Navigating a smooth and successful implementation

Congratulations! You have done your homework, carefully assessing the global mobility management platform options in the market, and you have opted for the one that best suits your requirements. The selection process is over, the contract has (finally!) been signed, and it is now time to focus on implementation, so that your system can be set up to enable maximum efficiency gains for your global mobility programme. In this post, we share some tips on how to make this stage as smooth and stress-free as possible. Aside from facilitating quicker delivery and access to your new system, a well-thought-out project is also likely to be less costly for you, saving both time and money.

 Collaborative communication 

Implementation is the official start of the partnership with your selected provider. Throughout the project, you will get to know the team working on it very well. It is crucial that both sides can rely on clear and honest lines of communication – particularly at those unfortunate (and often unavoidable) moments when something hasn’t gone quite as planned. So, establishing contact points and preferred feedback channels from the beginning is essential, as the teams involved learn to align their ways of working. Be detailed rather than generic in your feedback: this will make it significantly easier to fix the issue. Don’t be afraid to speak up if something isn’t as it should be – your provider wants the project to be successful, too. 

 Prioritising for success 

When implementing a GM management platform, the functionality will cover a wide range of requirements that impact various internal and external stakeholders. Although the natural instinct might be to hope for everything to be up and running as quickly as possible, taking a pragmatic approach typically pays off. Identifying which aspects of the solution are priorities rather than nice-to-haves is key for a successful implementation project. It could be that you want to start reaping the time-saving benefits of automating salary reviews, or you might be yearning for detailed management reporting at a click of a button. Make sure your provider understands your priorities, enabling them to alleviate your most immediate pain points from the get-go. 

 Strategic phases

Implementation projects tend to be big, and it helps to break them down into dedicated chunks of dedicated work. This makes it easier for everyone to focus on the task at hand, though still with the ultimate goal in mind. It makes sense to align the phases with your priorities, to make sure your most urgent requirements are accommodated through early releases. The planning works best when the project teams set realistic timelines: if you know it will be an all-hands-on-deck situation for your team in January for salary reviews, it makes sense for that month to be less busy on the project front. 

Commitment is likely to also be required from people outside your global mobility team. Depending on the phase of the project, you may need to rope in an IT specialist or your in-house HRIS team for integrating the systems, for example. Considering their workloads in advance when planning the different phases of the project can make a big difference in delivery efficiency.

 Aligning objectives

Implementing software is typically a means to an end: when you choose a system, you are choosing the tool to transform the mobility function at your organisation. So even in the thick of an extensive implementation project, it helps to keep the overall objectives at the forefront of everyone’s mind. It can also be a great way to motivate your team along the way to remind them how each step will contribute to the wider goals. For example, a client of ours decided to invest in a GM management platform with the aim of bringing structure and harmony to a large, decentralised set of teams and processes. Getting there wasn’t always a straightforward journey, but the visible outcomes and the positive impact on their day-to-day have been applauded by the wider business. 

 Shared commitment

As a trusted partner, your provider will be there to do the heavy lifting on your behalf. However, both parties will of course need to dedicate time and resources to the project. Even though with ECA you don’t need to know anything about coding because we take care of it all for you, we will still need you to be available to test each new release and share your feedback, so that we can get closer and closer to your requirements. You’ll also need to sign off, but that is the exciting bit – it means you are ready to go live! 

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