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HR systems and processes: understanding the art of design and science of deployment.

By Chaitali Mukherjee & Harsha Singh

R systems and processes that align well to the organization's strategy enable the organization to function effectively, creating value for all its stakeholders, delivering on the organization's vision and strategy and ensuring consistent quality of customer experience. A planned initiative for system design, deployment and maturity is the key to getting it right!

The HR plan
The engagement level of the HR function has evolved considerably in this decade. Organizations that are forward looking and in it for the long haul engage HR at inception or during the early phase of business establishment ensuring the function grows and evolves to meet the requirements of the organization's. The first step towards alignment begins with the process of decoding the high level organization strategy and vision into the long-medium-short term implications for the HR function. The categorization is important as it ensures that the HR team has clear direction on what the organization needs most and by when these requirements need to be met. It makes it possible to identify the HR systems and processes required prioritize the design, development and deployment of the HR initiatives in the right sequence. This validation of the HR plan on a regular basis ensures that the plan continues to sync well with the

organization's requirements. Typically there are a set of base HR processes that need attention to ensure there are HR processes and systems that support the set-up operations of the organization effectively. The next set of HR processes and systems essentially focus on building the processes and systems that support the talent management and strengthening the employer brand. Consolidation, enhancements and technology implementations are also part of this phase and continue to feature in subsequent phases as well. Employees are key stakeholders and the 'customer' for most HR processes and systems. Awareness of this fact through the design, development and deployment phase is very crucial to results from such initiatives are productive and meaningful. It is important that the design and deployment of these initiatives appropriately

Getting

it right

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addresses the needs of this important customer.

Design and deployment

Employee opinion survey results across organizations highlight the impact that HR systems and processes have on employee engagement. The alignment of the HR plan and the organization's strategy includes its people strategy. For the design experts, it is about capturing the requirements and creating a comprehensive design which includes a plan to deploy and mature the process efficiently. Infact the way the design process is managed lays the foundation and sets the tone for downstream activities including deployment. For a successful design process it is important to articulate the approach for the design phase before diving into it. Some of the key factors that tend to impact the quality of the output from the design process are: Stakeholder engagement and participation Freezing on the design scope Defining the authority/group that has the ability to provide decisions required to finalize output Creating a suitable approach for effective deployment Establishing the targets for process maturity Design and deploymentthe proof of the pudding in this case is the quality of implementation. Research shows that some of the most well designed and sophisticated systems have been a failure due to poor implementation.

Case 1: The $5.6 billion dollar fiasco at Her Majesty's Revenue Collection Agency (HMRC) in the UK is a good example of an implementation led failure. This failure occurs when the final output at the implementation level results in quality problems. In software systems those quality problems are generally in the form of software bugs, but for other types of project they may take other forms. In the HMRC case new child tax credits offered by the UK government required tax refunds to be sent to thousands of families. Bugs in the software used to make payments caused a number of problems; like miscalculation of the sums to be refunded .The resulting errors meant that many families received considerably more money than they should. Unfortunately once the British Government realized the errors had been made, many families had already spent the money. Efforts to reclaim the money resulted in financial hardship for many of the UK's poorest families and in the end the British government was forced to accept massive write offs. Case 2: Another variant of an implementation failure occur when a project loses sight of its value proposition and ends up implementing a solution that fails to meet its rightful goals. This many a time occurs because of breakdown in communications. The case of a cargo carrier company based in Asia represents a case of such a failure. The organization had implemented a SAP implementation project with the goal of attaining efficiencies by integrating previously disparate functions

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into one streamlined solution. However latter on it was realized that instead of integrating functions; the project team had simply mirrored their existing business processes into the SAP environment. The resulting system was no more efficient or streamlined than the older technology they had used. Although initially the project was initiated with a right vision; the actual results attained by at the operational level was a completely different things. The problems are unfortunately all too common and because few organizations monitor the operational effectiveness of their projects disconnect failures often go undetected. For HR teams that have been able to ensure successful implementations have some common themes: Comprehensive yet simple design frameworks connect the dots Pre implementation testing: Pilot Communication that is effective and not an information overload Phased roll-out, allowing process to get established well and mature in a timely manner Post implementation support Maturity path Our understanding of the mechanisms that lead to technology project failure is also maturing. While the earliest works on the issue focused on overcoming the complexity of writing large computer programs, much of today's thinking is based around the use of methodologies or project management techniques as a way to reduce risk and increase value. So with so many factors critical for success what is the success formula for organizations getting it all right with their HR process and systems design and deployment efforts? For a program to be successful in any organization and to tie the blissful knot between a great design and successful deployment, like any other relationship there are more stakeholders than the expected. There are three critical elements that need to complement each other to ensure that the organization is able to make the best of the new system. They are: 1. The 'Maturity of the Organization' 2. The 'Maturity of the System' / Process designed to match the organization's growth phase and maturity 3. The 'Maturity of the People' who make the organization and are thus the customers for the system It is important for a great design to be implemented with the same passion with which it was designed. Again at the same time, leaving the designed system in a workable condition doesn't complete the deployment cycle. Deployment has as much to do with having the end customer use it as much to make it usable. Thus the deployment cycle can be completed successfully only after completing the 'capability building' link, thereby touching upon the maturity of the 'People' who make the organization. This leaves us with a question on whether design and deployment of good systems is just a prerogative of the 'Matured Organizations' ; or whether the organization will have to wait for its employees to reach a state of 'business maturity' before budgeting for matured systems and processes to be deployed. Better still, how do we define 'Matured' in this case? The response to this could be to attain clarity and plan a few key steps before taking the big plunge. The key aspects that need to be planned are: a. The organization's vision and how does this new system fulfill / support the fulfillment of the organization's vision. b. The organization's strategy - long term and short term and how the system enables attaining the organizations' strategy for the long or short term. c. Assessment of Organizational capability and People Capability - Infact this is one of the most critical links since this will serve as an important source of information and feedback to plan deployment steps and the pace of deployment. The decision to take a 'big bang' approach or to take a 'phased' approach will also be an outcome of this particular assessment. d. Internal Communication - While communication may sound quite naive and most organizations assume that they do enough justice to communication - external or internal, the fact remains that communication at the right pace, with the right frequency, with the specific and right message to the right audience can make or break the acceptance of the system. The other important aspect about communication is that there is no reason to wait for the completion of design or beginning of the deployment to start communicating, particularly with the internal customers. Any change management exercise can be closely controlled to deliver the outcomes of a 'Transformation' by communicating with the employees and preparing them in steps at their pace for the change coming their way. e. Metrics to measure the Return on the Investment This is where the real challenge begins. The easy way out in selecting the right design and right deployment process for any system implementation could be look at what has worked well at competition or others' in the industry. But the fact remains that this attitude of 'One Size fits all' never works to generate the same results with identical outcomes as it may have done in the past for some other organization. Hence it is imperative to plan a desired output and outcomes linked to each milestone and monitor it continuously all through the program phase. Thus designing metrics and monitoring performance against it not just at the end but before and after each of the key milestones is an important requirement. Just as designing of a system can't be done without doing a detailed diagnostic of the organization, the key stakeholders, and the interdependencies, deployment can also not be considered completed without conducting an assessment post deployment to measure the benefit the system has generated. Most of the experiences shared by HR and Right Management teams that have worked on the design and deployment of HR systems and processes tell us that it is all about coordinating key elements to contribute in the required manner to get the desired output. Along with the methodology, framework processes and

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measures that are part of the design and deployment of HR processes and systems it is also about the ability to pull together collective inputs from stakeholders to ensure design inputs result in the creation of a robust design and the final output not only gets implemented but more importantly delivers to satisfaction. While the design phase tends to predominantly be interpreted as a fine art, a creative process ..there is still a need for ensuring that it occurs using a set of principles and within certain guidelines. For deployment there is strong need to ensure detailed planning and communication for quality execution across the organization. Yet the detailed planning and execution entails through creative means engaging the entire organization to understand and adopt the process and system as it applies to them and their role in the organization. So there is an art and science aspect to both the design and deployment phases.

Design inputs: HR diagnostics & employee opinions

Employee opinion surveys highlight the things that matter most to your employees. It's not enough to know what employees have rated high or low. Once it is understood what matters most to employees, one would need to know exactly where to focus efforts to raise employee morale, increase productivity, and reduce turnover. The diagnostic results are essential to facilitate organizational change.

Design complexity and deployment challenges

Paradoxically the larger the overall project the greater the damage that can be caused by little things. For example, a project to build an airliner could be thrown weeks off schedule if ordering the necessary testing tool has been overlooked and it is not available at the moment needed. A project to build a bridge could be delayed by months if the specially manufactured bolts turn out not to fit and they have to be remade. Small oversights can cause big problems. That is why paying attention to details is of critical importance. If the project is too big for one single individual to check every detail then it should be divided into smaller sub-projects each with a delegated sub-project manager. The overall project manager's job becomes one of coordination, of setting check points, monitoring feedback from his subproject managers, and making absolutely sure that they are doing their job of looking after the details. The key to successful project management is a well thought out and detailed plan taking everything into account and neglecting nothing. This must be followed by constant monitoring of progress against that plan. At the slightest sign of deviation or slippage the project manager must go straight in to fix the problem. He must not let it drift or he will be in big trouble further down the line. If there is any uncertainty at all at the planning stage the project planner must allow for it as part of his plan. He must build in a contingency of time or money. In the real world the unexpected does sometimes still happen.
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Design Enhance

HR PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS

Mature

But his job is to minimize the unexpected by thinking through every eventuality and examining every detail in advance. The more s/he does this the better the plan will be and the less contingency slack s/he will have to allow for.

The innovation factor

System and process design . going back to the drawing board opportunities to innovate and incremental or taking it to an absolutely different level.

The continuous cycle of design and deployment

"Design" as described in this paper does not relate to management of the technical items of a project, but rather is the management of the end user expectations, awareness, and preparedness. During the design phase certain set of activities should be undertaken to ensure that the ultimate end users are "onboard" with the project deliverables. Project success depends heavily on setting and delivering all of the expectations of the stakeholders and obtaining their concurrence on that achievement. Many a time a project fails to meet the stakeholder expectations either because their expectations were too high or because the project stakeholders fail to accept the project as their own and embrace the opportunities that the project delivers. This problem could be overcome by assembling a project team that is comprised of the right individuals from the right stakeholder community. This means that the ultimate owners of the project should be active participants from the start. The start of the project is where the greatest opportunities exist for setting and managing end-user expectations. Setting stakeholder expectations and assembling the appropriate project team is the first and most important phase of an change intervention. Case 1 : A construction company build a new gas plant and deliver it successfully from the purely technical standpoint. However no one among the in house operators knew how to operate it, nor they are incapable of maintaining it themselves. This project met a complete failure because there was no provision in the project plan for the involvement of operations and maintenance people in the development of the new glas plant. There must be a strategy to ensure that they are engaged and are willing, ready, and able to take ownership of the facility when it is transferred into their custody and control for operation. This is equally true of software implementations, or any other types of projects for that matter.

Deploy: Deployment strategy cannot be designed effectively without understanding the context and addressing the challenges that are present at the ground level. Define the ground level Deploy barriers & developing a effective solution required identification and involvement of power centers and Change Agents (top, middle, line management). Without stakeholder commitment & support an effective deployment can never be attained. For effective deployment communication is also very essential. Communication should aim at create a dissatisfaction with Old system & reinforcing benefits that could be attained by implementing the change initiative. Case 1: In 1919 Nissan was highly profitable and had 4 of the top 10 cars in the world. But due to some unintelligent decisions that were taken from 1993-1999 the Credit ratings services were threatening to lower Nissan's status from "investment grade" to "junk". CEO Yoshikazu Hanawa gained an alliance with Renault who took a 36.8% equity stake in Nissan & Carlos Ghosn to join Nissan as COO. Everybody had doubts on this decision. How can a person who was born Brazil & was educated in Paris & speaks no Japanese lead a Japanese firm? Nissan achieved its targets one year ahead of plan - brought 20% reduction in purchasing costs & created best financial performance in company's history. Ghosn achieved all this by focusing on deployment. For effective deployment he established cross-functional teams (CFT) from middle management to address silos, created metrics of quality, cost and customer satisfaction. Through effective and continuous communications process connected all levels of employees all across the company and get everyone aligned with deployment goals and strategies Thus in the long run the entire design & deployment process would pass through the following phases: design, deploy, mature, and enhance.

HR process and systems

It is equally important to revisit the designed system after it has attained a considerable level of maturity. This improves the overall system and ensures that it is in sink with the contextually relevant variable & environment. Even while enhancing the system the design and deployment principles must be kept into consideration as they form the backbone of any successful project implementation.

The "Right" perspective

It's the people that make the processes and systems and after numerous design and deployment initiatives its getting this 'science' and 'art' right that is most important. HC
Harsha Singh is AVP Consulting Services and Practice Leader - Engage and Align, Chaitali Mukherjee is AVP Consulting Services and Practice Leader - Attract and Assess at Right Management India Private Limited.

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