Key Steps to a Successful HR System Implementation

The successful HR system implementation is a time-consuming and complicated task. The project requires careful planning with a team of focussed stakeholders involved and rigorous evaluation and adaptation to be as well-suited to the company as possible.

Here are our key steps for a successful HR implementation for you and your business:

1. Identify your executive sponsor

Ensure that the project has one key stakeholder who will assume the role of executive. This person should have a special interest in the project and be involved in every step of the implementation. It may be useful to make this individual the executive of any future implementation to ensure consistency.

2. Create your project team

Identify the skills and knowledge needed to make your project successful and assemble a team that collectively covers all these bases. It is important to ensure your team consists of at least one system administrator to work alongside the executive sponsor throughout the entire project. You also need a project manager to lead the implementation. Super users and trainers are also important team members for ensuring all of your employees adapt to the new system quickly and easily. And don't forget to ensure that somebody is held responsible for the regular communication to the key stakeholders. Some projects even appoint a dedicated communication specialist onto the project to ensure early engagement of all stakeholders.

3. Define the business processes

Now you have your team assembled, you need to define the business processes. This step is about making sure everything is in place prior to the start of the implementation. Plan out all of the business processes that will be included in the configuration of the system to ensure that nothing is missed.

4. Define the business requirements

Think about what you want to the new system do do for your business and the steps required in order to achieve this. Clearly state everything you wish to achieve but do ensure you are not working towards too many goals in a single project. There is time to make amendments and adaptations towards the end of the process.

5. Define the phases of the implementation project

Decide on the scope of the project by gathering the business requirements.Ensure you make clear which processes or outcomes are the most important and implement your priorities in the right phase of the project. Processes you need immediately should always be prioritised. Try to keep it simple!

6. Configure the HRIS system to meet the requirements

Analyse the system to see which of the standard processes meet your requirements and make a note of any customisations that need to be made. Marry your requirements to their corresponding processes, trying to limit the bespoke configuration of the system.

7. Customise the HRIS system

Now it is time to add in the customisations to your system in order to meet all the requirements of the project. Try to keep this to a minimum as things can become tricky when complex processes need to be added to the system.

8. Gather clean data

Gather data and enter it into your new system. Before doing so, ensure it is of good quality and correct. Bad data could corrupt your system during the early stages meaning many more alterations may need to be made in the future.

9. End user adoption

It is necessary to ensure your users can adapt quickly and easily to the new system and receive the full training they need in order to do so. This is where your trainers come in- making sure every employee is comfortable with the system and any concerns or questions are addressed before they need to use it as part of their day to day job role.

10. Evaluate the system

Evaluating your HRIS system after it has been implemented is incredibly important as there are always ways your processes can be improved. Feedback from power users is important during this stage as their role is to fully immerse themselves in the new system and highlight any areas for development. During this stage, the system should be fine-tuned and perfected.