Before an employer implements a Human Capital Management (HCM) system like Workday, SAP, or Oracle, I suggest that the HR/Compensation teams review their job architecture and processes to ensure that the new system can truly deliver the outcomes that are anticipated.

Adjust the timeline and resources to ensure that the changes to compensation processes, jobs, and pay structures are updated based on business need BEFORE the HCM implementation is completed. And ideally this should be well thought out during the project planning process.

The pace at which these large HCM changes are expected to happen by senior executives is fast. The resources (people, time, and money) are often underestimated.

Then there is a clean-up (aka harmonization or stabilization) initiative after the HCM implementation that is painful.

What types of pain are experienced?

·        Higher costs than anticipated occur because the employer must hire consultants and/or a new implementation partner to fix things.

·        More time is needed to make the HCM system work in alignment with expectations. And time on this priority causes other projects to not be resourced fully.

·        Employees and their pay and jobs are impacted in some way. The job titles change, old jobs are mapped to new jobs, job descriptions are audited and rewritten, employees are mapped to new jobs, grades change, base pay ranges and incentives are changed.

·        The huge change management effort to implement the HCM has been decreased at this point. The internal HR/Compensation team members must figure out how to rebuild the plane while it is flying.

·        Oops! Some of the employer’s job and employee data loaded into the new HCM is not accurate. And now it needs to be audited and fixed.

·        You have burned out employees who were expected to contribute to the project AND perform their regular jobs. Turnover is high.

After the stabilization/harmonization initiative is completed, the functionality of the HCM is never fully utilized.

And then the postmortem part of the project happens.

·        The demo made it look like the reporting and decision-making impact would be substantial.

·        The expectations were high and now the disappointment in the project’s results are tangible.

·        The blame game is played. Some key employees involved are fired, reassigned to other jobs, or put on performance improvement plans. Bonus payouts are less than expected or not provided at all.

So, embrace going slow to go fast later. There are ways to plan and manage these projects successfully.

If you have been involved with a HCM project, what was your experience?

#HCM #workday #SAP #oracle #hr #humanresources #pay #compensation #rewards #jobarchitecture