10 Tips: HRMS Implementation and Optimization (+ How to Obtain Buy-In)

hrms implementation
Avatar photo

WorkforceHub

HR tech that powers small businesses. Get in, get the job done and keep your business moving with an easy to use solution for time, HR and benefits.

Significantly reducing or completely eliminating the repetitive and mundane actions that every human resources employee is tasked with on a daily basis is the ultimate dream.

There is absolutely no reason why your HR team should be tied up with dull data entry and administrative tasks when they have much larger fish to fry, such as enhancing the company culture, improving benefits, and strengthening employee relations and satisfaction.

An HRMS system is the perfect solution to address those smaller tasks and allow your HR department to focus on what truly matters. Plus, an HRMS will give your company the momentum it needs to scale quicker by improving workplace efficiency.

Introducing a new HRMS is a no-brainer, but that doesn’t mean you won’t run into a few speed bumps on your road to implementation. This article will walk you through the best ways to obtain stakeholder buy-in for a new HRMS system as well as the ten top tips to implement it smoothly (once you have approval).

How to obtain buy-in for your HRMS

Those speed bumps we just discussed take shape as the key stakeholders in your project, and you will notice very quickly that you have more than just leadership to worry about. Leadership will be your first obstacle, then you will need to get your HR team on board, and lastly, your concern should be focused on your users. Ensuring that the employees who will actually be using the HRMS are satisfied should be your biggest priority.

Let’s walk through how to get it done successfully.

First and foremost, get everyone who needs to be in the know involved early and often. A new workplace process as large as this one is going to take a lot of time to get used to, so make sure the news isn’t sprung on anyone. You will want to collaborate with all parties involved to ensure you have all of their thoughts on the matter and that all of your bases are covered when you’re ready to move forward.

When it comes to dealing with leadership, you will need to come prepared. This means providing a clear path to proving ROI. You should start by pointing out all of the issues that your HR team is running into during their day-to-day duties. Call out the biggest blockers and prove exactly how an HRMS will solve them.

Additionally, your team’s, as well as the entire company’s, long-term success will be of interest. Many HRMS providers will be able to map out exactly what you can expect in terms of success if you use their service, and you should leverage this to improve your case. Paint a picture of where your company will be in six months, one year, and five years after the rollout. Prove the value that a new HRMS will bring to the company. You should also align your HRMS provider’s timeline for success with the upcoming goals your leadership is hoping to achieve. Doing so will ensure that the ROI is in the company’s future favor as well.

10 top tips for implementing an HRMS

Now that all of your stakeholders are on board and are successfully bought into the idea of an HRMS, it’s time to actually implement the system. Use these ten tips to guide your transition.

Tip 1: Determine clear objectives and goals

Before you start anything, you will need to set clear objectives and goals for your new HRMS. You should have a list of all the issues that your HR department is currently facing, and how the HRMS will solve them. This step is all about planning. You should know your company’s budget, future goals to be accomplished, and the exact ways the HRMS will affect them.

Tip 2: Set a realistic timeline

Be honest with yourself and your team that’s helping you when creating your timeline. You want to budget for unforeseen circumstances that come up, adequate testing time, learning sessions, and strategy building. If you set a go-live date that’s too ambitious, the adoption and success of your entire project will suffer.

Tip 3: Recruit your implementation team

You are only one person. Yes, it’s true that you’re the one person who is in charge of this project, but you will need a lot of support. Oftentimes, this team will be made up of your key stakeholders. Not only do these people have a say so in how this pans out, but they genuinely care for the success, because more likely than not, the new HRMS will affect their day-to-day work moving forward.

Tip 4: Evaluate all HRMS options on the market

Choosing the perfect HRMS for your company can be an extremely overwhelming process when considering the number of options on the market. To make this as simple as possible, be sure to focus on your company’s primary business needs and which solution will serve them best. Budget is also a huge consideration, so be sure you’re not overspending. Lastly, ensure that you are choosing a provider that has a fantastic support team. You will need this along your implementation journey and beyond.

Tip 5: Create a process map

Now that you’re more aware of what this implementation is going to take to roll out, it’s time to set a more specific timeline with smaller completion goals. You can break this up in phases or weeks, the purpose of this is to meet project milestones more quickly and break up the daunting task of implementing a project as large as this one. This will also keep you and your team accountable and on track for the go-live date.

Tip 6: Start migrating the data

Migrating your company’s data over to a more efficient solution will be useless if the data has gaping holes or is wildly inaccurate. You’ll want to send out a company-wide request to have every employee check their information. Once you have that, you can begin transferring. It’s crucial to note that before you do any sort of migration, backing up your company’s data is of the utmost importance. It would be devastating to learn that a system failed during the transfer process and every piece of information that’s crucial to the inner workings of your business is lost for good. No matter how often your company performs a backup, you cannot rely on one source or team to have it. Do your due diligence as the project leader and get your IT team to backup the data before you begin, just to be safe.

Tip 7: Obsess over security during the migration

You’ll want your IT team to help you with this next step as well. You can never be too careful when it comes to personal data. Ensure that you have all of the proper data security parameters in place before, during, and after the migration process. Every employee trusts that the company has their best interests in mind, and this process is no different.

Tip 8: Train a group of employees to become HRMS experts

Poor user adoption is one, if not the biggest reason large-scaled implementations such as this one fail. The key is to get the right people up to speed on how to start using the HRMS before the company-wide rollout, which in turn will create a trickle-down effect for the rest of the company. Recruit your C-suite, managers of all levels, and of course, the people who will be spending a lot of time with the new system to learn best practices and how to properly integrate the new workflow into day-to-day work.

Tip 9: Get ready to go live!

Once you have every single thing above this completed, it’s (finally) time for the moment you’ve been waiting for. It’s go time. You should have a plan of action in place to address anything that could go wrong. Doing so will ensure you’re prepared for everything and know what to do in the event a problem does arise. Your IT team can come in handy at this step as well, alongside your vendor’s representative.

Tip 10: Measure performance, success, and issues

Now that your HRMS is live and it’s starting to get some real use by employees across the company, it’s time to track the performance thus far. This is a step that should take place upon completion of any project, and it ensures continued success for the future. Of course, if any serious issue or workflow blockers have come to the surface, your next big job is to work on remedying the situations. Your key stakeholders will more likely than not have some things to say. Listen to everyone and take notes. Feedback from those who matter most to this project will only improve the process.

How to Optimize Your HRMS System

Hiring

  1. Build applicant tracking workflow
  2. Create an internal recruiting process and an external recruiting process
  3. Assign tasks to members of the hiring team
  4. Create templates for job descriptions, emails, questionnaires
  5. Use standardized scoring for questionnaires and interviews
  6. Connect stage changes to automated process actions (texts/emails, invitation to interview scheduling calendar, background/reference checks)
  7. Use a self-service interface to schedule interviews

Onboarding

  1. Enroll newly hired employee in the payroll system
  2. Employee handbook (digital or print)
  3. Gather new hire paperwork
    • I-9
    • W-4
    • Insurance enrollment,
    • Retirement plans
    • Life insurance,
    • HSA
    • Disability insurance, employee handbook

Day One Prep

  • Send email to new hire prior to first day. Include parking instructions, building access, map to office, name of person who will meet them.
  • Prepare workspace: phone extension, email account, computer, network connection, software apps and passwords, furniture, paper, pens and other office supplies
  • Human Resources Management

Day One

  1. Greet new hire at the door
  2. Introduce team
  3. Explain collaboration tools
  4. Building tour
  5. Instruct on time and attendance process
  6. Assign short-term project to focus energy and build confidence
  7. Invite new hire to company social events

HR Management

  1. HRMS employee portal
  2. Company directory
  3. Suggestion box
  4. Recognition wall

Time and Attendance

  1. Enter employee in the time and labor system
  2. Instruct new hire on:
  3. Tracking work time–onsite and mobile
  4. Submitting timecards
  5. View PTO balance and submit time off requests
  6. Accessing schedule and shift trading
  7. Employee signature for agreement to follow time and attendance rules

Employee Scheduling

  1. Enter new employees in the scheduling system
    • Contact info
    • Job title
    • Part-time or full-time
    • Job roles they can perform
    • Qualifications/certifications
    • Shift availability
    • Schedule preferences
  2. Create schedule rules
    • Minimum and maximum shift lengths
    • Number of employees per shift
    • Multiple locations
    • FLSA requirements
    • Predictive scheduling rules
  3. Set alerts for double booking, scheduled PTO, overtime thresholds
  4. Use self-service shift trading
  5. Cross-train for schedule flexibility
  6. Track scheduling data for ongoing optimization

Using Your HRMS for Offboarding Employees

Offboarding is the process of ending the employment relationship between an employer and employee. There are multiple reasons for separation:

  • Employee is laid off
  • The employee is terminated
  • Employee resigns voluntarily
  • The employee retires
  • The business closes

HRMS Offboarding Tools/Features

Similar to onboarding, an HRMS streamlines the separation process:

  • Offboarding checklists
  • Internal task assignment with reminders
  • Termination paperwork with e-sign and completion confirmation
  • Real-time analytics and reporting

Begin HRMS implementation now

Successfully receiving the buy-in needed to implement an HRMS is just the beginning. The real battle begins when it’s time to introduce a new and very large-scaled process into your workplace. Allow these ten tips to guide you in the right direction when it’s time to finally put your plans into motion. Upon successful implementation, you will begin to see the quick scale of growth that your business will have due to the increased efficiencies of each and every department, specifically your HR department. On top of that, an HRMS will ensure that your company is kept up to date on all necessary compliances with workplace law while diminishing the mundane tasks that previously had to be done by hand. It will be incredibly worth it once you have successful integration – quick growth and success are now on your horizon.

Simplify HR management today.

Simplify HR management today.

Earned Wage Access (EWA) 101

March 26, 2024
Posted in ,

Attract, retain and motivate talent while reducing costs with EWA Guest post by: Tate Hackert It should come as no surprise to learn that many employees are living paycheck to paycheck—two in five, to be exact. 84 percent of employees are also worrying about finances while at work. Employees today are struggling to make ends meet,…

Read More

What to Expect in the Workplace During March Madness

March 19, 2024
Posted in ,

It’s that time of year again. Everyone is talking about Cinderella teams, brackets, upset alerts, and cutting down nets. As an employer, you may be wondering how March Madness impacts your team morale and productivity levels. And the reality is, the NCAA basketball tournament does have an effect. But just how much? Let’s dive in…

Read More
brand-workforce-shower

WorkforceHub takes care of business.

We’ll show you how.

Request a Demo - Footer Form

Looking for help? Please click here.

brand - dots