Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) systems can be a benefit for your organization. Unifying different aspects of your organization’s human resources helps you achieve unprecedented operational efficiencies. Their contribution to increasing your organization’s productivity is also another thing that you can’t underrate. That said, wrong or haphazard implementation can cause you more issues than give solutions.
HRMS systems make managing your organization’s human resources easy, but only if you can implement them correctly. This article will highlight the challenges you will likely face when implementing a new Human Resource Management System. But we aren’t leaving you hanging – for you’ll also learn how to circumvent those challenges – turning the HRMS into another resource you can trust.
Challenges Of Implementing an HRMS In Your Organization
1. Overseeing the implementation process
Who will implement HRMS within your organization? Are you going to rely on your in-house team, who will do it as an “additional task”? If you’re inclined to do it that way (which is the case with most businesses), then you must know that this additional task must be considered a priority. You can’t just pick it as a side task and aspect results.
Another question during the implementation process is about the level of expertise. Does the team you’ve chosen to implement the HRMS know enough about the system?
2. Dealing with the change
Whether you’re adding or removing something from your organization, there will always be elements in your organization that will resist that change. And there would be no change more significant than introducing an HRMS in your company.
You need to implement new rules and give new responsibilities to your employees. However, don’t expect all to welcome those changes with open arms. Yes, you’re the boss, and your organization must follow your decisions. However, an HRMS system does require that every employee pays attention. And the only way they can do that is if they accept those changes.
3. Configuration and Testing of the HR management system
If you’ve picked up a robust HR management system with many nuanced tools, you must first review – even test them before completely integrating them with your organization’s ERP. Some Human Resource Management Systems already have templates that fit perfectly with your organization. All you will need to do to implement them is just plug, play, and enter your organization’s details. On the other hand, the more nuanced systems must be first tailored to your organizational requirements.
Such tools require a lot of configuration before you can implement them. You might also need to create new steps for your organization to make the system more palatable.
Who will do it? Do you have dedicated personnel who can configure the HRMs? Who will test the product?
Existing systems
What system are you currently using to handle the HR tasks? Do you even have a unified approach in place that takes care of payroll and HR functions? Or are you still using disparate systems to maintain different aspects of your company?
These three questions are the most pertinent because when implementing an HRMS, you must take the data from these legacy systems and migrate it properly. If you don’t have a unified system, relocating the data will be immensely challenging.
Dealing with these Challenges
These challenges may seem behemoth. However, there are steps you can take to deal with these challenges. Here are the solutions that will help you overcome the HRMS implementation qualms within your organization.
Finding the Right Service Provider
Implementing an HRMS system in your organization cannot be an additional task – it must be a primary one. Therefore, you can’t just pull your employees away from their responsibilities and focus on the implementation process.
With the right HRMS service provider to back you up, you can easily overtime this challenge. A service provider would:
1. Have a deep understanding of the internal systems: A good service provider that leverage that understanding to make the HRMS perfectly fit your organizational requirements.
2. Consider the implementation as the main task: Implementing the HRMS within your organization would be the main task for the service provider. So, you can expect the integration to be meticulous without errors.
Having the Right Communication Strategy
The second challenge you will face is the reaction of your employees. They aren’t likely to expect the change easily. To overcome that, you must have the right communication strategy.
To make a change acceptable, you must make it more palatable. For that, you must have a good communication strategy in place. Organize seminars and workshops so your employees can get the hang of things. Modern HRMS systems focus on ease of use, so don’t expect those seminars to consume much time.
Train and Test
Configuration is not that much of a challenge. The service provider you hire will take time to understand your organization and graft the HRMS with your operational procedures. However, when it comes to testing, you need to take a two-step approach: train and test.
1. Training in the HRMS system will ease your employees into the new ecosystem you’re about to introduce to your organization. It will also help you select a suitable tester.
2. Testing is the process where you first need to create a testing plan and then implement it. First, consult with your service provider to draft a plan. Once it is completed, get your best tester to initiate the process.
Collect Information from The Existing Systems
While it will be easy to migrate info from an existing unified system to the new HRMS, getting information from disparate systems will be difficult.
Therefore, when you have decided that you’re about to implement an HRMS, start collecting information from each department and pouring them into a central database.
Organize that information as neatly as you can. Then, when the integration time arrives, the specialist will have an easier time.
Conclusion
The challenges you’d face when implementing a new HRMS system depend on your existing systems and your organization’s reaction. However, if you have the right communication strategy and implementation plan, installing a new HRMS system will be a cakewalk.
But having the right service provider will make it much more manageable. At BHC Group, our experts will ensure that you don’t have to face any challenges when introducing a new HRMS to your organization. Contact us to discuss and we’d be happy to advise and help you on your HRMS journey. Our resources have the skills and experience to make the process a lot easier for you.
