Imagine you’re well into bringing your company out of the analog age with an upgrade to your HRIS: no more paper schedules, email-exchanged timecard corrections, or “back of a napkin” math for accrual policies. Finally, you’re upgrading your company to the finest HCM software. As the project champion, you have assured your fellow executives and stakeholders that the change will be relatively seamless. Then you find out your scheduling method of throwing darts at a calendar isn’t compatible with your shiny new HCM System—can you believe that?
Today, we’ll explore the three common problems organizations often face when upgrading their HCM software. We will explore some common policy-program issues & some suggestions for adapting policy to work with the new HCM system.
1. Problem: Old struggles, new system
Example: Timecard Approval/Sign-off Process
One of the chief problems HRchitect clients hope to solve in implementing new HCM Systems is streamlining the payroll processes. The submission, approval, and sign-off of timecards are common pain points for any HR/payroll team, especially those companies going from analog to digital workflows.
Solution: Knowledge (Training) is Power!
“Train the Trainers” is the preferred method for disseminating information about the new HCM system throughout your organization. Your leaders on the ground become experts in the new system to help train and champion finding the right solutions to problems. These process leaders will focus on your organization’s pain points to ensure the HR/Payroll team understands the new way of doing things.
Do not overlook the impact change has on your organization. HRchitect has a professional services offering around change management . We help companies of any size through these fundamental shifts in how your business operates. If you are reinventing the wheel and upgrading from manual to all-digital—don’t go through that alone! HRchitect will help you be the change you want to see in your business.
2. Problem: Compliance
Example: Sick & Safe Time Policy Changes
Organizations have had to reinvent what work looks like in the post-covid era. Many organizations have moved away from office-centric work to focus on Hybrid or Remote models. While this opens a huge opportunity to find the best talent, it also comes with unique challenges for compliance. Compliance with State, Local, and Municipal Safe & Sick Time (S&S) is a significant challenge. COVID-19 brought mandatory S&S time to the forefront for policymakers. As your organization moves into a modern system, the ease of hiring remote workers will increase dramatically—as will the possibility of adjusting your policies to meet the compliance requirements of your employees. Who can help with the complexity of setting up these compliance issues?
Solution: Lean into your Implementation team
Your implementation team is a dedicated team of Implementation consultants that work with your team to advise and configure your new system to reflect your requirements. These professional consultants have the wisdom, experience, and resources of their entire organizations. Your implementation team will review your requirements and provide a configuration for each Sick Policy by State. Also, your software vendor should have automatic updates for these policies as regulations change moving forward.
3. Problem: Standardization
Example: Grandfathered Policies, Individual and Special Circumstances
Seen often with institutional businesses, like banks, insurance, and healthcare providers, we will see clients with a small subset of individuals who are on carried-over policies from days gone by. Often, there are reasons that these grandfathered policies cannot be brought in line with other policies. Special employee benefit packages may also exist that need to be accommodated. Businesses that have grown through acquisitions may struggle to standardize their policies and benefits. As companies are acquired, their policies will come with them. Therefore, accrual policies may have these standardization issues, but we’ve also seen special timekeeping rules for different employee groups that may happen due to an acquisition
. The transition to a new HCM/Workforce Management (WFM) system is the perfect time to align these policies. A warning: as you review your policies, ensure these special requirements are included in your Statement of Work. If you cannot align these special policies with the rest of your organization, then a specialized configuration will need to be created and maintained for each of these unique policies. How can your organization manage these changes?
Solution: A Change Management Initiative
Implementing a new timekeeping system across a company is a monumental task. Many clients use this opportunity to review and revise their policies. It is an excellent opportunity to do that review, but it may be daunting. Make sure you plan for the time this will take to avoid delaying your implementation. Through a change management initiative, HRchitect’s change management professionals will ensure your organization is prepared for the transition to your new system and the policy changes you undertake.
Your implementation period will be chock full of changes; you’ll discover (and rediscover) opportunities for making your business more efficient and challenges that could directly affect your implementation’s success. No matter what system or vendor you’ve chosen, have conversations at least about how your standardization of policies, processes, and operations plus compliance issues will change as you learn more about your new system.
HRchitect is here to help. Contact us to learn more about our solutions for your HCM Implementation challenges.
About the Author
David Rosencrance is an implementation consultant with over a decade of experience in leadership, system building, and implementation. He joined the HRchitect team in 2023 and has immensely enjoyed solving the complex and unique problems our clients face.
To learn more about David Rosencrance, check out LinkedIn.
Additional Reading: Change Management is Important: What is your role?