Formerly known as Høyskolen Kristiania and Fagskolen Kristiania, Kristiania has ambitious plans for the future. Today, they are Norway’s largest university college and vocational school, and aim to achieve full university status by 2030.
With more than 200 study programmes and over 24,000 students, Kristiania offers a wide range of career-focused courses – from design and communication to arts and technology. All programmes are practice-oriented, with a strong focus on developing the skills students need for working life. Kristiania is also engaged in research and innovation across several fields.
While digital platforms have long been part of the student offering, HR and other staff were lacking a dedicated digital system – until three years ago.
Photo: Kristiania
– We’ve grown from 300 to nearly 1,000 employees in just eight years, says Hanne Rammen, HR Advisor at Kristiania.
– Processes like onboarding, offboarding, performance reviews and absence tracking were all managed using paper documents, Excel sheets and Word files. It was unstructured, time-consuming, and hard to follow up. We saw a clear need for a complete system, better workflows, and stronger data control.
In 2022, Kristiania went live with CatalystOne’s modular HR technology – a cloud-based solution that brings everything together in one place and integrates easily with other systems.
Out of 48 universities, university colleges and vocational schools in Norway, Kristiania was the first to switch to CatalystOne’s HR system – not only in Norway, but also in Sweden and Denmark.
– Since we were a first-mover in the sector, we were advised to take a step-by-step approach. That gave us room to adapt and evolve along the way. We started with HR Master Data, including onboarding and offboarding, then added modules for absence and performance reviews, Rammen explains.
She highlights how the system has improved access to data and made daily work easier for HR.
– With around 900 people using the system, it’s a huge benefit to build on the same infrastructure. It’s less overwhelming – especially for users who don’t work with digital tools every day.
Kristiania is now planning to add the CV module. Other available modules include Compensation Management, Feedback, Competence, Learning Management, and One to One.
One of the biggest wins has been the ability to standardise processes.
– Having the entire employee journey in one place is incredibly valuable. We’ve received very positive feedback on our performance reviews – from both managers and employees. We’re able to follow up in a whole new way, with more structure and greater confidence.
Absence handling has also improved significantly.
– For our staff, absence management has been one of the biggest changes. The system is intuitive and delivers a much better user experience. We often hear things like: “Wow, that was easy.” It’s also become easier to follow up on sick leave.
Kristiania employs a wide range of staff – permanent, temporary, substitutes and external consultants. Bringing structure to onboarding and offboarding has been a key improvement.
– When a plan is already in place from day one, new employees feel taken care of right away. That alone is hugely valuable. At the same time, both managers and HR now have a clearer workflow to follow.
Reporting has also become far more efficient.
– Our HR team now has access to more reliable, structured data, which saves time on admin. We can extract insights much faster than before.
Rammen notes that the process has been about more than technology.
– It’s challenged the way we think. We’ve gained a much deeper understanding of our own processes and how we work. The digital tools are important, but evolving our methods has been just as valuable.
The learning curve has been steep – for both Kristiania and CatalystOne.
– We’re a different type of organisation than a traditional company, so we’ve had to figure some things out together. The dialogue has been open, and the collaboration strong. CatalystOne has been flexible and solution-oriented – and support is always quick and helpful when we need it.
The impact has extended beyond HR, sparking projects across the organisation.
Both OsloMet and the Norwegian School of Economics have since followed in Kristiania’s footsteps. Rammen encourages others in the sector to consider the same move.
– When more institutions use the same platform, we can share experiences, build common best practices and learn from each other. That creates confidence – and leads to better solutions for the sector as a whole.
Kristiania is a non-profit foundation that has provided education to more than three million people since 1914. Today, the organisation offers university college programmes, vocational education and online courses. Høyskolen Kristiania was founded in 1914, and the foundation’s purpose is to operate educational institutions that serve the public good.
Kristiania’s ambition is to become Norway’s first independent working-life university – a natural extension of their close and growing collaboration with the business sector. In addition to university college programmes, the foundation also offers advanced vocational education.
Kristiania is one of Norway’s oldest and largest educational institutions. Over some 110 years, they’ve developed courses and programmes across nearly every subject area. In recent years, Kristiania has also integrated several major educational institutions. Today, both the university college and vocational school operate under one name: Kristiania – Norway’s largest multidisciplinary university college, offering programmes from vocational certificates all the way to PhD level.
More than 200 Nordic organisations manage HR using CatalystOne’s HR software.
“"We get great feedback from managers around the world who find the system intuitive and easy to follow – whether they’re based in Oslo or Tokyo. That makes a huge difference. For us, it’s essential that our solutions work just as well abroad as they do at home."”
– Christina Sundheim, Senior HR Adviser and project lead, Innovasjon Norge
