In the Spotlight

The American Heart Association is a nationally recognized organization with the mission of reducing disability and death from cardiovascular disease and stroke.  Based in Dallas, the organization consists of 16 affiliates nationwide and supports 386 remote locations. 

CDG conducted a strategic planning workshop for AHA to develop a strategic plan for AHA’s HR system initiatives prior to its PeopleSoft 8 upgrade.  An HRMS strategic plan enables companies to make informed decisions about the time constraints, features and benefits, and related costs of the HR system implementation process. “The strategic planning process provided a credible framework that allowed the project team to thoroughly examine all the critical issues associated with the implementation of PeopleSoft 8.1,” said Bill Achenbach, Vice President Human Resources for the American Heart Association.  “We feel that an HRMS strategic plan is necessary to insure proper and timely implementation of the system in support of the association's strategic goals.  By looking forward 12-18 months, matching the external environment with internal requirements, we feel that our project team has developed a clear and focused direction,” Achenbach said.

As a result of the strategic plan, CDG was able to demonstrate that AHA could upgrade to PeopleSoft 8.3 immediately instead of postponing this project for a year.  Additionally, CDG saved the organization money by demonstrating that one project was unnecessary and the outcome could be realized in other ways, and another project could be delayed for a year. 

AHA decided to immediately move forward with the upgrade for several reasons.  This implementation will move AHA closer to implementing web-based time and labor processing, which is currently a manual and laborious process for them.  They are moving closer to e-Learning initiatives, which allows for training anywhere, saving administrative burden and travel costs.  They are also moving closer to employee self-service, which will relieve additional administrative burdens and provide significant savings to their call center.  By upgrading sooner, AHA is also better leveraging its investment in PeopleSoft HR and adding new functionality. 

There are specific deliverables that can be expected from an HR Strategic Plan:

·        An analysis of desired results from the HR system

·        Clear descriptions of the projects necessary to develop the system

·        Prioritization of projects based on client objectives

·        Planned steps to integrate the system with overall business, HR and IT strategies

·        A strategy for completion of projects without interrupting daily operations

·        A high-level projected timeline and cost estimates

·        A project business case for internal buy-in and the budget process

CDG is currently on schedule to meet its July 2002 go-live date on this project.  Upon completion, CDG will begin Phase II of this project, including the implementation of the BenAdmin and e-Modules.