A Word From Our Sponsor
My name is Janell Crane and I am the Change Manager on the HRMS project team. I recently had the opportunity to interview the Executive Sponsor of the HRMS project, Rod Dole. Here is what he had to say:
What is HRMS?
A human resources management system (HRMS) is an automated system designed to store, track and utilize employee demographic, position, salary and payroll data.
“We’ve done without a direct communication system with our employees for so many years. HRMS fixes this. We haven’t been able to communicate well with them and likewise they haven’t been able to communicate well with us. We really need this on the HR side. On the Payroll side, we’ve had lots of perfect payrolls, thanks to Kim Murphy and crew. And, it really is business as usual. The biggest thing overall is we have a very old, expensive system that needs to be replaced. We need a way to take employee data and use it for good decisions in the future. We need to invest in technology.”
“For me, it’s a great way to communicate with the most important part of our organization, the people. There’s been a huge void there for a long time. We’ve had to use 3x5 cards, paper, and multiple copies of paper in three different departments, nobody knowing who has the right documents – huge need and huge opportunity. The real reason I got into this is we haven’t had a real chance to talk to our employees, to realize how much value these people bring. HRMS will help us do that.”
What is your role on the project and who else is involved?
“I’m the cheerleader, resource obtainer, the person who hopefully calmly resolves the issues that arise. I look for a peaceful, progressive, innovative way of resolving the issues of implementing a system – that’s my calling. After that, I rely and trust the team to do the best job and I know you will – we have a great team and a great vendor. I’m supposed to be the passionate cheerleader. I know I have the title of ‘Sponsor’ – I guess I don’t see that as important. If we function well as a steering committee, then the whole project will function well. I show support for the team and provide resources to the team.”
HRMS Steering Committee Members:
Rod Dole, Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector
Ann Goodrich, Director of Human Resources
Chris Thomas, Deputy County Administrator
Mark Walsh, Director of Information Systems
Rita Scardaci, Director of Health Services
When will it be implemented?
“Absolutely live – October 2010. I'm looking forward to that. A very successful project would be appreciated and has my support.”
Why now?
“It’s actually late in my book. We should have done this 10 years ago. It’s a shame we didn’t do it 10 years ago.”
How can the County afford to spend money on a new system right now?
“The County can’t afford not to spend the money on this project. I’m almost embarrassed by the fact that we have to report that we don’t have this system. We’re providing jobs; we’re showing the positive side of the organization. I’ve been here 33 years, there’s never a right time financially to spend money on back office systems – you can give reasons why it’s better to fix streets, vaccinate children, etc. It’s better to make your community feel safe. I think High Line, our vendor has given us a high quality, inexpensive solution to a very long term problem – and I’m really excited about that.”
“We spend 280 million on salaries – our biggest asset is our people. We have no way of knowing who we have out there – we ignore it, we ignore their experiences, their education, the trust and opportunity.”
Thank you, Rod, for taking the time to meet with me today to talk about HRMS.
The HRMS project team is happy to announce the addition of Scott Conrad as the Project Director and Cassandra Bridges as the Project Manager.
The HRMS team would love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us for more information or to provide feedback.