Best Practices for Change Management in HR Technology Implementations

Change management is crucial for the success of your HR technology implementation. Too many HR tech projects fail to produce the desired benefits because they were not implemented properly.

Only 27% of the more than 600 HR and IT executives that participated in PwC’s HR Technology Survey 2020 rated HR tech as very effective for changing behaviors at work. Eight of 10 executives cited adoption challenges like lack of preparation, unclear user benefits, and poor user experiences as impediments.

HR lags in contributing to the organization as a result. Just 39% of organizations use HR tech to inform business strategy, according to Sapient Insights Group’s 2020-2021 HR Systems Survey. 

“Investment in any HR application can be costly and should only be undertaken with a clear understanding of how to maximize adoption to achieve the stated business goals. Misalignment in any number of areas such as strategy, culture, features, or user expectations can lead to low adoption, lack of data, no return on value or investment, and missed outcomes,” Sapient Insights Group researchers wrote.

The preparedness and involvement of HR leaders are critical because a company’s change management success ultimately comes down to people, wrote Ken Cranney, a senior-level HR and IT professional, for an HR Technologist article about why HR technology implementations are so bad.

“Too often, HR leaders approach these implementations as technology projects. Instead, they need to approach them as overhauls of business processes,” Cranney wrote.

“Embracing new technology and processes requires employees to alter behaviors in sometimes disruptive ways. Therefore, HR leaders must offer both thorough technical training on the ins and outs of the new system as well as immersive training on the new business processes.”

Though managing change can be difficult for your company and your employees, you can increase adoption and ROI for your project. Follow these best practices for change management in your HCM implementation.

Change management for HR tech projects

TechTarget offers the following change management tips for implementation success:

• Prioritize change management
• Secure leadership buy-in
• Address employees’ concerns
• Apply lessons from past change successes and failures
• Customize strategy
• Create a change roadmap

Tlnt.com suggests following these four steps to effective change management for HR:

1. Overcome resistance
2. Engage employees
3. Implement change in phases
4. Communicate change

Another four-step approach comes from the Society for Human Resource Management’s tools for managing organizational change.

1. Define
2. Plan
3. Implement
4. Sustain

SHRM also says, “an employer that is serious about change management should develop a communication plan, a road map for change sponsors, integrated training programs and a plan for dealing with resistance.”

Change management is vital to the success of an HR technology project. Learn more about the best practices provided and get additional information before you begin your implementation. Doing so will help you improve adoption and increase ROI for HR tech implementation by producing the results desired.