Global ERP Implementations or Rollouts, bring with them substantial process and organizational changes. Devising a Change Management plan for all business units is an absolute requirement, as the lack of effective change management is one of the main reasons why ERP rollouts fail. In this blog we will discuss why it is important to invest in change management to achieve a successful ERP implementation.
Change Management for Successful ERP Implementation
Helps Understanding the Impact of the Project
One of the first actions of a Change Management strategy is to perform an Impact Assessment, this can help you evaluate how disruptive the transition is going to be. According to Gartner, “Enterprise leaders get an opportunity to understand the potential organizational “growing pains,” business disruptions, costs, and other impacts, so they can determine whether the organization is willing and able to make the changes. It also gives the project team an opportunity to make adjustments to achieve a more acceptable level of business impact before starting development activities that would potentially need to be redone if the design is changed later in the project.”
Ensures Local Buy-in
Typically ERP projects introduce massive changes in organizations, but too often companies focus on the major scheme of things and don’t focus on the impact it has on employee’s tasks or even their job roles. So it does not wonder, that sometimes these changes are met with some resistance. A Change Management strategy would promote help employees to accept the changes by establishing proper communication channels for that would inform them about the goals of the transition, it benefits, and the way their day to day jobs would change and improve.
Facilitates User Adoption
When an ERP is implemented, employees are expected to learn and adopt to the new software interfaces and features. A Change management strategy helps minimizing the learning curve by including training initiatives that help employees to plunge into the new work flows as soon as possible.
Expedites Investment ROI
Rolling out an ERP brings a lot of benefits, but your company can only reap its benefits if employees are making the most out of it. Change Management engages employees quicker and guarantees they take full advantage of the ERP’s features, helping them become more productive and improve their performance. When employee’s productivity improves, the overall performance of the organization also improves.
Change management is often overlooked in ERP Projects for lack of time and cost saving initiatives but companies need to understand it is vital to success. IT Directors and project managers must invest resources and time to put a Change Management plan in place before diving into an ERP implementation.
