, the client insisted we do the work to force SAP HR to do it their way.
If there are several ways to achieve the desired results, which don't adversely affect the company or employees, then why not adopt the one that fits best with the software and requires the least amount of work to implement and maintain?
Most times, when we force the SAP HR software to stretch and bend too much it ends up breaking in subsequent upgrades or support packs. Not every upgrade or every support pack breaks it, but often enough to keep us busy fixing the issues. And many times, after living with a twisted and contorted SAP HR process for a while, customers come to see the value in changing their process to more closely match SAP HR's framework.
Now, not every SAP HR standard process is worth adopting, and the system doesn't deliver many such processes as-is - much of SAP HR is like a book full of blank pieces of paper that need to be filled-in. Among experienced consultants and consulting firms there is some coalescence around a set of standard processes that work well (I'm trying really hard not to say 'best practices' because of the baggage that term carries, but that's really what I'm talking about). It is also good to see how other SAP HR customers are doing things, but keep in mind that the software changes over time, and what may have been a good process (or the only process) 5 or 10 years ago may not be so good now.
Before you spend resources on changing or enhancing SAP HR to fit your business process, consider the costs & benefits of doing so. Do you really need those extra things that are forcing you to enhance and change SAP HR? Are you prepared to accept the cost of changing the system and keeping it maintained for years to come?