HRMS Consultants - 4 Ways to Get Your Money’s Worth

Remember that famous line from the film, “Show me the money!”? Well, with an HRMS consultant, you’re handing over the money and what you need them to do is to show you the value!

Some of this lies in your hands. As the person on the inside, you can set up the HRMS consultancy for success (and why wouldn’t you go to some effort to do that?) by ensuring the role is clear, all the resources needed are apparent, are managed and monitored appropriately, and have the freedom to do what they’ve been engaged to do.

There are a few key ways to establish ROI, and ensure you’re getting the expected amount of bang for your buck.

1. Measurable Outcomes

Start with the end in mind by agreeing a set of specific and measurable objectives that provide clarity on what you expect them to achieve. These measures and metrics then become part of how you measure the project’s success as well as the effectiveness of the consultant.

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2. Be Aware of ‘Outside’ Factors

When you’re measuring performance (either in terms of end-of-project success or in-project progress) take note of any issues and interventions that may skew your view of the consultant’s contribution. Employee changes, amendments to requirements, shifts in strategic priorities… a number of factors may impact on the project that are outside of anybody’s control. Any assessment of performance and value needs to take these into account.

3. Don’t forget to Review and Debrief

This is especially easy to do when things are going (or have gone) well. The appearance of success – i.e. a smoothly functioning, popular HRMS – is the biggest barrier to an in-depth assessment of the project. Nobody wants to question it too closely. Yet you need to be crystal-clear that your investment in HRMS consultancy was well-spent; and there may be any number of lessons lying beneath the surface that could be used to fine-tune your approach to future projects.

4. Know the Signs of Performance Slippage

As with any critical project personnel, there are clear indicators of problems that shouldn’t be ignored. These include: missed deadlines or meetings; attention to issues ‘out of order’ or straying from the project plan’s critical path; a lack of detail in progress reports that may (may!) be hiding a problem or two.

Finally, don’t forget that the above advice applies not only to the end of the HRMS project when you’re looking back trying to decide just how successful (or not) it has been, but also to the regular progress meetings you should be having to ensure that everything is running smoothly… and if not, what you need to do to make it so.