So, you’ve decided to go ahead and invest more in your HR analytics projects for 2017. What should you know that will get you the best ROI on your coming HR analytics projects? It more than plug and play. You know how well that works, even with simple technology!

 I’ve helped implement many technology projects over the past twenty years. I have a 90% success rate. You might think that’s a low number, but if you talk with your executive team you will hear success rates between 25%-75%. Many leaders are disappointed in what they got for their money invested.

Today I share what it took me twenty years and millions of dollars to discover in less than 1000 words. I’ve lead many technology implementations, from small ones of several hundred thousand dollars to enterprise level programs exceeding several hundred million dollars. All impact the way the organization does business.

I’m paid to make sure my clients and partners succeed. Many times these projects are mission critical to the organization’s future. I know I can help you succeed implementing your HR analytics projects.

Your HR analytics projects should be treated as change management projects. Because they are. You’re spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars for these programs.  The worst thing you can do is not to build a change management process into your implementation plan.  Make sure you include time for the project to be adopted by your stakeholders.

The lowest cost, but highest ROI on your investment could be developing a training program that can be implemented and shared across your organization. The most successful implementations I’ve been involved in have added an additional 5-15% investing in training people on how to use these new tools.

I know what you’re thinking, “Why should I invest in training and a communications strategy for my rollout?” Building this investment into your cost structure will help you get the results you want on your HR analytics project. It will also help ensure success for your HR analytics implementation.

By the way, it’s also a place where you can negotiate a better deal with many of your technology partners because they want to feature your successes in many different places. A double win for both you and them. You get a more successful implementation and they get a great business to share with future clients.

You shouldn’t have to do this from scratch.  If you do, they should pay you to implement their products and services. Pick a partner who has proven success implementing HR analytics projects for businesses like yours.

Your HR analytics project should have the right people involved from the start.  HR projects typically get technical and business resources after everyone else in the organization. Success of your project will be driven by the people on your team.

This may sound like common sense, but I can’t tell you how many times the projects get the worst technical people assigned to them. It seems logical there aren’t a lot of internal IT resources required, but the ones that get assigned can make your life a living hell throughout the project rollout. Make sure you set clear expectations with team members before they join your team. We will talk about this issue in a future blog.

Take time to get better people working on the project. I find less is more during HR analytics projects. Give me several high performing people and I will give you a successful project. This also requires selecting managers from other parts of your business who will share how positively the program has impacted their departments. You need all the champions you can find to help you share the success of your new HR analytics project across the organization.

Finally, address the elephant in the room from the start. An HR analytics program is not designed to be a super powered analyst of all aspects of employee or manager career.  You will find resistance throughout your project rollout. I believe much of this can be avoided by helping all stakeholders understand both the positive and potential negative impacts that these projects can have on the culture of your organization. Much of the hype around the success of these projects comes from sales professionals who do not have to use the technology after the implementation.

This leads to the final issue surrounding your HR analytics projects. It is not the silver bullet your organization needs to make it a market leader.  Implementing HR analytics is just part of the puzzle when it comes to achieving your organization’s goals.  HR analytics today are tools, not complete solutions. You still need strong HR professionals to use and leverage them to get the best results possible. That’s where leadership comes in.

I find many projects fail to meet expectations because there are unrealistic expectations set at the beginning of the HR analytics project. It critical to understand what they can and can’t do before selling them across the organization. We will share what HR analytics projects can and can’t do over the next several blogs leading to Los Angeles conference. See you next week.