The Importance of Planning For a System Conversion

Transcription

1 WHITE PAPER The Importance of Planning For a System Conversion System conversions are a common source of stress in the HR and payroll world. Conversions are often necessary as the result of known changes, such as formal vendor selection, an impending company acquisition, or unknown changes like a corporate unit spinoff. No matter the origin of a change, successful conversions are a combination of effective planning and resources coming together. While known system conversions can be planned in advance, sometimes matters of legality prevent sharing that information, and the conversion may come as a surprise. Either way, the work most often ends up happening in a condensed timeframe. With the possibility that HR and Payroll staff will be caught off-guard by the work involved in a required system conversion, it s important to take the time to educate yourself on all that is involved in facilitating a conversion. No matter the origin of your impending system conversion, there are some keys to making the most out of what you know now. Although conversions can cause a range of upheavals that trickle down throughout the company, preparing in advance can be your protection from a shocking and overwhelming change to your norm. The pitfalls of not pre-planning for a system conversion can be costly and frustrating. If a spinoff is occurring, the new company may have to negotiate longer transition services agreements (TSAs) that can be expensive. Some additional cost can also come from stretching resources too thin and overrunning budgets. Organizations that are prepared, have taken the time to pre-plan, and know exactly who to engage each step of the way will be more likely to carry out effective system conversions when the time comes. This white paper will discuss the reality of system conversions as well as the importance of pre-planning, and what to consider in advance so that a system conversion doesn t ever leave your team scrambling. Is a System Conversion on the Horizon? There are certain compelling events that happen in a corporate life that necessitate system changes or enhancements. A merger and acquisition, or a spin off, is one time when there is no choice. More frequently, it occurs because of the decision to move to a new system vendor.

2 Mergers and Acquisitions During a merger or acquisition, one of the systems that is already in place will become the system of record and will then hold all of the employee data. Generally, all of the employee information from the company being acquired will get loaded on the system of the company they are merging into. New Company Spinoff In the case of a new company spinoff, there will be large amounts of data to migrate from one portion of the company into an entirely new system, which could be the same as the original system, or different. If your unit might be spun off from the corporation, there is going to be much activity and data involved in setting up that new company. New System, New Vendor Maybe your company is in the selection process for a new vendor and a new system is going to come in. In this case, you will have to migrate your data to the new system, and this will potentially involve data scrubbing and movement. This is its own complex set of operations that goes on during the implementation of the new system, yet it requires most of the same considerations as any other conversion. Preparation is the Key Preparing for change in advance can be the difference between a smooth, easy conversion and a frustrating and bumpy one. Whether preparing for an impending or as-yet-unknown change, there is much to analyze when you are creating a conversion plan. The more proactive you can be in anticipating and planning for system-dependent policy decisions, the more you can get the entire company thinking about this undertaking on the whole. It s enough of a shock for a company to go through major structural changes, so the fewer surprises involved in the system and data conversion portion, the better. Preparing for a Vendor Change As you prepare for a vendor change, start by thinking about the next necessary steps as soon as you select the new system and vendor. Don t wait for the kickoff meeting to get started on planning. You will first want to find out which of the implementation tasks the vendor will take care of so that you can determine the tasks your internal resources must complete. As you look more deeply at your team s resources, ask: Who on our team has the skills and bandwidth to do this work? Do we have the internal expertise and resources to get this done? Do we need to bring in outside resources to help us? You may find it beneficial to partner with an outside resource so that you can do what you have the capabilities for and leave the rest to system conversion experts. Working with a partner can provide you with a mixture of resources and an outside perspective. With so many potential budget and timeline risks during the transition to a new HR/ 2

3 Payroll system and vendor, a consulting partner may be the best and most economical option for a smooth and accurate implementation and data conversion. Keep your eyes wide open so that you will be ready for action when you walk into your kickoff meeting for the new system. Ensure that the right people are aligned, and you are certain that they have the resources both internal and external and bandwidth for the project. Preparing for Conversions from Mergers, Acquisitions, and Spinoffs Whether or not you know there will be a merger or acquisition in the future, now is the time to plan. Step back and assess the steps you will need to take and the resources required for an ideal, smooth conversion. Define your business requirements. Will you be mapping the new company policies and data into equivalent existing policies and values? Or, is seamless transition the goal? If so, then the current system will likely need significant configuration to prepare for the new company. Then use the findings of your assessment to create an acquisition checklist that suits your specific needs. An acquisition checklist can be an extremely powerful tool, especially if your organization frequently completes acquisitions or mergers. This is where an external consulting partner can come as a time-saving asset. An HRIS conversion consulting partner will automatically share with you the best practices from their combined experience with past implementations and conversions. This is a highly effective way to glean the best practices of companies who have successfully done this before. It can clear up the portions of pre-planning that you can t possibly know unless you ve been through the process before. Addressing HR/Payroll Plan Changes When you re bringing a new organization into your system, something as simple as a paid time off plan can require a huge migration and merging of data. Your plan should detail how you will do this and what information you will keep. These questions will help you to build a framework for your plan: Will the new organization maintain their existing plans and policies? If the new organization will merge into your policies, how will you do that? How will you set up this new system of record? How will you data map the old-to-new conversion? It is typically easier to roll newly acquired employees into your existing plans and policies, but you must consider their current situation and needs. This integration may not go according to your plan, but at least you will have thought about what s best for your situation and put it into your plan as a foundation. 3

4 Communicating Change When moving to a new system, whether because of a merger or acquisition, or as the result of a vendor selection project, employees will have to adjust to a lot of change. Look at your system conversion from a change management perspective. There will be a need to announce HR-and-payroll-related changes to all employees well before it impacts the look and feel of their paycheck or self-service portal. Think through all areas that the changes will impact and determine the best method for communicating that important information. Answering these questions will help you to determine the best way to handle communicating the changes: What communications are necessary? What steps must lead up to those communications? In what format(s) should you communicate the changes? Ensuring Data Integrity The most critical piece in system conversions is, of course, data. It s the core of every system. When planning for future conversions, you must look to how you are configuring the new system so you can bridge the gap between your current system setup and the desired outcome. Consider what data you have now and how it is structured. This structure will most likely be completely different in the new system. Separating the data from the structure will help to define the information you have and need. In addition, it will also guide critical system configuration decisions during the implementation. As you create your plan to configure your new system, look for any possible gaps. Then determine who will be responsible for that translation or mapping as the data moves from one system to another. You may even need a plan to gather or derive missing data. There will always be different data requirements from your old system to the new one. And trying to reconcile these differences can take some serious effort. In older, legacy systems, everything was customized. Now they are configured. And that may require setting things up a little bit differently from how you had it set up in the past in order to get the same end result. It may also require flexibility and open-mindedness from the team and company management alike. Creating a Safeguard Preparation for major changes in your HR and payroll systems can save you time, from any sudden scrambling for resources, and give you an understanding of best practices it s your safeguard against the many unexpected changes that come with a system conversion. In today s ever-changing business climate, it is important to do everything you can to maintain stability within your organization. 4

5 With so much to prepare for, consulting with a partner who can walk you through each step necessary in preparing for a system conversion can make the process much easier. The expertise of a partner can give you access to an outside perspective, support, and guidance based on years of specialized experience with systems like yours. 5 Wise Consulting Associates is a leader in implementing and using technology to support Human Resources and Payroll Management. Since our founding, Wise Consulting has partnered with firms in all industries, offering specialized, diversified services for implementation, outsourcing, technology support, vendor selection, and strategic HR Support. Solving HR/Payroll Technology Challenges. Taking On Payroll Staffing & Complexity. (800)