A division of an international chemical group was carved out and established itself on the market as an independent stock corporation. After the carve-out, the division was transformed into a new organization. It underwent a significant change process in order to operate successfully, dynamically and with new momentum on the market. Part of the change was the introduction of the HR IT system Workday. This involved redefining the requirements for managers.
Managing communication processes
The interim manager was tasked with managing the communication processes during the introduction of the new HR IT tool for the 850 employees in the HR departments. In collaboration with the HR Leadership Team, she developed a handbook to provide guidance to managers in their new role. A communication campaign for users was designed for the immediate introduction of the HR IT tool. This was implemented in collaboration with an agency and the internal communications department.
The interim manager was a member of the change project team with decision-making authority. She managed the communication of current measures within the work stream. A special project layout was developed for project communication in order to attract attention and achieve a rapid recognition effect. Newsletters were published regularly in English, Chinese and German. In this medium, the initiators reported on the objectives of the project. They made the process transparent from different perspectives. The project staff also reported on their current activities.
Forums for personal exchange
In the national HR departments, the interim manager introduced information forums in which HR business partners and HR specialists were informed about the new processes in the HR IT tool. It was important that the forums took place in person and not virtually. This allowed questions to be asked, possible stumbling blocks to be pointed out and necessary national adjustments to be made. The national HR departments were responsible for planning and conducting the information forums.
Manager's handbook
The manager's handbook provided a step-by-step guide to the new HR IT system. In each step, the expectations of the manager, the expectations of the employee and the service provided by HR were communicated. It was distributed to all managers as a download and the individual steps were made available in a knowledge database. This meant that the handbook could either be read or individual questions could be retrieved spontaneously from the knowledge database.
Advertising campaign ensures acceptance in the change process
It was important to inform users, all employees regardless of hierarchy level and functional area in a timely manner. This could not be too early, as otherwise all the information would fizzle out over time - but also not too close to the introduction so as not to surprise the employees. An advertising agency developed slogans, short promotional videos and information brochures, which were published on the intranet and on internal company screens in a time window of 4 weeks before the HR IT tool went live.
On the day the tool went live, telephone hotlines were available in the various countries where HR staff and IT specialists were on hand to answer users' questions. In the hyper-care phase, i.e. the phase immediately after commissioning, in which "hiccups" that were not noticed during the system tests become apparent, regular communication was provided at fixed times on how each "teething problem" was solved and how the user can now deal with it successfully.
About 3 weeks after going live, learning videos on all the functionalities of the new HR IT system were posted on the intranet, and so-called "Lunch&Learn" sessions were held in the various areas so that users received immediate answers to their specific questions from HR employees.
Sustainable benefits for the customer
The structured and planned implementation of the communication campaign has strengthened the good image of the HR departments. Before the new HR IT system went live, HR employees were informed about the current status of developments at all times and were able to approach decision-makers and express their questions and concerns. The transparent communication led to greater mutual understanding.
The interim manager for this project was useful because she was able to focus exclusively on the success of the project. Unlike internal employees, she was not involved in other issues. Another advantage was the fact that the interim manager is an HR manager herself and therefore knows the ins and outs of the environment.
