1. Change Management
Guidance and Tips for planning and implementing an end-user Change Management Strategy

2. Content Overview Why Change Management? What are the Drivers?
Phases of Change Management
Pre-Planning Phase
Planning Phase
Delivery Phase

3. Why Change Management?
70-80% of change initiatives achieve substantially less than expected value! (King and Peterson, 2007)
Leaders often do not manage the:
Process of Change
People side of Change
On the contrary, Top Performing organizations experience change success rates over 80% (IBM, 2008b)

4. What are The Drivers? Start with defining the Drivers:
What benefits do you expect?
Why are you doing this?
What are the metrics for knowing you are successful?
What is the purpose?

5. 60 Days Prior to Go-Live to Post-Live
3 Phases of Change Management
PLANNING
Refine/Clarify Vision and Context
Define Scope/Stakeholders
Compile Communication Plan and Content
Compile Training Plan and Content
60 Days Prior to Go-Live to Post-Live
120 Days Prior to Go-Live
Days Prior to Go-Live
PRE-PLANNING
DELIVERY
Define Vision/Context
Form Change Team
Execute Plan
Respond to and Address all concerns
Adjust as needed
Celebrate early success

6. Pre-Planning Phase + Consider forming a Change Team: 8-12 Team Members
Project Team
Tasked with managing the technical side of the change.
Change Team
Tasked with managing the people side of the change. +

7. 5 Roles on Change Team
CHANGE AGENTS: Help propel the change forward; eyes and ears on ground; no direct authority
CHANGE
MANAGER
LINE
MANAGERS
SPONSOR
EMPLOYEE
REPS
Champion for Change
Walk the Talk
Ensure Resources are Provided
Manages Change Team
Responsible for Change Execution
Credibility and Respect Important!
Serve as Voice of Managers
Consider different levels from throughout the organization
Critical to engage
Represent the employees who must change
Helps team consider employees’ perspective

8. Planning: 120-90 days prior to Go-live
Scope (who)
Identify all stakeholders
Who will be impacted? Who has an interest in the change?
Are they drivers or resistors?
Assess the culture – is change rare or frequent? Will lots of hand-holding be expected? Is this part of a larger change initiative?
Deliverables (what)
Communications
Training
Printed Materials (Job Aids, reference sheets, FAQs)
Support

9. Planning Schedule for delivery (when)
Treat Change Management deliverables just as any other important project deliverable so enough time is set aside for planning, reviewing, and delivering these items.
Set Benchmarks to measure completion of deliverables (i.e. 90% of users trained, etc).
Match the quantity and level of change management activities with:
The severity of the change and its impact on the employees
What is appropriate for the company culture
Determine if technology roll out will be big-bang (all at once) or phased. Consider aligning the change management roll out strategy with the technology roll out approach.
Learn from initial rollout phases to fine-tune the change management delivery.

10. Make the Business Case Start at the top Involve every Management layer
Identify executive sponsors to champion the project. They have the most critical role.
Use leadership to build momentum among the workforce in favor of the change. Walk the Talk
Involve every Management layer
Identify key leaders and influencers to help shape the rollout plan and take ownership of creating a successful outcome
Listen and learn current processes and pain-points “out in the field”
Demo the system to the key leaders so they understand the benefits
Make the formal case
Communicate to all stakeholders the vision, priority, and benefits of the change to the company
Describe the current problem
Define the plan to solve the problem
Demonstrate you have the right team in place to be successful
Share the ROI / Benefits to the organization
Tell everyone what will be expected of them to support this change

11. Delivery: Communicate the message
Overview
The message will need to be repeated multiple times throughout the process to successfully change behavior
The tone and content of the message should be appropriate for the stage
Keep the message simple and digestible; consider tailoring messages by audience segment
Be creative and consider using posters, flyers, s, conference calls, company newsletters, and giveaways to communicate the message
Recommended Communication Phases
Early Planning communications (phase I) – 90 days prior to go-live
Live Preparation communications (phase II) – 60 days prior to go-live up to go live
Post Live Support communications (phase III)

12. Communicate the message
Early Planning Communications (phase I)
Make the formal business case to all stakeholders
Generate excitement, create buy-in, and motivate stakeholders
Communicate how individuals will be impacted and supported through the change
Identify resisting and counter their resistance or remove them from participation

13. Communicate the message
Phase I – Activity Examples
Hold focus groups to find out what questions people have and use that to form your communication plan
Provide pizza “lunch and learn” or “bagel breakfast” for employees to watch a video introducing Ultimate followed with Q/A
Provide door prizes for people who participate in whatever activities you schedule
Consider developing rewards (recognition, $, drawing entry, etc.)
Meet with the champions and resistors1-on-1 to talk about how they can help you

14. Communicate the message
Live Preparation Communications (phase II)
~4-8 weeks ahead of change, communicate what’s coming
~1-2 weeks ahead of change, communicate expectations
~1-2 weeks ahead of change, train users (as appropriate)
~1 day ahead of change, communicate specific instructions for what to do and where to ask for help (Hot line, location-specific Power Users, etc.)

15. Communicate the message
Phase II – Activity Examples
Distribute a weekly newsletter or video like a NASA countdown to launch with information about the change.
Develop knowledge games with prizes for people who get involved – like the first 10 employees to log into Self-Service and confirm 5 data elements win a prize.
Hold a lunch time “HR carnival” – have booths with various topics – what will my check/cheque look like? How do I log into self-service? How do I request time off? At each booth have prizes or chances to enter a contest when people stop by each booth.
Have a “passport” of activities. Each time a person completes a learning activity they get a stamp. For the person who get all the stamps win a chance at a prize.
On the first live payroll hand out PayDay candy and be available for questions.

16. Communicate the message
Post Live Support Communications (phase III)
Encourage users, provide tips and best practices
Communicate realized benefits and success stories
Share best practices with the broader UltiPro user community
Phase III - Activity Examples
Discuss lessons learned with stakeholders and communicate changes as necessary.
Publish one last newsletter or video thanking everyone for participating.
Have clips of success stories. For example, “Dave from accounting is happy because now he can update his direct deposit allocation from home!”
Have a thank you party for all the hard work your team has put in to make the transition a success!!
Share best practices with your Relationship Manager, UltiPro User Groups, and at the Connections conference.

17. Provide Training and Support
User preparation resources
Training (Formal, informal, Train-the-Trainer, other skill upgrades)
UltiPro Quick Tours
Learning Material
Learning Paths
UltiEasy QuickTips (Job Aids)
Proactive personal counseling to alleviate fears
Develop location-specific Power Users for one-on-one user support
Support for the individuals
Establish a Hot line or command center for the first week of transition and communicate to users where they should go with questions
Location-specific Power Users should pro-actively solicit user feedback and provide mentoring

18. Communicate results & share success
Gather and Measure the results
Install & use third-party programs to monitor site traffic
Conduct Ad hoc interviews to assess adoption or issues
Discuss progress with stakeholders
Don’t panic if initial adoption is below expectations; continue communicating the message and momentum will build over time
Communicate results and share the success
Communicate results
Communicate Success Stories
Share measured company benefits

19. Need Help?
Let Ultimate Software’s Transformation Services help you with Change Management!
We have 2 service offerings available to meet your needs!
To learn more, contact us at or request more information from your Ultimate Software Project Manager.