Corona delays implementation of new HR system

A new system for handling personnel and salary administration that replaces the existing, separate systems like PeopleSoft, HR Digiforms, Webforms, the salary system and IKA that would be ready to go live on 1 January 2021: that was the commission given to several TU services and one supplier in the spring of 2020. The supplier, AFAS, has a lot of experience in this field, as it stated in September. So there was every reason to be optimistic. But accomplishing all this within that timeframe via online meetings with people you have never met before in real life proved to be too big a task. That is why the Executive Board decided last week to postpone the go live.

The steering group MyHR posted this message on the intranet: “The corona crisis has had a huge impact: setting up, testing and fine-tuning a system via online meetings is difficult. [..] As a result, we have incurred delays, and there is not enough time left to get the system fully functional, test it thoroughly and prepare all users extensively in its use.”

Disappointment and relief
Ingrid Halewijn, director of the Human Resources Department (HR) and chair of the steering group, described the news with a mixture of disappointment and relief. “We really got a lot accomplished, so it is a shame that we now have to postpone the go live. This especially affects the 37 colleagues on the project team who have worked so hard day in and day out to get this done despite the trying circumstances. The foundation is ready and looks extremely promising for the start-up. On the other hand, several processes have not been tested thoroughly enough to our satisfaction, and we felt the risk was too great to go live.”

The risk of a suboptimal user’s first experience, which is fatal for ICT systems, was judged to be too great.  Halewijn explained, “You do not want to be working on resolving fundamental issues while users are starting to work with it and coming to you with questions.”

Halewijn estimated that the departments involved needed six more weeks to get everything ready. Because of tax implications for the salary system, MyHR can only be implemented at the start of a calendar year, which immediately meant postponing for another year. That is ‘hard to swallow’, wrote the steering group, which expressed its appreciation together with the Executive Board for the ‘commitment and support’ of all those involved.

They will carry out further testing and improvements of MyHR in the coming year. And this means that they can all enjoy a real Christmas holiday, which was an earlier request of the Executive Board.

• More information about MyHR can be found on the intranet.