Guide for growing companies: Moving to a larger scale HR software

In this guide, we collected the common needs and pains of growing companies. It’s a practical workbook for businesses looking for their first ever HRMS or aiming to change their current HRMS “for something more advanced”.

With this guide, you will:

Set clear goals and requirements for your next HR system.
Learn the difference between HRMS for small, medium, and large companies.
Explore key HRMS features to implement in 2022 and beyond.
Receive the ultimate list of questions to ask your vendor before purchase.
Learn how to choose the best software vendor.
Prepare your team for the implementation process

Why use an HRMS?

An HRMS can look after simple admin tasks that take up a lot of time. By using an HRMS to manage this process you can save time and release people to work on other areas of the business.

Why do companies change their HRM Systems?

There may be 1000 and 1 reason for that. The most common are:

Needs not met any longer
Bugs and poor support
Cheaper option available, with the same functionality
The vendor has gone out of business
New HR Director wants to use the same HRMS they used previously.

YOUR UPGRADE STRATEGY

Collect ⇒ Plan ⇒ Decide ⇒ Deploy

Fireside Chat

1. Did all the necessary stakeholders participate in the previous selection process? Are there new stakeholders?
2. Were the current processes accurately depicted and prioritized?
3. Were the data sources or integrations identified properly for expected results?
4. What functionality was missing from the previous solution? What features are now required?
5. Is there a need to support remote workers?

The players

1. Identify stakeholders. Make sure to include the HR & IT teams in your selection process.
2. Rank stakeholders by the level of interaction with the solution
3. Survey the participants
4. Collect and present findings to gain buy-in and engagement with the process

Pro Tip

Make sure that the HRM System will be selected by a person who used HRM solutions before. We have seen many IT people selecting HRM Systems based on a “technical view” only… But then these systems were operated by the HR Managers, who were not always happy to use what they never selected.

Define the Requirements

1. Identify must-have functionality
2. Identify nice-to-have features
3. Prepare a checklist of these items
4. Research vendors
5. Need more clarity, conduct RFI process

Pro Tip: Keep It Realistic

Make sure you know what you need. Remember: not every HRMS produces invoices and not every ERP manages Absences.

If you purchase HRM Software from a foreign vendor – do not expect them to know your local rules perfectly well. You should be ready to assist and suggest.

Software solutions may have bugs. Some of them never make trouble unless you use the system extensively. The main question is how fast the bugs can be fixed by the vendor.

Some things cannot happen faster than they should. Do not expect your new HRM System to be up and running tomorrow. Your company has its HR processes, approval workflows and forms. Be ready for a few months of implementation.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRODUCT

What are the ongoing costs?
Does the solution streamline compliance?
Is the system compatible with your industry and the size of your company?
Is the HRIS user-friendly?
Is the HRIS solution cloud-based, or is it located on the premises?
Is the system customizable?
What platforms can the software run on?

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VENDOR

References
How is employee data protected? Does the vendor offer employee training as a part of the software package?
What support services are offered by the vendor (admin portals, consulting services, FAQ sections, and so on)?
What are the vendor’s policies on updates, upgrades, and bug fixes?
Will the vendor take your feedback into consideration and use it to make improvements to the system?

KEY HRMS FEATURES FOR 2022 AND BEYOND

Tools for a comfort remote working:

SAAS HR software,
Online conference tools for interviews and performance evaluations,
Convenient time tracking and automated timesheets,
Flexible learning schedule,
Mobile apps and self-services.

Personalized approach to every team member that helps develop a strong corporate culture:

Employee feedback in real-time
Social media integration
Employer branding tools

Pro tips for growing companies

If you plan to grow from 50 to 500+ employees – make sure the HRM system will be able to support that. It is not just about the people. Each of these people will be gaining documents, absence records, performance review history etc. 500 employees may easily bring your database 10 000 records in just a couple of years.

It is not that difficult to manage data security when you have 15 employees. But when you have 1000… In some countries, the Data Protection laws are very strict. Make sure your new HRMS is very strong in this regard.

SLA – “Service Level Agreement”. Larger business = more support. Make sure to ask your potential vendor to send you their SLA conditions before you decide.

If plan to open a foreign office - it would be nice to have a system that has several language packages with easy switching back and forth. Also, you should be able to easily create fields for the location-specific data.

ROI Considerations = Operational costs

1. Visible costs (product, implementation, maintenance) and possible extra costs (hosting, customization, test environment, certificates, etc)?
2. Options to integrate the system with other systems (if needed)?
3. Functionality for supporting the remote work?
4. Support service time zones?
5. Trial access and for how long?
6. Time to get the system up and running?
7. System’s physical location
8. Self-services are chargeable or included
9. Possibilities for the customization
10. Your data protection
11. How likely is your vendor to hear your wishes for the system improvement?

Selecting THE vendor

1. Qualify the pricing models of each finalist
2. Negotiate the product and services (implementation, training, integrations) that are appropriate
3. Make sure you know about any country, union, or local laws
4. Do not forget about the Data Protection and Security

Working toward a decision

1. Rate vendors by initial match to requirements
2. Agree on project timeline; determine phases for the selection process
3. Setup product demos
4. Adjust vendor matches
5. Conduct follow-up demos for additional team exposure
6. Collect and present findings
7. Gain consensus from the team

GETTING THE PLAN BACK TOGETHER

Set project goals and expectations

1. Ensure your HR team has ownership of application functionality
2. Ensure your IT team has ownership of application technology
3. Ensure ALL team members understand goals & objectives
4. Review lessons learned from previous implementation(s)
5. Identify points of action (e.g., communication plan, training plan, support strategy, operations impacts)

Deployment Prep

1. Review the services purchased/provided from your vendor to support the implementation
2. Determine the schedule of team availability to start off working with your vendor’s implementation lead
3. Create a Change Management plan to release the new system to employees that encourages them to use the new system
4. Create supplemental training materials to support your configuration
5. Set a reasonable, achievable delivery date

Finish strong

1. Prepare your employees for the upcoming implementation
2. Have fun with the launch – application naming contest
3. Lunch & Learn events to demonstrate self-service functionality
4. Prizes for key activities: first to update their emergency contacts

Meet Lanteria

At Lanteria, we've built a modern HR system designed for rapidly growing businesses from 50 to 5000 employees. Lanteria grows with your organization - you can start off small, with Core HR and Time and Attendance modules, and add Recruiting and Performance management solutions in the future, to fit your current company's needs.

Lanteria HR is flexible, fully customizable and integrates smoothly with other Microsoft apps your business already knows how to use - like Office 365 or Teams.

It can be deployed shortly, automating most tedious HR tasks and improving the productivity of the entire team.

REVIEWS

Here’s what our customers say

Ekaterina K.

"Top-notch HR solution with excellent support team"

I was able to tailor the system to fit the unique needs of my organization, from creating custom fields to setting up workflows and approvals. This level of flexibility made it so easy to integrate into our existing HR processes, and it's made a real difference in our daily operations.