Succeeding with HR Tech, Five, Make it Six Things HR Needs to Know

I did a Human Resource Executive Webinar on Tuesday titled 'Suceeding with HR Technology, Five Six Things HR Leaders Need to Know (and an HR Technology Conference Preview), and while it would be hard to share the information shared in webinar in full, I thought I would pull out the FiveSix 'Remember This' kinds of takeaway slides to share here, along with a little of the pithy commentary I dished out on the live Webinar.

Also, if you head over to www.hrtechconference.com, you can probably access a recorded copy of the webinar when it posts in a day or two.

(Email and RSS subscribers may need to click through to see the images)

Number One: In the Pre-Contract stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

Always. Be. Negotiating. Don't fall in love with the first demo you see or with the vendor that takes you out to the swankiest dinner at HR Tech. Play the long game if you can. You have just about all of the power before the contract is signed.

Number Two: In the Planning stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

We, all of us, humans primarily, are terrible at estimating how complex most undertakings actually are, and how long they will take to complete. Planning for HR tech projects is not immune to this phenomenon. Take your time, find some experienced implementers, challenge your assumptions, and be realistic about your organization's willingness, capability, and capacity for change when you set goals and milestones down. And it might not hurt to add another 15% for 'you never knows'.

Number Three: In the Teambuilding stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

One of the surest ways to limit your success with HR tech projects is to fail to devote the necessary resources for the needed time to the project, and get them some relief from their normal, day jobs. Almost every large project struggles with this to some extent. Getting a resource for 10 hrs/week does not automatically free that resource up from their normal duties, and you just may have added 20% workload to a key person you are counting on for the project.

Number Four: In the Managing Relationships stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

Your HR Tech project team will likely consist of a slew of different groups and organizations - core team, project sponsors, vendor staff, external consultants or SIs, and maybe even independent contractors. Managing the ownership, accountability, and communication across and among these different groups is so important, and a skillful and savvy project manager spends a ton of his or her time in this area.

Number Five: In the Technical Considerations stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

While many of the technical tasks have migrated from customer-owned to vendor-managed in the HR Cloud environment, most medium to large scale HR Tech projects have important technical considerations, chief among these are the integration needs from cloud solutions from different vendors, as well as the integrations from HR cloud solutions to legacy and sometimes on-premise downstream or upstream systems. And be mindful of the Planning Fallacy from a few steps ago when planning, scoping, and finding resources for your integration tasks.

Number Six: In the User Adoption stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

Most people don't like change. We like what we know, but maybe would not mind it if things were just a little bit better or faster or easier or more enjoyable. A good approach to user adoption is to couch and describe the change you are creating as the beginning of a movement towards something better, not necessarily a complete overhaul of systems, processes, and the way people work. We like 'better'. We don't always like 'different'. It's a subtle difference but maybe one that will make user adoption efforts and results more effective.

Ok, that's it for my Top 6 things to remember. If I would have had more time on the Webinar I could have come up with more, but these are a decent starting point. We will be hitting all of these topics in much more detail at the HR Technology Conference in September - use my code STEVE300 to get $300 off the best rate available when you register here.

HR Executive Column: Thinking about Design Thinking in HR

I have been a little slack in posting links back to my monthly column over at HR Executive Online but fear not gentle readers, I have not abandoned this essential public service.

So without further delay, here is the link to my latest Inside HR Tech piece at HR Executive - How to Make Design Thinking Work for HR.

From the piece:

Why are so many HR leaders talking about design thinking?

Longtime readers might know that I founded and co-host with Trish McFarlane the popular HR Happy Hour Show, a podcast covering HR, HR tech, HR leadership and more. In the last several months, a number of the show’s guests—HR leaders from Red Hat, T-Mobile, General Motors and NBCUniversal, for example—have brought up a phrase that, even as recently as last year, I don’t recall hearing.

That phrase is “design thinking,” and while you probably have heard the term, you might not have considered it from an HR or HR-technology point of view. Design thinking has been described as an iterative process that tries to understand a business problem, as well as who and what it is impacting. Those using this strategy challenge existing assumptions and approaches to solving a problem, and ask questions to identify alternative solutions that might not be readily apparent. Design thinking is a solution-based approach and usually prescribes a series of specific phases, stages and methods to help designers and business teams arrive at improved, user-focused solutions.

Since I’ve been hearing so much lately about this idea, I thought it would be a good topic to explore for this column.  I’ll look at each of the typical stages of a design-thinking process, their application, and how we can leverage these ideas as we evaluate, deploy and manage the HR technologies.

Empathize

The first stage in the design-thinking process is gaining an understanding of the business or people problem you are trying to solve. This is different than trying to determine the list of detailed technical requirements for a new HR system or the specific elements that need to be included in a new course for first-time managers in the organization. Design thinking suggests that the designer or the project leader thinks deeply about the people who will be impacted by a new solution or process, engage and spend time with them to better understand their motivations and challenges, as well as develop a deep appreciation for any physical or environmental characteristics that are important to the solution. But the key to making this information-gathering stage successful is empathy, which can help designers and leaders to get past their own assumptions and gain insight into users and their needs.

Read the rest of the piece over at HR Executive Online...

And remember to subscribe to get my monthly Inside HR Tech column via email on the subscription sign-up page here. The first 25 new subscribers get a new set of steak knives. Well, maybe. 

Thanks and have a great day!

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 328 - SHRM Annual Recap with My Daughter

HR Happy Hour 328- SHRM Annual Recap with My Daughter

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

Hosts: Trish McFarlane

Guest: Carleigh McFarlane, Trish's daughter

Listen to the show HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, host Trish McFarlane is joined by Carleigh McFarlane.  Trish and Carleigh attended the SHRM Annual conference, with Carleigh being a junior blogging ambassador.  As a high school freshman, Carleigh's perception of what is happening in the work world is quite unique.  

Carleigh attended sessions, participated in her first vendor product demo, walked an Expo floor for the first time, and much more!  Tune in to hear how the upcoming generation feels about the workplaces they will be joining in a few years.  This was a really engaging and interesting conversation with a student who is interested in the future of work - thanks to Carleigh for joining Trish.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

Remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcast, or your favorite podcast app - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'. 

Have a great weekend!

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 327 - Business and HR Transformation at General Motors

HR Happy Hour 327 - Business and HR Transformation at General Motors

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guest: Michael Arena, Chief Talent Officer, General Motors

Listen HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, hosts Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane are joined by General Motors Chief Talent Officer Michael Arena to talk about GM's business and HR transformation efforts, a program called 'GM2020'. On the show Michael shared how GM's business has had to undergo pretty significant, rapid, and cultural change in response to some dramatic changes and challenges in the automotive industry. 

Michael shared how GM's HR and Talent organizations have had to help the organization meet these challenges by becoming more agile, developing and acquiring new skills and capabilities, and learning where and when to support, foster, and encourage new, innovative ways of thinking - leading to the development and launch of the next generation of great automotive solutions.

We also talked Cadillacs, Corvettes, Buicks, and Chevy Trucks - because c'mon, who doesn't love those?

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

This was a really engaging and interesting conversation with an HR leader at one of America's most famous and successful companies - thanks to Michael for joining us.

Remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'. 

This week on the #HRHappyHour Podcast Network

This was a big week on the HR Happy Hour Podcast Network and with the HR Happy Hour on Alexa, so in case you missed anything or wanted to catch up on your favorite HR podcasts this weekend, here is a quick rundown of this past week across the HHH Network:

HR Happy Hour 326 - High Tech HR: Innovating + Expanding Opportunity at Red Hat

Host: Steve Boese

Guest: DeLisa Alexander, Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer, Red Hat

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve is joined by DeLisa Alexander, EVP and Chief People Officer at Red Hat - an 11,000+ employee high tech company built on open source technology and committed to the idea that sharing, community, and being open can unlock the potential of people and organizations

HR Market Watch 10 - The Future Role of the Recruiter

Host: George LaRocque

Guest: Art Papas, CEO, Bullhorn

What's the future of recruiting? And what does that mean for recruiters?

Join George LaRocque from HRWins to explore how the role of the recruiter is changing today with guest Art Papas CEO of Bullhorn.

We're Only Human 27 - How McDonald's Measures Learning Outcomes

Host: Ben Eubanks

Guest: Kevin M. Yates

One of the hard things for HR leaders to do is understand if the work they are doing actually has an impact on the business. What's the ROI, if any, of the investments and effort you're putting into your work?

That's an question we're going to discuss today with Kevin M. Yates, a brilliant L&D leader and a self-described data detective, who recently joined the learning team at McDonald's. In the conversation, Kevin makes it really clear how to think through using data, evidence and facts to support what HR and learning leaders are doing in the business. 

Remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Podcast Network shows on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcast app - just search for 'HR Happy Hour'.

Finally, the HR Happy Hour Show for Amazon Alexa is going strong too - in the Amazon Alexa app you can add the 'HR Happy Hour' skill to your Alexa's daily Flash Briefings for updates three or four times each week from Trish McFarlane, Steve Boese, and Ben Eubanks. These are short, 3 - 5 minute 'mini' episodes covering a wide range of topics on HR, the workplace, technology, business and more. And if you don't have an Echo device you can also listen online at  the HR Happy Hour Show on Alexa.

Here's a sample of one of the shows from this week:

HR Happy Hour Show on Alexa - Episode 32

Host: Steve Boese

In this episode, Steve talks about when to let an employee who resigns work out his or her 'two weeks notice' and when to show them the exit door immediately after they turn in their resignation

That's it from your pals on the HR Happy Hour Podcast Network - have a great weekend!