During my fifteen years of selling and implementing HRIS software and HRMS software applications, I have been amazed at how much effort HR departments put into it. The tips provided here, if followed, should greatly improve your chances of a successful implementation.
Calculate HRMS software or HRMS payroll implementation details before signing the contract
Check the experience of the implementer: each implementation expert must do their first implementation of HRIS software; just don’t let it be you. If it were me, I wouldn’t be in your first ten installations and maybe even twenty, if the implementation involves payroll. When it comes to implementing HRIS software and especially HRMS payroll systems, there is absolutely no substitute for experience. Be sure to find out exactly how experienced the person who will be supervising or doing the engagement is.
You most likely have checked the references in the HRIS or HRMS software, but have you also checked the references of the person who will be doing your implementation? Important questions to ask when following up on these referrals may include the following:
– Was the HRIS or HRMS software implementation project completed on time and within budget?
– Would you use the implementer again?
– How was the implementer in explaining the technical problems?
– Was the promised delivered?
– How was the training in HRIS or HRMS software?
Is the scope well defined? This is one of those cases where guessing can get you into a lot of trouble. Do not assume that what you expect to have done will be completed in the hours allotted for the commitment. Make sure that everything you expect to have completed is included in an implementation schedule.
I recommend asking the company implementing the HRMS software to provide you with a low to high expected time range for each phase and for each product option of the engagement. If you have a custom report or interface that needs to be built, make sure it is included in the estimated hours.
Once the job starts
Be Prepared: This seems obvious, but trust me, it’s a constant problem for HRIS and HRMS software implementation consultants. We told clients exactly what we needed when we arrived on the first day of the engagement and at least a quarter of the time, the client would not be ready. The problem became so common that we started asking customers to email or mail us the information we needed the first day before we could book or schedule the trip.
Clear schedules as much as possible – I hated sitting through an engagement, but sometimes this was unavoidable because the people we needed to meet with, like IT or HR, weren’t available while we were on site. Make sure your IT staff, or any other departments that may be involved, know when they need to clean up their schedules.
Keep the focus on the job – this is as much the consultant’s job as it is yours. While on engagements, I was frequently asked by clients about additional capabilities or “oh yeah, can we do this too?” I always handled this situation the same way. Let me finish what we have to do and then we can look at the time available or overtime, for the extra work not included in the original scope. This wasn’t a problem on my projects, but one of my consultants had a real challenge staying on target and went over budget on most of his projects.
Hour Tracking – If the project is long, be sure to track the hours worked by the consultant. Believe it or not, very few of the companies I worked with actually did this.
No two HRIS or HRMS software implementation commitments are the same. Some projects will go over budget. It may not be your fault, or the implementer’s, or the software’s. Nothing is final with computers and software, as we all know; but following the steps offered above should help meet expectations.