Navigating Change Resistance During an ERP Implementation

Nov 13

Written By Andrea Jones

There is an upward trend in companies upgrading their systems or purchasing new ERPs.

In today’s environment, ERP systems are more important than ever:

With the pandemic, many employers rethought their onsite work requirements for many functions and began to digitally transform their businesses.
The global supply chain is facing pressure from inflation, recession, labor shortage, rising demand along with transportation and supply disruptions. They need a system to help them manage this harsh reality and help them continually to adapt to maintain business continuity.

Is it normal to worry about how a change of this magnitude will affect your organization?

Absolutely.

Many organizations have outgrown their current systems, but their employees don't want to upgrade. It is what they know, they are experts on it.
Many employees tend to resist change, no matter what it is.
Leadership teams often worry about the time required and how to support the heavy lift of an ERP implementation.

Why do employees commonly resist change like a new ERP?

Fear of losing their job
Lack of control of processes, procedures, or decisions
Basic human resistance to change
Belief that it is the “flavor of the month” and this new ERP won’t exist or be important in the future
Fear of the unknown

How does Andrea Jones Consulting address resistance?

At AJC we follow a structured process to help get our employees from resistance to excitement.

Step 1 – Perform a stakeholder assessment to evaluate all our audiences and assess who will be impacted or have influence over the project.

Step 2 – Set up a Steering Committee and Core Team and build a partnership with the ERP vendor

Step 3 – Develop of a Change Management plan that includes communication, training, resistance management, leadership support. Tactics vary but often include setting up an ERP Resource Center, talking points, FAQs, posters, etc.

Step 4 – Risk/Impact Assessments and Readiness Assessments are deployed to let us know how users are feeling, call out red flags or gaps in training, etc.

Learn more by watching this video then CONTACT US to help support your ERP implementation!

Lunch and Learn: Navigating Change Resistance during an ERP Implementation

Andrea Jones