Concerns to be addressed before attempting any HCM Implementation

With the advancement on technology and companies moving towards the New Normal, employers dreams of ditching Excel spreadsheets and completing all key processes on a core HR platform are within reach. By creating a strong project team, driving decisions forward, creating a digital adoption strategy, and providing effective user onboarding, you can roll-out your #HCM with minimal disruption.?

Whether you’re transitioning from an on-premise system to the cloud, or from one cloud-based platform to another, or from a mere excel sheet to a cloud platform, it’s imperative to understand what a successful roll-out requires. If you can get it right the first time, your new HCM will unleash better ways of working, hiring, promoting, and managing talent, among other key activities. On the contrary, being unprepared may create a nightmare and a never ending task for you.?

Let us understand 7 key points which are a must to be considered –

1.?????Align the decision makers?– Any project team should comprise of representatives across all functions. Organizations should include functional owners and also a dedicated leadership team who can help drive decision making forward. The team should be kept engaged on a regular basis and should be accessible at any time. There should be clear decision making framework on place to drive a speedy closure.?

2.?????Have a clear #digitalstrategy ?– One should not rush into software selection of implementation unless there is a clear longer term strategy in place for the entire technology landscape as per the roadmap. The project team should ensure that there is alignment with the overarching corporate strategy. Any short team decision which needs to be taken should be in context of the road map/ longer-term strategy.

3.?????Let the business drive the technology?– The organization should be clear in their mind that this is not just another IT Project. Business process improvement should drive the new technology and not the other way around. One should also ensure that the digital transformation/ change should be aligned with measurable strategic goals WRT productivity and ROI.?

4.?????Be realistic?– As rightly said, “Unrealistic expectations are often the root cause of problem later on – Anonymous”. This concept applies even to the overall project implementation which is measured by time, cost and resources. Unrealistic expectations here can lead to a fancy closure however would lead to bad decisions later on.?

5.?????Focus more on implementation than on software selection?– No product is a 100% fit across all processes. One shouldn’t spend too much time and money on software selection instead should focus on how to drive a successful implementation. A strong implementation with an imperfect evaluation process may yield much better results than approaching the problem the other way

6.?????Take your time and control the project tempo?– One should own the project and accordingly control the pace. A lot of times organizations rush into premature implementation starts. One needs to understand the conflicting priorities and focus on transformations since it takes time. One should focus on driving first time right instead of rushing into things and landing into a no man’s land.

7.?????Focus on driving the change across the organization?– In the entire implementation process, the organization should keep in mind “People” who would experience the product and will be the most impacted audience. Any well mapped implementation will fail if the change is not driven across to the last level.?It's necessary that people imbibe the change as their own choice in order to gain acceptance. We need to focus getting people out of their comfort without imposing the new structure on them and we should create environment where people embrace the change instead of finding escape routes.