What are the benefits of connected HR and payroll software?
Travelling towards simplification
The prospect of changing your HR and payroll software could be intimidating. At this point, you can choose your metaphor. Perhaps it seems like you’re going to be turning a tanker around. Maybe it’s more akin to trading in a dated but familiar, family car. Or, the perceived complexities might make it feel like you need to get a space rocket off the ground – a moonshot project. Whatever your outlook in this respect, it’s crucial to ask yourself why you need certain software now, but also to identify both your current needs and where you need to be in a few years. In short, to know where you are and where you want to get to.
The average HR and payroll software is changed somewhere between every seven to nine years and with the right people and purpose steering the project, a simplified system can be truly liberating. So don’t let the fact that you’ve always done things a certain way constrain you and do ensure you have the right people involved. Let’s take a look at some of the factors to consider and the things that can help when you’re planning to change your system.
Some hand-picked practical tips
Prioritise your data:
Getting data into a new system should be straightforward, especially with a software solution that lets you migrate data easily, with visual tools that validate the data in question. Crucially, you also need the right data and to be able to simplify it, with a lot of it likely coming from a legacy system and much of it of questionable quality. So confirm the key data you need for your purposes and streamline it if at all possible, losing old data you simply don’t need (except for absence data, of which you probably need a couple of years’ information). The more old data you try and include, the more you’re likely to get something wrong and if an employee goes into a new system and sees the wrong address or an incorrect salary somewhere, they’re less likely to engage with it.
Ensure the adoption of the software:
Make sure the product is easy to use and largely self-explanatory with a great user experience built-in. There are two key things to do well here. One is to make sure you have a good communications strategy with your employees – that they know there’s a new system coming their way, what app to download and when etc. Secondly, and again, put in the data that makes sense for you and your employees and make sure all your data is accurate, so everyone’s onboard from the very start.
Consider all stakeholders:
Involving the people who can make decisions and bring their teams and buy-in to the project is paramount. However, it’s also about accurately identifying who those people are, to avoid having ‘too many cooks’ – including anyone clinging to past/present practices – and so you don’t get paralysed by committee. It’s not just internal people you need either, of course, it’s looking at your vendor too. In that respect, you need a partner who shares a similar culture and values to your own, someone you can work with well. Then, once all key stakeholders are confirmed, make sure you keep them abreast of what’s going on.
Have a Plan B:
No business is so small that it doesn’t need a continuity or disaster recovery plan in place. For example, people expect to get paid when they’re supposed to, but as the pandemic has shown uncertainty can arise there, with something that’s generally assumed to be a dead cert transaction. So putting contingency plans in place for key system functions is a very good idea.
A smooth journey to a simplified system
Simplicity is our watchword when it comes to changing your system and avoiding being overwhelmed by the transition ahead. So if you have a project you’re about to run, approach it in a methodical manner. Categorise the tasks at hand and think about designating different teams to look at each element, if you’re changing a wide range of functions within your system. Then plan and schedule your parallel runs, work back from when you want to go live, make sure your data’s clean, and never rush things but rather focus on getting things right.
To assist you further, Access has developed dedicated FlightPaths to direct organisations along the right route for them. They allow us to take your vision of where you want to be, put it into a FlightPath and work backwards from there, with the project methodology in front of you. It’s all about preparation and understanding the implementation process via simplified bite-sized chunks that ensure you know what you’re doing as you move forward. You’ll then follow the FlightPath day-by-day, week-by-week so that before you know it, you’re in the middle of testing and everything’s working well. To return to the earlier metaphors, Access FlightPaths are designed to make the process as simple and smooth as possible, like a glider coming into land.
Top five takeaways
To close, here’s a quintet of key things to remember when you’re approaching a change in your software system.
- Remember the basics: project management will be key, so clarify your needs and check early on that your new software will deliver what you require.
- Stakeholders: consider the needs of every relevant internal team and an external party, with easy-to-use software and simple processes part of the journey you design for employees.
- Partnership: trust is vital, so share clear communications and don’t be scared to ask for everything you need.
- Risk: make sure you have a definite plan for payroll, data and compliance.
- Measure and celebrate results: be clear on what success looks like and enjoy it when you get there!
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