Congratulations! 

You made it to getting executive buy-in to implement new talent management software across your organization. 

Now is the time to roll up your sleeves for the most critical work: planning, selection, communication, testing, and change management.   

Caution. You are about to set off implementing a new talent management software. Stay vigilant, for a small leak will sink a great ship. 

Best Practices for a Successful Talent Management Software Implementation

A PwC study of over 10,640 projects shows that only 2.5% of companies complete 100% of their projects successfully. It’s a harsh reality.  

But you can win if you want to. 

Here are some of the ways you can count on to make your talent management implementation a success.

1. Bring together the right team
   Build a cross-functional team to review your business needs. Members from each of the following areas can form a strong alliance to anchor your decision making. 
   
   • Finance: Reach out to your CFO for a representative to guide your team in financial strategy, cost/ benefit analysis, and ROI. 
   • Technology: Invite your vendor consultants into your discussions. 
   • Executive Sponsor: Seek a mentor who is a member of the executive team or has connections to it. 
   • Marketing/Customer Service - While marketing can help you with analysis and change management, you also need an expert who knows customers and their needs. 
   • Line of Business - An expert in the corporate entity that owns the KPIs related to business strategy  will have inside information your team needs. It may be experts in sales, production, research, logistics, or any other function. It may also include other people affected by your proposal. 
   • Project Management - A project manager will provide expertise on how to manage your resources and activities. An experienced project manager can also provide risk management expertise. 
   • Analytics - Include your human capital analytics team. If you don’t yet have a team in HR, seek analytical capability in marketing or finance. You may need an analytics consultant to help you build your analytics team.
   
   
2. Set clear, measurable goals.
   Knowing your goals is always a priority, whether you are handling a short term or a long-term project. Goals align the people on your team to those who will use the system. They will also provide metrics you can use to measure your success. You will need goals for the implementation, but you will also want goals for the impact you will have on the organization. 
   
   
3. Calculate the benefits
   Map and analyze the processes your initiative will touch. Small changes to a process can often result in significant savings in rework, administrative costs, materials, and labor. 

   Use data to describe the impact your initiative can have on the company. Quantify benefits and link them to the strategic plan.  
   
   

4. Know your risks
   In the way you are clear about goals, it’s also important to be aware of the risks. The loss of critical member of your team could delay the project. Consider also what you will do if your users resist  a  change in methods or procedures. 

   I suggest these questions to analyze each step of the implementation: 

   • What could go wrong?  
   • How will that affect the project?  
   • What can we do to prevent or mitigate the risk?  

   
   A risk mitigation plan involves: 

   • Calculating the risks,  
   • Analyzing the probability and impact of each risk,  
   • Assigning each of them a score, then 
   • Planning on whether you will avoid, transfer, or mitigate each risk, and 
   • Documenting a strategy to mitigate each risk. 
   
   
5. Communicate consistently on the change
   Build a solid communication plan. Effective communication can bring cohesion among all your stakeholders. 

   Some of the ways you can make your communication engaging are: 

   • Make your people curious by setting up meetings where they can ask questions. 
   • Involve a cross-functional team from the beginning. 
   • Be creative in your messaging, so no one ignores essential news. 
   • Stay informed with regular surveys to get feedback. 
     
   
   
6. Involve your end users from the start
   While you involve your HR staff in the entire process, it is also essential to engage your end-users.   

   A great way to kick off is to collect all your stakeholders’ views through a survey or a social app. Solicit feedback on:  

   • Real-time challenges in using current talent systems and portals,    
   • Process enhancements they would like to see, and   
   • Other issues they would like to address with the help of new software or ways of doing things. 

   This information can help you understand practical concerns and makes the whole process not a shot in the dark but an all-inclusive informed effort.
     

7. Select for the way you operate
   Again, involve your crew while you select your vendor. The people in your team become your product champions who will guide you through every step of your path.  

   Select a software system that aligns with the way you operate your talent processes. 

   You may have to set up structures, profiles, goals, career paths, and other functions to monitor your employees’ performance, development, and compensation. 

   Implementation partners will help you with configuration training and support, but you need to guide them on how you do business. Your partner will assign you a dedicated team to review your configuration options, answer questions, and make recommendations for efficient and effective management and workflow. 

   See that the vendor training sessions are available to all those that are involved. Through this, you can get multi-faceted feedback you can work through and make the right choice. 
   
   

8. Test. Test. Test with Diligence
   Lack of diligence in testing can affect your implementation. You may end up with users grumbling and complaining. 
   

   A comprehensive testing plan involving the dimensions of analysis, strategy, objectives,  operational  criteria, and deliverables is mission-critical for testing. 

   Check out our article on to learn some practical insights. 
   
   

9. Train your people for a user-friendly experience
   Train all your users at all levels to prepare them for using your new software.  

           Your people should know,   

• where to go when they need something,  
• how to interact with all the features, and  
• how to get things done without waiting on the HR staff for assistance.  

Training can build confidence and drive participation. 

Success Favors A Solid Strategy 

With the ongoing pandemic, businesses are relying on technology more than ever. Now is your time to  facilitate a safe path to business success. And our recommendation for you is to develop a robust technology governance strategy. 

As said by the author, Sukanth Ratnakar,

Our future success is directly proportional to our ability to understand, adapt and integrate new technology into our work.

We hope these insights help you to achieve success.  

Explore Pixentia’s practical insights on talent management to select and implement the talent management platform and processes that supports your strategy and culture.  

Phenomecloud is a full-service technology company dedicated to helping clients solve business problems, improve the capability of their people, and achieve better results.