This post will discuss changing or updating the system and processes that affect the most valuable asset your organization has- your employees. Timing and accuracy was on Paul James (Boyer consultant) mind during the entire implementation of the HR component for a large Dynamics SL client located on an Indian Tribe in Northern Minnesota.
As you can see above, this nice HR module for Dynamics SL was created in the Dynamics SL toolset so minimal user interface training or integration is needed during the implementation.
The most important lesson that became apparent as our project was starting was the need for communication between Payroll and Human Resources. Like many organizations, this firm’s employees’ paychecks consist of inputs from both the payroll and HR departments. Even though the HR module contains many features that do not have an impact on payroll, making sure both departments were part of the decision making process helped both departments. Both could see the whole process and agree on the best decisions for their broader organization and not just their department.
The Dynamics SL ISV (Independent Software Vendor) HR module from Silver Brook Systems contains many features that may be above and beyond what is currently needed at your organization. Choosing which features to implement was key to focusing on the data migration and configuration needed. In addition, the stress and learning curve of the employees using the system was reduced by starting only with the processes they were familiar with. After the Payroll and HR staff became familiar with the software, new processes and additional features were implemented. This greatly reduced the risk of delays and errors on employees’ paychecks.
With the HR module comes specific settings to separate the duties of HR and Payroll and a synchronization process to keep the two modules updated. It was important to review which department was responsible for specific data inputs and processes to ensure that payroll checks were accurate.
The most important process was the synchronization of the HR module benefit elections to the Payroll module benefits. Developing a process for a deadline of any HR changes and timing of the synchronization prior to a payroll check run was an important lesson and contributed to the success of the implementation.
As with any new system or process, training was an important contributor to the success of the implementation we assisted with. The user manual, while detailed and useful, has far more information than most people have the time to read and will not contain information on any customizations that may have been done.
Creating a custom manual that highlighted only the features and processes that were being implemented was very useful to our client. A much smaller manual that was specific to the organization’s processes gave the Payroll and HR staff the feeling that learning the new system would not be difficult. We will remember this lesson for our next HR implementation of either Dynamics SL or Dynamics GP. As the users started to use the system a follow up training session was helpful in answering questions about those exceptions that are typical.
