Oracle HR Implementation Best Practices English Room August 15, 2008 NCOAUG Training Day Drury Lane – Hilton Suites Oakbrook Terrace, IL.

Oracle HR Implementation Best Practices

English RoomAugust 15, 2008

NCOAUG Training Day Drury Lane – Hilton Suites

Oakbrook Terrace, IL

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Mario C. Ellis

Director Compensation & HR Systems University of Chicago Medical Center Functional Project Manager for the Oracle

HRMS application at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

20+ years experience, has re-engineered

legacy business processes from mainframe technology to client/server relational systems

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Challenge to implement Oracle HR application Limited budget and resources Lack of a dedicated Project Manager Mandate from senior management Implement a fully functioning application

Manager self-service Compensation Workbench.

No customizations Coming from a customized legacy system Intensive paper driven processes Limited consulting resources

Overview

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Background Decisions Made Overall Objectives Challenge Lessons Learned Summary Questions

Agenda/Contents

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At the forefront of medicine for more than 75 years--delivering extraordinary care to patients from all parts of the world. 2nd largest medical center in Chicago.

• U.S.News & World Report named UCMC to the prestigious Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals--the top 18 hospitals in the nation.

University of Chicago Medical Center

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Oracle eBusiness Suite 11.5.10 Core HR Manager Self-Service Employee Self-Service Compensation Workbench Performance Management Supply Chain iExpense iProcurment Learning Management

Oracle Applications Implemented

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Background

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The initial project began as a full install of the Oracle Supply Chain, Finance and Human Resources modules in 2001.

The initial project identified over 400 gaps for all applications, resulting in high cost estimates, expanded scope and delay in implementation.

Background

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UCMC reassessed the project to reduce the scope and stay within budget. As a result Scope reduced to implement Supply Chain Scope reduced to implement limited HR and Finance

to support Supply Chain Supply Chain phase went live in June

2003, on-time and budget. HR, Payroll and G.L. modules were to be

scheduled for future implementation.

Background

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The success of the initial project resulted in cost savings for materials management - however limited project budget remained – approximately $1 Million

Background

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Concerns from initial project Management was not convinced that the

remaining Oracle applications were necessary

The HR department lacked the talent and expertise to provide key sponsorship and decision making for the project

Background

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UCMC was still faced with the following challenges

The hospitals has more than 6,000+ employees, with staff as the largest expense

Difficult to obtain accurate and timely employee information Lack of reporting tools hinders the ability for management

reporting Disparate systems do not allow for workflow or integration of

data Inability to efficiently support accreditation/compliance

reviews Changes in employee information was time consuming and

paper intensive

Background

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Heavy reliance on Third Party Vendors to provide needed business functionality

The hospital had a need for a “true” HRIS application Information maintained in multiple spread

sheets, Access Databases, and “shadow systems” that were not integrated

No one source of “truth” for reporting Legacy system was a “payroll” system and did

not allow for the necessary storing and reporting of needed HR related data

Background

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Decisions Made

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Decisions Made

A new VP of Human Resources was hired, who also hired more experienced staff

A fit gap analysis was conducted in June 2005 Validated need to implement Oracle HR (payroll

would be a separate project) Helped to structure the scope, project team,

project methodology and deliverables based on internal resources and remaining project budget

Project approved in fall of 2005 and work began June of 2006

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Overall Objectives

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Overall Objectives

Implement Core HR functionality Integrate with Oracle Learning Management,

Supply Chain and Legacy Financial applications

Restructure work elements – Job, Positions, Grades and Benefit Groups

Improve automation of Union Contracts including Grade Step progression

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Overall Objectives

Introduce a phased rollout of Self Service applications for managers

Institute Merit Award Distribution through Oracle Compensation Workbench

Institute a Directors Incentive Plan Distribution through Oracle Compensation Workbench

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Challenge

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Challenge

Meet the Overall Objectives with: Limited IT and HR staff resources, especially

with extensive Oracle experience No dedicated Project Manager Need to upgrade platform of HR applications

while other Oracle applications (excluding OLM) remained on current platform

Budget remained at approximately $1 million

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Expected State after Implementation

General Ledger - Accounting Structure Foundation

Fixed Assets

Human Resources - Employee & Hierarchy for Approval Routing

Purchasing

iProcurement Inventory

Mobile SC Accounts

Payable

EDI

iExpense

P-Cards

Agency

iSupplier

Learning M

anagement

Com

pensation W

orkbench

Cash M

anagement

Kronos

Payroll

iRecruitm

entHR Self Service

Capital B

udget

Balanced Scorecard

BIS/Customer Access Discover (Roll-Out at Module Level Available)

Budgeting

In Production To be Implemented UCMC Licenses Additional Products

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Lessons Learned

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Lessons Learned

Must Have Senior Management Commitment: Developed Steering Committee that provided

overall project governance, budget oversight and were actively involved in project planning

Senior Management committed to making quick decisions

Senior Management was committed to allowing funding to be spent creatively to meet project objectives

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Lessons Learned

Must Have Dedicated and “Skilled” Project Team: Team members must be flexible enough to wear

more than one hat effectively No dedicated PM resulted in shared responsibility

between UCMC IT, HR and acquired consulting services

Subject Matter Experts are Key Departments filled analyst roles as needed Results in strong ownership of final solution

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Lessons Learned

Must Have Dedicated and “Skilled” Project Team: Ensure team is fully integrated

Improves final product Avoids silos Enhances communication

Team members must be able to think outside the box BUT within the application to make choices without customizations

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Lessons Learned

Must Have Dedicated and “Skilled” Project Team: Team members must be provided sufficient

training (preferably in-house) during key phases of the project

Use consultants wisely UCMC engaged 3 consulting firms based on need and

budget – Oracle being the prime Consultants were used in initial phases then disengaged

before final phases Important that knowledge is transferred to staff

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Lessons Learned

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Lessons Learned

Must Have A Strong and Proven Project Methodology: UCMC utilized a unique project structure

allowing for three successive projects to run at once

Platform Upgrade Integration into Oracle Learning Management HR Implementation

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Lessons Learned

n UCMC followed basic System Lifecycle Development methodology in addition to Oracle AIM for Business Flows (Healthcare) and AIM Phases, Definition and Elaboration

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Lessons Learned

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Lessons Learned

Must Manage SCOPE: Focus on core issues deferring “wish list items” Senior Management must make the hard

decisions to change and be able to say “NO” Do Not concede to the 20% of the 80/20 rule Understand the scale of 1-10 philosophy

A “5” is always better than a “2” No need to always shoot for a “10”

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Lessons Learned

Must Manage SCOPE: Get key decision makers involved in

requirements gathering Validate requirements

Trust but VERIFY

Key message to stakeholders “Vanilla” is good

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Lessons Learned

Allow application “best practices” to govern business processStrapping new technology onto current

processes will negate the value of the technology !!!

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Lessons Learned

Must Manage SCOPE: No customizations - We like the word

“Extensions”

Customizations

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Lessons Learned

Must Manage SCOPE: Oracle Developed a “RICE” list (Reports,

Interfaces, Conversion and Extension) Used to identify and manage requirements Clearly defines what type of requirement If an item was defined as a gap it was

removed and considered out of scope

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Lessons Learned

Must Follow Project Plan: UCMC used a phased approach

Core foundation applications rolled out first followed by specialty applications such as Compensation Workbench and Self Service

Recommended for in-house implementations that are low on resources and can be spread over an extended time

Regular meetings with entire team is critical Communicate potential risks EARLY

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Lessons Learned

Must Follow Project Plan: Set overall project timeline at the

beginning of the project Use project plan versioning as each phase

progresses Track project deliverables in one week

cycles with team reviews on a regular schedule

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Lessons Learned

Test Often: Since UCMC used Oracles Accelerator

methodology Testing was a natural progression of the

process Conference Room Pilots were used to

validate results of testing

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Lessons Learned

Test Often: UCMC utilized HR constituents as part of the

testing and CRP sessions (Very Important) Able to manage expectations company wide Minimizes the “squeaky wheel” Acquire buy-in before roll out This became the official HR core “user group”

to be used for subsequent HR implementations and pilots

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Lessons Learned

Test Often: Do Not overlook parallel testing to validate:

Migration of configurations and code Time required for cutover Execution of conversions and interfaces User interaction in real-life situations System performance Comparison of results with production Uncovers issues with system, training or

communications

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Lessons Learned

Follow a formal Change Management Process : Follow change control process for changes to

scope, overall timeline or budget

Follow a formal Risk Management Project review Process Building in reviews of large deliverables as they

are worked on will confirm approach across the entire team and measure progress

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Lessons Learned

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Bring project team together on a regular basis Hold multiple design sessions with key

stakeholders in attendance Distribute meeting minutes for full team review

not just to those in attendance Develop a communication plan for internal

project members, management and external users

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Lessons Learned

Timing is Everything If this would have remained a part of original

2003 implementation it would have failed Lack of HR expertise More customizations Would have been considered a lower priority than

supply chain

The success was due to HR being the only application implemented in 2007 within Oracle eBusiness Suite

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Summary

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Summary

Implementation was on time and under budget 20% was returned to project contingency Core HR live in March 2007 with limited Manager

Self-Service Compensation Workbench live in June 2007

The components that were rolled out to UCMC employees was received favorably Over 6000 users impacted Over 110 departments impacted

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Summary

Core implementation created a solid foundation and methodology for further implementations

Online Performance Management (2008) Increased Manager Self-Service (2008) Employee Self Service (2008) Payroll (2009) General Ledger (2009)

The implementation fostered a strong and successful working relationship between UCMC HR and IT

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Questions?

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Mario Ellis Director, Compensation & HR

Systems University of Chicago Medical Center E-mail: mario.ellis@uchospitals.edu

Contacts