HCM Implementation Mistakes to Avoid

A full-suite human capital management (HCM) platform is capable of streamlining your HR operations all in one, unified solution. However, choosing the right platform and implementing your system correctly is critical for any business to succeed in its workforce management goals. To achieve the best results, you must rely on the right installation, configuration, and usage to avoid running into common implementation mistakes.

If, during or after the HCM implementation process, your team struggles with using the platform, chances are that you’ll need to identify the issues, document a plan, and execute a thorough solution to help support both your team and the entire workforce with the software features and interface.

This article explores the most common mistakes employers find themselves in when implementing a new HCM system and how to solve them to reclaim that ease and efficiency that should be yours.

1. Incomplete HCM System Integration

An HCM system is designed to handle all your routine HR tasks with intuitive software, but in the past decade, many businesses have become an unstable software ecosystem. However, choosing the right HCM system can bypass the frustrations of balancing multiple software solutions. The key is to have access to the full suite to ensure every core HR function is included.

Key HR solutions relied on by professionals today include:

When an HR team doesn’t have full access to a comprehensive HR technology stack, inefficiencies can take over. For example, if a business had all but onboarding software as part of their HCM system, all regulatory forms involved in the new hire process miss the system entirely, now forcing critical personnel and employment information to live separately from the rest of the employee data. Then, when an audit occurs, you may be unprepared, providing required documentation as you’ll have to retrieve it separately from everything else stored in your secure HCM system.

Because integration is key, you’ll need an HCM system that is compatible with your business's other core HR technologies and professional integration to build a complete data ecosystem.

If your HCM platform is not fully integrated, that lack of data flow can impede and potentially add more strain to your workload, instead of streamlining your HR workflow as expected. Fortunately, full integration often requires just a few extra steps from a professional HR consulting team to restore your HR operations to the desired data efficiency.

2. Incomplete Training and Change Management Post HCM Implementation

It is just as vital that your entire team is ready to begin using the new HCM system post-implementation. Changing how you manage your workforce is a considerable transition for each member of the organization to undergo, with each user experience using an HCM system varying between employees and managers. Undergoing a drastic migration with a new HCM system can affect any routine HR and payroll activities, including but not limited to:

Managing time sheet submissions and virtual time clock options
Issuing payment statements
Implementing employee direct deposit
Managing PTO & Time-off requests
Employee scheduling
Benefits enrollment activities

Here are ways your organization can overcome inadequate training when using a new HCM system.

Training Your HR Team

Once your HCM system goes live, don’t just schedule a “one-and-done” training module for all employees to attend. You’ll want to provide an in-depth overview of all the key features and dive deeper to understand how to complete processes essential to your company's operations. It’s best to start training employees on the core functions that would be used on a daily basis so that all standard HR and payroll operations can occur. There may be time for learning more advanced features, such as HR analytics and reporting, but core training is a must once the software is active.

Three simple steps you can use to help train HR managers on using the new HCM system include:

Provide hands-on, role-play style training using real workflows for tasks from payroll processing to benefits administration
Provide detailed tutorials on configuration, reporting, and compliance features
Establish a key leader in the group for the team to connect to regarding knowledge of the system features

Change Management for the Entire Workforce

Just as it's critical for your HR team to be familiar with the HCM system, the entire workforce should be able to get a full understanding of the operations. Different from HR’s daily activities, employees need to know how to punch in and out, when paychecks arrive, how to access benefits, to name a few.

Change management is the process of preparing your team to minimize disruption when something major, such as your HR software, changes. Everyone can be enthusiastic and benefit from the streamlined feature improvements. But first, they need to know what to expect and how to keep individual workflows aligned using the new tools.

Three simple steps you can use to help train HR managers on using the new HCM system include:

Similar to HR managers, conduct role-play-like scenarios to help understand critical features on the platform
Provide walkthrough material (videos, documents, faqs) for on-demand support
Reinforce employee learning using reminders and in-system prompts for the first few weeks

Contacting a seasoned HR consulting service can help address these skill gaps through customized and targeted training for the system’s interface and features.

3. Managing Data Migration and Clean-Up

Regardless of how your organization manages workforce data, whether through using a legacy system or manually on spreadsheets, maintaining a clean data migration process is critical for an easy transition into a new HCM system. Many companies often struggle most when translating data over into any new system, as research shows that 80% of data migration projects go over budget and cannot be finished on time, according to Oracle. To further this, less than 70% of data migration projects are actually successful. Preparing the process thoroughly before, during, and after the HCM implementation is crucial to sustaining regular HR & payroll tasks.

To make sure your organization has a well put-together strategy in place, managers will want to consider the following steps to ensure data migration runs as smoothly as possible:

Mapping where workforce data lives, especially if recorded on separate systems
Evaluating the quality of the current data recorded and determining if adjustments need to be made before the implementation process
Establish the team in charge of managing the data migration process
Review if historical data needs to be kept or omitted

While performing a comprehensive review, your HR team should be hard at work documenting the process each step of the way to ensure every box is checked before going forward with the migration process.

HR consulting services with veteran knowledge of the HCM system integration process can help ease your software onboarding by helping you organize a detailed plan for migrating employee data over seamlessly.

See How HCM System Experts Can Help With the Process

Avoiding these common HCM implementation mistakes isn’t just about smoother adoption; it’s about protecting your business from costly inefficiencies, potential compliance risks, and frustrated staff. When system implementations are rushed, poorly configured, or inefficiently adopted by the workforce, employers can face data errors, payroll delays, low engagement, and a heavy administrative burden. A thoughtful implementation strategy ensures your HCM platform delivers on its promise: streamlined process, improved insights, and a stronger employee experience.

A great HCM partner will help you avoid common pitfalls and help you optimize to achieve the best possible outcomes for your business.

If you are considering upgrading to an HCM system or struggling with an incomplete HCM integration, finding the right software provider is the next step toward getting the most from your HCM platform. Contact us today to get help on avoiding common HCM system mistakes.