D435 Task 1 HRIS Implementation Evaluation Example

Three Systems Into One Without Missing a Paycheck: Examining a Composite Health System's New HR Information System Against Its Needs and Evaluating the Change Management Plan for Its Rollout

Student Name

School of Business, Western Governors University

D435: HR Technology and People Analytics, Task 1

Course Instructor

Month Day, Year

Three Systems Into One Without Missing a Paycheck: Examining a Composite Health System's New HR Information System Against Its Needs and Evaluating the Change Management Plan for Its Rollout

The Organization and the System

Bayview Health, a composite system of two hospitals and 18 clinics with 6,200 employees, runs HR on three separate systems: a 15-year-old HR database, a payroll system from a different vendor and a nurse scheduling system that does not connect to either. Changes such as a pay raise or a transfer are entered in all three by hand, which produces about 300 payroll corrections a month. Managers cannot see their own staffing or turnover data without asking HR for a report. Leadership has purchased a cloud-based human resource information system, or HRIS, that combines core HR records, payroll, time and attendance, scheduling, recruiting and analytics, and plans to go live in 14 months.

Organizational and Employee Needs

The organization needs accurate, single-entry records to cut payroll errors and compliance risk; real-time data on staffing, overtime and turnover for managers and executives; scheduling that accounts for nurses' licenses, skills and labor rules; and reporting for regulators and accreditors.

Employees need to be paid correctly and on time; to see and swap shifts on a phone, since many nurses and technicians do not sit at desks; to request time off and see balances without calling HR; and to update personal information and benefits easily. Managers need to approve time, see staffing gaps and act on data without spreadsheets.

Examining the System Against Those Needs

The new system meets most needs well. A single employee record flows to payroll, scheduling and benefits, which should eliminate most manual corrections. The mobile app lets employees view schedules, swap shifts, clock in and request time off. Managers receive dashboards showing hours, overtime, open shifts and turnover for their units. The scheduling module can apply license and skill rules, so a charge nurse cannot be scheduled on a unit where she lacks competency.

Two gaps require attention. First, the system's standard scheduling rules do not match the collective bargaining agreement for Bayview's unionized nurses at one hospital, which sets specific rules for overtime rotation and shift bidding; these must be configured and tested carefully. Second, about 900 employees in environmental services and food service lack work email and, in some cases, smartphones, so self-service must also work through shared kiosks and supervisors.

Research on electronic HR suggests that such needs are decisive. A review of four decades of research on electronic HRM concluded that its adoption depends on technological, organizational and individual factors, and that its consequences, positive or negative, depend on how systems are implemented and used rather than on the technology alone (Bondarouk et al., 2017).

The Proposed Change Management Plan

The implementation team's plan includes a steering committee of the chief human resources officer, chief nursing officer, chief financial officer and chief information officer; an all-employee announcement from the chief executive six months before go-live; three hours of online training for all employees and eight hours for managers in the month before go-live; a help desk for the first 60 days; and a single go-live date for all locations.

Evaluating the Plan

Strengths: executive sponsorship across HR, nursing, finance and IT is strong and signals that the project matters. The help desk addresses the inevitable questions after launch. Training managers more deeply than employees reflects their larger role.

Gaps: the plan treats change management mainly as communication and training on the system's screens. Research on how employees react to organizational change finds that reactions depend on factors such as participation in the change, the quality of communication, trust in management and the perceived impact on one's own job (Oreg et al., 2011). The plan provides little participation: no nurses, managers or frontline staff are involved in design decisions. It does not address the concern most likely to drive resistance, fear of pay errors. And a single go-live across all locations concentrates risk.

The plan also skips steps that change models emphasize. In the ADKAR model, each person passes through five stages, in order: understanding why the change is happening, wanting to take part, knowing what to do differently, managing it on the job and having the change reinforced until it sticks (Hiatt, 2006). The plan addresses the first and third stages, through announcements and training, but not the wish to take part, practical ability or reinforcement. For a night-shift nurse who hears about the system in an email, completes an online module weeks before go-live and then must swap a shift on a phone at 3 a.m. with no one to ask, the gaps are not abstract; they are exactly where frustration and workarounds will begin, and workarounds, such as keeping a paper schedule alongside the system, undermine the single source of data the project depends on.

Recommendations

First, involve users. Form a group of 30 super-users, including nurses from both hospitals, clinic staff, managers and a union representative, to test configuration, especially scheduling rules, and to serve as local experts at go-live.

Second, build desire by addressing fears directly. Commit publicly to a pay accuracy guarantee: any payroll error will be corrected with an off-cycle payment within 48 hours.

Third, build ability through practice. Replace online-only training with hands-on sessions using employees' own schedules in a practice environment, offered on all shifts, including nights and weekends, and provide kiosks and supervisor support for employees without smartphones.

Fourth, reduce risk by phasing. Launch core HR and payroll first with a parallel payroll run for two pay periods, then scheduling by hospital, beginning with the site without a union contract.

Fifth, reinforce. Track adoption, including mobile logins, shift swaps and manager dashboard use, and share early successes, such as the fall in payroll corrections, with employees.

Conclusion

Bayview's new HRIS can meet most of its organizational and employee needs, with careful configuration for the union contract and alternatives for employees without phones. The proposed change management plan has strong sponsorship but treats change as training. Adding participation, a pay accuracy guarantee, hands-on practice, a phased launch and reinforcement would address the human side of the change, which research suggests determines whether a system delivers its promised benefits.

References

Bondarouk, T., Parry, E., & Furtmueller, E. (2017). Electronic HRM: Four decades of research on adoption and consequences. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(1), 98-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1245672

Hiatt, J. M. (2006). ADKAR: A model for change in business, government and our community. Prosci Learning Center Publications.

Oreg, S., Vakola, M., & Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients' reactions to organizational change: A 60-year review of quantitative studies. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(4), 461-524. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886310396550