Knowing that workers are seeking more support during this time of unprecedented global change, many companies are looking to upgrade policies, processes, analytics, HCM software performance and re-make their physical and remote employee experience to increase productivity and improve retention. One of the single best things an HR team can do to more effectively achieve these goals is to complete a thorough review of the HCM system and take steps to ensure it is working at its best to serve the workforce now and into the future.

Your HCM System Has Been Under Fire

Your HCM system can be compared to a battleship: once gleaming and fully prepared for the fight, it has been hastily patched during combat to keep moving but perhaps isn’t clipping along quite as efficiently as it used to. Now that the smoke from the battle is clearing, you may be noticing that your HCM ship has sustained more damage than originally imagined and needs repair before embarking on its next mission. There are manual processes that could be automated, configuration that needs to be re-organized and systems that will work more efficiently and accurately if integrated in a better way. If you are noticing that things could be working better or glitches are slowing up the team, it’s time to pull into the shipyard for a full damage assessment. The best way to get back to full optimization of your HCM system is by performing a system utilization review.

Wise consultant, Amanda Babbidge, GBA, notes that HR and payroll teams have had to adapt and evolve during the pandemic. “Your needs might have changed since implementation, you may have added additional features or modules and now there is a disconnect,” she points out. “A lot of companies have experienced organizational changes or restructures, and that drastically impacts the way that your system functions and the way that you use it,” she adds. It is no surprise that frustrations can easily arise when the HCM system is failing to deliver the level of competency that is required to keep things running smoothly for all teams involved.

Identify Key Problems with a System Utilization Review

A system utilization review is the key to identifying the issues that are holding your HCM system back from performing how it should for your organization. Your company has unique needs that your HCM software must be configured to support effectively. Wise consultants have run hundreds of system utilization reviews for different size companies within various industries. They understand that each company has a specific set of requirements which their HCM system must be set up to accommodate and they know which questions to ask and functions to examine to find the issues hampering performance.

But many organizations need more than a simple troubleshoot, acknowledges Wise consultant Wanda Somers. “An in-depth system utilization review helps to uncover the underlying cause of the issue rather than just fixing the problem that currently exists,” she says. Plus, a hasty fix of the surface issue might inadvertently create fresh problems or complications for other departments that rely on the system for their separate needs.

Leverage the Knowledge of an Experienced Review Team

Just as you wouldn’t trust your battleship repairs to an untested crew, understand the importance of engaging an experienced review team. Wise consultants dig deep from the start, building a comprehensive report on all issues big and small. “Typically, we conduct a series of sessions where we go through each of the different modules in your software, review the current configurations, look for best practices and for areas where we can make recommendations that would streamline the configuration or sometimes the process behind the configuration,” explains consulting manager Michael Corry.

Completing a thorough review of software and configurations enables your consultant to catch hidden issues and ultimately provide solutions to ensure that your HCM system is working optimally for your company. If you are looking to optimize your HCM system and tailor it to your exact needs through a system utilization review, contact a Wise consultant today.