Driving User Adoption of HR Technology

### Overview In this talk, Robin Schooling explores strategies for driving user adoption of HR technology across an organization. HR tools touch individuals across the entire employee lifecycle—from candidates using applicant tracking systems (ATS) and pre-hire assessments, to active employees accessing core Human Capital Management (HCM) and payroll solutions, to departing staff utilizing offboarding platforms. While HR and leadership often implement technology to achieve efficiency, accuracy, or cost savings, Schooling emphasizes that successful adoption requires viewing systems through the perspective of end users. Without deliberate change management and consideration for user needs, new platforms are frequently perceived as extra burdens rather than helpful tools.

### Key Topics - **Understanding the End User Experience**: End users span candidates, frontline staff, and corporate workers. Their primary concern is whether a platform helps them do their job, access essential information, or solve problems independently via self-service mechanisms, rather than whether it makes HR's workflow easier. - **Overcoming Adoption Roadblocks**: Common points of failure include end-user indifference, resistance to change, ineffective training, inadequate communication, and lack of accountability. - **Early-Stage Planning & Involvement**: Planning for adoption should begin during the software selection phase. Evaluating solutions requires empathy for diverse roles (e.g., customer service vs. distribution center staff) and involving both champions and naysayers early in the process. - **Tailored Training and Sustained Support**: Training methods must align with the target workforce's profile, distinguishing between deskless, low-tech workers and office-based environments. Furthermore, adoption requires continuous maintenance—refreshing content and monitoring usage—rather than treating launch as a one-time event.

### Technical Details Schooling shares a detailed case study of a midsize organization conducting a wholesale HCM suite transition touching the full employee lifecycle. Rather than deploying all modules concurrently, the organization executed a phased six-month implementation to build familiarity and comfort: - **October**: Core HR and payroll modules were deployed first to establish foundational usage. - **November**: The benefits module went live in time for open enrollment. - **January**: The applicant tracking system (ATS) was launched. - **March**: The performance management module was introduced last.

During this gradual sequence, administrators made adjustments to the dashboard and refined the employee experience. Because users had already spent six months interacting with the core platform, navigating menus, and accessing records, the highly interactive performance management module integrated seamlessly with minimal resistance.

### Takeaways - **Incorporate Change Management Early**: Allocate time and resources—including external change management support if beneficial—at the selection and planning stages rather than treating rollout purely as technical project management. - **Emphasize 'What's In It For Them'**: Frame communications around employee benefits such as self-solving, ease of access, and convenience, rather than internal HR administrative goals. - **Phase Complex Rollouts**: Structuring rollouts incrementally builds user familiarity with core functions before introducing more complex, interactive components. - **Treat Technology as an Ongoing Destination**: Avoid a 'launch and forget it' mentality by monitoring system metrics and continually refreshing content to sustain engagement.