JULY 2016HR TECH OUTLOOK8By Mark Berry, VP, CHRO, CGB Enterprises, Inc.Who's to Blame - When HR Tech Investments Don't Deliver?The Launch of Another Technological "Titanic"Some time ago, I had the opportunity to work with a client who had almost a year ago purchased a truly state-of-the-art workforce analytics solution. They had worked with the vendor to configure the system, ship data to the vendor's cloud environment, configure and test the system, train end users in the capabilities of the tool, and - with great fanfare launch the solution to the HR organization.The Iceberg AppearsHowever, in spite of all of their best efforts, they were unable to get much of what they needed from their new system. They expected that-given the work that had been accomplished in launching the system-that it was simply a matter of getting the right person with the right skills­an "expert" (me)-to extract the right information.What Happened?Unfortunately, they were wrong. Of the list of metrics they wished to obtain, I was able to extract approximately 50 percent of the metrics and visualization they desired. The remainder was unobtainable-due to the following:· Planning and Requirements Development: They had acquired and "built" a system without a clear "end" in mind. They simply didn't have much of what they wanted­it hadn't been built to produce what was needed.· Data: Because of the above, they didn't have much of the data they needed to generate the output desired. · Configuration: Because the project team hadn't gathered stakeholder requirements, necessary data wasn't loaded and the system wasn't properly configured. Truly, in putting "garbage" in, they were destined to get "garbage" out (or at least little of what they desired).· Testing and Training: It was clear that the system had not been fully tested, as evidenced from a number of defects or issues identified through my work. In addition, training provided to end users was insufficient to accomplish the desired outcomes. They had to hire someone­me­to overcome their lack of training. Even I couldn't overcome fundamental issues with the system­issues that should have been surfaced when it was tested prior to implementation.The inherent limitations of the "finished" system set the stage for a candid-and uncomfortable discussion with the client. Senior stakeholders believed that they were able to get what they wanted-and needed-for their "customers". Project team members felt that they had done what they were asked to do, not considering that there is so much more to standing up a technology solution than simply extracting data from existing system, aggregating that data in the vendor's cloud environment, and being able to visualize that the data is in the vendor's system. The vendor felt that they had provided what they were asked to provide-and any issues experienced by the client was not due to limitations or issues with their technology.Mark BerryIN MY OPINION
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