Getting the Most out of HR Software

To receive organization-wide endorsement and financial approval for new investments in a strategic HR solution requires a thorough business case that pinpoints all costs, potential benefits, and even project risks. The case for investing in HR software in your company depends on certain key parameters:
· Do you consume over 20% of your total operating costs on your people?

· Does hiring and retaining talent feature regularly in your strategic &meetings?

· Are you looking for way to better align individual performance to business goals?

· Are you creating a new performance culture within your company?

· Are you looking at cutting costs of delivering HR services and processes?

· Do you wish to forecast and plan people programmes to deliver measurable outcomes?

As a first step, define your company's goal for investing in new HR software. Next, be sure that all stakeholders are committed to the project. Lastly, create the cost-justification business case - a time-honoured financial analysis to assure that an investment will meet certain payback criteria for the organization.
A credible, realistic business case arms the IT and HR teams with the quantification needed to win over skeptics -- most often a CFO or even a board of directors. It also helps the core team move beyond their emotional connection to the solution and make the case pragmatically, enabling others to perceive the wisdom in the investment, and make a rational decision. However there are certain guidelines you should consider:
Project costs by measuring the one-time and on-going investments required in the solution. What are the tangible benefits like HR productivity improvements, improve employee retention, strategic business impact, lower employee turnover costs, reducing training, administration and total employee costs, compliance and error reduction. Apart from that you need to check the intangible benefits too like brand and strategic advantage, competitive advantage, intellectual capital.
Also the need to consider Project risk is of utmost importance. Risk adjusted analysis is a critical element of the business case, especially with our low tolerance for failure in today’s business environment.
Proven HR software should provide payback between 12 to 24 months, with a 3-year ROI of 150% when deployed to suit specific business needs.