Business apps can help you manage all aspects of your business, including human resources. For SolarWinds, a fast-growing IT management company, transforming their human resources process for scale was crucial, and they tapped Fairsail to make it happen.

Watch the recent App Talks video where our own Kurt Smith, Event Content Strategy at Salesforce, interviews Jen Alessandra, SVP of HR at SolarWinds, to discuss the challenge of scale, growth and optimizing HR processes. Alessandra was the first head of HR at SolarWinds four years ago, when the company had 500 employees. Today, they have 1,800 employees and a high-growth revenue track as well. How does Alessandra’s team handle that massive growth at scale? Check out the video.

If you’re looking to grow or scale your HR department and processes, consider these best practices from Alessandra, as shared in this App Talks interview.

1. Be pragmatic when choosing technology

SolarWinds was missing a core HR management solution, but when searching, they found that being pragmatic led them to the right technology choice. “There are a lot of solutions that might have great shiny objects, but when it comes to the day-to-day operations, you want that great partner that’s practical and scalable,” shares Jen Alessandra.

2. Look for a self-service model

When choosing and implementing technology, Alessandra advises that a self-service model is best. Employees and managers must have access to the platform and data quickly for transparency. “Now the visibility is fantastic. It doesn’t take five days to get an employee census or turnover details,” shares Alessandra. This model also avoids bottlenecks in HR. “Previously employees had to go to HR for information, and now they can access on their own via dashboards,” Alessandra says.

3. Educate and onboard

No matter how great the data or technology, if your team isn’t educated on the software, they cannot use or access it effectively, or at all. “Educating managers and employees is an important part of implementation,” shares Alessandra, “It’s great to have data in Fairsail, but we wouldn’t be able to scale without education.”

4. Ensure one source of truth

SolarWinds is running in eight countries and growing, and before Fairsail, the IT company was using spreadsheets and homemade databases. “We needed one source of truth,” says Alessandra, “Fairsail is built on the Salesforce platform, so it can house all of our data in one place, and scale with SolarWinds.” According to Alessandra, from a compliance and reporting perspective, it’s important to have that single source of truth.

5. Consider employee comfort

Since employees inside and outside of HR will be accessing the platform, familiarity and ease-of-use with the technology will only help boost adoption. “Being built on the Salesforce platform is crucial for our employees’ comfort, since they’re used to Salesforce,” says Alessandra. With Fairsail built on the Salesforce platform, the implementation and adoption process can be faster.

6. Don’t do it all at once

The implementation process for a new platform can take time, and coming from a place of nothing, it took SolarWinds 90 days to implement Fairsail. Therefore, make sure to pace yourself, and use a phased approach. “We needed data integrity first and foremost,” shares Alessandra, “Other aspects, such as timekeeping were exciting, but we added those later after implementation. We made sure the core system launched first, then we integrated with other business systems.”

7.  Let technology grow as you grow

SolarWinds has grown revenue and employee size 3x in a few years, and the HR team at SolarWinds only grows at a small fraction of that rate. “It shows we can scale thanks to technology,” shares Alessandra, “We have a system of record and can onboard 200 employees overnight with a small team.”

8. Reflect on your processes and refine

According to Alessandra, implementing a new HR platform is the perfect time to review and refine your HR processes overall. “Whether you’re going from nothing to something, or going between systems, it’s a great time to look at what you’re doing as a whole,” advises Alessandra.

The future for the Fairsail and SolarWinds partnership is exciting: SolarWinds anticipates even more global growth, and they are looking to Fairsail to grow with SolarWinds as they scale.

Get more from this interview by watching the full App Talks video.

Learn more about Fairsail on their website at Fairsail.com