While I am recovering from my shoulder surgery, some of my teammates have stepped up to help out with this blog. Today’s post is from Paula in San Diego.
I was recently at a Comedy Show and I noticed the comedian placed his phone on a stool next to him and looked at it periodically throughout his act. There was a part of me that thought he was referring to notes or some sort of outline of his routine. At one point, he moved the stool and placed the phone on the floor and I could see he had the timer going. Now, Josh Wolf is one of my favorite comedians and I did not think I could possibly like him anymore more than I already did; however, in that moment a new level of respect bloomed. I had paid for a one hour set and he was keeping our agreement by being sure he delivered that full hour. Now he and I never spoke about this directly, we never shook hands or signed a contract, but it started me thinking – how many Performance Guarantees/Service Level Agreements do we silently make that are often fulfilled without question?
When you order a steak at Ruth’s Chris the agreement is they will cook the selection to your liking and you will pay the bill. The waiter also makes a silent agreement to attend to your every need throughout the meal and in exchange, you will provide a tip. Nordstrom is famous for allowing returns on any item at any time with or without a receipt. Most stores allow for some sort of Service Guarantee of a full refund, exchange or a store credit. The theory here is when good service is received, the customer will come back and hopefully spread the word to others. We pay for goods and services because of a want or a need and our expectation is that what we pay for will fill this want or need to our satisfaction or we make a return, send it back . . . . we re-negotiate.
In the world of HR Technology, contracts are negotiated with the inclusion of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) or Performance Guarantees (PGs). However, the majority of those we see have no remuneration attached for failure to deliver, nor are they subjective.
We see the generic SLAs:
- Users will have 24/7 access to the system
- Users are able to perform key functions within the system
- Inbound/Outbound files will be processed weekly
- Payroll deadlines will be met
- Premium/Carrier Billing will be accurately reconciled monthly
- And many, many more
What we rarely see is any type of return on investment to our client if any of these conditions are not met. When purchasing an HRIS, Payroll, Benefits Administration or Time and Attendance system it is inferred the system will be available and key functions will be operational. These system are not inexpensive, and for what is paid to implement them and the monthly fees, the system is expected to function. Yet in most every contract we see, the generic SLAs/PGs are there in varied forms.
This is where we start pushing a little and asking the tough questions:
- What happens if carrier feeds are not working when OE deadlines loom?
- What if Payroll batches cannot be run and checks will not be funded?
- What if the Hiring Manager is not able to see if all forms have been completed to onboard a new hire?
- What happens if the rates we supplied were applied incorrectly and now payroll deductions are wrong?
- What if we have numerous issues and tickets open and have not had any response or assistance in over a week?
- And many, many more
Our Team spent a good amount of time in January escalating numerous issues to many vendors following the close of Open Enrollment. Most of these escalations also involved the uncomfortable conversation of asking for remuneration on behalf of our clients.
When contracts are being negotiated and SLAs and PGs are being drafted, shouldn’t there be an immediate willingness to back up the product? 
We see a lot of system demos and we hear a lot of bells and whistles and much bravado around various system capabilities. Then implementation starts and the proverbial onion starts to peel and resources start to scatter. Honestly, the implementation of any system has a built-in level of chaos one way or the other; it’s about change, and change is bumpy. However, if the Service Level Agreements and Performance Guarantees can be as robust as the sales process, we could get a better sense of what is being sold.
I recently helped to negotiate a contract for a client, adding Ultimate Software’s Ben Admin module to their UltiPro suite. They had issues with past UltiPro module implementations, had issues with other vendors and had some valid issues around signing another contract with non-subjective SLAs. The client wanted some proactive verbiage added to alleviate their concerns. Ultimate was hesitant at first, and then agreed to add some cash consequences for potential misses in delivery and performance. We see this as a HUGE differentiator and it’s an important one. When the implementation is done, the system is stable and we move off the project, we want to know our clients will be happy.
It’s good business to stand behind your product, put your money where your SLAs are!!