Do you want to know how to overcome the Fear of Change when implementing an ERP Solution?

Defined by CIO (www.cio.com) “Enterprise resource planning software, or ERP, doesn’t live up to its acronym. Forget about planning—it doesn’t do much of that—and forget about resource, a throwaway term. But remember the enterprise part. This is ERP’s true ambition. It attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments’ particular needs.” 

When we first started implementing ERP solutions back in2004, we were so excited about it, thinking that customers will welcome us, the consultants, on red carpet. To me, the ERP we were implementing included new functionality, new modules, enhanced look and feel and plenty other options. Such an integrated solution will replace their Excel Files and paper work, and help them utilize their time and effort efficiently. 

Well, that was what we - the consultants - thought. 

On the other side of the table, employees had a totally different perception to solutions, especially New Ones. They have always been resentful...75% of the time, to be more precise. 

Why?

1- To most of them, a complicated system with a comprehensive list of modules covering all functions of the business, it is a threat to their being... With systems in place, they will have to share knowledge with their peers. They will be forced to exercise transparency, where managers will not request reports anymore; rather they will run their own reports from their workstations. 

2- We learned from experience, that employees fear the transition period and the parallel run. They will have to do a double job for some time, with continuous reconciliation of figures, until finally approving the new system. 

3- Senior employees, who have been serving their company for years for instance, will be subject to learning a new language and new terminology. They will be put on test again, and might pass or fail. They know their job very well with their old tools and sometimes with tools they customized or encrypted themselves. 

4- During the implementation phase, employees spend a considerable amount of time with consultants for Gap analysis and Requirements gathering. They are requested to prepare master data and a new chart of accounts. This increases pressure on employees, at least in the early phases of the transition. 

5- Unanswered questions about maintenance and support, future training, mistakes and error handling and a lot others, increase that feeling of insecurity employee have already got regarding this transition. 

Approach

What a consultant or a firm have to consider at this stage, is that the fears of the employees from an ERP change are reasonable, and can be moderated. 

I have implemented more than20 ERP projects in the area, for companies of different business lines; retail, wholesale, real estate, point of sale and many others. From experience, I managed to practice a way to reduce the amount of “dislike” from employees, and transform it into trust and cooperation, finally leading to successful projects (Most of which are up and running till today) 

HERE IS WHAT I DID, AND WHAT CONSULTANTS SHOULD DO. 

1- Know your product very well. Learn it and practice different scenarios as homework. No two companies practice the same accounting procedures100%. Accountants and other business functions members have always something twisted in how they approach their daily operations. 

2- Be Transparent at all times. Answer all question raised by Top managers, senior officers and junior employees. This will build more confidence in you and your knowledge, and concurrently in the system. 

3- Stress on the benefits of the new system. At any occasion, drive your efforts to exhibit benefits. The more the benefits of the product, the more hands will be raised. 

4- Consider all ideas. Everyone in the organization is as important, and everyone’s ideas count. 

5- Avoid adding unneeded pressure on employees. When requesting for Master Data, for instance, do it right from the first time. Request this number of columns in this format. This will insure delivering the requested information with minimum effort and on time. 

6- Clarify the roadmap with Top Management and get the support needed. Help top management assign resources to work with you on the project. Support is needed at all times. 

7- Send updates on achievements on a daily basis. Keep everyone informed of the progress. Always thank everyone who did efforts. 

8- Divide training sessions by specialty if possible. A homogeneous crowd adds value to the discussion. Questions asked by one employee most probably concern the whole group. Be sure to carry out a comprehensive training and cover all areas to be utilized. Submit documentation tailored to that specific implementation, rather than generic ones. 

9- Follow up constantly at the beginning (From the first day of the parallel run) until employees show confidence in performing their tasks. Be there in at least one period closing procedure or a year-end procedure. 

10- Be constructive and positive. People trust you and cooperate with you more than if you had an attitude. After all, your character is what shapes your career path, never your academic qualifications.

Thank you Wissam. Good article.

consultants in the west reported the same type of problems when they strated to roll ERPs in the business community and they managed to overcome it.

Based on my experience and as you mentioned, I found that senior management support is the most important task in the ERP change management plan. I found that if higher management are convinced they will make the remaining change management tasks a lot easier. I usually ask convinced management on how they best recommend managing the change for the rest of thier staff. I try to get them to gear thier benefits plans to support the implementation and ensure job security for all staff affected by the implementation using the examples from the west and how it's impact benefited all staff by exposing them to more effective business processes which enhances the company's competitivness and consequently benefit the staff and give them time to do more important tasks which they didn't have the time to do before the ERP and how the ERP minimize thier normal human errors and improves communications.

Yhe main hurdle still is systematically calculating the ROI for the companies investment in ERP. This is a key issue for convincing senior management.

Thank you for your constructive input.

I agree with all answers

From my point of view as normal user i can overcome it by always have the will of learn more and more from ERP, but even i try to look and serach on the net in order to be expert and not an routine user of it if i want to reach the ideal work on ERP which my company apply it .