Human Capital Management systems are the heart of the HR system and process landscape and support the management of core processes throughout the entire employee career. A successful introduction of an HCM system requires a number of steps, such as the selection of the right system, strategic conception and implementation.
What are Human Capital Management systems?
Human Capital Management systems are a future-oriented answer to the digital challenges in the HR departments of your company. The mostly cloud-based software solutions support and optimize the Human Capital Management process. HCM systems enable employee-associated further development of the company through a partially automated data collection and analysis, a software-supported recording of employee performance and skills, the comparison of existing personnel resources with the company objectives, the definition of individual performance targets as well as the development of appropriate measures for their implementation. HCM software solutions enable HR to act as a strong strategic partner at eye level with management in the future.
Human Capital Management systems as drivers of digital transformation
The core processes of the entire employee career - from hiring to retirement - can be designed and controlled flexibly and innovatively using HCM tools. The software solutions provide employees with a seamless HR experience and managers with real-time information. In this way, HCM systems contribute to the attractiveness of the company towards talents, to the employee development as well as to the strategic control of the workforce.
In addition, modern and intelligently implemented solutions offer a potential for reducing process and IT costs. Due to the often divisional and regionally different systems and processes, a target-oriented analysis of personnel data, key figures and the creation of reports is very time-consuming in many HR departments. With a comprehensive HR solution, the fragmented process landscape can be harmonized and all company data can be captured in real time at a glance. A large number of available components enable the design to be adapted specifically to the company.
The consistent employee focus is also an essential factor and drives the digitization within the entire company. A high degree of transparency and aggregated real time data allow the company flexibility and adaptability, which are both vital competitive factors in a dynamic environment. In summary, HCM systems are an essential element of the strategic orientation of Human Resources and a pillar for maintaining and improving the company's competitiveness.
What you need to consider when choosing a HCM software
HCM projects are not IT projects, but HR projects supported by IT. In the decision process regarding the introduction of an HCM tool different questions should be considered:
- Which "must" and "can" functionalities does the system fulfil?
- Is a best-of-suite strategy possible or should specific solutions for each functionality be found?
- Can all HR applications be integrated?
- Can previous processes be configured in the standardized system specifications of a SaaS solution?
Requirements and use cases can be mapped on the basis of a current process inventory. These form the basis for selecting the right HCM system. Ideally, the process analysis should be carried out end-to-end, i.e. also outside the HCM system.
How to master the implementation
The most important success factors include a structured project plan and defined design and implementation principles. Concrete framework conditions increase transparency, such as a business case that quantifies expenses and revenues and shows the most important drivers. In addition, the so-called cloud readiness, i.e. the ability of a company to implement and manage a cloud application, should be considered. Business process re-engineering is a key success factor in the creation of a global and consolidated HCM system with standardized processes. High data quality is also essential, especially for the later migration and test phase. Data cleansing should already take place in the legacy system. Stakeholder-specific communication is vital in order to involve all employees in the introduction of the HCM software. A timely integration of affected business users is needed. Ideally, they should have a deep understanding of the work and the company's own departments as well as the corresponding processes.
How the 4C GROUP supports you: Our implementation approach
The 4C implementation approach for the successful implementation of Human Capital Management includes three phases.
- The RfP (Request for Proposal) Phase is focused on the setup of an efficient and fast RfP process to find the right product and implementation partner quickly.
- The Enablement/Design Phase includes the development of a “proof of concept” approach, the identification and solving of complex decisions, the definition of guiding design principles as well as the creation of a reliable business case.
- In the Implementation Phase a program and execution plan is created to achieve desired decisions and deliverables, including the Go-live.
4C is your competent partner in all project phases. In order to generate the maximum benefit for our customers, we support you in the selection of the right system, the strategic conception and the implementation. This is not only about the installation of the software. For a successful transformation, the value added has to be developed by means of integrated processes and optimized operating models.
