So, you’ve chosen a new HR System. What next?

It is a big commitment for any organisation to select a new HR System and the reasons as to why can vary from growth in an organisation and where spreadsheets can no longer suffice, to replacing an aging platform, which no longer adapts to what you need as a Business.

Many Companies spend a lot of time deciding on a new system, some go through RFI/RFP process, many have beauty parades to see demos of the prospects but what happens once you have selected a new system?

Below are the top 5 things you should do, once you have selected your new HR System.

1. Select your Project Team. It is paramount that you have the correct people in place when starting a new system implementation.  Remember the sales process where it just appeared that you could plug in the system and away you go? Wrong.

People play a huge part in the success of the implementation and getting the right person to Project Manage/Co-ordinate, the person who will communicate and train and most importantly the person who will be the system administrator of the system and will support the system when it is live, is critical and can be the difference between having a smooth implementation to one with many bumps in the road.

2. Business Processes. Many Companies think they do not have business processes – surely that is why you have bought a system, so you can just go with what the system does? This is one of the biggest, but most common misconceptions when implementing a new system. Every Company has HR business processes – they may not be where you want them to be, but you do have them.

To this point, not get Business and System processes confused, which again, many people do.  When thinking about your Business Processes, think about the people, the journey and experience they should have, from onboarding, probation, job change, to performance reviews and off-boarding.  Think about who is involved in that process and who needs to be informed.

Mapping your processes, means you will be able to clearly see what options you have when it comes to configuring the system.

In addition, if you operate over different Entities/Countries, think about a set of Global Processes, which are much easier to support.  The only differences in your processes should be legislative.

3. Change Management. Having a new system, regardless of how simple or straight forward it is, will require a degree of Change Management. You can work hard on the implementation and everything has gone well, but landing the system incorrectly with the end users can undermine all the effort taken to get the system right.  Map out your Stakeholders, identify super users, and most importantly prepare people for what is to come.  There is a fine balance of over communicating and communicating too soon but get that balance right and your new system will be part of business as usual in no time.
4. Understand what User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is required. You’ve spent a lot of time, money and effort to get the system right, so take the effort to thoroughly test it and not just from a system perspective but from the end user’s perspective too. This is again where mapping your business processes is so important. Effective UAT will confirm that your business processes and your requirements have been met.  Doing effective end user testing, is also a litmus test for how the system will land and will give a base line to the level of training required.
5. Think about what Training is required. Surely a new HR system should be intuitive enough that training is not required? To some extent yes and for an end user, you would not expect reems of training material and content they have to go through, just to be able to change their personal details but some pointers, a quick guide, even a video will give a person the comfort levels they need to be confident in the system. Think also of the HR user and System administrator, who will need to be trained on the backend of the system, do not underestimate the value of the System Providers training courses and any also detailing how to guides, against your business processes.

Choosing a new HR System is only the start, following the above will make sure that the implementation, the deployment and ongoing support is as smooth as possible.

Do you want to access the top 15% of HR talent for your business? Check out our HR Recruitment page or contact us on 01727 800 377 or email info@jgarecruitment.com.

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Written by Steve Yardley, Director at JGA Recruitment Group — the UK’s leading HR & Payroll Recruitment Consultancy and Search Firm.

JGA Recruitment | JGA Payroll & HR Recruitment

E-Mail: steve@jgarecruitment.com | Tel: 01727 800 377

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