Ensure software implementation success with BUY-IN at all levels

Any time you implement a new software within your business or organization, or any change for that matter, there are a lot of critical components that need to happen if you want the rollout to be successful. You’ve got to make sure everyone is trained, confirm all of the data is efficiently and accurately transferred over, perform tests to ensure everything is working properly; the list goes on and on.

But the absolute most important element you need to ensure the success of your new investment and change is BUY-IN! Without buy-in from all levels of the organization, it doesn’t matter how much training and testing you do, your new software implementation is doomed to failure.

IT STARTS AT THE TOP

In many cases, since the "workers" are the ones using the software, they are the ones pushing for it to be implemented as a way to make their lives easier. But if you want lasting buy-in, it can’t start from the bottom, it has to start at the top. The executive team is ultimately the ones signing the checks and making the decisions, so nothing will ever truly grab hold unless they are fully behind it.

Additionally, if you start at the top it will naturally flow down to middle management and then to the lower level workers. Trying to go the other way, sometimes middle managers won’t buy-in because it’s not coming from a superior. By not following the chain of command, you get chaos and confusion. Both are death blows for a successful software launch.

MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE NEXT

Once you have buy-in from the top leaders of the organization, the next step is to ensure you get buy-in from middle management. They will often be the toughest ones to convince, but if you can get them on board (with the backing and support of upper management), then your implementation of EntireHR or other software and changes will have a chance to succeed. Show them the benefits of the change, so they can relay that down to their teams. Show them how much easier it will make their job because they will be on the frontlines enforcing the change.

THEN COMES THE WORKFORCE

Now that you have executive and middle management buy-in, the last buy-in you need is from the bottom-level workforce. But the good news is they are usually the easiest to get buy-in from. Generally, they deal with whatever is thrown their way. They typically haven’t been at the company as long and aren’t as invested in old procedures and policies, so they’ll usually follow the lead of their supervisor.

THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE IS METRICS

To keep this continual support and buy-in the last piece of the puzzle is reporting metrics. Keep track of the efficiencies the new software is providing and report that up the chain. Employees and executives will see the benefits and continue their support.

TOP-DOWN IS A PROVEN FORMULA FOR BUY-IN

If you follow this proven top-down formula as outlined above for buy-in at your organization, your software implementation will be successful. Failed tests or faulty information can be fixed and overcome quite easily when you have proper and full buy-in from everyone. Conversely, if nobody is supporting the change, it doesn’t matter how perfect your data and testing are – implementation will fall flat. The choice is yours!

Entire Recruit is an All-In-One Recruitment Software designed for Australian staffing & labour-hire agencies. It empowers you with all the data in one place, allowing strategic staffing decisions to be made in real-time. https://www.entirehr.com.au