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FOUR STEPS TO CLOUD HR SUCCESSMoving HR into the Cloud seemed like such a great idea at the time with so many potential benefits to be had… but instead we’re seeing that;
• People aren’t using the new toolset effectively
• The experience of working with HR has not really changed
• We have access to a lot of new data but aren’t sure how we can get the most value out of it”.
Sound familiar?
SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?We find that where the benefits of moving to cloud HR are not fully realised one or more of the following areas needs additional focus:
1. HR OPERATING MODELOne client told us “Getting our HR operating model right was the single most important part of our HRIS implementation”.
A successful move to an HR cloud solution, one which changes the way you interact with HR, requires changes to your HR operating model. This is because when one layer (in this case, technology) changes this has implications for all others.
HR IN THE CLOUD
IT Adoption
HR operating
model
Data andanalytics
2. ADOPTIONWe’ve heard: “If we had involved people from the start our roll out would have been more successful”.
Whilst HR cloud solutions can often be highly intuitive and user-friendly this alone is not enough to guarantee user adoption, let alone using the system in the right way.
Our experience tells us that people struggle to embrace the new technology if they are missing a willingness and / or ability to adopt. Example root causes include:
2 North Highland Four steps to Cloud HR success
PEOPLE• Employees and managers
become increasingly self-sufficient which changes the nature and level of support they need from HR
• HR’s increased focus on value-add activities (rather than administration) fundamentally changes the role of HR
• Upskilling HR to confidently use analytics to inform the people agenda and to be a strategic partner to the business is key for setting HR up for success. This usually requires capability development activities that need to be carefully planned – along with educating HR on the importance of letting go of administrative tasks
PROCESS• Cloud-based solutions do
not lend themselves to customisation. Instead they provide an opportunity to challenge current complexities
• Changes to ways of working will reach beyond the immediate system steps. Roles and responsibilities will be more clearly defined, allowing activities to be consistently allocated at the right time to the right people
• A more effective and efficient delivery of HR services will mean less administration for HR and more time to focus on what matters – pushing HR “up the value curve”
• Organisation structures and staffing levels may need to be revisited
TECHNOLOGY• Managers and employees are
able to complete people-related tasks anytime and anywhere
• People processes are easier to navigate, delivered through technology that provides an engaging (mobile) experience
• Managers and HR have access to reliable and real-time people data, informing business decisions and the broader people agenda
• Greater visibility of information fosters a sense of ownership for people-data amongst managers and employees
• Automatic releases bring continual change, ensuring that you stay up to date with the latest functionality
VISION & STRATEGYA change in technology needs to form part of your overall vision and strategic direction for HR and its role within the business. Clarity around this and how new technology enables the business helps drive buy-in.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEUnderstanding what your customers (the business) are looking for in their HR function should be at the heart
of the case for technology change. You may encounter pockets of resistance especially in areas seeing an increase in expected levels of self-service. To overcome this the benefits case must be clearly articulated from
each customer group’s perspective.
NOT WILLING: ‘DON’T WANT TO’ SYMPTOMS • People do not see any value of adoption
• People are not incentivised to use the system
• People do not face consequences if they don’t use the system
• People are not ‘bought in’ (no prior engagement)
• People do not see any changes in the way their leaders or HR are behaving
• People can still easily defer to the old ways of working
NOT ABLE: ‘DON’T KNOW HOW TO’ SYMPTOMS• People did not receive the appropriate training
• People are not aware of the expectations of them
• People experience significant usability issues e.g. bugs
• People have limited end user support
• People don’t trust the data in the system
Through a combination of interviews and assessments the root causes can be identified and the right combination of targeted interventions put in place. Where a comprehensive selection of business areas might not have been involved during the design and roll out of your HR solution in the first place this presents a good opportunity to turn around user perception and increase engagement by involving people in the process.
The scale of behavioural change - with significant changes to both HR and line manager roles in particular - should not be underestimated. We recommend revisiting how these changes are reinforced through performance management, and positioning HR at the front and centre of driving change. For adoption to be successful the focus needs to be less about the new technology and more about the changing role of the HR function. In short, a concerted change management effort is needed to:
• Clearly articulate the case for change and align leaders around it
• Define the success criteria for user adoption and how they will be measured. Once a common set of goals has been agreed the plan can be put in place on how to get there
• Engage stakeholders and bring clarity around their role in the change as well as supporting them in how they can actively role model the behaviours expected of their teams
• Fully understand the change impacts as a means to define targeted interventions that will resonate with and engage specific groups
3. DATA AND ANALYTICSWe’ve heard that: “Thinking about how to use the data effectively from the get go made all the difference when getting buy in to the business case”.
The ability to generate real insight through improved access to data, spurring the move from intuition to data-driven decision making is one of the most significant benefits of implementing a cloud HR solution. To make the most of this data consider:
Data and analytics is set to disrupt HR - especially with advances in predictive analytics. Your HR cloud solution is one step on that journey - equipping people with the right skills now will set HR up as a forward thinking innovative partner to the business.
3 North Highland Four steps to Cloud HR success
GOVERNANCE AND ROLES
CAPABILITIES
DATA VISUALISATION
LOOKING BEYOND HE HERE AND NOW
• Data owners – who is responsible for inputting, analysing and interpreting data?
• Data governance and security – how is data governed as a strategic asset and how is security maintained?
• Equipping line managers with the right tools and capabilities to use the data effectively
• Providing HR practitioners with the skills to interpret and drive insight from the data
• Using existing capability already within the organisation e.g. data scientists, data miners, data technicians
• Leveraging visualisations to enable HR to make the right decisions quickly and to action those decisions
• Using improved access to data to support talent attraction and retention
• Better understand patterns of behaviour influencing attrition
• Using the data gathered to enhance the experience of interacting with HR
4. IT
We’ve heard: “If we had thought more about how implementing Workday fitted in with our broader plans within IT we might have planned the roll out differently”.
It is essential that IT are able to support the new technology and manage the integration points between the HR data and the numerous systems it interacts with. Key IT considerations are:
Embarking on your HR cloud journey? Want to find out more about realising the benefits from your HR cloud solution? Need help with an overarching cloud adoption strategy?
Get in touch!
With federated IT models and / or where budgets are held within business areas there is an increased risk of not having a joined up cloud strategy. The experience of buying software as a service can reinforce the view that ‘what serves HR needs’ is separate from other IT demands. Moreover, we often find HR is the first major application in the cloud and the pace of adoption enables it to precede a formalised strategy. Experience tells us that innovation, cost benefits and integration suffer where one cloud solution is selected in isolation from a view on the bigger picture.
Multiple systems use people-related data such as buildings access, finance and knowledge management. You must manage the integration points between these different systems carefully and consider the processes and policies in place related to master data management. If integration isn’t taken into account upfront, manual work arounds will need to be put in place which can be prone to error and lead to un-joined up data all resulting in poor user experiences.
The role and mind-set of your IT teams needs to change for HR cloud to be successfully implemented. In the past the tendency was to wait for testing and bugs to be found in new versions before upgrading. With cloud technology there is generally little or no control over the upgrade process. Your IT teams need to be skilled in adapting rapidly to new versions and helping users with those changes. Targeted activities should be put in place to develop both the skills and behaviours needed to adapt to these new ways of working
CLOUD STRATEGY
INTEGRATION
THE ROLE OF IT
North Highland is a global management consulting firm known for helping clients solve their most complex challenges related to customer experience, transformation, performance improvement, and technology and digital. We add value and support our clients across the full spectrum of consulting, from strategy through delivery. We bring the big ideas, then we make them real. North Highland is an employee-owned firm, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., with more than 3,000 consultants worldwide and 60+ offices around the globe, and has been named as a “Best Firm to Work For” every year since 2007 by Consulting Magazine. The firm is a member of Cordence Worldwide (www.cordenceworldwide.com), a global management consulting alliance.
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Verena Gold
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Elisabeth Coates
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