We began this journey in the second quarter of 2015. Prior to this, I was involved in the business but I moved around different entities. Then finally, I was brought back into the business in 2015 because the owners needed someone who understood HR but also had a tech background. I fit the bill.
My plan was to take 36 months. We spent the first six in planning and reviewing how the operations would take place and what could be automated. We looked at what software could be brought in and modified and we also had to consider the budget. We started looking at tech partners who could grow alongside us. Then, in the next six months, we worked with the software developer to chart our requirements.
Our biggest challenge was customising the platform. Frequently, software developers build to meet the criteria of one organisation but we needed a single platform with multiple configurations so we could support hundreds of clients at the same time.
The following year, we began the migration process, which was incredibly challenging. We had multiple fronts to manage, from the customers, to data migration and personalised attention throughout to ensure everyone was on the same page and happy.
As expected, there were clients who didn’t appreciate the change, who were comfortable with the status quo and who needed assurances about their data. Understandably, some of these were customers who had been with us for over seven years. We knew that awareness building, educating them about the process and outcomes and addressing concerns would be key to getting them on board.
Within 18 months, we completed the migration and completely disbanded the old platform. Our big challenge was to get all of the team on board and adapting to this new way of working. Some were comfortable with the old ways – they needed a lot of support to transition. There was a learning curve. But with change management, training, assurances throughout as well as consistent, open communication, we succeeded.
It took persistence. In the past, a person was able to process 200 payslips at any one time. But with the new platform, a person could process up to 700 payslips. The combination of the self-service model, the transition from manual to digital records and a single dashboard helped our team understand what lay ahead. Quicker processing times, client access to their data when they needed it, a focus on more strategic work and more.
But one of our biggest challenges was not foreseeing the shift needed for our backup process. We had an ISO standard backup solution in place that suited on-premise solutions. But with the move to the cloud, it was no longer suitable and we needed to resolve this quickly. Somehow, in the modelling stage, we missed out on this detail but we were able to address it successfully, in time.
