Selecting and Sourcing of a Payroll & HRIS System

When an organisation needs to replace a business system but doesn’t have the resources to do it, consultants can offer the perfect solution to the problem. This was the case with a recent client of ours, who needed to procure and implement a new Payroll & Human Resources Information System (HRIS).

They knew that they needed a new system, but couldn’t connect the dots to the point of procurement. Votar were engaged and provided full project management and business analysts to manage and deliver the project.

We were delighted to assist. We were able to provide assistance with documenting requirements, preparing tender documentation, evaluating vendor responses and providing recommendations.

The client moved from manual timesheets to online self-service, payroll processes that formerly took 1-2 days to prepare now only took a few hours, and system processing of payroll was reduced from four hours to two minutes.

Here are our tips for implementing new HRIS systems:

• Resourcing – what’s working in the current environment, where are the gaps and does everyone understand their roles?

• Understand their needs and challenge them – work with a variety of stakeholders to ensure that you capture all user needs and expectations and legislative requirements.

• Focus on the right things and priorities – since initial analysis had revealed that inefficient manual process was part of the issue, we focused plenty of our attention on making sure that old processes were brought up to speed and that new processes were a good fit.

• Data Quality – never underestimate data quality especially if you are moving from Excel! you can’t afford to get this wrong, just look at recent high profile scandals.

• Work with the vendor – mature vendors have specialists, use them. Any new processes that were necessary were discussed with the vendor to ensure that the resulting solution was fit for purpose. Keeping communication open can help to streamline the configuration stage and minimise delays in delivery.

Need helping with procuring business systems? We’ve got extensive experience in doing just this – we’ve helped organisations across Australia specify, procure and implement business systems of all sorts. Our mature methodology not only manages the risks of the selection process but provides clarity to vendors on key business objectives, resulting in smoother implementations. Want to have a chat? Call Mark on 03 9895 9600 or email votar@votar.com.au for a consultation.