The HR and Payroll Initiative - A Case Study

Many organizations, whether universities or corporations, can probably relate to this scenario - the current payroll system is over 20 years old, and is fraught with rules and procedures no one completely understands. The system is paper-intensive and doesn’t take advantage of all the technology now available 20 years later. It’s time to modernize it.

Organizations can also probably relate to the following pitfalls that commonly besiege the replacement of a system:

A pre-packaged, “off the shelf” system has been purchased for millions of dollars, with the rationale that the product contains most of the required features. Turns out that this packaged system requires so much customizing that whatever efficiencies were hoped for don’t actually materialize. Even worse, the product is shelved because it doesn’t meet needs or is too expensive to customize.
System developers pour resources and energy into developing a system they’re certain “everyone will love,” only to find that users dislike the system and are resentful that once again, no one asked them for their opinion. Now they have to live with a system someone thought they’d like. The new system doesn’t encompass the necessary features to do their jobs, so now users have to develop informal “shadow” systems to get their work done. Developers are sincerely puzzled, because they spent lots of time gathering input from customers and thought they understood their customers’ needs.
Departments have built some of their core business procedures around the existing system. Replacing this system changes procedures that have been around for years, and departments are complaining that the new system has increased their workload, not decreased it.

These are typical, real-life stories for systems developers and project managers alike. Is it possible to implement a vital business system such as a payroll system and avoid these common pitfalls?

The answer is YES! In November 2001, the University of Washington’s Human Resources and Payroll Initiative of the University Services Renewal (USER) Project rolled out a new payroll system supporting 40,000 + employees while managing to avoid these and many other pitfalls. Even better, the University leveraged its existing human and technical resources to tailor-make the system instead of purchasing a pre-packaged off-the-shelf product for $50 million. Amazingly, the system was developed by users, individuals working in a variety of positions throughout the university who committed countless hours above and beyond their “day jobs” to develop a product that has received rave reviews from payroll coordinators, administrators and other users of the University’s payroll system.

This success has generated interest from others who plan to implement new technical systems and who would like to learn about the approach used by the HR and Payroll Initiative of the USER Project. Managers responsible for key business areas such as processing grants and contracts, handling the university’s procurement and purchasing needs, and managing ever-growing electronic databases are asking: “What resources do we need to make our system implementation successful? We obtained input for our previous projects, and users still weren’t happy. What’s so different about the input that the USER Project has asked for? How do I obtain buy-in from all levels of the organization?”

The purpose of this discussion is to answer some of these questions and assist others at the University of Washington in applying the USER approach used by the HR and Payroll Initiative. Done in partnership with C&C, Financial Management and Human Resources, this Initiative represented the start of the USER Project and set the stage for the various initiatives that have followed. In fact, the term "Initiative" and "Project" are often used interchangeably given that they were initially one in the same. This is a case study of what the Project has learned so far in its work to develop a technical infrastructure for the University, including its methodology and tools for developing systems, the key players and their roles in the project, the various phases of project development, and ongoing challenges that have emerged.

While this discussion features the University’s online payroll system, the approach described here is applicable to the implementation of any system. It is certainly not the only picture of successful project management, and USER staff continue to seek new ways to do work, but it is a starting point for new volunteers and others interested in engaging in similar efforts in their organizations.

Next: Key Roles and the Team Process