Fail
to Plan-Plan to Fail
Implementation of an Integrated Human Resource System
T
There is a trend within the HR community toward consolidating as many
software applications as possible under one vendor. As such, companies
have focused on Enterprise Related Planning (ERP) solutions to develop
integrated suites that allow HR departments to track an employee’s
entire lifecycle within an organisation. This Project Plan provides for
establishing the Human Resource ERP Systems Requirements in our sample
Medium to Large Size Company called SAMPLE COMPANY. This project plan
uses plain and un-ambiguous terms, such that it can be used as a
reference for all stakeholders. This document outlines the Project
Planning elements necessary for Integrating ERP Human Resource/Payroll
Systems in Medium to Large Size Companies. These are a few key points
about ERP projects
a) On average the project
life cycle takes from 6 to 14 months from Start to Go Live.
b) 30% of projects are never completed.
c) 35% of projects missed time, budget or functional goals.
d) Only 30% of new system capabilities are utilised.
As the acquisition of a new HR/Payroll system is a major corporate
project it is very important to structure the project for success. A
formal process needs to be developed to identify organisation's needs.
This includes the identification of current processes, resources, and
costs.
1.1
Project Initiation
SAMPLE COMPANY currently employs 2,600 people in the areas of
Management, Administration, Marketing, Sales, After-Sales Support,
Research & Development, Production, Maintenance, and Catering. Human
resource master-file information is held on the payroll system. A
history of payroll information relating to payments and deductions is
held on this system. SAMPLE COMPANY's existing payroll system was
designed to pay staff. It was not designed to keep a history of employee
records or provide enterprise-wide human resources functionality.
Data of all personnel related
activity is held on stand-alone systems. The existing payroll has served
SAMPLE COMPANY well for 16 years. SAMPLE COMPANY has expanded its
operation to four sites and has quadrupled its workforce.
SAMPLE COMPANY now operate work schedules on the basis of
flextime, compressed work weeks and staggered shifts to provide 24 hours
service each day of the week, whereas only one shift existed originally.
This growth has resulted in an increasing number of departments
developing their own data base solutions to meet their day-to-day HR
management needs. Employee data on these systems is often inconsistent
and grouped in various formats. These stand-alone systems have limited
integration potential and pose significant data integrity and security
risks. Excessive time is required to collate the data for corporate
reporting and decision making purposes.
Existing software doesn’t integrate well with our other systems
and SAMPLE COMPANY is drowning in double and treble entry. SAMPLE
COMPANY's current payroll and HR systems struggle to keep pace with
ever-changing requirements and are no longer fit for purpose. SAMPLE
COMPANY now wishes to put in place a system to improve productivity and
efficiency of the HR process.
The HR/Payroll Integration project is a major initiative to replace
SAMPLE COMPANY's existing payroll system and implement a modern human
resources and payroll system. This project impacts every employee. An
integrated HR and payroll system is to hold all information about an
employee’s journey from appointment to retirement. The HR/Payroll system
is to pay employees and provides information for strategic and
operational management.
For anyone who is setting out to buy their first human resource
management information system, remember that is not quite like buying a
word processing package for the Payroll department. The cost of the
project does not start and end with the purchase of the software with
the CD ROM and user manual. Buying an application, even like a word
processing package for a single department, probably has gone through a
small sample of what an HRMS project will include. They will have found
out what the basic requirements for the end users will be and they will
have found out what the company policy is on buying software. No sense
buying Word Perfect if the company insists everyone use Microsoft Word.
Purchasing integrated HR and Payroll software is very much like this
however the overall impact on the company can be substantial, therefore
the time and care taken to buy the “right” application for your
organisation is even more critical.
For many, the concern is the true cost of implementing the new
application, once the software is paid for. But before we get to that
it’s very important to keep in mind that a company should have made a
significant investment in the project before buying the software. The
time and effort spent on clearly identifying the needs, costs and
benefits of your organisation before making a vendor selection will
determine to a large degree just how successful you are in implementing
your new application and meeting your objectives of keeping costs under
control.
1.1.1
Project Charter
This charter gives some basic guidelines on how to structure this
project to ensure a high degree of satisfaction with the resulting
decisions.
a) Plan the steps that must be taken to identify requirements, goals,
objectives, and costs. We do not focus on products until we have a clear
statement of requirement. Resist the urge to look at the vendors
recommended by others.
c) Make use of consulting expertise where the company lacks the
skills to complete difficult analysis, and to have an external
validation of our findings.
d) Ensure that SAMPLE COMPANY have an executive sponsor and support
from the top in the form of a steering committee composed of senior
management representatives. These representatives ensure that strategic
decisions are dealt with in a timely manner and that the project is kept
on track.
This Project Charter is to be put before a steering Group established
by the project Sponsor on 15/02/2019. This Charter gives authority to
commence project planning for “Implementation of an Enterprise Resource
Planning System at SAMPLE COMPANY”.
Goal
The over-riding Goal is to Improve Organisational Efficiency. The
purpose of the project is to (a) Reduce Processing Time (b) Produce
Timely Reports (c) Reduce Paper Flow (d) Enhance Employee Support (e)
Adapt to Changing Needs (f) Increase Productivity
Stakeholders
The primary stakeholders are The Management Teams, The ERP Suppliers,
Departmental Managers, and the Project Implementation Team. The
secondary project stakeholders are Employees, Insurance/Taxation
Statutory Bodies, Banks, Trade Unions, and other Payroll Partners e.g.
Health Insurers, Credit Unions, Pension Funds etc.
Budget &
Funding
The estimated project costs as per the project plan are:
| Payroll | Non-Pay |
Total |
| € 280,000 | € 340,000 | € 620,000 |
The project is funded from current expenditure. This is exclusive of
the costs of internal plant and machinery, heat power and light and use
of equipment. The “Success Framework” analyzes the metrics that drive a
return on this investment.
Timescale
This project is to last for a period of fourteen months from February
2019 to March 2020, with go-live scheduled to begin from 1st January
2020. The project is broken down into phases:
| 1. Establish Business Requirements |
2. Vendor Selection
|
| 3. Business Process Reengineering | 4. Assess
Business Readiness |
| 5. Software Set-up |
6. Training |
| 7. System Integration | 8. Cutover-Transition to new System |
| 9. Go Live Support and Maintenance |
Resource Requirements
The Project resource requirements to complete the project are:
1. Project Steering Group
2. User Group
3. Two HR Resources
4. Two Finance Resources
5. One Information Technology Resource
6. One Project Manager
7. Vendor
Project Steering Group
Project Steering Group is made up of members of the Management Team,
and meets once monthly. This Group is chaired by the Director of H.R.
The Project Manager is ultimately responsible for the successful
implementation of the Project.
The
responsibility of the Steering Group is:
•
To drive through the changes necessary to enable implementation
of system.
•
To ensure adequate resourcing of the project.
•
To agree support and ensure successful implementation of work
plans.
•
To provide a forum for escalation and resolution of any issues
affecting implementation of the system.
•
Review and approve change requests and additional risks affecting
time, cost or project quality.
•
To sign-off acceptance of project stages.
•
To ensure that the direction and quality of the project are
maintained through implementation of clear training and communication
strategies.
User Group
The User Group is made up of representatives from each service area
of SAMPLE COMPANY, and is chaired by the Project Manager. The UAG meet
every 6 weeks, for approximately one hour. This Group will provide
specialist support for maximising the utilisation of the system. Their
responsibility is primarily as a Quality Assurance role in validating
the deliverables from the project, e.g. Conceptual Design Stage, Change
Management and Business functionality. Their specific responsibilities
are to:
•
Reports to the Project Steering Group.
•
Promote the new system internally in order to maximise user
take-up and confidence, through establishing local review groups to
examine and address issues supported by a Change Management process.
•
Act as ambassadors for the system – identifying and supporting
users.
•
Review and revise business processes and procedures.
•
Provide support to the Implementation Team in introducing the
system.
•
Review the detailed design of the system.
•
Assist in the design and execution of acceptance testing.
•
Assist in the design, approval and adaptation of the corporate
training program.
Signed
_______________________________
(Project Sponsor)
Date:_________________
1.1.2
Project Scope
The overall goal of this
project is to replace the current mainframe payroll system and enhance
and streamline data and business processes within the overall human
resources function.
Functional Scope
The functional scope of the project begins with nine functional
capabilities that are further divided into a series of business
processes. This exercise will be undertaken as part of the Product Work
Inputs under Document "to be" HR functionality and outlined in the
Request for Proposal (RFP). Together the functional capabilities and
business processes define the business scope. The functional
capabilities are:
• Creation and maintenance of positions
• Employee Personal Information
• Company Information
•
Demographic info
•
• Tracking required courses by title
• Tracking of trainers, equipment and facilities
• Review analysis
• Performance review reminders
• Disciplinary action tracking
• Open position tracking
• Internal applicants
• External online applicants
• Benefit deductions to payroll
• Third party vendor reporting
• Job and pay history and analysis
• Salary survey analysis
• Calculation of sick, vacation
• Tracking and monitoring of sick/vacation
• Pay period and annual reporting of balances to staff
• Management of any maximum accrual, or carryover
• Leave scheduling
• Sick leave usage analysis
• Support employee self-services
• Employee vacation request with manager approval
• Ad hoc reporting
• Standard reports
• Report writing capability
System Scope
All systems currently linked with payroll and not integrated with the
HRIS will need to be interfaced with HRIS. All the decisions to include
or exclude functions from the project scope will be recommended to and
approved by the project sponsor.
Technical Scope
The technical scope will largely depend on the system chosen. Include
the following queries in the RFP.
Define the base technical
environment for the new application - networked client/server, or
mainframe.
Define the operating system. Does it need to run on -- Windows NT,
UNIX, etc.?
How will it connect to remote offices?
Does it make a difference what language the application is programmed
in such as SQL, Java, C++, JavaScript etc.?
1.1.3
Success Framework
The basis for succeeding with this project is
through satisfying the success criteria. The critical success factors
are represented in the middle of the “Theoretical Success Framework”
diagram, representing their relationship to achieving both project and
product objectives and their influence on satisfying the success
criteria. The objectives, the success factors and the success criteria
were agreed on during a number of brainstorming sessions with The
Management Teams, The ERP Suppliers, Departmental Managers, and the
Project Implementation Team. When identifying organisation's needs:
a) Involve key management personnel. Ask each
manager his or her 3 to 6 Critical Success Factors for managing to get a
perspective of how important HR/Pay information is.
b) Involve line managers, they are the true users
of a corporate HR/Payroll system.
c) Involve payroll and human resource members with
expertise in the functional areas of the enterprise.
When you identify your current “as is” processes
resources and costs:
a) Document current workflow, paper forms and
reports.
b) Identify current resources.
i) Estimate Staff costs to support the current
systems.
ii) Record current licensing fees and maintenance
fees.
iii) Determine current Hardware costs.
1.1.3.1
Logistics Resources
The supporting resources required for the detailed
organisation and implementation of a complex project are often neglected
at the outset and the stable door is only shut after the horse has
bolted. The business requirements are the specifications that describe
the functions that the Integrated Human Resource System is expected to
provide and are established as outlined at 1.2.1.4 Document "to be" HR
functionality. The Request for Proposal RFP involves a structured
evaluation of the "to be" HR functionality with specific deadlines and
processes. The RFP for Sample Company is contained in a separate
document. The process for the selection of Project Logistic Resources is
the first order of business that best meet these requirements.
Logistic
Resources Selection
When determining requirements for the purposes of
identifying the “best fit”, consider:
a) Technical architecture:
• PC/LAN/WAN
• Client Server
• Mainframe
• Web applications
b) Staffing
c) Cash flow and budget
d) Office Location
e) Kit out requirements
1.1.3.2
Project
Outputs
A HRIS project should identify the cost savings while identifying the
projected costs of the new system. Some items to consider:
a) Elimination of redundant duplicate data collection. This is one of
the key cost benefits of an integrated HR/Payroll system in comparison
to separate HRIS and Payroll systems.
b) Wages and benefit costs to support the new procedures in
comparison with the old system.
c) System and processing costs. Labour required for distribution.
Significant report generation costs savings are being found by moving
reports to a corporate Intranet and eliminating forms and other paper
costs.
Some actual examples of Cost Savings identified in payroll
applications associated with new HRIS:
a) Reduced cost per payment.
b) Reduced labour in producing manual payments.
c) Reduced cost in reconciling manual payment.
d) Eliminate manual entry of sick and vacation accruals.
e) Reduced labour in data entry.
There are many examples of what can be identified both in Payroll and
in HR functions as well as “soft” savings:
a) Management supplied with accurate and timely data for decision
making:
i) Staffing
ii) Salary budgeting
iii) Employee development/succession planning
iv) Attrition rates
v) Cost per hire
b) Increased data reliability through single point of data entry and
verification.
c) Improved employee satisfaction through ability to easily access
data.
d) Improve employee morale through an accurate and timely payroll
process.
e) Allow managers more time to manage the business instead of chasing
after payroll related problems.
The product objectives and the project management objectives are to:
●Streamline Business Processes
●Eliminate
Duplication
●Automate Routing and
Approvals
●Maintain Quality HR Data
●Standardise Reporting Requirements
●Process Data Promptly
●Predefine Work Schedules
●Manage Unplanned Absence
●Allow On-line Enquiry Access
●Allow for Future Enhancements
●Deliver Within Timeframe
●Operate Within Budget
1.1.3.3
Critical
Success Factors
The critical success factors will be checked monthly. The critical
success factors are:
● Top management
support
●
Project team
competence
● Clear goals and
objectives
● Interdepartmental
communication
● Project champion
● Careful package
selection
● Minimal
customization
● User training
● Education on new
business processes
1.1.3.4
Success
Criteria
Before documenting your requirements, consider what
the future will bring. Will the company business stay the same, will
there be new demands? Consider new strategies, including new technology
and methodology:
a) Web enablement, corporate internet/intranet
applications, as well as scanning and imaging.
b) Re-engineering your business practices,
especially those associated with the systems you are looking at (HR and
Payroll).
d) Will SAMPLE COMPANY be doing business in a
global economy?
e) What will SAMPLE COMPANY’s organisation
structure be like in two to five years?
f) What technical skills will be required in a
changing workforce? The criteria as set out in the table below have been
drawn up by the stakeholders to measure the success of the project based
on the project outputs. The units of measurements will be taken each
quarter after go live for the 1st year to determine the success rate
against the measurements as set out.
|
Success Criteria |
Success Criteria Specification |
Time Base |
|
Streamline Business Processes |
Reduction in Processes |
end July 2020 |
|
Eliminate Duplication |
Reduction in duplicate entries |
end July 2020 |
|
Automate Alerts |
Reduction in Processing time |
end July 2020 |
|
Maintain Quality HR Data |
No. of payroll errors
|
end July 2020 |
|
Standardise Reporting |
Reduction in No of ad hoc reports |
end July 2020 |
|
Process Data Promptly |
Reduction in Processing time |
end July 2020 |
|
Predefine Work Schedules |
Reduction in entries |
end July 2020 |
|
Manage Unplanned Absence |
Reduction in Unplanned Absence |
end July 2020 |
|
Allow On line Enquiry Access |
Reduction in HR/Payroll enquiries |
end July 2020 |
|
Allow for Future Enhancements |
No. of enhancements developed |
end July 2020 |
|
Deliver within Time-frame |
The Completion Date |
11th March, 2020 |
|
Operate within budget |
The cost of the Project |
Apr-12 2020 |
End of Preview
To find out more please contact BPPM.
2012 - 2020 BPPM CRO Reg. No. 463423