Strategic Organizational Change Enables Agency Transformation

Challenge

A U.S. federal government agency sought to transform how it provided human capital management (HCM) services for its workforce by adopting industry best practices, optimizing its business processes, and implementing Oracle HCM cloud to better connect hire-to-retire processes. The cloud-based system is the first of its kind for the agency and its peer organizations, and implementation will span multiple years due to its complexity. As the prime, Oracle sought Guidehouse’s unique expertise as a leading organizational change management (OCM) and IT transformation provider to support the agency through the successful transformation and Oracle HCM cloud adoption.

Oracle engaged Guidehouse to:

• Assess the impact of implementing the new system
• Promote stakeholder awareness and acceptance of the new system and related changes
• Prepare end users to use the new technology
• Structure data conversion, reporting requirements, and security configuration

Solution

Guidehouse deployed strategic and technical experts to facilitate change management, strategic communications, training, and digital services.

Leveraging our certified (re)Vision® change management methodology, Guidehouse worked with the agency to create and execute an OCM strategy, incorporating key change management activities into the program’s development lifecycle. The team conducted change readiness assessments to evaluate the agency’s ability to adapt to the new application and business processes, and to identify potential obstacles to adoption. To capture key changes in data, roles, policies, processes, and applications, Guidehouse created an assessment tool that identified change impacts and recommended action plans. The results of these activities informed both the communications and training strategies the Guidehouse team developed.

To assess those whom the transformation would impact and understand how to engage them effectively, Guidehouse conducted an extensive stakeholder analysis for each implementation phase. We utilized a systematic process and tool to identify, analyze, and manage the individuals and groups the transformation impacted. The team worked with the agency to develop a communication implementation plan designed both to engage those stakeholders in ways that resonated with them and support transformation objectives. To establish a relatable and consistent brand for the program, Guidehouse provided strategic support to help develop the program’s mission, vision, and taglines. Our team also developed brand-aligned products that included tailored key messages, slick sheets, toolkits, and graphics that helped describe the program roadmap, what is changing, and benefits for various stakeholders.

As a first step in developing custom training for the new system, Guidehouse conducted a detailed training needs assessment for all impacted stakeholders. The results determined the scope, curriculum, format, delivery method, and delivery timeline. Based on commercial practices, the team tailored training to individual roles, responsibilities, and personas rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Collaboration with the change management team yielded insights about pain points and knowledge gaps that were then integrated into training. To maximize training engagement within a large workforce, Guidehouse created a blended learning program that includes instructor-led training, eLearning videos, FAQs, job aids, and knowledge checks.

Guidehouse also provided digital advisory services for the HCM implementation. Our digital experts developed the data conversion and data mapping strategies needed to migrate legacy data to the new cloud-based system. The team leveraged native HCM Data Loader (HDL) functionality to load business object hierarchy as full sets or incremental changes, depending on the need. To optimize the data for user operations and data-driven decision-making, the Guidehouse team developed business intelligence requirements based on the modified business processes and data captured in the system. This included enabling the integrated real-time reporting tool to develop self-service, data-rich dashboards and reports. Additionally, we contributed to security configuration by helping to define job roles, data roles, and areas of responsibility. This yielded finely tuned security controls for transaction and data access.

Impact

The OCM, communication, training, and digital services Guidehouse provided aligned program goals with objectives and mobilized leaders for pre-deployment and deployment activities. The Guidehouse team collaborated across the technology, people, and process aspects of transformation, bringing value beyond our distinct capabilities to our program partners and to the agency.

By integrating OCM, communications, and training disciplines from project initiation, Guidehouse enabled the agency to identify and mitigate risks early on and create a more conducive environment for success throughout the transformation. Further, having technical engagement in the program gave the agency an ongoing and important perspective for change management, strategic communications, and training efforts. Using subject matter expertise, along with the (re)Vision® change management methodology, the Guidehouse team designed the strategies to equip the workforce with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to operate successfully under the new system and accept the transformation.