10 Tips for producing an Award-Worthy HR Tech Project Performance

The stage is set. The vision is grand. Your HR tech transformation is the next big blockbuster in the making. But will it be an award-winning performance or a box office bomb?

Just like ‘the movies’, crafting a successful HR tech project requires the perfect script, an all-star cast, a skilled director, and flawless execution. At Pinpoint HRM, we’ve seen what makes a project shine – and what sends it straight to the cutting room floor.

Here’s our Hollywood take on how to turn your HR tech project into an award-winning masterpiece!

1. The Script (Your HR Tech Strategy)

Every blockbuster begins with a killer script and a compelling ‘hook’. A weak premise or hard to follow storyline leads to a forgettable movie. Same goes for your HR tech project. Without a well-defined future state vision and clarity on your ‘why’, your implementation will lack purpose, and you’ll struggle to engage your audience.

Many HR projects fail because organisations rush into technology selection without defining what it is they want to achieve and aligning this with business strategy. Without this clarity, companies risk implementing a system that doesn’t support business needs or drive transformation.

Key Scene: Before engaging vendors, hold Future State workshops with cross-functional stakeholders to map out the vision and involve them in articulating your future state requirements and priorities. Use an HR Maturity Model to ensure alignment of your HR tech roadmap with your long-term business goals.

2. Casting (Selecting the Right Vendor & Team)

Casting matters. Would you put an action hero in a romantic comedy? Nope. So why would you pick a tech vendor that doesn’t fit your business? A mismatched vendor leads to project failure, just as miscasting sinks movies.

Vendor selection should go beyond looking at functional requirements and data security checklists. You need to consider elements such as strategic fit, usability, implementation approach, cultural alignment and their long-term innovation roadmap. Too often, organisations choose a vendor based on brand recognition rather than suitability for their specific needs.

Key Scene: Evaluate vendors based on a combination of functionality, cultural fit, ability to evolve with your business and form a long-term partnership – not just brand recognition. Get them to show you how they would perform your most unique and complex processes using scenario-based demos. Conduct reference checks and ensure the vendor’s implementation methodology aligns with your internal resource capabilities and capacity. Learn more about the vendor evaluation process.

3. The Director (Executive Sponsor & Project Leader)

A film without a strong director typically ends in tragedy. Your HR tech project needs decisive leadership to keep it on track, ensuring smooth decision-making and clear direction. Without it? Chaos behind the scenes.

HR tech projects often stall due to a lack of executive stewardship. A strong sponsor provides the vision, removes roadblocks, and keeps stakeholders aligned. Without executive leadership, projects lack accountability, often leading to loss of direction and momentum.

Key Scene: Appoint a dedicated executive sponsor who champions the project from the first scene to the final credits. They must regularly communicate progress to executives and be able to articulate the business benefits to maintain engagement. Learn more about the Role of the Executive Sponsor.

4. The Budget (Project Resources & Investment)

Every movie made has a budget. Too little investment leads to B-grade outcomes, while overspending can jeopardise future productions. HR tech projects require the same careful financial planning to set the project up for success and ensure ongoing ROI.

Budgeting should include not just software and implementation costs but also client-side resources, change management, training, and post-go-live support. Underestimating these areas leads to mismanaged expectations, project tension, struggles in BAU and challenges in realising the benefits of your solution.

Key Scene: Build a detailed project budget that accounts for all effort required including project management, system configuration, implementation support, process improvement, training, change collateral, ongoing optimisation and contingency for unexpected challenges. Learn more about the resources you need on your project.

5. Special Effects (MVP versus OTT)

Special effects enhance a film – but overdo it, and you get a CGI disaster. HR tech is the same: overcomplicating business processes or trying to turn on all the bells and whistles from Day 1 can make the system difficult for users to adopt and dilute the benefits of your new solution.

HR technology is highly configurable, but you don’t need it to do everything for go-live. Wherever possible adopt out-of-the-box functionality and take an ‘MVP’ approach to designing the solution to support your business needs. You can continue to evolve and optimise your system after go-live so focus on the must haves, not the nice to haves in order to limit overdoing it in Phase 1 of your project.

Key Scene: Configure only what’s necessary to meet business priorities, avoiding unnecessary complexity. Establish Guiding Principles and engage end-users in design decisions to balance flexibility and simplicity.

6. The Supporting Cast (HR, IT, and Business Stakeholders)

No blockbuster is carried by a single star. Your HR tech project’s success depends on a strong supporting cast – HR, IT, finance, payroll and operations representatives who collaborate and contribute.

A common pitfall is assigning employees to the project while expecting them to continue their day jobs. While not all client-side roles need to be full-time or dedicated to the project there are key times during the implementation when they need to be heavily involved for example during design and testing phases. Without the right resources committed to ‘project time’ during these critical stages, projects can stall due to key person bottlenecks when BAU takes precedence. It can also lead to resource burnout, especially during UAT which is already a stressful time for project team members.

Key Scene: Create a detailed project resource plan and engage cross-functional teams early to align on roles, responsibilities, capacity and timelines. Consider backfilling key roles (especially payroll) or bringing in external experts to ensure adequate support during critical phases.

7. The Test Screening (User Acceptance Testing – UAT)

Before a film hits theatres, it’s screened for feedback. Your HR tech system needs rigorous UAT before go-live to catch configuration glitches and user experience issues before they hit the big stage.

UAT requires preparation, planning and adequate resourcing. lt should involve real users, committed for several weeks to performing business processes in the system and running detailed test cases. This ensures the system works in real-world scenarios and meets your original business requirements.

UAT is also the moment when project teams typically ‘freak out’ as the workload is intense, defects can be seemingly never-ending and the finish line feels like its miles away! Hang in there; you will get through it. Just remember, this isn’t the time to strive for perfection. Testing absolutely everything, retesting and trying to second guess every possible scenario and outcome will see you bogged down in defects and change requests.

Key Scene: We highly recommend the “parking lot” be established during UAT which allows you to push non-priority issues or changes to hypercare or BAU and focus on the business critical fixes that you’ll need at go-live.

8. The Marketing Campaign (Change Management & Communication)

Even the best film will flop without the right promotion. If you don’t prepare your workforce for change, adoption will suffer. Hype it up, train your people, and make sure they’re ready.

A robust change management plan includes clear communication, stakeholder engagement, and training tailored to different user groups. Without it, employees revert to old ways, reducing ROI. Make some noise about your project, get champions on board early to promote it with peers and work those internal social channels and networks!

Key Scene: Develop a change management strategy and engaging communications that build excitement and readiness. Hype reels, intranet pages, posters, flyers, SMS notifications, training videos all help to get your workforce engaged and ready for their new ways of working. Learn more about Change Management in HR tech projects.

9. The Premiere (Go-Live & Rollout Strategy)

The big moment! A well-executed film premiere gets standing ovations. A messy HR tech go-live? Not so much. Deployment planning is critical to ensure minimal disruption and maximum impact for your business.

Consider the different options for deployment – phased rollouts can mitigate risks, take the pressure off resources and allow for troubleshooting and user feedback before full adoption while Big-bang go-lives can get you to business benefits sooner but require strong executive commitment and well resourced project teams to ensure project success.

Key Scene: Ask your implementation partner to create a range of deployment scenarios for you to consider with pros, cons, risk assessment and costings for each one.

10. The Sequel (Post-Go-Live Support & Optimisation)

The best films and shows have more stories that need to be told, seasons to be produced and sequels that need to be made. Your people system will need ongoing evolution and storytelling that doesn’t stop at go-live. Continuous improvement and optimisation ensures your system evolves with business needs, remaining dynamic and relevant to your audience.

Rather than seeing go-live as the time to turn off or press pause, it’s the time to click ‘next episode’ and see what else this HR transformation story has in store for you.

Key Scene: Start planning for post go-live during the implementation. This is an ongoing multi-faceted project that needs a future-focused strategic roadmap, resources and funding to keep the story evolving for your executives and ever-changing workforce needs. Learn more about post go-live planning.

Ready to Make Your HR Tech Project a Blockbuster?

A great HR tech transformation requires meticulous planning, the right team, flawless execution and a compelling story that keeps unfolding. Follow these steps, and your project won’t just be a hit, it’ll be applauded by the industry and held up as the blueprint for budding directors of future people transformation productions.

Want expert guidance in directing your HR tech masterpiece? Pinpoint HRM has been behind the scenes of over 800 successful projects. Let’s talk.