Many HR departments are starting to consider the benefits of rolling out IT systems which can be used by staff beyond the HR department. The advantages are clear – by encouraging staff to enter data themselves, it’s possible to improve data accuracy, reduce costs and save time and paperwork. But there are wider issues to consider – without careful planning and implementation, the reputation of the HR department can be damaged. Peter Wake, Managing Director of TeamSeer, a holiday and absence management tool, explains some of the pitfalls and how to avoid them.
The key success factor for any enterprise-wide implementation is gaining staff buy-in. Without this, you will face an uphill struggle to get them to use the system. As a result, the data in the system will be incomplete, inaccurate and the system itself will never realise its potential.
The solution is to identify key stakeholders – such as line managers, staff, team administrators, and directors – and involve them from the start of the process. Inevitably, this makes the needs analysis and subsequent evaluation processes more complex, but without gaining wider perspective and buy-in up front, the chances of the system meeting expectations and endorsement are dramatically reduced. Too often this consideration is overlooked by HR teams when buying their first system of this type. As an example, we have several clients that bought an absence management tool as a module of another system, which was intensely disliked by staff and forced the HR team to go back to the market for a more specialist solution.
Brainstorm to identify stakeholder requirements
Find out what stakeholders are doing at the moment to manage the processes you want to replace with a system – with TeamSeer for example, they are typically using paper, spreadsheets, Outlook or even using "home grown" software
Find the managers who are most frustrated with the current processes, and get them to talk about the issues.
If you can't get all the stakeholders in the session, try putting yourself in their shoes. I recommend Edward de Bono's "six thinking hats" for this
In our experience, the principal drivers of buy-in are that a new system should be fast, easy to use (no manual required!), and show clear benefit to each stakeholder. Sometimes, the benefits can be aspects HR would not immediately recognise – for TeamSeer this includes the ability for holidays and absence to be integrated automatically with Microsoft Outlook, which in our experience is a real 'win' for line managers and staff.
At TeamSeer the adoption process for our software has three distinct phases. First, there's the buy-in from the HR department. Second, the system gets adopted by line managers, who see benefits in terms of simplified administration and management reporting. The third phase is staff, who initially see any system as 'big brother' watching them, but soon begin to appreciate that the big brother aspect is far outweighed by the benefits to them –with TeamSeer, for example, this includes being able to see when colleagues are off before booking leave, keeping tabs on their own holiday balances, and having their leave requests approved quickly and easily.
Minimise the hump
Work hard to 'minimise the hump' that staff need to go over when they start using the new system. This means getting the basics right from launch day:
Make software relevant for employees – launch with accurate data (I’m not sure the reader will understand what you mean by accurate data)
A simple, clear launch email with a call-to-action to prompt first usage
Provide short training videos online
At TeamSeer we have also worked with customers to provide single sign-on (no logon or passwords to remember), and intranet integration for easy access. Without usability considerations like these , using the system can be more trouble than the user can be bothered with.
Look for the virtuous spiral
The picture below shows our own thinking on what will make a deployment of TeamSeer, or any other enterprise wide HR system, successful. Other implementations may have a different structure, but the need for a positive, reinforcing loop is critical.
Look for opportunities to build upon usage to benefit the organisation
Once the system has launched, it will gradually change organisational behaviour. Customers we talk to who have used TeamSeer for over a year start ask if they can use it in more subtle and creative ways, for example to track overtime or days off in lieu. Getting feedback from line managers and staff is therefore important for driving the most from any new enterprise system.
Conclusion
- HR Enterprise systems can bring significant benefits to an organisation, but it is important to consider the wider issues.
- Involve all stakeholders in agreement of need, specification of solution and evaluation
- Ensure the software working properly before launch
- Roll it out with a focus on immediate adoption quickly (avoid the hump)
- Establish the virtuous spiral
- Look for new opportunities to build upon usage to benefit the organisation
About TeamSeer
TeamSeer is a web-based planner to schedule and record holidays and other absence trusted by some of the UK’s premier organisations to provide an effective solution. First introduced in 2005, TeamSeer is the UK’s most widely adopted absence management software service, used by over 20,000 individuals in organisations including BT, John Lewis, Hitachi and Siemens.
TeamSeer provides line managers and their teams with a web-based planner to schedule and record holidays and all other absence. In doing so, it gives HR and senior executives a complete and immediate picture of absence across the organisation, enabling informed resource decision making and precise support where necessary.
www.teamseer.com
Sales:+44(0)845 094 1427
sales@teamseer.com
TeamSeer Ltd
The Lightwell
12-16 Laystall Street
Clerkenwell
London
EC1R 4PF
United Kingdom
