Finding the right HRIS or HCM for your company need not be a laborious or complicated task. Instead, a little common-sense guidance can make the entire process a whole lot easier, without breaking the bank. Here are a few suggestions on how to template the entire procedure.
1. Rank Your Organization’s Requirements Based on Their Impact – Always the starting point for any major project, determining your needs is paramount. The key goal here is to prioritize the components so the implementation of the HRIS system will have the most immediate and dramatic results – that is, to improve the bottom line as significantly as possible, subject to your allowable budget.
2. Complete a Self-Assessment and Internal Needs Analysis – This is the step where you finalize the components of the HRIS that you will need. Without an unlimited budget you may have to make some hard choices about what to include. Aim for functionality and versatility as your company will undoubtedly grow and change and the software will have to accommodate any new needs. Strive to allow for some customizability in the software so that more modest changes can be incorporated in the future instead of having to scrap the entire system prematurely. Then, if there is some room left in the budget, consider adding some extra “bells and whistles.”
3. Identify the Most Prominent Solutions – There is an abundance of information on the Internet about HRIS systems – and even online tools – that will you to help you narrow down your search. As with any other software product, the vendors may promise the world but sometimes under-deliver on those promises. It is up to you or your staff to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Ask the hard questions, of the vendors and of yourself, before inviting any company in to demo a product.
4. Spend Some Time with the Providers – Once you have identified the top three to four vendor candidates, it is time to communicate to them your needs. Require them to demonstrate how they can address those needs by providing pertinent answers to your specific situation. Also, understand that they might not be able to meet your budgetary requirements at this time but that issue might be able to be negotiated later. The real goal at this stage is to narrow down your choices to just two.
5. View the Demos from the Most Promising Providers – The process now gets easier but a little more intense as the vendors will be trying their best to get your business. This means more affordable pricing but also a sea of material that you will have to wade through. It is also important to get a “live” demonstration. While the paperwork should also be included, a live showing will make it far easier for you and your team to make an informed decision. Also, include the actual folks who will use the software at this stage as the decision-makers may not completely understand the practical reasons over the strategic ones to choose a certain software.
6. Take the Time to “Score” the Solutions – Most entrepreneurs and business owners pride themselves on being able to make a swift, and more importantly, accurate, decision. This stage is not the time to engage in any precipitous or unilateral decision-making. Instead, utilize your most valuable assets – your employees – to help guide you through the process. Consider taking the time to develop a simple score-based survey. Then, invite people at every level of the organization to anonymously evaluate the merits of the software solution. You may not get the answers that you want but you will get a barometer of what the “folks” are thinking. It will still be up to you to make the final decision but the “group mind” is often more powerful than that of the CEO.
7. Finally, Request a Written Proposal – Once the final decision has been made, it is essential to have the details memorialized in a written contract – not only for your benefit but also for the vendor’s. Only in this way will you both be satisfied with the terms of the contract and only in this way will the implementation be as smooth as possible. Simply put, both parties must be satisfied and aware of the practicalities with the implementation or issues will arrive. Deal with the issues proactively for the best result.
Of course, this is a relatively cursory look at what to do when deciding on an HRIS system. In fact, the advice doesn’t even touch on the truly concrete questions that you will have to generate for the decision-making process. For a more detailed look at the features you should consider, take notes from the questions asked on our HRIS Selector Tool. These questions will give you the prompt for discussions with your team as well as with the final companies you are considering.
HRIS allows a company to plan its HR costs more effectively, as well as to manage them and control them without needing to allocate too many resources and easily handle hr software, this is nice blog..!