Too many bells and whistles complicate the design and distract users. In the case of selecting an HR solution your managers will love, particularly one that supports an annual process, think K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple Solutions (I know, but I just could not go with Stupid).
As a practitioner in the field of HR, you want to find features and functionality that help you deliver on your processes. Solutions should make administration easier. They should reduce your dependence on others, like your internal IT staff or technical resources from the vendor. They should support the analysis and reporting you need on your process. You need to make sure the solution fits your needs, but you also need to make sure it fits your manager’s needs.
Profile Your Managers
Your managers are focused on widget production. Each year a process comes along to disrupt their work. Do they want a simple tool that does not take a lot of training, or would they like to dive into learning all the cool yet complex features of a tool they will use for a few weeks and not touch again for a year? Is the solution intuitive enough to use without training? Go through the user experience from their point of view. How are the base level features needed to get in, get it done and get out? Will they remember how to complete it next year with little help?
What about a Senior Manager Profile?
Your Senior Manager is likely a little different. You know your people, so see if this profile fits. With managers below them and a sufficient number of people in their total organization, their needs will be for a little more sophistication. The larger budget they command is worthy of review. They may be more mindful of retention issues and internal equity concerns. They will need more rollup and drill down capabilities. They may be more interested in analytics. Having a user interface with additional features to handle a larger cut of employees has value. Maybe even enough value to have a brief training session or worth the time to look at quick reference material.
Your Challenge
The challenge is to find a solution that can satisfy the needs of all these roles. One that can strike the balance of intuitive yet sophisticated capabilities. Clean yet capable.
So often those of us close to the process, with an in-depth knowledge on the subject can get carried away. More bells, more whistles and hey, I like that cowbell! We forget that while we are only needing to focus on the interesting shiny features, our managers have to get their head wrapped around parts of the process we do not even think about. Piling complexity on top of that is not going to make them happier. Keep it Simple Solutions delivers on your needs.
CompAccelerator is Keep it Simple Solutions. Or, more accurately, Keep it as Simple as you want, Solutions. Companies are able to decide which features are accessible to each level of management. Managers don’t get bogged down in features they don’t want, but have what they need. The team is able to learn the system well, which makes it easier to relearn when the time comes to use it again. This reduces the need to spend hours reviewing the system each year, saving your company time and resources not having to reinvent the wheel.
Remember, people are naturally resistant to change. Change management can be difficult. Taking the time to see the solution through the eyes of your managers, it will go a long way to smoothing the process and improving adoption. Keep it Simple Solutions.