The biggest advantage of integrating Cornerstone OnDemand comes in the form of recruiting, developing and engaging people more efficiently. People are the biggest asset for any organisation. Right expertise in technical and content integration can help organisations turn their people into their greatest competitive advantage. But, as with any technology, right integration is crucial even for a successful Cornerstone OnDemand implementation. Here are 5 essential tips to avoid pitfalls and ensure successful and timely integration.

 

1. Scope and budget

Cornerstone OnDemand is a comprehensive tool. So, it is important to define your requirements and expectation from this talent management system. You can start by answering the questions below. The answer to these questions will help you start off the integration on the right foot and finish it on time.

  • How users are going to enter the data?
    • Manual creation
    • web services
    • self-registration
  • How will the users access the system?
    • Mobile applications
    • Website
  • What information needs to be there on the system to get started?
    • Training content
    • Career profiles
    • Performance review tasks
    • Job Requisitions
    • Career Sites
    • Welcome Pages
    • Etc…
  • How much and what historical data is necessary to load?
  • How much internal resource and budget is available to execute the project?
  • What is the organisational readiness for a new system? Cater in scope and budget for Process and Change Enablement within your organisation. A system is only as successful as its adoption and adaption.

These questions are just for the purpose to help you get started. Depending on your organisation, you may have your own laundry list of questions that needs to be answered before you get started.

 

2. Aligning the stakeholders

The real success in Cornerstone OnDemand implementation is achieved when all the key players at your organisation are equally engaged and on the same page with regards to integration. Myriad functional decisions will be required to be made during the implementation.

Make sure the availability of experts from each department to make necessary business decisions in a time bound manner for successful implementation.

 

3. Prioritise workstreams and start early

As soon as you have identified your integration team, schedule a kick-off meeting with the team. Make it a virtual meeting so that everyone can easily attend. Prioritise workstreams and their implementation. Some tasks can be done simultaneously, while others have dependencies. For example, you cannot load historical records of users without first loading the user in the system. Get information on which projects are necessary to go live first and which projects can wait until the second phase.

 

4. Stick to your plan and do the spadework

Things that are obvious are easy to miss. Multiple sub-projects within greater project can lead to missed deadlines. Make sure there is a deadline for each of the sub projects and any sub-sub projects under them and are aligned with their main projects. Cornerstone OnDemand offers a variety of resources to clients including e-learning courses, live virtual workshops and more. Do the necessary spadework to take full advantage of these opportunities.

 

5. Create test cases based on real world experience

Validating data loads and testing the basic functionality will only give you half the picture. You have to think about the real-world user experience that is unique to your business. Build your test cases around those experiences to ensure smooth take-off when the integration goes live.

Successful and timely integration of Cornerstone OnDemand depends on multiple factors. If you are looking for integration partner for successful Cornerstone OnDemand implementation in your organisation, speak with our product specialist today.