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Migrate without the migraine: HR and payroll
HR and payroll are constantly developing as functions, which means you need to be ready to leave old, sluggish, legacy systems behind and bring in a more up-to-date modern system that helps you hit your strategic goals. But for so many of us, the process is so clunky and cumbersome that it can be hugely off-putting. But you can’t put it off. Whether it’s a bigger house to support a growing family, or a house closer to your dream job, you can’t just sit and wait around. It’s the exact same with software migration. Whether you need a new HR or payroll system (or both!), the process is an incredibly daunting one. You can’t not do it and keep staying stuck in the same old systems that aren’t fit for purpose anymore, you’ll be eclipsed by your competition before you know what’s hit you.
Migration nightmares
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HR and payroll are constantly developing as functions, which means you need to be ready to leave old, sluggish, legacy systems behind and bring in a more up-to-date modern system that helps you hit your strategic goals. But for so many of us, the process is so clunky and cumbersome that it can be hugely off-putting.
It’s the exact same with software migration. Whether you need a new HR or payroll system (or both!), the process is an incredibly daunting one. You can’t not do it and keep staying stuck in the same old systems that aren’t fit for purpose anymore, you’ll be eclipsed by your competition before you know what’s hit you. Some of the most common reasons for needing to migrate include:
Helena Kenton
A lack of scalability, meaning your current system can’t match your growth plans
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Legacy software failing to meet your standards
Worries about security and compliance, as legacy systems were often developed before the latest cybersecurity features came into play
Maintaining old systems can cause costs to rack up, because finding skilled employees who know how to work outdated systems can be incredibly difficult
Still, everyone knows that migrating to a new system can be a huge pain in the neck. So what can you do?
Worries about security and compliance, as legacy systems were of tendeveloped before the latest cybersecurity features came into play
A desire to move into the cloud, enabling a more robust digital transformation that ensures all of the above while getting rid of cumbersome on-premises solutions
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Some of the most common reasons for needing to migrate include:
A desire to move into the cloud, enabling a more robust digital transformation that ensures all of the above and more while getting rid of cumbersome on-premises solutions
of companies have already started their digital transformation journey
Fundamentally, the process of migrating to a new HR or payroll system are very similar, so we’ve packaged everything you need to know together into this guide. It’s your map to a pain-free migration.
In one of our recent studies, we uncovered that 36% of respondents blame resistance to change as their biggest barrier.
Migrating to a new HR or payroll system is something most people dread, to the point that many teams will put it off until it’s absolutely necessary. But the chances are good that when you leave things this late, you’ll have to rush the process, leading to bad decisions, mistakes and a lot of expenses.
Keep migration pain free
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What we’ll cover:
a. Create your plan
1. Before the migration
b. What other unique needs do you have?
c. Tidy up your data
2. During the migration
a. Switchover day or running in parallel
b. Integrations
3. After the migration
a. Get everyone excited
b. Test, test, test again
c. Make the most of customer support
MHR’s People First both create an all-in-one system where your HR and payroll systems connect with each other. We’d highly recommend jumping on the chance to unleash the potential of both at the same time.
Top Tip
In one of our recent studies, we uncovered that 36% of respondents blame resistance to change as their biggest barrier. Fundamentally, the process of migrating to a new HR or payroll system are very similar, so we’ve packaged everything you need to know together into this guide. It’s your map to a pain-free migration.
d. Define your processes
c. Switchover day
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of companies have already started their digital transformation journey this year
There is no point setting out on a migration project without a clear picture of what you want to achieve and why you’re doing it. Otherwise, you’re basically guaranteed to wind up stuck with a system that causes more problems than it solves.
Before the migration
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Let’s break down the key questions you should ask before getting stuck into a new system. That way you’ll know you’re finding a solution that suits your needs.
Who’s going to be using the software? Let’s say you’ve been asked to procure a new payroll system for the team. But you’re not fully involved in the day-to-day running of a payroll cycle. You’ve got an idea of how they work, but nothing concrete. How are you going to make sure the system you choose does everything they need and doesn’t fall short in the same way as the existing system.
Get them involved! Talk to them and ask them what they’d like from the new system.
What information is key to keeping the organisation running? Every organisation has data that will cause huge issues if it’s not managed properly. As a broad example, brick and mortar retailers need to know who’s rostered on to work and when, because without sufficient employees at key times they can’t open their stores. Does your new software account for this? You don’t want to have your system running and then suddenly realise it’s left you with a brand new headache to solve.
There is no point setting out on a migration project without a clear picture of what you want to achieve and why you’re doing it. Otherwise, you’re basically guaranteed to wind up stuck with a system that causes more problems than it solves. Let’s break down the key questions you should ask before getting stuck into a new system. That way you’ll know you’re finding a solution that suits your needs. Who’s going to be using the software? Let’s say you’ve been asked to procure a new payroll system for the team. But you’re not fully involved in the day-to-day running of a payroll cycle. You’ve got an idea of how they work, but nothing concrete. How are you going to make sure the system you choose does everything they need and doesn’t fall short in the same way as the existing system. Get them involved! Talk to them and ask them what they’d like from the new system. What information is key to keeping the organisation running? Every organisation has data that will cause huge issues if it’s not managed properly. As a broad example, brick and mortar retailers need to know who’s rostered on to work and when, because without sufficient employees at key times they can’t open their stores. Does your new software account for this? You don’t want to have your system running and then suddenly realise it’s left you with a brand new headache to solve.
MHR’s People First and iTrent both create an all-in-one system where your HR and payroll systems connect with each other. We’d highly recommend jumping on the chance to unleash the potential of both at the same time.
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Do you want a new system…or one that looks just like your old one? This is a vitally important question. So many organisations declare they want a new system to solve their problems, but then configure their new system to act exactly the same as what they were doing for. That’s a wasted opportunity. Think of where you want to be not where you are. Don’t force a system to fit your existing processes, adapt your processes to fit a new system, aligned with modern best practice and with the futureproofing you need to adjust. Otherwise, costs can quickly skyrocket as you try to fit a square peg into a round hole. Ultimately, there should be one core reason driving the migration. There’ll be other aspects, of course, but having that key driver is a useful thing to come back to. Every decision made after this point can be related back to this core choice.
After all this, it’s time to build a business case. This is how you’ll get buy-in from stakeholders, particularly senior management.
Spell out the potential ROI
Propose the solution and timeline
Describe how this impacts your team
Outline potential costs
Provide evidence, such as key metrics
Identify the challenges
Struggling to get started? Check out our ready-made template
Every organisation has some unique way of handling things, giving them a distinct culture even within the same industry. Make sure your new system accounts for the unique needs of your team by talking to as many stakeholders as possible. Do you want a new system…or one that looks just like your old one? This is a vitally important question. So many organisations declare they want a new system to solve their problems, but then configure their new system to act exactly the same as what they were doing for. That’s a wasted opportunity. Think of where you want to be not where you are. Don’t force a system to fit your existing processes, adapt your processes to fit a new system, aligned with modern best practice and with the futureproofing you need to adjust. Otherwise, costs can quickly skyrocket as you try to fit a square peg into a round hole. Ultimately, there should be one core reason driving the migration. There’ll be other aspects, of course, but having that key driver is a useful thing to come back to. Every decision made after this point can be related back to this core choice. After all this, it’s time to build a business case. This is how you’ll get buy-in from stakeholders, particularly senior management.
When you move house, you don’t bring everything you own with you. Many people use the opportunity for a bit of spring cleaning, throwing out clutter that they don’t need anymore.
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The same principle is vital for a successful migration. You need to sit and make a plan of what data needs to be kept and used in the new system, which should then be prepared for migration. Examples of what data needs to be considered for payroll include:
Once you’ve made that call, make backups of your current data, and ensure it can be easily accessed. That way if there’s some unforeseen disaster, you can still revert back. Remember: While there may be some data you don’t need to use in the new system, you may still need it for auditing purposes. Keep all your backups in case you need them in future.
Costing build details (credit, debits, codes)
Payroll element build details, calculation method, input method (cash, unit, time)
Pension scheme build details, employee contribution values and employer contribution values
Absence scheme build details, entitlements, and dates of absence taken
Payroll details (name, frequency, legislation, pay periods, PAYE details, company bank details)
Third party suppliers and existing payments
Click below to find out more
When you move house, you don’t bring everything you own with you. Many people use the opportunity for a bit of spring cleaning, throwing out clutter that they don’t need anymore. The same principle is vital for a successful migration. You need to sit and make a plan of what data needs to be kept and used in the new system, which should then be prepared for migration. Examples of what data needs to be considered for payroll include:
Pension scheme build details, employee contribution values and employer contributions
HR and payroll teams build the processes that drive the rest of the company forward. Not only are these a foundational part of company strategy, they’re also what you’ll return to when there are edge cases or ambiguity. You need to make sure these processes can be accounted for within your new software.
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MHR can provide you with templates, but the best approach is to have all your processes and policies written down before you start. This can include things like:
By having these spelled out, it’s easier to get things up and running quickly.
Flexible pay
Flexible working
Bereavement leave
Parental leave
Absences
Sick pay
Overtime
Maternity pay
Once you have a plan in place, implementation can begin. Throughout this phase, you need to test. Test as much as you can! This is the chance to catch any issues in a safe environment before you go live. There are two main kinds of tests you should be performing at this stage. Configuration All that work with your data you did earlier? Here’s where you check it’s all been imported correctly, and that workflows behave as you expect. You can use structured scripts and demo data to make sure your data is validated and harmonised weekly. This is sometimes referred to as User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Functionality This is where you answer the deceptively simple question ‘does it work?’ It’s where you test how your processes work within the system. Here’s where you might want to involve key stakeholders and get some early buy in.
During the migration
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Configuration All that work with your data you did earlier? Here’s where you check it’s all been imported correctly, and that workflows behave as you expect. You can use structured scripts and demo data to make sure your data is validated and harmonised weekly. This is sometimes referred to as User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Functionality This is where you answer the deceptively simple question ‘does it work?’ It’s where you test how your processes work within the system. Here’s where you might want to involve key stakeholders and get some early buy in.
Once you have a plan in place, implementation can begin. Throughout this phase, you need to test. Test as much as you can! This is the chance to catch any issues in a safe environment before you go live. There are two main kinds of tests you should be performing at this stage.
If you’re working with MHR, we often highly recommend swapping over your payroll and HR systems at the same time. Because these two functions seamlessly integrate in our platforms, it cuts down on a lot of busywork. Taking a piecemeal approach is a short-term way to reduce costs, but it can lead to a mindset of ‘well, we have what we need, let’s leave the rest until later.’ Then later never comes, and you’re left having to figure out workarounds as your systems fail to talk to each other.
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In the long term, you may also want to consider integrating more solutions into one platform, which may involve the implementation of an application programming interface. We recommend integrating your HR and Payroll solutions with your finance system as this will create clear and real-time visibility of every financial aspect of your organisation. In turn, this means you get:
Greater data security
Reduced costs
A single source of truth
Better accountability
A faster flow of information
More accurate data
Third party integrations are also an option. For example, did you know we’ve partnered with Wagestream to offer ‘Financial Wellbeing from MHR’, an integration that unlocks flexible pay, financial coaching, and a range of other solutions to help employees feel more financially secure?
LEARN MORE
If you’re working with MHR, we often highly recommend swapping over your payroll and HR systems at the same time. Because these two functions seamlessly integrate in our platforms, it cuts down on a lot of busywork. Taking a piecemeal approach is a short-term way to reduce costs, but it can lead to a mindset of ‘well, we have what we need, let’s leave the rest until later.’ Then later never comes, and you’re left having to figure out workarounds as your systems fail to talk to each other. In the long term, you may also want to consider integrating more solutions into one platform, which may involve the implementation of an application programming interface. We recommend integrating your HR and Payroll solutions with your finance system as this will create clear and real-time visibility of every financial aspect of your organisation. In turn, this means you get:
Learn more
The testing is done. Everything’s in place. You’re ready to go. So what happens? Someone pushes a big button, and suddenly everything’s switched over? Not quite. Exactly how you handle your switchover is up to you, but there are two key steps to consider.
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While you should have some flex, picking a set switchover data gives you something concrete for every other part of your plan to build around. Make sure there’s a buffer for any issues, this date should never be a ‘do or die’ situation, but a goal to aim for is helpful.
Some teams really do want to do an immediate switchover, but as a rule of thumb we’d recommend running your old system in parallel to the new one for up to two months. While this will lead to a bit of extra work, it guarantees security, and ensures you have options if something did get missed in testing.
2. Run in parallel
1. Pick a switchover date
of migration projects don't have a clear plan and clean data.
The testing is done. Everything’s in place. You’re ready to go. So what happens? Someone pushes a big button, and suddenly everything’s switched over? Not quite. Exactly how you handle your switchover is up to you, but there are two key steps to consider. 1. Pick a switchover date While you should have some flex, picking a set switchover data gives you something concrete for every other part of your plan to build around. Make sure there’s a buffer for any issues, this date should never be a ‘do or die’ situation, but a goal to aim for is helpful. 2. Run in parallel Some teams really do want to do an immediate switchover, but as a rule of thumb we’d recommend running your old system in parallel to the new one for up to two months. While this will lead to a bit of extra work, it guarantees security, and ensures you have options if something did get missed in testing.
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of migration projects don't have a clear plan and clean data
Onboarding everyone onto the new system is arguably the most critical stage of the entire project. Make sure you don’t miss this bit! Think about it. You’ve put all this effort into creating a smooth transition process. Switchover has happened. But nobody knows about it, they don’t see the value of the system, they want to move back. Even those that are up for trying the new system don’t know how to use it. Productivity takes a huge hit, and you have to answer some nerve-wracking questions about what the point of this was. You need to push a bit of a cultural change. The whole organisation needs to get onboarded. How do you make that happen?
After the migration
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Your new software will save them hours of time.
Answer 1
Are your team still relying on old-fashioned processes and spreadsheets to pull data together?
Question 1
Struggling to find data that isn’t locked away in silos?
Question 2
The new software will take care of that for you by creating a singular source of truth.
Answer 2
Remote workers feeling cut off from the rest of the team?
Question 3
The new software will bridge those gaps.
Answer 3
You might want to take your business case and translate it into accessible terms. There’ll be absolutely loads of benefits for you to share around. Don’t assume any given benefit is obvious.
To help support you in getting everyone up to speed, it can be helpful to nominate some influential software 'champions' among your organisation to take an active role in the rollout. Train them up and they’ll become advocates who can spread their newfound skills among their teams. You should also talk about employee benefits. That’s a great way to help people understand what the point of the migration is. Remember that core aspect you settled on before the migration? Try and bring things back to that.
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Bring the team together
Remember all that testing you did during the migration process? It doesn’t stop now that the system is up and running! Luckily, this is a bit less intense compared to the testing you will have had to do before. This will be more focused around how people are getting along with the system and is mostly to confirm that everyone’s getting the benefits they expect. If they’re not, what could be done better? There are plenty of ways to gather feedback, including pulse surveys and usage statistics. Make sure you act on these findings quickly.
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Customer support is always essential, especially for something as core to your business as HR and payroll. People come to work to get paid, and they need the support of the HR team to make their day-to-day manageable. When you’re moving from an old way of doing things to a new, modern system, you can wind up feeling a bit vulnerable. MHR offers a range of resources to support you with the whole process, including a consultancy service and change management. Our project managers can coordinate the projects, provide access to useful guides and arrange regular meetings to keep you in the loop. One of the most incredible advantages of a cloud-based system is that it allows new updates to be rolled out quickly. Part of this phase is ensuring you don’t fall out of the loop of updates. People First gets an update every two weeks, so empowering a team member to tune into our regular showcases and staying informed is a great way to keep getting value out of the system for years to come.
Remember all that testing you did during the migration process? It doesn’t stop now that the system is up and running! Luckily, this is a bit less intense compared to the testing you will have had to do before. This will be more focused around how people are getting along with the system and is mostly to confirm that everyone’s getting the benefits they expect. If they’re not, what could be done better? There are plenty of ways that you can gather up feedback. Usage statistics are also a great tool to see if there’s a problem, but these should be followed up on. Don’t just leave things to tick over, that’s how small errors can compound and become big problems.
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Copyright © 2024 MHR International Ltd. iTrent, Fin First, People First and Talksuite are registered trademarks of MHR International in the United Kingdom. HR and Payroll Migration Guide - 1580 - v2_10_24
MHR supports businesses and organisations shaping their futures through these challenging times – increasing workforce adaptability through delivering integrated people management and learning solutions. We help reduce complexity and build business resilience – key to survival and growth. Find out how we can help you position your organisation for the road ahead.
info@mhrglobal.com | mhrglobal.com | +44 (0) 115 945 6000 (UK) | +353 (01) 541 3778 (IRE)
About MHR
Copyright © 2024 MHR International Ltd. iTrent, Fin First, People First and Talksuite are registered trademarks of MHR International in the United Kingdom.
info@mhrglobal.com | mhrglobal.com +44 (0) 115 945 6000 (UK) | +353 (01) 541 3778 (IRE)
