Are You Asking the Right Questions?
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originally posted on 8-November-2009
image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
With the economical challenges every business is facing, trimming costs and maintaining a watchful eye on overhead and project costs is paramount for all businesses, whether SMB’s or international enterprises.
The economics landscape is changing drastically — and ideas, innovative or not, need to be focused on providing more return for their investment…
This includes an increase in efficiencies, cost-effectiveness, a well-defined ROI is imperative to keeping costs under control and effective training that reduces the learning curve after the implementation.
The Real Goal of Your Investment
Obtaining a new HRIS system for many will assist in consolidating business processes, information storage, task management and recording of time and attendance – for large companies and enterprises the list is extensive as the economies-to-scale kick in.
Whether the new system is replacing a legacy system or replacing several labor intensive business processes, the goal is to not only to have your investment returned in short order but also increase your efficiencies and effectiveness after the system has been implemented.
A Need for Comparisons
CompareHRIS.com provides a great start in determining which systems to take into consideration.
This is the ONLY location where comparisons can be made of several systems at the same time.
addendum 25-May-2012: For those in Europe, the counter-part would be HRcomparison.com, operated by CEO Denis W Bernard.
Place Value to Your Selection Process
But which systems should you be taking into consideration?
At first it may appear that the choice(s) is obvious…
But is it?
The value you place on this selection process will be evident through the implementation process as well as the life of the system…
You can’t divorce your system once the implementation passes the engagement…
Well… you can but you may be broke afterwards!
There are always cases of a company choosing what they thought was the right system – only to have one unnecessary challenge after another domino throughout the selection and implementation process.
Once the dominoes start, there are only two ways to stop them – either putting a brake on everything or just let it all play out, guiding everything towards your intended goal and hoping as much as possible arrives there as well.
Either way you have to start rebuilding from the beginning as the implementation (and in some cases production) continues…
Fit Your Selection to Your Immediate Future
Each system has their own sets of strengths and weaknesses – whether SMB, large company or enterprise level systems.
Inadvertently choosing a system that has a weakness where you need your system to be strong – now and in the future – is the worst case scenario.
You may end up needing to create workarounds that could end up being high maintenance and labor intensive, or worse needing another system to fill in the gaps…
Business Processes Efficiencies and Effectiveness
In order to keep the economics maximized, the message is clear – you have to do your homework based upon the information needs of your company as well as your present business processes.
Keep in mind that even with the best-fit system, you may still need to consider redesigning your business processes in order to maximize effectiveness and efficiencies.
This also encompasses knowing without a doubt what your employees will need for reporting based upon company policies and protocols.
Questions Lead to Your Answers – Right or Wrong
Do you really know what questions to ask?
Are you sure you have the right questions?
Have you taken into consideration the normal work load each user of the system will have as well as all your reporting needs?
Did you know approaching the discovery process and your needs assessment from the correct angle can take less than 3 weeks to accomplish?
Did you know that the wrong questions could double the cost of your implementation – even if they seemed to be the right questions at the time?
Where You Focus is Where You Will Go
Proper planning and perspectives from the very beginning is essential.
There are processes that may seem tedious and unnecessary – until the 20/20 vision of hindsight kicks in and you realize what was missed.
So this leads to a whole new set of questions revolving around one focus – what will it take to get from thinking you need a new system to having a system that is the best fit for your company?
A system that works for one company will not necessarily be the best fit another company even if they are in the same industry…
Conclusion
With 20+ years in roles as a client executive sponsor, project management, as well as functional / technical lead, Garrett is sought for his expertise in the USA, Europe, and Brazil.
He has an extensive background in implementing multi-product, multi-line HRIS environments that provides a smoother transition from legacy to new systems.
Garrett’s previous clients include ADP, Case New Holland, Cushman & Wakefield, Honeywell International, Lubrizol, MAHLE, Sodexho USA, and many others ranging from SMB’s to the Fortune 50.
Currently, Garrett works from his home office near São Paulo, Brazil as the publisher and editor for The HRIS World publications. Also, he contributes articles for their various blogs as well as provides guest posts to several IT, Cloud, and HRIS blogs.
Garrett’s current roles involve…
• Publisher, writer, and owner of 4 leading HRIS system and career blogs which are read in 50+ countries
• HR.com Advisory Board for the ERP/HRIS Community
• CEO for CGServices USA — focusing on multi-provider, multi-line system for HRIS systems
• Registered partner with Microsoft, providing the latest developments on the newest technologies from Microsoft
• Council and Education Member of Gerson Lehrman Group Council, which helps institutions of the world leaders meet, engage and manage experts across a wide range of sectors and disciplines.
In the news…
HR and the Cloud
Isabella Chan of HR Matters talks to Garrett O’Brien about the growth of cloud computing and building a technology strategy around HR.
Your Invite to Guest Post
More articles by Garrett O'Brien...
- Cloud is Dominating Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions - 22-May-2013
- Fearful Leadership Can Become Courageous Leadership - 22-May-2013
- Josh Bersin Speaks of “Glocalization” for HR: Fad or Direction? - 13-May-2013
- Why Multi-Tasking and Being Plugged-In All the Time Isn't - 9-May-2013
- Have You Adopted Your Job Search to the New Ways of Recruiting? - 6-May-2013
- Why the Impact of PPACA on Your Business Is So Huge - 4-May-2013
- Employee Satisfaction: The Key to Successful Business? - 23-April-2013
- Boston - 15-April-2013
- Mobile ESS? Mobile MSS? Why the Wait? - 12-April-2013
- Forrester Research : Are You Prepared for the Mobile Mind Shift? - 26-March-2013
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