HRIS System Implementation and Maintenance
Human Resource Information System (HRIS) as a management system has allowed organizations to integrate technology through data-oriented processes that ensure that it is possible to enter, track, and use such information for purposes of managing employee welfare. Among the key roles that institutions using HRIS include payroll monitoring, accounting, and managing other staff information. According to David, Shukla, & Gupta (2015) management of change remains as a significant process that ensures institutions take deliberate effort towards ensuring that organizations are in a position of effectively implementing a robust change process. Change in organizational structure and functions ensures that there exists a period of transition among staff from a previous structure of management that they were used to a new approach (David, Shukla, & Gupta, 2015). However, implementing change often experiences difficulties leading to multiple failures at the implementation stages.
Change requires that organizational leadership provide a comprehensive structure from where it can then be possible to align their objectives with the mission and vision of the company. Alam et al. (2016) acknowledges that implementation of systems such as HRIS often experiences failure based on several factors, these factors remain responsible for the failure of implementing new systems in any organization include the failure by management or the implementation teams to align the new system with the objectives of the firm (David, Shukla, & Gupta, 2015). The organization’s disregard of staff opinions as well as a failure on the part of the implementation team to align the budgetary requirements of the firm (David, Shukla, & Gupta, 2015). System implementation failures to customize and adapt to the market demands that allows for easier implementation processes that result in an unregulated and unrelated change to the intended objective by the change agents.
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Change Models
Implementing systems change in organizations relies significantly on the need to integrate diversified functions without compromising efficient performance. Various change models have been developed over the years to help provide organizations with the necessary scope and perspective necessary in managing transition stages of change (Ravanfar, 2015). The models provide a guiding principle that can help outline the processes and key stages for observation in a pre-planned framework of doing business. The models of change include
Lewin’s Change Management model : The model perceives change from three aspects of physical science in ice blocks including unfreeze, change, and refreeze
McKinsey 7 S Model : McKinsey’s model has seven stages of change that include strategy, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills. According to Ravanfar (2015) McKinsey’s model offers comprehensive insight of change within the organizational structure from a performance perspective.
Kotter’s Change Management Theory : Kotter’s change model offers eight stages each focused on the key principles of how staff in organizations respond to change. The stages include increased urgency, team building, getting the vision correct, communication, short-term goals focus, never giving up, and incorporation of change. The model emphasizes the need for accepting change.
ADKAR model : the model is considered as a goal-oriented model that focuses significantly on the deliberate steps that each aspire to the realization of organizational goals. The model is regarded as result-oriented and effectively implemented in a sequence as a way of realizing the existing weaknesses in the change process.
Using McKinsey 7-S Model
Implementation of the HRIS would demand a comprehensive integration of the new system with the key components of the organization. HRIS as a system of operation impacts several roles in the organization, these functions have a direct effect on the organizations' structure of management, staff, style of leadership, and values of the organization with regards to the vision and mission of the firm (Tursunbayeva et al., 2016). The McKinsey 7S Model offers an inclusive and holistic approach when planning to implement change processes in the HR department (Ravanfar, 2015). The human resource department acts as an integral area of organizational operations as it focuses on aspects of strategy, staff remuneration, welfare, skill, and capacity building. The decision to align the implementation of HRIS with the McKinsey 7S model provides a unique opportunity to incorporate several operational aspects that include implementation strategy, ensuring that the organizational staff is in a position to justify their skills as well as the values that remain representative of the organizational values (Ravanfar, 2015). The model would effectively allow the organization to advance its capacity as an institution that effectively ensures that there is an increase in productivity among both employees’ performance and welfare.
Activities Necessary before the Implementation of the Systems
The implementation of HRIS remains a crucial stage that requires a complete commitment on the part of the organizational team that is responsible for the exercise. The implementation accrues to the transition process that regardless of the impact averages the estimated time and investment in the process. According to Tursunbayeva et al. (2016) implementation of HRIS remains reliant on the timeframe as well as the guidelines the organization expects the system to meet in an attempt to ensure that it is effectively integrated into the operational program of the organization.
The implementation process includes several activities such as the research phase, installation, data conversion, configuration, testing, and reviews (Tursunbayeva et al., 2016). The above form an initial stage before the operation of the system is instigated. Further, there are the employee training phases, the go-live stage, and the feedback stages. All the phases have timelines attached to their performance.
Research and Discovery refer to the initial phase of HRIS implementation. Research and discovery play an important role in ensuring the implementation team conducts an audit of business processes to be instituted by the organization (Tursunbayeva et al., 2016). Further, the phase allows the organizational leadership to decide on what roles within the HR department needs to be automated as desired. The phase takes about one to two weeks based on the size of the institution.
The Installation Phase : the phase lasts between days to a week depending on the required expertise. In most cases involves consultants and the IT departments within an organization. The installation stage requires a unique skill hence time-dependent.
The Data Conversion Phase lasts a few days into one week and often depends on the size of data that needs to be reflected in the system. The functionality of the HRIS relies on data compatibility with systems reliant on existing files and the expected output from such files.
Configuration and Testing phase is rather elaborate compared to the data conversion phase, the stage lasts for a week on the least. The configuration remains dependent on the nature of feedback needed with priority on the HR professionals’ priorities on the system feedback that depends on the intended use.
Employee Training and Implementation Phase
The training phase lasts several weeks and remains impacted by several factors that include among others the skill sets and intuition of the system as well as staff. Employee understanding of the HRIS allows for continuous improvement of skill and employee comprehension (Tursunbayeva et al., 2016). The employee training phase also acts as the go-live phase that ensures that employees and implementing staff remain articulated with the system. The understanding of the system at the training phase allows managers to comprehend the HRIS while making sure they are well articulated with the processes of its service delivery. Implementation and system feedback phase is the last process that takes no longer than a few days after the system can be declared open for use. The implementation phase ensures that there exists a nature of efficacy that allows staff and the implementing team to effectively interact with the new technology as it helps in building confidence in the operation of the system.
References
Alam, M. G. R., Masum, A. K. M., Beh, L. S., & Hong, C. S. (2016). Critical factors influencing decision to adopt human resource information system (HRIS) in hospitals. PloS One , 11 (8), e0160366.
David, S., Shukla, S., & Gupta, S. (2015). Barriers in implementing human resource information system in organization. International Journal of Engineering Research And Management (IJERM) , 2 (05), 116-119.
Ravanfar, M. M. (2015). Analyzing Organizational Structure based on 7s model of McKinsey. Global Journal of Management and Business Research . Retrieved from https://journalofbusiness.org/index.php/GJMBR/article/view/1792/1694
Tursunbayeva, A., Pagliari, C., Bunduchi, R., & Franco, M. (2016, April). What does it take to implement Human Resource Information System (HRIS) at scale? Analysis of the expected benefits and actual outcomes. In Proceedings of the 31st Workshop on Strategic HRM. Segovia, Spain .
