How to Assemble The Perfect HRMS Team

Selecting and implementing a new HRMS solution is no light undertaking. It’s certainly not a one-person job. Even in the smallest organization, the cooperation and help and skills and experience and support of others is necessary for success if you’re to achieve that ROI (and that’s what it’s all about, right?) So, if you’ve been tasked with this particular software quest, you’ll need the right people around you to help make it happen; you’ll need the right team. But who do you choose for your HRMS team and where do you get them from?

HRMS Team Requirements #1

First of all, consider the various stages of the project and use that to define some of what you’ll need in your perfect HRMS team. You need a business case, to tempt and convince senior decision-makers into giving the go-ahead in the first place. This requires a sound understanding of wider business goals and the benefits and likely impact of a new HRMS. Then you need to select the right software. This is all about identifying HRMS specifications and requirements, shortlisting vendors, attending demos and weighing up the right decision. After the purchase, you have implementation, a period of co-ordinating very practical concerns such as data transfer, hardware (?), data cleansing, security, training of users, and communication and engagement. Then, after the go-live date, there’s the often ill-defined post-implementation phase, including evaluation and future upgrades – a return to more ‘strategic’ considerations.

As you can imagine, these different stages require different skillsets and involve different stakeholders and that will help determine your ideal HRMS team.

HRMS Team Requirements #2

In order to further refine your team profile, consider the potential barriers and difficulties you’ll encounter during the project: budget shortages, competing organizational priorities, over-optimistic sales pitches, data corruption or loss, user resistance, training delays, technical hiccups, and so on. Once again, by predicting these pitfalls, you begin to identify the sort of representatives you want on your team.

Your Ideal HRMS Team

As well as mix of skills, you need the key stakeholder groups (those with a vested interest and/or those who will be affected by the HRMS) to be represented – this not only makes your ‘constituents’ feel involved but also gives you access to their views and input (vital for project success). These groups may include those with responsibility for HR, IT, procurement, finance, and the managers and employees whose data will be stored in the system and who may themselves be required to use various self-service functions.

Last but not least, your HRMS team needs a C-level sponsor to champion the cause at the highest level of the organization, acting as a sort of top-level ambassador for the project.

A Reality Check

Of course, as with anything else in life and HR, the ideal scenario is rarely possible. There´ll be availability issues (so-and-so isn’t free), timing constraints (the board would like the new system up and running tomorrow!), and the competing priorities of the organization to contend with. But knowing the team you’re aiming for is the first step to having the best possible team for the project.