Five questions to ask HRMS project stakeholders during the selection phase

A new HRMS is your opportunity to achieve strategic advantage and to provide value to your organization’s stakeholders. Your sponsors and users are your key customers so understanding their system expectations is essential for your success. Here are five essential questions to ask your HRMS project stakeholders during the selection phase.

What is your biggest challenge with the current HRMS?

Your top management may challenge a lack of management intelligence (MI) while your front line call center may struggle with support calls due to a poorly designed configuration setting or disconnected process. Understanding your HRMS project’s stakeholders’ struggles will position you to ask the right questions about features and functionality as you choose your new HRMS.

Recommended reading: make sure your HRMS project gets off to a flying start with our HRMS Selection Survival Guide

What are your ‘make it or break it’ criteria for the project?

This question is always interesting as it may or may not relate to the largest challenge. It is crucial to understand the absolute ‘must have’ requirements from your stakeholders. If employee self-service is a deal breaker and your shortlist does not deliver it, then it becomes an easy decision. Essentials in this category need to be limited. When everything is required then nothing is really critical, so focus on what truly matters.

What advantages do you think that a new HRMS will bring to you?

A stakeholder’s perceived advantage is not always the actual benefit received. The aim of this question is to understand what a stakeholder thinks that a new system will help them to achieve where the current HRMS cannot deliver. This question helps to clarify requirements and to focus on deliverables rather than being driven by a vendor’s HRMS demo and sales presentation.

Describe a perfect day with your new HRMS. What does it look like?

When you offer a stakeholder a green field, it’s often surprising what responses you receive. It may be basic operational features which offer time-saving and efficiency or it may be new functionality that surpasses anything that has previously been requested. Do your HRMS stakeholders want analytics and HRMS-driven big data or is the focus more on clearing administrative tasks quickly to spend time with managers and employees?

What features do you like from these HRMS demos?

As you go into HRMS demos, it’s useful to have your requirements documented and at hand. At the same time as vendors bring forward new functionality it can help to bring fresh requirements to the table and see the HR vision for future state operations. A feature or module that is not in use today can be a must-have for a future HRMS so approach software selection with an open mind when you’re early in the process.