Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 January 24, 2018 Employers shouldn't hesitate to do things in small phases, said MacLellan, "so that, at the end of every phase, you can do another environmental check to see where you are and what needs to change for the next phase." Making sure the data gets replicated correctly from the old system to the new one is probably the most critical element, said Elliott. "It's all about getting data integrity; it's really about converting your data onto the new system, so you really want to pay attention to all the details around managing your data accuracy." Companies should not rush data conversion, according to Grewal. "Take the time to analyze and cleanse the data before converting it over into your new system. is exacerbates an existing problem and makes more work in the long-run." Adequate resources Employers should also ensure they have enough resources to handle the project, said Elliott. "When you have a team, you know they have day jobs, so you have to really take into account who is going to do the work from an internal perspective, and actually establish what you are going to do with your third-party vendor." "You've got to get the proper stakeholders and get them aligned from a time perspective," he said. "You better get way ahead of the curve and get them engaged and involved in the project early on — you don't want to surprise anybody." Building the right set of workers is another important consideration, said Grewal. "By having all the stakeholders (HR, finance, IT, the vendor) at the table together, each group will identify different needs, challenges, considerations and solutions to ensure a smoother execution," he said. "is is especially helpful from a compliance perspective to ensure you know the correct rules and regulations and tax implications at both the federal and provincial level." Change management As with many big projects, timely messaging helps move things smoothly along. "Communicate, communicate, communicate with all stakeholders throughout, but you also need to listen," said MacLellan. "You need to make this a two-way street; if the stakeholders are saying to you they are struggling, or they don't understand or they have some concerns, stop and listen because you may have an opportunity to be flexible and make some tactical adjustments to the project plan, and then retest to make sure the organization is ready." If you are changing people's pay, whether it's how they get paid, a stub, anytime you collect time, there's a critical element of change management, said Elliott. Many companies invest the time and resources to implement a great new payroll system, said Grewal, "with all the bells and whistles in the back-end to deliver a great employee experience, but they fail to invest in a change management plan to communicate it. Put equal investment on the change side as you do the payroll side to make sure employees understand the value and are excited." HR's role With HR becoming more integrated with most modern payroll systems through HCM (human capital man- agement) systems, it's easier to become involved, said MacLellan. "HR is the advocate; HR should be there in terms of always communicating the progress of the implementation project, reminding the staff about some of the benefits to the business and help with the celebration," she said. A company's reputation is on the line, said MacLellan, so getting it right matters with employee retention. "People's paycheques are very personal to them. You don't want to see employees leaving the organization because they can't trust what comes into their payroll." Satisfied employees are key, said Elliott. "As an employer, you have a fiduciary obligation to pay your people properly. It's a legal obligation but it's a moral obligation as well." And when payroll doesn't work, that's when employees get worried, said Scammell. "It causes grief all over the place… staff will be talking about 'Maybe we are going into receivership' and that type of thing," he said. "Payroll has to be very accurate and on time; everything else in the accounting world can be slow. If your GL (general ledger) is a day late, who cares, but if you payroll is a day late, you will hear from the president for sure." HR is the advocate. HR should communicate the progress and remind staff of some of the benefits." Canada's auditor general Michael Ferguson released a report on the government's troubled Phoenix system in November. Credit: REUTERS/Chris Wattie ON THE COVER Public servants take part in a protest calling on the federal government to fix its Phoenix payroll system in Ottawa in October 2016.

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