Ch.1 Usage Matters. Critical steps for user adoption of HR software. White paper

Transcription

1 Ch.1 Usage Matters. Critical steps for user adoption of HR software. White paper

2 Usage matters Critical steps for user adoption of HR software Chapter 1: Success and failure, not just a game of selection Introduction Welcome to this chapter series on user adoption of new HR processes. During the following chapters we look at the relationship between the processes that the software facilitates, such as talent management tools, and the user adoption of these tools looking at communication, training and learning styles. We ve got six chapters in progress. 1.The first, which you re reading, is all about usage the ultimate indicator of success or failure of HR software implementation. 2.We ll then look at how we can finance user adoption. 3.The third chapter concentrates on the role of change management in creating user adoption. We ll then have two further chapters addressing the fundamentals: 4.Communication. 5.Training. Finally, we look at measuring user adoption and the ultimate benefits of talent and performance management tools, deliveredthrough HR software. 6.An overview of user adoption. Page 1

3 About user adoption HR departments have been introducing performance and talent management tools to help organizations efficiently and effectively manage their employees. During the last decade we have seen a rise in delivering talent and performance management processes through sophisticated HR software. There are many benefits to transferring these processes online. There is one big risk though if no one uses the software, our investment will come to nothing. Organizations are just waking up to the fact that user adoption is the biggest single critical factor in HR software implementation success. The lure of the software Sophisticated technology seduces us all. The more bells and whistles a product has, the better it must be. Right? Well, not always. The real key to success is if people use the product. We only have the iconic technology gadgets of the age, because people not only use them they love them. In HR software, vendors design their systems with best practice in mind. Each organization chooses a system that s best suited to their particular environment. The challenge remains though of how we get people to navigate the new software, understand and complete the new processes. User adoption is a journey that we ve yet to make in HR software and one that organizations need to tackle. User adoption is not an easy task and it requires relentless attention. You can have picked the best HR software but that doesn t mean you get great user adoption. During these chapters we consider the critical steps in the journey to user adoption, and we hope they help you make the most out of your software. Mark Barlow, CEO of AppLearn Page 2

4 The business case We ve all written enough business cases. We know that the decision to implement a new HR software system will be hard fought. It will be need to be proven as supporting corporate and talent management strategies. We ll have considered the benefits of transferring to new HR software to facilitate new processes, and we ll have documented the expected increases in productivity, reduction in costs etc. to be gained. If this hasn t yet been done then here s a pointer from the Centre of Effective Organizations based at the University of Southern California. They identified potential benefits as: motivating performance, helping individuals improve their skills, building a performance culture, determining who should be promoted, eliminating poor performers and helping to implement business strategies. Other best practice elements include increased productivity through good goal setting processes and increased retention, which reduces new hire costs. Managers will receive direct benefits in terms of having the processes and skills to provide coaching and guidance. This will help them drive up productivity and savings. Employees will be prompted by the system to avoid waste by doing the right things, and will understand how they re contributing to the corporation s objectives. So, we ll have rigorously assessed every benefit and best practice case for our individual environment. We ll have looked at the different systems and made our choice on what fits our criteria. We ll have done our costings and put together a budget. We ll have presented to the board and got approval. We ll have put together a project team for the implementation. What is rarely considered and usually taken for granted is the number of people who will actually use the system. We call this yield. The issue of yield The best way of considering yield is to use an agricultural analogy: A farmer makes the investment in the best seed in the hope of getting a bumper crop. o This is what we do with HR software. We choose the best possible system for our environment. Farmers know that great crops just don t happen. They prepare the ground, choose the right fertilizer for the soil and understand that there ll be variance in In all others areas of HR we understand the challenges of change. In fact, we ve grown a whole practice area specifically dedicated to change management. It is this expertise that s needed in the implementation of HR software into an organization. HR has got all the skills; it s just about consideration of all elements upfront. What we know is that adopting new HR software is not (just) about a new system or process. It s a fundamental change in the management of your people. Page 3

5 Why is user adoption so low? We used the statistic that user adoption can be only about 10-20% if not proactively managed. This might be because the system is not used as part of every day working life. But there are a number of other concerns. Within any organization there are different personalities and they all take on new ideas, information and technology at different rates. In 1962, Everett Rogers published Diffusion of Innovations where Rogers synthesized research from over 508 diffusion studies and produced a theory for the adoption of innovations among individuals and organizations. This theory has been taken up by marketers during the last 40 years in terms of new product developments and strategies to reach consumers. It is just as valid in considering user adoption of HR software. Figure 1: The diffusion of innovations according to Rogers. With successive groups of consumers adopting the new technology (shown in blue), its market share (yellow) will eventually reach the saturation level. 2 Rogers, Everett. Diffusion of Innovations Page 4

6 You ll have a small proportion of your people who think that the new HR software is great. They ll immediately get the reasons why it s important. They ll intuitively know how to navigate through it. These innovators are gold dust. Harness them, together with the early adopters, and you ll have a fantastic group of champions for the change. Utilize a train the trainer approach and mobilize them to convert the early and late majority. Reward them to mentor the laggards (as this can be a time consuming task!). We ll consider how you can put in place a communication and training program for each of these groups in a later chapter. Rogers theory, and its application since development, absolutely shows that 100% user adoption will not just happen. We need to proactively manage it with the ultimate goal of reducing the time to reach 100% user adoption. Who owns the user? Organizations, and particularly large ones operating in multiple locations, are complex systems and often have complex management structures. Segmenting an organization into functions, locations, product areas or markets are just some of the ways we seek to bring order. HR departments, and the software and systems implemented, have to work across all of these segmentations to reach the whole employee base. With this enormous task, we ask who owns the user in terms of managing the change, and their individual training, in a new system and process? This isn t a trick question. There are things that we do know for certain. Software vendors don t own the user. They will be brilliant at help setting up the system and the implementation phase but their remit rarely extends to communication with, and effective training of, users. It won t be in the realm of IT. It would be useful to bring onboard an internal marketing and communications. Whether HR departments own the user, or a specific project team is established, without ownership of users yield will never be 100% and the business will not achieve the expected benefits. Conclusion Investment in a new HR software will be made to meet the corporate strategy. It will be a key part of your talent management strategy. You will have in place a software strategy. Now it s time to consider a user adoption strategy. What s in no doubt is that the business will expect to see a return on investment and they ll want to see proven metrics in terms of the benefits achieved and the difference the investment has made to the organization. If you ve already implemented new HR software and are concerned about your ROI, then the following chapters will help you put in place a proactive program to drive up usage so you get the benefits promised. If you re considering or part way through implementation, then you re in a great place to influence user adoption. Success and failure rests on one critical factor getting people to use the system. Without usage, return on investment will remain a promise unfulfilled. Usage matters! Success and failure rests on one critical factor getting people to use the system. Page 5

7 About AppLearn Ltd Embedded within HR software, AppLearn streams consistent training and communication to your employees wherever they are in the world, in any language, on any device. Through our consultancy services we collaborate with you to deliver change management, communication and training strategies with the overarching goal of driving up user adoption. AppLearn s roots are deeply embedded in HR software implementation, gained from more than 10 years experience. The management team founded AppLearn on the premise that there must be a better way to deliver application training and employee communications. AppLearn s platform delivers five key benefits: Enables organizations to communicate corporate strategy, values and ethos as well as reinforcing why new processes are important. Delivers just in time training for the new process in any language, at any time, on any device. Improves skills for managers by using training to raise soft skills such as delivering feedback on appraisals. Shared Vision. AppLearn works with customers who believe usage matters. Collectively AppLearn clients employ several million people around the world. AppLearn delivers thousands of training hours per month in multiple languages at any time of the day, or indeed night. Contact us info@applearn.tv Facebook: Linked In: AppLearn