An in-depth guide to HRMS testing processes

HRMS testing is an important part of any HRMS implementation or upgrade. If you miss to find data errors or problems in workflow it can cause questions and embarrassment. Mistakes can potentially be costly if they are in a financial area like payroll, benefits or stock administration. Here are some proven techniques to guide your testing strategy and minimize risks.

1. Define a test strategy

Testing is an area that sometimes gets overlooked. During implementation projects it occurs at a later stage when the team is already busy with multiple tasks. Post go-live testing is still a concern when operational teams get competing priorities. It’s essential to create and follow a test strategy for project tasks and then ongoing maintenance and enhancements. Will you use an automated test tool? Should you bring in an HRMS consultant as your test lead during an implementation? It’s a best practice to have one document that outlines a general strategy and how these tasks will be accomplished.

Guide: HRMS implementation - nine steps to success

2. Define roles and responsibilities and identify testers

I’ve been on projects where a highly functioning HR team has processes to manage the entire testing cycle from development through to user acceptance testing. I’ve seen the reverse situation where testers work independently and gaps occur as one tester assumes another is handling something. Everyone on the team should be clear on what functionality is being tested and who has responsibility for each part. Another gap in this area is when knowledgeable testers are assigned too many project tasks and unofficially assigned to do testing as well. Testing is time-consuming and the hours should be formally acknowledged, assigned and accepted.

3. Develop and review your test plans

Implementation test plans should reflect the entire employee lifecycle from recruitment through retirement and everything that happens in between. Processes should be tested both independently and as a part of the whole picture. A basic HRMS test may be to promote an employee in the system. Check if the system allows you to complete the transaction. Then you need to test the downstream events that should be triggered by this process.

Does the new title and pay amount make it to the employee’s paycheck? Does the system automatically qualify and notify the employee of extra benefits tied to the new role? While it may take only one person to put the new data into the HRMS a number of resources may be required to check the integration files and downstream systems. To be able to perform this level of testing successfully you need to have clearly defined plans to keep everyone informed and involved.