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It happens all the time, and has happened for years. When a customer is evaluating new HR/Payroll software they ask questions in terms of how they do things today. In today's terms. Will the new software allow us to do 'x' in process 'y'? Maybe because the current software platform had to be customized to do 'x' and we want to make sure the new software can do that too. Or, maybe because that is all we know to ask, to frame questions in terms of what the current system does. Regardless, that approach misses a lot of opportunity.

With the growth of Employee Central and the decline of on-premise SAP HR, there are a lot of companies in the process of replacing their HR systems. Those who are not actively in that process are actively contemplating it. And the opportunities for improving your HR/Payroll operations haven't been so numerous since the last time you implemented systems. So take advantage of it!

Every system creates data that, after a while, you just don't need. And all that data can make things run slower too - so it's good to do some housekeeping now and then. Clear out that old data that you don't need and freshen up the place. And, do it automatically. Here are a few tips for doing that in SAP Payroll:

Over the years I've had the experience of buying a few used cars. I’ll borrow and tweak Forrest Gump’s catchy line: buying a used car is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. At least not until you have it and drive it for a while. The first car I bought was great off the lot, and then proceeded to need a lot of repairs. The second car drove like the champ it still is. Last week I bought another one and, well we don’t yet know how this one will turn out. Another month or two will tell us how we fared.

If you do what you’ve always done…

… then you’ll get what you always got. That’s on old saying that we use when we encourage people to change the way they approach their work. And it also applies to SAP and SuccessFactors consulting – in two different ways.

For a lot of core-HR systems, we spend significant effort getting them installed and running well. And then we stabilize them, which is good for many reasons. We can minimize disruption to the end-users, we can redeploy resources to other projects, among others.

There are a lot of functions in HR, but Payroll is by far the most important. While this is fairly obvious, sometimes I have to explain it to people.

When we replace HR systems (with SAP, SuccessFactors or anything else) there is usually a group of consultants who know the current system but not the customer’s business practices, and a customer who doesn’t know how their new HR system works. To make that new HR system work, we have to set it up for the customer’s business practices. And that means gathering and sharing information. I think too often we focus more on gathering than sharing, but that is a topic for another day.

Fools ignore complexity, Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it – Alan Perlis

I’m convinced that one of the most overlooked aspects of HCM technical consulting is the practice of implementing simple solutions. Simplicity is most always the best path to follow. Simple solutions are easier to setup, configure and train regardless of the technical platform. They are more reliable and they generally cost less to run and maintain.

I was thinking of all the change in the SAP and Successfactors HCM space, and although there is a lot that is new there is so much that is timeless. For example -

1 – Plan for change