My business is changing to foundU - What will this process look like for me?
You’ve done it! You’ve decided to switch to foundU! This is a very exciting time for you and your business as you move forward to having a new all-in-one software platform! foundU will soon be your single source of truth. Our Implementation Team is here to help hold your hand where needed throughout this process so that you don’t feel alone. We’re happy to help!
You and your Implementation Manager will work together to understand the structure and intricacies of your business so that your platform can be built in a way that will be meaningful to your business! This article will help you gain insight into the process that you will be a part of in the following weeks before your platform goes live.
In this article, we will cover:
- The various stages of Implementation and the information that you will be required to provide
- Tips and tricks for a successful Implementation
- Our downloadable Implementation checklist
- Validation of data and testing
- And finally, the Go Live process!
If your platform is fully live and you want to understand more about that process, you'll want to check out this handy resource on the Customer Success/Support Team.
We cover all of this content and more in the sections below! You'll also want to watch this short welcome video from Evan!
You're moving to foundU and if you are reading this content, you're one of the key stakeholders in your business responsible for getting together all of the information to get your foundU platform set up! So what is this process going to look like for you?
Your Journey will have 5 broad stages with your Implementation Manager coaching you at each stage of the process.
- Discovery
- Information gathering
- Configuration
- Validation & Testing
- Go-Live
The below image gives a brief description of each phase of the process so you know what to expect!
Download: Feel free to Download the Implementations Overview PDF for a visual aid on each step of the process!
Discovery
At the start of the process, you'll meet your Implementation Manager who is assigned to your project. In this first Kick-Off call, we cover what the Implementation process will look like for you and your business and discuss the timeline.
We'll also cover:
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- An Introduction of Key Stakeholders from both sides.
- Understand your motivations for moving over to foundU.
- An Overview of the Customer Journey.
- Overview of the Implementation process.
- Confirm the key contacts in your business.
- Information gathering expectations.
- Communications expectations.
- Determine the Key Milestones and Plan of Execution.
Watch: After the Kick-off call, this is an ideal time for all stakeholders to watch our Getting Started webinar. This will help you understand how the foundU all-in-one platform works on a high level. Importantly it will give you insight into how you might want your platform configured once you have a broader understanding of the software.
Information Gathering
After the kick-off call, we’ll start asking you for important information to help us set up the platform in a way that will be meaningful to your business. It's a good idea to think about some of the sections in the image below before the information-gathering process.
We understand for some of this information you'll need to find – and that’s okay! It is also natural that you might need to involve other business stakeholders to assist you.
Hot tip: You'll need to ensure that the information is clear and accurate, as this allows us to progress through the project quickly so that the platform is set up to meet your needs quicker and easier.
Configuration
As we start to receive some of the information, we'll begin the configuration process. This process involves assisting you with the transfer of key existing data; such as entity information, employee details, and set up pay rules. We will work with you to set up the platform so that you can start using it without any hassle.
Watch: By now you should have a solid foundation on how the platform works by using our Core On-Demand webinars. Ideally, your admins (such as HR, Payroll, Operations, etc.) will watch the webinars that pertain most closely to their job role. For example,
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- HR and recruitment roles to watch our Onboarding and setting up new employees webinar.
- Roster managers and shift approvers to watch our Rosters and Leave as well as the Clocking & Approve Shifts webinar.
- Payroll and Finance roles to watch our Payroll Processing webinar.
- Super users and Payroll personnel to watch all of the above.
Validate & Test
Once we have configured the platform with your information, we commence robust testing by doing a Parallel pay run. Think of this as running a side-by-side comparison of your old payroll process against your new one in foundU - we require a minimum of two of these side-by-side comparisons. This process has multiple benefits:
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- Your team will take part in the process by rostering and approving shifts. This gives them a great opportunity to get some hands-on training on how to use the platform simultaneously!
- We can ensure that your payroll outputs are producing as expected.
- We can make minor adjustments along the way to make sure you’re happy with your new processes in foundU!
Go- Live
Once everybody is happy with the outcomes of testing, we move into the Go Live stage of the process. This means rostering, approving shifts and processing payroll via foundU! We’ll be there to help you through your first couple of payrolls until you’re feeling comfortable. This is exciting! foundU is now your single source of truth.
We'll cover more about the Go-Live process below!
To stay on track to Go Live by your estimated date and have a smooth transition to foundU, there are a few tips and tricks we like to share! Our most skilful foundU customers are adept at exploring the platform and using their resources!
Here are 5 Great Tips to help you be successful:
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- Ensure your data is clear, consistent and timely
- Use your tools - Learning the platform
- Ensure the appropriate stakeholders are involved from the beginning and throughout the process
- Review and understand current business processes
- Understand the Change Management process that will take place in your business and Support your team
Ensure your Data is clear & consistent and timely
Providing documentation that is filled out accurately with no gaps and delivered by the agreed-upon date will get the ball rolling on your Implementation!
Throughout this process, you will need to provide information such as:
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- Business entity & ABA details
- Employee Details (Including financial details such as bank, tax, and superannuation as well as position details)
- Organisational Structure & Business Processes
- Positions & Pay Rules
- The Onboarding Process for your business
We will make it clear what data we need and give clear timelines on when we will need it. Delivering data to these deadlines is one of the best tips we can give to ensure your Go Live date stays on track!
Use your tools - Learning the platform
- Build some time into your calendar each week to learn your new software, this can be 1 hour a week to watch a webinar and ask questions to our training team via the On-demand chat.
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Learning a new software system is a bit like getting a new phone. To begin with, you need to understand the basics for operating your day-to-day such as using the internet, making calls and sending texts. However, your phone has a multitude of extras that will make you love it even more once you explore all its extra features making your device more enjoyable.
Your foundU platform is similar in this way! Before you go live you should have watched all of our Core webinars to learn the basics and become operational with your platform, once you are up and running it's time to start exploring our list of Masterclass webinars to learn more about those additional features that will make life even more streamlined!
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- Get a solid foundation on the Basics using our Core On-Demand webinars.
- Get more from your platform features by exploring our library of On-demand Masterclass webinars.
- Every single webinar is here in one place.
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Ensure the appropriate stakeholders are involved from the beginning
This may be a large project for your business to take on with all the other day-to-day of your business. Ensuring you have a strong owner of the foundU project and have consulted other key stakeholders along the way will be important.
- Project owner - This person should be consulted on and own all the large decisions concerning your platform setup. If you are reading this, chances are - this might be you!
- Identify other subject matter experts - For example, if you don't understand the intricacies of the payroll process, then talk to your payroll team early in the process. They can give you a good idea of some of the details you may need to take into account early on in your platform configuration.
- Internal experts - Engage a key person in each part of your business to engage in the specific webinar that applies to their job role and report back to you with relevant questions they may have. This can save delays further down the line as well as engage key people in each sector of your business in the change process.
Review and Understand current business processes
You may understand why your business is changing to foundU but you may need to deep dive into some of the internal business processes to get around the detail to make decisions on specifics as to how your platform will be configured!
Here are a few of the key business processes we need you to truly understand so that we can configure your platform accurately:
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The Onboarding/HR process:
- How does your business onboard a brand-new employee?
- Does this process look different for different roles/ positions or departments? If so how?
- What documents and acknowledgements do you capture during the onboarding process?
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The Organisation structure:
- How is your business structured?
- What are the departments, regions, locations, or costing areas you use? This will make a big impact on how we think about your financial reporting.
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Payroll and pay rules:
- Understanding your pay conditions and pay rules within each Award?
- Are there any challenges you face in your current system?
Change Management
It is important to keep in mind why you are making this change, it could be for a variety of reasons such as increased automation in payroll, more self-managed employee onboarding, business cost savings, having a single source of truth, and many more. To assist in the change, please keep the below in mind:
- Communicate this with your team so they understand the 'why' of the change, and how the change can benefit them.
- As the key stakeholder, you'll need to come back to this 'why for change' and lean into it when faced with key decisions along the way. This can help immensely with tricky decisions.
- Early on in the process, let everybody (employees and your team) know that a change is going to happen so that everyone has time to be prepared.
- If your team and certain sectors of your business are not engaged in the change process, engaging in a Custom Training session with our training team can often be the answer to calm their fears and get them around the functionality of your new software all in one go!
Curious about how to learn more tips on Implementation Change Management? Then look through this short guide.
Congratulations on making the transition to foundU! As mentioned above this process involves several steps leading up to the finale of Go-Live!
To make sure that you understand the various items we will need to gain from you at each part of the process, we have designed this handy
Implementation checklist! We recommend downloading it and keeping it handy!
As go-live approaches, the time will come to validate the data and functionality of your platform as well as test the pay rules to ensure the outcomes are as expected. Your Implementation Manager will explain the testing process to you so you're fully aware of your part in the process.
During testing the following data will be validated:
Platform functionality - Your platform is set up in a way that makes the most sense for you and your business. This will cover the items below:
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Employee Onboarding process:
- You will trial and confirm all of the components in your Onboarding process are as expected.
- Your employees will Onboard into foundU via the Welcome Email to review their details and add additional information as required.
- As the client, you are expected to review and approve all employee's details to ensure accuracy.
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Rostering:
- You will build your rosters in foundU for a 2 pay period agreed-upon testing period. This is a great opportunity for your rostering managers to start practising the system.
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Time Tracking:
- You and your employees will now start using your chosen time-tracking method, this data will then start flowing into the system.
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Shift and Leave Approvals:
- After the rosters have been built and time tracking occurred against these shifts, you'll now need to approve all shifts and leave for the pay rules testing period.
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Payroll Process:
- With the support of your Implementation Manager you will work through the payroll process, pay rules, and payroll comparison to ensure that the payroll outputs are meeting your expectations.
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Confirm User access:
- You will need to confirm the access levels (what they can do) and search restrictions (what they can see) of all of your platform admin users.
Pay Rules testing - We’ll work with you to test the pay rules in foundU and ensure that you are comfortable with the set-up of the pay rules.
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Your role in pay rules testing will be:
- Ensure the rosters for the testing period have been created (see above), that your employee's time track (clock in/out) and that all shifts are approved.
- Review and provide foundU with your reports from your current system from the same period for comparison.
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Your Implementation Manager's role:
- Compare the reports you provided with the foundU reports for the same period to identify any discrepancies.
- Present the comparison back to you for discussion.
Remember that our Implementation Team is here to help hold your hand where needed throughout this process so that you don’t feel like you’re on your own. We’re happy to help!
The basic training of your admins should now be complete as you'll be using your platform very soon!
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- You will have completed the foundU Core webinars (as appropriate to specific admin roles) or engaged the training team for paid Custom Training.
- Additionally – you will have explored our Help Centre for any queries.
- You understand foundU processes and workflows.
Hot tip: Please contact your implementation Manager and we can provide a list of every admin in your business and the training webinars they have completed should you want to follow up!
You’ve done it! You’re going live with foundU! This is a very exciting time for you and your business, as this has been a big change process for you, but the light is at the end of the tunnel. You will soon be able to experience the benefits that foundU will be able to bring to your business.
Items that should now be complete
Remember that our Implementation Team is here to help hold your hand where needed throughout this process so that you don’t feel like you’re on your own. We’re happy to help! These items should now be complete if you are going Live:
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- Testing - Including payroll testing and acceptance
- Training
Hot tip: If you're not clear on any key items about your specific process, always reach out to your Implementation Manager so that you and your platform are set up for success!
Download: Feel free to Download the Going Live with foundU for a visual aid on each step of the process!
Going Live & Next Steps
Now that you're going Live - there are a few items that are going to take place in quick succession. It's not a bad idea to set aside some time in your calendar during the first 2 weeks of being Live to have the time to do the below.
First Payroll
This will be your first time paying, submitting STP, and running the ABA in foundU. Don’t worry! Our Implementation Team is there to help you so you aren’t alone.
Key tips for your first payroll:
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- Double-check Office Code and ABA details in the platform.
- Review employee positions to ensure they have the correct pay rates and positions.
- Ensure shifts are being approved so the data is flowing through to pay, and ready to be processed.
- Ensure all leave applications are managed (approved, declined, or edited).
- Use the Labour Management Report to see how Award interpretations are pulling through, including overtime and pay earners.
- Use the Award Test to view how your employees are going to be paid.
- Ensure you have reviewed the Payroll webinar if you have not yet completed it.
- Be sure you understand the process of uploading an ABA file to your bank.
- Jot down any questions you may have so these can be covered by your Implementation Manager in your next meeting.
First-week tips:
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- Ensure rosters are created and published (generally 2 weeks minimum) in advance.
- Encourage shift approvals to be done daily and leave approvals should also be prompt.
- Ensure that all team members who will be using foundU understand what is occurring.
- Communication is key - ensure your employees and foundU admins are aware of all changes to processes.
- Aim to be on the front foot with any potential changes.
- Check in regularly with your team to ensure they are across everything.
Second Payroll
You will have done this once before, so you should feel familiar with the process. We will let you drive this payroll and will be there to support you if you get stuck. Using the list of First Payroll links above should be a great start to getting you on your feet with independent pay runs.
Closing the Implementation
Upon the completion of your Second Payroll in the system, you'll feel more comfortable in foundU every day, we will then start closing your implementation. We'll introduce you to our Support and Customer Success Team.
Where are the Key documents that will help me to understand the Implementation process and expectations for my business?
Here are all the Key Downloads you have seen in this article - all in one place!
What is the timeline expected for an Implementation?
Timelines can vary depending on the size and scope of your business, this means it should be discussed in detail with your Implementation Manager, but as a rough guide as to our recommended timelines:
- Under 50 Staff - 6-8 weeks
- 50-250 Staff - 8-12 weeks
- 250+ Staff - 12-16 weeks
This depends on many factors so should be taken as a rough guide only. Implementation timelines can increase or decrease depending on how timely your business provides information to your implementation manager, how clear your data is, and how quickly your team uptakes the training and learns the platform.
Which add-on services do you have or partner with that can also upskill my business?
We offer various add-on services that cater to Employee Engagement, Employee Relations, Learning Management Systems, and Talent Management and Recruitment! You can find these in the Services and Integrations section of our Help Center.
Does foundU automatically download Awards from Fairwork?
foundU has built its award engine from the ground up, allowing you to cater to your organisation’s needs, while ensuring you remain compliant. We work with you to capture your interpretation of your business' Pay Rules and set them up in the platform.
Can foundU provide us with HR advice?
We understand that when moving over to a new software there may be some other business processes you might like to take a deeper look into, however, your Implementation Manager is not an HR or Financial advisor, however, we can connect you with an external provider if needed. We have created a valuable resource with foundU HR Support Services and also have a great relationship with a team of experts at Source Legal and we can put you in touch!
What training is included in the process? Can I have a trainer assigned to my implementation?
To assist your business with changing over to foundU, we have included training as part of your journey. This entails webinars on all key business roles (such as Employee Management webinars and webinars for roster & shift managers) this allows your business to hit the ground running with our foundU starter inclusions. For those looking for more, we also offer additional Paid Training options.
When should we inform our staff about the changeover to foundU?
Ideally, its a good idea to advise your employees a few weeks prior to sending the Onboarding invite. This will give them time to gather the relevant information they will need to complete their profile. For example, passport details, visa details, licenses, superannuation details, TFN, compliance documents and personal financial details.
Once your platform is nearing completion we will then send out the Onboarding invite to your employees and experience less delays in your Implementation if they Onboard quickly!