TECH CORNER
the agricultural sector. Poorly designed software can lead you to compliance problems. You can tell a lot about a company by who they rely on and who relies on them in the industry.
The firehose of data from these systems is sold as the most important value, but it can often be overwhelming. Quality HR software will take this noisy data and add a layer of insight that is understood and acted on by any HR manager, preventing liability. When evaluating a new software’s “data” features, ask yourself if what it gives you is truly actionable for your specific farm. If not, could the software be doing more to help you act? Even better software will have embedded knowledge to act autonomously.
Next, let’s walk through some of the best practices for implementing ag HR software to get the most out of a platform while avoiding common pitfalls.
Integrating your new system with your existing systems can be a huge opportunity to increase the ROI of your HR stack, but only if you understand the different integration types.
Export/import is the most common integration method among ag software. The second is an application programming interface, which is how different systems talk to each other over the internet. It can dramatically improve deployment speed and ongoing convenience. The opportunities for systems with an API are plentiful as they enhance the value you get from either system.
First, establish who is going to use the new software. You’ll likely figure this out during the buying process, but clearly defining this will help in the next step. Second, establish who is going to benefit from the new software. If those who benefit from the new system aren’t those who have to use it, then it is vital to communicate the importance of the new system to the company. Lead by example and make clear that using this new system is now part of their job responsibilities.
Don’t just take a broken process and make it digital. If it is broken, it will still be broken! A couple of workflow optimizations are particularly potent in an agricultural software context.
The first is taking serial operations and turning them into parallel operations. Serial means doing things one after another, while parallel means doing things at the same time or in batches. Are there processes in your HR office that can be parallelized with software that couldn’t otherwise be in person?
irrigationtoday.org LET YOUR CROP DECIDE
SIMPLE AFFORDABLE RELIABLE
The second is time shifting. Think about the tasks interrupting your work that you wish you could do beforehand. Software that enables scheduling and saving “in-progress” work is crucial to working your terms rather than constantly reacting.
The most successful software deployments are those where a single person in the company owns the setup and usage of the new software. Adding any system will add a fixed administrative burden cost, and these new software systems often cross multiple company departments. Because it impacts so many, it’s hard for anyone to own it. However, we’ve seen a much smoother implementation when someone is designated to this cross-functional position. Give the champion decision-making authority and establish them as the main point of contact with your software vendor. Finally, the champion can provide contextual support to other employees, resulting in buy-in up and down your farm’s org chart.
When working with a new agricultural HR system, remember that you are buying a partnership. Realize the constraints and opportunities available to your company, and when purchasing and implementing, push this partner to do more for you and to do it better.
IRRIGATION DECISIONS?
Spring 2024 | Irrigation TODAY 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
