Navigating by Stars: HRMS kicks off advance team strategy

Visual notes from the HR Stars kickoff meeting, courtesy of Jen Mein.

The HRMS Upgrade Project took the next big step in its change management and communications plan last week by launching the HR Stars, an advance team strategy to provide local system support in all academic and administrative units system-wide.

 More than 90 Stars have been nominated to date, including at least one representative for every unit and campus, and the vast majority attended the kickoff meeting on May 21, either in person or online. They received additional information and context about the project and their new role, and offered their thoughts about what units will need for successful implementation of the new HRMS system and business processes. The thoughts ranged from the real and personal (what do we do when a co-worker is falling apart because they can’t figure out how to get their work done?) to the fanciful (a chip to implant all the right answers directly into people brains) -- but all with the goal of enabling Stars and their unit colleagues to hit the ground running with the new system.

“Every department has someone that people go to for answers,” said one Star following the meeting. “It makes good sense to invite those people into the upgrade effort earlier and get them trained so they can help others be effective more quickly after the upgrade. Meeting the people who fill this role at the kickoff was encouraging -- the group seemed excited and ready to learn. It bodes well for the overall success of the upgrade.”

Stars will receive advance training and early information from the HRMS project, but the expectation is for two-way communication -- the project team hopes to hear about challenges or concerns early so they can be addressed quickly and systematically, before they become major problems. In fact, even before the kickoff meeting, most of the Stars responded to a brief survey that provided a first look into the expertise of the group and the experience of the units to date. Out of 70 responses to our survey:

• 66 Stars have hands-on HRMS experience (including 22 with HRMS and Finance, and 7 with HRMS, Finance, and Student).
• 56% have already completed HRMS High-Level Functions and Processes Training. 
• The biggest perceived area of strength is Position Management: 
• On a scale of 1 to 5 (newbie to expert), our average is 3.24. 
• 29 Stars rated themselves a 4 or a 5. 
• The biggest challenge is Recruiting Solutions: 
• On a scale of 1 to 5 (newbie to expert), our average is 2.16.
• Only 4 Stars rated themselves a 4 or a 5.

These results, along with answers to open-ended survey questions, feedback from the kickoff meeting, and ongoing interactions via the HR Stars Google Group will be used to shape the agendas of future Stars meetings. The group will reconvene on June 25 and will meet regularly through early next spring. A listing of all Stars by unit will be made available soon.