PLANNING A NEW HRMS

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PLANNING A NEW HRMS

• Chapter 4

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Human Resources Management Systems A Practical
Approach

• By Glenn M. Rampton, Ian J. Turnbull, J. Allen
  Doran
• ISBN 0-459-56370-X
• Carswell

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Planning Topics

• the planning process
• elements of project management
• the steering committee
• the project team
• communications strategy
• identifying and building-in critical success
  factors
• planning for the management of change
• options - repair refine, build, or buy
• implementation of the plan
• training and documentation issues

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HRMS Phases

• planning
• designing
• developing
• implementing
• maintaining

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Project Planning

• Project plans are established to meet strategic,
  tactical, and operational goals
• Plans can be too broad, or too detailed
• Over-planning, or taking too much time to plan,
  can doom a project as can jumping into
  developing a system without a plan

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Planning (contd)

• Planning is a pragmatic process, with the aim of
  developing plans that are effective and
  efficient, not that are all inclusive or perfect.
  Plans, like their financial counterparts,
  budgets, represent the planner's best estimate at
  a specific point in time.

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Planning (contd)

• Plans should be flexible. It is the realization
  of the plan, through sound management of it,
  including adjusting for intangibles, and
  reacting to resource changes, which yields
  success

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Major Steps in Planning

• Recognition of need for new HRMS
• If there is an existing system, determine if it
  can be modified at a reasonable cost.
• If there is no system, or if the cost of
  modifying it is not reasonable, conduct an
  analysis of whether buying a system or building a
  system is preferred.
• Prepare a detailed needs analysis.
• Prepare a Request for Information (RFI) or
  Request for Proposal (RFP) and send it to
  selected vendors.
• Analyse the results, reducing the short-list
  until only one or two options remain, and select
  finalist product and vendor.
• Negotiate price and conditions, while conducting
  final vendor references, and financial review.
• Select implementation project team.

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Project Management

• Project management combines planning with a
  controlled use of resources to develop and
  implement specific end results, or projects,
  such as designing and implementing a new HRMS

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Project planning must clearly specify the
following resources

• time (start/end dates)
• people (identification specific skills they
  bring to project availability cost)
• tools (equipment, software)
• money (budget)

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Project Monitoring

• Project management requires a planning and
  scheduling methodology to manage and track each
  component of the project plan.
• The ongoing tracking and recording of activities
  and results most distinguishes the project
  management approach from general management

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Software Tools Can Handle

• project scheduling Every task/activity is
  integrated into the project schedule by listing
  an estimate of its start and end dates.
• milestones These are time-limited events which
  signify specific and significant progress
• resource assignment Every person and piece of
  equipment together with the cost of each must be
  assigned to specific accomplishment of tasks.
  Downtime or, in financial terms, indirect labour
  (e.g., vacation union business maintenance
  etc.) is included where it is predictable
• costs and budgets Resource costs are calculated
  and amalgamated over the expenses that are
  estimated to be required to accomplish each task
• visual representations There are between several
  different visual methods for the representation
  of activities

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Visual Representation Tools

• GANTT Chart - a bar chart which graphically
  displays the status of a task based on time or
  money.
• PERT - Program Evaluation and Review Technique.
  PERT Charts illustrate the relationships and
  dependencies between different activities.
• CPM - Critical Path Method. CPM was developed
  around the same time as was PERT, and performs
  the same function.

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Communication

• The communication of plans and project status,
  both within a project team and throughout the
  organization, requires an inordinate amount of
  project time. Communication is not just telling
  it is listening too. Peters (1987) suggests that
  managers and team members listening to one
  another, formally and informally, is one of the
  critical components of successful management.

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Communication (contd)

• The project manager should be a strong
  communicator - speaking, listening, and writing
  effectively.
• The involvement of all concerned is a key
  component of success of the project manager,
  project team, primary client, and senior
  management. Not all need to be equally involved,
  but the commitment which comes from
  participation and being part of the communication
  process is invaluable and irreplaceable.

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Communication (contd)

• This communication process encompasses the
  project team, the steering team, and the
  organization as a whole. Each must understand
  the project and have a sense of how the results
  will be integrated into the organization's
  business processes
• in most projects, too little time is spent in
  selling ideas, keeping all participants up to
  date, and ensuring that each understand how the
  project fits with regard to his or her interests
  and responsibilities. Time spent ensuring that
  participation is offered and occurs, like time
  spent planning, is time well spent.

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Fostering Cooperation

• involve key members of the project team in
  developing a communication plan.
• work with each team member to define how and when
  communication will take place and how the team
  will work together to solve problems that might
  arise on the project.
• devise a strategy with each team member to help
  ensure that information does not get lost, and
  to prevent ruffled feathers that often occur when
  messages are miscommunicated or omitted.
• begin developing a communication plan as soon a
  new project is undertaken, and update it as
  needed. Players often change in the project
  universe. Develop new communication strategies
  when this happens.Newcomers or replacement
  project team members are often left out and
  cannot fully contribute unless one takes time to
  involve them.

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Critical Project Success Factors

• The organization's financial health
• The organization's structure
• The organization's culture - to ensure a climate
  for success
• The existence of a "mission champion"
• The status and involvement of the project manager
• the existence of effective Project and Steering
  Committees
• whether clearly defined business needs have been
  identified

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Success Factors (contd)

• whether a formal documented plan has been
  developed (HRMS projects cross functional
  boundaries making great demands on all
  operational departments. The complexity of the
  task demands that a detailed documented plan
  exist and be used)
• whether planning has been coordinated across
  departments
• the extent and quality of systems support
• the age of, and satisfaction with the current
  system
• whether effective business process integration
  has been conducted
• Whether a realistic project budget has been
  established

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Change

• implementation of a new computer system, while
  presenting challenges, also provides a wonderful
  opportunity for the organization to introduce
  larger measures of change than might otherwise be
  the case
• organizations and the people in them have
  different tolerance levels with respect to
  change, some may actively resist change
• change occasions emotional responses which cannot
  be overcome by the logic of an engineered
  business process or detailed project plan

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Change (contd)

• One can overcome resistance to change by
• understanding individual and group interests and
  power structures.
• anticipating their concerns and objections.
• involving them in exploring "what's in it for
  them?"

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Training and Documentation

• In planning for the development and
  implementation of a new HRMS, these two related
  functions are often overlooked
• Overriding concern for getting the system up and
  running often leads to putting documentation and
  training off to another time when there will be
  more time and resources to devote to them
• A complete, documented plan is key to the
  successful implementation of any information
  system
• The critical need to plan for systems training
  and documentation should be identified early in
  the planning for any HRMS

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Scheduling of Training

• Training should be timely, that is, it should
  be timed so that the individual can apply what
  was learned as soon as possible after the
  training was provided

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Scheduling of Training (contd)

• Too often, for economic or other reasons,
  individuals are scheduled for training when the
  course is available, rather than when it is
  needed, otherwise
• as individuals may be forced to flounder around
  learning things by "trial and error" that would
  be learned much more quickly on the course
• training may eventually be provided that is no
  longer required
• if those responsible for using and maintaining
  the system become de-motivated and give up when
  they could have succeeded with appropriate and
  timely training and development.

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Training Phases

• Training needs analysis
• Identification of media and methods of training
• Training program development
• Training conduct
• Training Evaluation
• Skill maintenance
• Continued support for post-implementation
  documentation and training

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The distinction between documentation and
training has become less distinct with the
advent of such innovations as

• user friendly data base management information
  systems which do not require much technical
  sophistication to programme and maintain data
  menus, input screen, and reports
• user instruction documentation and tutorials
  built into the system to guide data base
  modification, and data input and retrieval
• graphical user interface (GUI) which on the one
  hand, makes the purpose and use of various
  functions more evident, and, on the other, has
  readily available help facilities to provide
  assistance when problems arise, or clarification
  is needed.

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Question 1

• The strategic planning department of a Canadian
  organization with about seven thousand employees,
  had a data base specialist with a flair for
  producing ad hoc data bases and reporting
  programmes. He could produce very quick practical
  solutions to a broad variety of problems. Users
  came to rely on these solutions rather than
  bother with the longer time frames and
  "bureaucracy" (including documentation) that
  they encountered from MIS. This administrative
  convenience and quick turn-around was not
  without a cost however, in that there was very
  little documentation on these ad hoc solutions,
  except in the head of the programmer. What future
  problems do you foresee for this organization?
  How might these be avoided?

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Question 2

• Why is it important to have training specialists
  on the systems development and implementation
  team throughout?

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Question 3

• Do small organizations of 50 - 100 employees need
  to establish a project team? Is a dedicated
  project manager realistic for such an
  organization? Is a steering group required?
  What are the similarities and differences in the
  requirements for such committees and the
  leadership of them between small, medium, and
  large organizations?