What Have We Done?
“You’re doing it wrong. What? Me? Yes, you. You’re doing it wrong.” I’m sure we’ve all heard this back and forth at some point in our lives. What might surprise you is where I think this has been happening; between software providers and buyers. Yes, something very wrong is being done; how organizations buy and vendors sell software.
Last week I had one of those existential type conversations with a colleague about how messed up the process of buying software, particularly HR Software has become. Essentially it boils down to lowered expectations and effort on both sides of the process. Buyers are hungry for software that can provide them the latest feature/function advancements and efficiencies for many of their deliverables. Software providers have great products and are looking for the sale. What both are guilty of is enabling bad behavior. Bad behavior? Yes.
One of the first missteps that contributes to this is the buying process. Buyers are focused on process, RFP, and feature/function. Sellers are consumed by becoming “VOC” (vendor of choice) following said process and winning the business. The opportunity to ask “are you really ready for this” is so fraught with danger that it is avoided. That one question could mean a world of difference between a solid partnership and one that is doomed from the start. What has happened in the process is a buying ritual (accepted by both sides) that more often than not results in a purchase/sale that may not have been the best decision.
The unfortunate reality of many organizations is they are diving headfirst into a purchase of a robust HR platform without a proper understanding of their current state. Essentially unaware of the make-up of what it takes from start to finish of any given process they’re about to turn over to technology. This is where many platforms and relationships between provider and customer start and where they can go south very quickly. The euphoria sours quickly after the deal is signed and the implementation begins.
Software providers have extremely talented professional services teams that often get thrown in the deep end when working with clients. Its more often the case than not that departments don’t have a clear delineation of their current state. In fact, I’ve seen some running a parallel effort to map out processes at the same time they’re purchasing an HR system. What has happened is an enabling of bad process by both buyer and seller. Where the seller should resist the sale, the buyer is still going to forge on ahead. Where will the madness stop?!?!
I have been fortunate to see this done the right way. In a former life, the division I was in was sent to training for Process Mapping. Everyone was trained in the ability to identify and map the processes within their department. It was a painful exercise at the time, but in hindsight was probably one of the best exercises I can recall. Teams were instructed to map out all their processes, identify inputs, outputs and decision points. Along with Stakeholder assessment, we developed a library of processes and a clarity of how we achieved various outcomes.
This type of knowledge is essential to have when shopping for a new system. How is it possible to understand the benefit a system can provide if you don’t know how it will enhance, change or outright do away with a process that you are doing manually? It doesn’t take a full on Process Mapping event to get started. Try identifying the primary processes or tasks that you would like to automate. Then identify the initiating action, inputs / outputs and expected outcome – result. Start with just a few processes in the beginning. The effort put into mapping out how you “do the work” will pay off as you ask vendors to show you how your process could improve in their platform.
It’s time to break this cycle of madness. The benefit from any platform, HR or otherwise, should be an improved process. Only through capturing the current state can a gap analysis be done to assess any new technology. I’m surprised at how much is done through tribal knowledge versus written process within organizations. Mapped processes will ensure your software provider will deliver the expected outputs in the most efficient manner. By doing so, buyers increase their leverage with this knowledge, while sellers also benefit through happy customers and referral case studies.