Showcases for HR digitalization & transformation

Replanning a project to migrate the payroll system

Project type: Migration of HR systems, HR IT project management

As Head of HR Services DACH & Eastern Europe (EE), I began my work at the headquarters of an internationally active and market-leading systems provider for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. Payroll accounting, including time management, had previously been handled in Germany by two different teams on two different systems (Paisy and SAP). I "inherited" the ongoing project to migrate the 4,500 employees (from Paisy) to the SAP system. When I asked about the project's progress, I received evasive and unclear answers from the team. It seemed that the entire project was technically sloppy and inadequately set up in terms of change management. As a result, I promptly invited the leaders of both teams and the SAP implementation partner to a one-day workshop. During the workshop, I encouraged my team to lay the facts on the table and facilitated the entire team, with the participation of the SAP integration partner, to develop an updated project plan, including risk management. This also gave me a good "between the lines" insight into the emotional situation and fears of my colleagues in the (Paisy) system being migrated. After adjusting expectations with management, the project was approved with a schedule adjusted by three months. Thus, just three weeks after starting at the company, I and the team had achieved a realignment and adjustment of the strategic project. To improve the change management situation for my employees, I quickly organized a two-day team event with external moderation. This was new for my colleagues, and after many discussions and shared experiences (including campfires), I achieved an initial, buildable foundation of trust between the teams and with me as the new manager. Subsequently, we consistently implemented the project plan. This was new and equally unfamiliar for the teams. Nevertheless, everyone gained support, self-assurance, and confidence in the project plan and the new system. By involving the integration partner, ALL project participants were part of the project from the very beginning, with a common goal. We tackled challenges as a whole team, despite different work locations and often different perspectives. Change requests for the project, including the additional introduction of an access system called Janitor, were handled promptly and in close consultation. A trusting, delegating leadership style helped to awaken the team's own strengths. After implementation, the acceptance test in SAP was challenging for the HR employees. In addition to the unfamiliar way of working in a new system environment, testing a system and its functionalities was unusual for the payroll employees. A clear structure with previously created test cases, training sessions, and intensive guidance was required. In addition, 120 employees from the specialist department, so-called time managers, had to be trained within three weeks before go-live. The integration partner was able to be won over for this task. After a further month of project delay due to the change requests, go-live took place for all 4,500 employees with 100% quality, i.e., with an error rate of 0.00%.