What’s Next? DO Something!

Now that the energy from HR Tech has dissipated and life is back to normal, what do you do next in your quest to transform Human Capital Management at your company. Artificial intelligence looks like a cool concept, the increasing real-world relevance of HR analytics that support improved business performance and human capital solutions that really perform like unitary platforms are just a few of the things that may have caught your eye at the HR Technology & Exposition in Las Vegas earlier this month. Invariably the challenge isn’t coming up with cool ideas it’s figuring out how to make them reality in your organization.

Inevitably people want to know who has the budget to support all these good ideas or how can we implement these new solutions and continue to support day to day operations. No one demonstrated a new flip the switch implementation tool that supports switching from one vendor to the latest and greatest with one magical download. So where do you start in making some of the changes that you know are required to help position your company as viable option in a crowded talent acquisition market.

I have many companies who ask me what they can and should do in advance of undergoing a HCM transition. This is motivated by concern that budget constraints or competing corporate priorities may delay the human capital transformation you desperately hope to effect. There are three key suggestions that I would like to pass along that will assist you as your organization waits to engage these important initiatives.

First, it is critical to initiate efforts to understand your key human capital business processes today. A catalog of current business process will be a valuable place to start when it comes time to start your deployment efforts, but it also provides potential for some initial redesign and streamlining efforts that you may want to undertake prior to a technology change. There is no merit in automating a mess so make life easier by starting by identifying areas of waste and inefficiency that are priorities for change.

Second, making efforts to fully staff your key HR, Payroll, Benefits and Talent Management positions now in advance of any implementation effort will pay full dividends once those efforts are actually initiated. The work load and toll on current staff during an implementation effort is significant and most organizations fail to grasp that keeping the business running and deploying new solutions can overwhelm the best team. Starting with a full talent roster and back-filling key positions is one method to make it through what is often a grueling deployment effort.

Third and finally, your leadership team should be using this time to think about your strategic priorities. When and how your deployment effort begins you have choices. This includes whether you want to do a big-bang implementation effort where you try to deploy as much functionality as possible. This option helps companies realize the return on investment of a unitary solution, but the work effort is high. Various options exist when you consider a phased roll-out with options to phase deployment by geography, business units or functionality.

Don’t let another year of good ideas turn into unrealized aspirations. Commit to turning concepts into reality by doing something this year. Maybe next year you will be presenting your success story at HR Tech!