Best Practices to Drive Partner Accountability During HR Tech Implementation

In one of my posts in March titled “HR Tech as an Infrastructure & the Elusive ROI”, I pointed out the similarities between HR Tech and the infrastructure sector. Just like infrastructure is the backbone of a developing nation, HR Tech needs to be looked at as the foundation of business growth and success.?

It is interesting how I also discovered answers to some of the pressing questions in HR tech implementation while I studied the implementation, setbacks, and challenges of physical infrastructure projects.

One such common challenge in HR Tech projects and physical infrastructure projects is Partner MANAGEMENT.

Most organizations have a rigid stance on partner contracts – obviously, because you want to make sure that there is clarity and agreement on the deliverables.

Unknowingly, however, partner contracts also become one of the biggest obstacles to seamless project implementation. When the focus is strictly on ticking off the contractual obligations,? novelty and learning on the go usually take a backseat. And more often than not, that is a big price to pay!

As a practicing HR Tech consultant, I realize that a better balance between this rigid contractual stance and the innovativeness of partners is necessary, what I’ll call driving better Partner Accountability.?

Infrastructure projects have quite a few best practices to drive partner performance while also giving them the flexibility to innovate. If we were to bring them into the HR context, here’s what that would look like.

Best Practices for Driving Partner Accountability in HR Tech Projects

1. Partner Scorecard

What is a Partner Scorecard?

A partner scorecard is a tool commonly used to evaluate and measure supplier performance based on predetermined criteria, like quality, delivery, or cost.

Partner scorecards can foster accountability in HR tech projects as partners strive to maintain high scores in Key Performance Indicators or KPIs.?

The only condition is that the KPIs need to be well-defined and synced with the evolving requirements and expectations of the project.?

Scorecards also serve as one of the most effective ways to provide regular partner feedback. You can have regular assessments and provide feedback on performance tracked against the KPIs. This helps drive continuous performance improvement as well.

So, how is a Partner Scorecard a good practice??

It promotes a performance-based transparent culture with open communication and drives better business outcomes.?

Based on these scores, organizations can choose to reward high-performing Partners and address issues with the ones underperforming.

2. Partner Reward Policy

Another way that can drive partner accountability in HR tech Project management is by rewarding the right outcomes, behaviors, and practices of partners.?

We often use rewards and recognition to motivate employees. Partners, in a way, are also employees, just not on payroll.

Bring your HR tech partners into the scope of your rewards and recognition program.

Rewarding partners can boost their performance, beyond merely meeting contractual obligations. A smartly defined rewards program can motivate them to give their best in meeting KPIs or even completing the project before the delivery date.?

There’s always a condition to every one of these best practices.?

In this case, how you define the reward program is very important.

Rewarding only the speed of implementation can set a wrong expectation for partners and might push them to cut corners to meet timelines.?

Instead, focus on rewarding behaviors along with other performance indicators.

3. Value Engineering?

What is value engineering??

Value engineering is a method where the three core pillars of design, quality, and performance are aligned for optimization while ensuring desired outcomes.

In HR tech projects or any other project for that matter, quality is critical and so is value maximization.?

Akin to design optimization in the construction and infrastructure sector, value engineering in HR tech leads to cost reduction without compromising performance.?

To drive partner accountability in HR Tech projects, use value engineering for:

• Incentivizing innovation and creative approaches
• Creating optimized solutions
• Minimizing costs and,
• Maximizing value and performance?

How to go about it? Broadly, you can use these basic steps:

• Identify project objectives and key performance requirements.
• Analyze current processes and technologies to understand areas of improvement.
• Get all your stakeholders to collaborate to integrate innovative solutions into the system for reduced costs and enhanced functionality.
• Ensure seamless integration with existing workflows and systems.
• Ensure all changes are implemented systematically.?
• Monitor and evaluate the outcomes continuously for maximized value over time.

4. Structured Partner Meetings

Hiring a partner with a good contract in place won’t automatically get you the results you want.

Besides incentivizing them from time to time, organize structured meetings – the focus heavily being on ‘structured’ here.

Structured meetings:

• Drive clear communication and transparency between all parties, promoting accountability.?
• Involves exchanging feedback and concerns regarding the project and other related issues like payments, evaluation criteria, etc.
• Is an opportunity to address challenges. Effective, timely, and systematic solutions can be strategized.
• Helps all stakeholders stay focused on achieving the defined objectives and goals, and stick to project requirements and expectations.?

5. Use of Technology for Project Management

Use good project management software to manage the project end-to-end. These software systems can ensure:

• Clear communication channels are set up.?
• Documentation processes are faster and more transparent.?
• Helps keep track of project timelines, objectives, milestones, and deliverables.?
• Offers real-time insights into partner performance and promotes proactive intervention in case of deviations.?
• That there’s compliance with contractual obligations and service-level agreements.

Some of the commonly used project management tools I could recommend are JIRA, Asana, Notion, and Trello.

Driving partner accountability is no rocket science, sure.?

But a project of that scale can derail sooner than you know if not managed closely and granularly.?

Partners, specifically, have a lot of load to carry.?

Ensure that they have what’s needed to drive the best results. Make sure that they are in alignment with your business plans. That they know the changes to the plan. And have the opportunity to innovate within certain guardrails.

If partner accountability is something you are struggling with, book a no-pressure call with us. Happy to share ideas, improvements, and feedback.?