Change Management: What You Need to Know (Online Exclusive)

Marlo Hertling

Avanti Software Inc.

Deciding to Make a Change

Changing your people management solutions has such wide spread impact that often companies will choose to live with the challenges of their existing solution rather than making a change for the better. But when you find yourself and your team spending too much time on manual or low value people management tasks it is a good time to ask if your HCM solution is still a good fit for your organization.

“We knew we were going to need to make a change almost 2 years ago” says Warren Sawatzky, Director of Human Resources at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg. “With the expansion of our building – almost doubling in size by March of 2016 – we realized we needed to review our processes and systems to make sure they would keep our organization running smoothly as we grew.”

Sawatzky explains that with more people, the access to their employee information was going to be critical, they were no longer going to simply get along by looking in paper files for information. As they grew they noted that their current payroll solution, which had been in place for over 15 years, had not grown with them. They were coping with a lack of integration to other systems and glitches that they had gotten used to – but as they assessed their current solutions against their broader business objectives they realized it was time for a change.

In addition to the growth Sawatzky references, there are other key triggers to look for to know if your company has outgrown your current solution. Here are some of the elements you should be watching for:

• Your organization is growing and processes like hiring and onboarding are not automated
• You are still using spreadsheets for reporting and metrics
• Your employees and managers don’t have access to self-service or aren’t using the self-service you offer as it is difficult to learn
• Your current people management solutions are all in separate databases for HR, payroll and time & attendance and require multiple entry points to maintain them
• You need to merge data from different areas to get the reports your management team needs
• Correcting inaccuracies or the manual work around solutions in your current system are taking more and more of your time

As soon as you recognize that a change is needed, the most important tool you have is communication. “When you decide to make a change, communication is critical to achieve the buy-in of everyone from the executives to the managers and employees. The reality is people resist change, so you need to explain to them why a change is needed, how they will benefit, and what the change means to the organization.” explains Sawatzky.

Once you have decided to implement a new solution and selected your vendor partner, your journey for change is just beginning. The fact is that you can purchase and implement the best possible HCM software for your company, but that technology will let you down unless you take the right steps, up front, to effectively manage change.

Why Your HCM Implementation Needs to Start With Change Management

Many companies will purchase a new HCM solution with dreams of efficiencies, better processes, and improved employee engagement through tools like self-service. However, the reality is that many of these new solutions are implemented with a disappointing result, not meeting all the visions that were there when the decision to change was made. That’s because one of the most common mistakes made by companies during HCM implementation is that they spend significant time, energy and money selecting the right software and partner but do not include a change management plan to ensure success. Research (why-change-management, Prosci Inc.) has shown that projects with a well-defined change management plan are 6 times more likely to meet or exceed project objectives. Regardless of the scale of change, including a change management plan increases the likelihood of staying on schedule, meeting your budget, and realizing all the benefits of your new solution. 

“Change management requires a leadership group that can think ahead and be visionary” says Sawatzky, “you need to anticipate what inconveniences will be encountered by your team during the change and remind them of what the benefits will be and that any inconveniences are temporary. In our case there will be some duplication of tasks during the testing phase and we need to prepare our team for that and help them keep in sight how this change will move us forward.”

Whether you are implementing a new module in your existing solution or brand new HCM technology, factoring in a plan for change management is critical to your success.

7 Steps to Achieve Change Management Success

1.     Build your team.

2.     Explain why the change is important to them. 

3.     Share the benefits.

4.     Include your management team. 

5.     Create a communication plan.

6.     Create a training plan.

7.     Address roadblocks and resistance.

Change and Culture

When making a change that impacts all of your employees you are also impacting the culture of your company. Without careful planning, clear communications and employee workshops, you might create an adverse reaction to your new HCM solution which will lead to barriers in its implementation and adoption.

When change is not managed effectively in an organization some of the common risks to the project are:

• Productivity declines
• Resistance emerges and distracts from the original change goals
• Valued employees leave the organization
• Morale is impacted
• Projects go over budget and past their deadline
• Employees find workarounds to avoid the new way of doing things or revert to the old way
• Your employees see change as painful rather than valuable

The success of your new solution is reliant on ensuring your company, particularly your people, are positioned to help achieve the goals set out for the new solution. The efficiencies and processes that you know will help your team work smarter, not harder, can only become a reality if your people understand how their participation will contribute to a better workplace.

HCM Change Management Field Guide