HRIS: what are the stages of change management?

Implementing or changing an HRIS (Human Resources Information System) is a major challenge for a company, as it impacts most departments (recruitment, training or payroll management) and, by extension, employees. Having a holistic vision in the framework of an HRIS project is therefore essential. Successful change management is also crucial to the success of your project.

Understanding change

In order to effectively support this profound change in internal processes, the project manager ‘s first obligation is to perfectly identify each change. How do you get others to accept something you don’t fully control?

To achieve this, it will first be necessary to establish an inventory of the existing situation (or an audit conducted by a specialized service provider) in order to highlight the imperfections and shortcomings. This will make it possible to define the scope of the project and draw up a specificationsas well as an impact analysis. Each actor of the change will be documented, as well as their role and missions.

Involve a maximum number of employees

The implementation of an HRIS should not only concern theproject team. Indeed, if the management supports and gives the means, it is also important to involve the end users. Let’s not forget that these are, after all, the main stakeholders, and that they will be the real judges of the success of their company’s HRIS project.

Also, it is advisable to make them real actors of the project. To do this, you must meet with them frequently, listen to their opinions and take their concerns into consideration to reassure them. Thanks to this commitment, they will feel a sense of involvement that will be favorable to the success of the change management.

Communication and training

You need to stick to transparent communication throughout the project. Otherwise, you are exposing yourself to the circulation of false information that may hinder the acceptance of the change. Communicating well with each employee also helps to reduce the level of stress that a project of this scale can bring.

Faced with a new tool, no matter how powerful it may be, a user will often prefer the software he or she usually uses. This is a normal reaction that you will necessarily encounter. Your challenge will therefore be to actively integrate your employees into the HRIS training plan.

Prefer personalized training, more motivating, and adapted to each type of user. Once the new HRIS is up and running, continue to reassure your employees by providing them with rich, accessible documentation and a support service.