3 HRMS Selection Myths Ready to Derail Your Decision

Choosing an HRMS solution can be a dangerous gambit, where you’ll need to battle organizational politics, budget constraints and a variety of other obstacles than can derail your career. If executed successfully, however, it can be a moment of triumph with many rewards for you and your business. But what are the most common misconceptions surrounding HRMS selection and how can these derail your selection process?

Consultants Are Required for a Successful HRMS Selection

Many companies see the value of bringing in HRMS consultants to lead the HRMS selection process. Used selectively, they can add value to the process, as well as provide a non-biased opinion and objectivity when it comes to the clients company. It’s worth remembering, however, that they bring their own HRMS experience to the table, as well as seeking further sales opportunities within your organization. With that in mind, it’s good to use them to drive discussions about requirements or to facilitate sessions and to incorporate their recommendations, but keep the final software decision discussions behind closed doors with internal management only.

Everyone Will Be Happy with Our Choice

Selecting a new HRMS is likely to bring chaos and upheaval upon the release of the news, even before you actually kick off any project tasks. For those who are ‘brand loyal’ to a particular application, it may prompt people to leave the organization in search of better opportunities, even if you’ve bought the latest and greatest HRMS. If you are selecting a new HRMS, it may be worth having career discussions and considering a bonus scheme to ensure that key resources who know the current systems remain in place for the duration of the project as their knowledge will be invaluable.

More Is Better When It Comes to HRMS Selection

Often, we come armed to review HRMS solutions with lists of processes, functions and data elements. Our best case scenario. However, all wishes are not created equal. An HRMS demo often showcases the full functionality of the application; however, it is wise to work against a weighted wish list. For example, if your organization is struggling with managing contractors or you have a lot of mobile employees, then a higher ranking should be given to these topics and you should focus more on them during HRMS selection. Conversely, if your population is not mobile, then there is no reason to review or consider this functionality in your software ranking.

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Heather Batyski

About the author…

Heather is an experienced HRMS analyst, consultant and manager. Having worked for companies such as Deloitte, Franklin Templeton and Oracle, Heather has first-hand experience of many HRMS solutions including Peoplesoft and Workday.

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Heather Batyski

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