When you put in a new enterprise resource planning solution (ERP), you’re doing more than adding capabilities and upgrading technology. You’re also creating business transformation.
A new ERP empowers both the business and its employees with extra levels of efficiency, automation and insight. This creates new workflows and ways that work is performed, which drive growth. But these changes also require a mindset shift, which is why a crucial part of implementation is ERP change management.
As part of your implementation plan, you should place great stress on ERP change management. That’s because even if you have the right technology and processes in place, you need employee buy-in. Sally in payroll won’t be happy when her old ways of working change unless she understands the need for change and why it will ultimately make her life better.
With that in mind, here are six keys for effectively implementing ERP change management in your organization during a new system rollout.
Include change management in your ERP implementation roadmap from the beginning. Along with process needs, functionality requirements and other technical considerations, develop a structured plan for communicating the need for the new system to employees and the training that will be required.
This plan should include a stakeholder analysis so all key stakeholders are involved, and a current state analysis that outlines how work is performed before a new system is implemented.
The plan also should include the new ways that processes will operate, a check-in schedule, metrics for ensuring that employees are on-board and using the new system, and an opportunity identification assessment for tying your ERP implementation project into larger goals and policy changes at the company.
ERP change management is most effective when new processes actually support employee activity and are advocated within each department by colleagues who are in favor of the changes.
Identifying and engaging key stakeholders throughout the company during the planning phase helps create new processes that actually meet employee needs. The act of seeking suggestions and feedback also seeds ERP change management advocates throughout the company, which helps with new workflow adoption and the mindsets that come with it.
Nobody likes change, but almost everyone likes improved work conditions. Because of this dynamic, an essential step in changing minds is effectively and consistently communicating how the new tools and processes within the company will make life easier for each department and employee.
When explaining the changes and how the new ways of working both improve work conditions and support business growth, make sure you customize the messaging to the needs of each department and emphasize how work just got easier.
Advocates within the company can play a significant role in identifying the benefits for each employee job function and communicating their advantages.
A new ERP solution and the improved workflows it brings are about more than just technology and process. Fundamentally, it is about business growth.
Build excitement for this growth by updating employees frequently about the state of the project and its expected advantages. This will help employees understand that change is coming long before they must adjust their processes, and it also will help them look forward to the new processes that make their lives easier.
This messaging comes from advocates seeded throughout the organization, but it starts at the C-suite. By having updates both from an organization’s leadership and departmental managers, employees will understand that this is an important organizational priority supported throughout the company.
Improving efficiency through new and better ways of working is a fundamental goal of ERP implementation. But these new processes, workflows and technology only make a difference if an employee knows how to use them. Training and guidance is key.
When building your ERP change management strategy, lay great stress on the training component. You should plan and allocate sufficient resources for onboarding employees in the latter stages of implementation before go-live, and on an ongoing basis even after rollout.
This training should include group training sessions, manuals and cheat sheets for using the system, and clear post-implementation support so employees know where to turn when they don’t remember something from the training. There should be clear metrics for successful onboarding, too, and periodic tests for ensuring that all employees truly know how to use the system properly.
There will be a natural tendency by some employees to revert back to what they knew before, even when there’s fundamental buy-in. Incentives can play an important role in ERP change management by embedding change more deeply.
As part of the change management strategy, develop new structures, controls and rewards that recognize and sustain the change over time. With a culture that stresses change and the new processes, employees will more likely adopt the workflows and the ERP solution overall.
We help businesses define a complete implementation strategy for the delivery of ERP projects on time and under budget. A crucial part of that is helping with change management and training.
Learn more about the ERP implementation process by downloading our free guide, Understanding Cloud ERP, or contact one of our experienced consultants for answers to your specific questions. You can reach us by calling (801) 642-0123 or writing info@nbs-us.com.