It’s only a week after we were gripped by a great sporting comeback in the Ryder Cup in Medinah, Illinois and once again our focus is back in Chicago, this time for the HR Technology Conference and Expo, which starts on Monday 8thOctober.

There is talk of “disruption” in the way we manage the people in our organisations led by new tools and technologies. Plus there are exciting developments with HR in the cloud, Social in the Enterprise, Analytics (including Big Data) and of course, Mobile Technology.

The HR Technology industry is in ebullient mood after some big trophies have changed hands in the Wall Street clubhouses. These include :-

SAP purchasing Success Factors
Oracle buying Taleo
IBM procuring Kenexa
Plus of course, Workday launching its IPO

But back on the fairway, away from the conferences, the analysts, and the business press – implementing HR Technology successfully does have its challenges. Selecting the right technology platform with the right functionality is hard enough. Guessing where your business and your workforce will be in the next 5 years and then persuading your sceptical Line Managers that this will help them in their job is even harder. If in doubt, see how well you get on with this useful list of HR Technology Questions from Naomi Bloom.

But, for every perfect delivery there is a bogey.

It is all too easy to get bedazzled by exciting innovations and disruptions taking place, whether in the clouds or by ‘belly putters’. The fact that 68% of technology projects fail, because companies forget their ‘basic swing’ hitting a few unexpected Bogeys along the way! The good news is that HR have crucial skills to bring on the people side of the project that are so critical to success.  HR can lead projects with confidence, avoid the bunkers, and ultimately become Technology Champions.

Although I can’t make the HR Technology Conference Expo this year, we here at Glass Bead Consulting, have played a few tough rounds over the years in the HR Transformation Cup. Here are some reflections from the HR Clubhouse we have come up with to help with your handicap and ensure project success.

1  Agree how decisions will be made during the technology implementation

So the first big decision went OK.  At the beauty parade, the software company wheeled in their best salesperson and your Finance Director and Technology Director were impressed enough with the pitch to go with your recommendation for Fusion/SAP/Workday/other. You didn’t really have to revert to your evaluation criteria and weightings, but they still gave the right answer. First job done – now comes the hard bit…

As you get into delivery, you will have to make a number of decisions along the classic project management triangle of ‘Time vs Scope vs Cost’. Often there will be competing demands on your budget, resistance in unplanned areas and resourcing conflicts. At this point the last thing you need is any delay, with 10 expensive Fusion/SAP/Workday consultants on the project, you’ve calculated their burn rate on the train to work (but didn’t tell anyone).

It is critical to spend time up front working through how decisions will be made on the project, who will make them and what the escalation path will be. Governance is key in any substantial project. Make sure a clear governance structure has been agreed up from the onset, and ensure there is a business sponsor to help iron out issues.  Decide who will be on your Governance Board and what their role will be.

When you get going, on occasions you will hit the ball into the rough, and will need to have some difficult conversations on scope, timings, budgets. You will want to remind everyone the terms they agreed at the beginning of the project.

2  It’s the People, Stupid

Start thinking about the change strategy right at the beginning. The Technology Account Manager will make the deployment sound so easy, if mentioned at all. However, think carefully about all your stakeholders, what they need from this change, what their concerns will be, start rehearsing your messages and arguments because you will need to start them soon.

In our experience, to develop an effective change strategy is a canny mix between the high-level, for example, ensuring the change is couched in your organisational goals, and the low-level, getting out a monthly project update, keeping the intranet portal up to date and so on.

Ensure that when you construct your budget and programme team, you have allocated enough resources to communications, change and training expertise – but you work in HR, so you know this right?

3  Agree the goals of the project

Then ‘tattoo’ them somewhere strategic, well at least get them printed on some nice mouse mats or put some posters up. There are many reasons to put in a new HR System and different stakeholders will have diverse drivers and see the benefits in different places. Irrespective if this is to deliver a transformational change in people management, consolidating different systems of records, or to enable employee self-service. Get consensus up front on the goals of the project, show how these goals links to your overall organisational strategy and your HR Strategy.

The new system is ultimately there to delivery HR goals and ultimately make the organisation more successful.

When you get into the project, a few shots will inevitably be hit in the bunker, and there will be crunchy decisions to make, but make sure you can revert to a compelling vision and goals for the project. Also ensure your sponsors agree with these and communicate them widely.

And finally, make sure that ‘the tattoo’ is temporary.

4  It’s still the People, Stupid  – Identify what skills you will require

The skills needed to run HR are not the same as those needed to transform HR. Review how you will get the skills and experience required in programme management, process design, technical skills, support knowledge, change management. Then work out when these will be needed and for how long those skills are needed. Do a skills audit and work out the gaps – but this should be easy as you run HR.

You will need to fill the gaps, identify all the team members, considered the progression of roles, procured any external contractors or consultants and developed training courses.

Remember, your project team capability has the biggest impact on success not necessarily the software.

5  Define your HR Operating Model and HR Processes

It is important to know what flavour of operating model your new technology will be supporting in the future. Will there be changes to what you expect Line Managers, your workforce, your HR Business Partners to do? What is the scope of the HR shared service centre and how much might be delivered by 3rd parties in the future? It is vital that your new system will support this.

At Glass Bead Consulting, we have developed a HR Process Inventory which details every HR service, and who should be doing what in the new operating model. We found this tool really helps our clients stick to what it really needed in terms of requirements. A HR Process Inventory helps flush out ownership and interface issues at a process level, before it becomes a problem for the System Design.

It is easy to forget that typically a new technology system might not deliver real benefits for many months or years, once you have completed an eye-watering amount of data cleansing and trained the Line Managers to use the technology correctly. Unfortunately, for large global projects, by the time the system is fully operational the HR Strategy, and HR Operating required to support it might have changed anyway.

By clearly articulating your HR Operating Model and HR Process Model you can reduce the risk that they system is not fit for the future.

Finally – don’t let the Tail wag the Dog. The biggest mistake of technology projects is to let the system lead the process you will be delivering to your customers!  Our firm belief is HR has valuable skills in Change Management, Training, Communications, sourcing the right people and resources to drive any projects, including IT system implementation. Increasingly, HR also need to be Technology Champions to avoid those expensive bogeys.

It would be great to let us know what you think, or share lessons learned, on the blog or #HRTechConf

Your loyal HR Transformation caddy,
@AndySpence

1. Stop, Start & Continue – A Guide for HR Transformers

What will you Stop, Start & Continue in 2011?  Includes a useful PDF worksheet.

2. HR Transformation Articles of the Month

Add this link to your Bookmarks and browse over 90 different articles.  We trawl through the web to bring you a selection of the most interesting HR Transformation articles of the month. 

3. Future Trends in HR Operating Models

If you enjoyed reading this, check out our longer articles on What the future holds for HR , on Evaluation Centre (free, easy registration required).   Downloadable PDF article about the trends shaping future HR Operating Models.

4. HR Benchmarks – A Government Health Warning

Very topical subject, we did some analysis on UK Government HR benchmarks and attached the data in this article.  The original statistics have disappeared from the Government website, so we have had quite a few hits from Whitehall.  Also featured in the first online edition of HR Magazine.

5. HR Transformers on Twitter

11 Lists of great people to follow on Twitter, including consultants, HR practitioners, leaders, writers, analysts, techies and teachers.

6. Are you a HR Twitter Virgin?

Do you still know people in HR who have not used Twitter, surely not!  Here is a useful guide to get them started….

7. Top 5 Reasons HR Projects Fail

A golden oldie, but are we still making the same mistakes ?

8. HR Outsourcing – The Challenge of Picking Winners

In choosing a HRO vendor, a key question is How do you know they will last the course?

9. Why England Lose – Talent Management Insights from Football

Inspired by the World Cup, what can we learn from studying the management of football?

10. HR Survey Highlights Skills Gaps in HR

Very useful annual survey from ADP/HROA, see also this years findings in HR Transformation Delivers solid Savings of 25%

You can subscribe below to every new HR Transformer Blog article which will be delivered direct to your inbox.

1. In Search Of HR Tech Best Practices, by Naomi Bloom

2. The Future of Human Resources and Social Media, by Sharlyn Lauby, aka HR Bartender, on Mashable

3. HR Costs Rebounding?   from Michael O'Brien in HRE Online  

4.  Performance management: looking in the wrong place from Glyn Lumley, aka HR Maverick 

5. Service Levels for HR Services Delivery – An Evolution, from Jim Koenig – Equaterra

6. A systems thinking guide to outsourcing for the sceptical public sector leader, from the Systems Thinking Review

7. Is HR too big to innovate?, from J.Keith Dunbar, from DNA of Human Capital blog

8. Mobile Apps are Ringing up HRO, Linda Merritt from HRO Insights Blog

9. What Next for HR, Connecting HR at HRO Europe, from HR Transformer Blog

10.  Shared HR services the way forward for local authorities

1.  The end of “here’s one I prepared earlier” – from the HR Maverick Blog, aka Glyn Lumley

2. The evolution of HR Systems – from Josh Bersin

3. If I could change one thing about HR – from Nick Shackleton-Jones, BBC's manager of online and informal learning – Guest Post on XpertHR

To answer this requires the full suite of tools from both HR & L&D.   In this context, any silos between HR and L&D does not make sense.

4.  The HR Ratio Or "How Many Employees Does It Take to Screw Up an HR Department?" – Mike Haberman, HR Observations

5. Is Benchmarking Destructive? – in Consulting Magazine, reporting on a Booz & Company article

We couldn’t agree more with this view as too often we find organisations worrying about external benchmarks when it is not clear why their HR Ratio is much bigger in a particular region or business.  

For more on UK Government HR Benchmarks, see our post -  "HR Benchmarks – A Government Health Warning"

6. What we teach, How we learn – A Guide for Workplace Learning and Engagement – From Benjamin McCall and others at RestartHR

7. Fear and Loathing on LinkedIn – from Steve Boese on Fistful of Talent

8. What future for the NHS staff record – from Vince Lammas at Attractor Consulting

9. Central Government is rubbish at managing Management Consultants – Flip Chart Fairy Tales

10.  Recapping the Not-so-Dog-Days of HRO’s 2010 Summer – from HRO Insights

1.  The surprising truth about what motivates us – Daniel Pink presentation for the RSA

A refreshing and inspiring bit of communication is summed up as  “Our motivations are unbelievably interesting” – we couldn’t agree more.

2. If I could change one thing about HR – Guest posts on XpertHR from "Grumpy Lecturer" and Dr Anne Marie McEwan

Well done to Michael Carty et al at XpertHR for this stimulating series of articles.  

3. 13 Lessons from HR Shared Services Implementations  – from Human Resources IQ

4.  37 productivity tip for working from anywhere – from Mashable

5. The 20 second rule - from Charlie Judy at HRFishbowl Blog

6. Management Methods, Models and Theories – from Value Based Management

7. IT and HR: should they merge? – from Dan Pontefract at TrainingWreck blog

8. Does your HR function complicate things? – from Ron Ashkenas at Harvard Business Review

It was probably a lot worse when there were multiple organisations all managing complicated processes. HR Transformation does deliver benefits and cost savings by standardising and simplifying processes – see our recent article on HR Transformation delivers solid savings of 25% according to survey. This article comes up with some useful advice for those transforming their HR functions.

9. Naomi's Questions For Oracle OpenWorld 2010 – from Naomi Bloom at In Full Bloom

10.  Hey, aren’t I the customer here? – from 1.00 FTE

This cartoon rang a bell – tell the vendors what you want to hear in the presentation…