A WorkForce Software customer since 2021, WestRock is a leading provider of sustainable packaging solutions with nearly 300 locations in the U.S. and Canada. After their recent merger with Smurfit Kappa, Smurfit Westrock runs in 40 countries, with 500+ production facilities and 100,000+ team members worldwide.
Three years into their partnership with WorkForce Software, Smurfit Westrock has learned a thing or two about successfully implementing new workforce management software—especially across hundreds of locations and thousands of employees. Looking back through their implementation process, several things stood out as action points that helped the company successfully launch their new workforce management software.
Smurfit Westrock’s Top Six Takeaways for Successful Implementation:
- A Pilot Program Saves Time and Improves Efficiency: Instead of all 275+ locations going live at once, Smurfit Westrock adopted a phased approach, beginning with two pilots. This allowed them to effectively socialise the upcoming change, address early challenges, find the right communication cadence and set up an effective Hypercare approach, all while proactively collaborating with union leaders and meeting the needs of a complex population through its workforce compliance software.
- Wave Size Did Not Impact Delivery: Smurfit Westrock was surprised to find that implementation speed remained steady, even as the wave sizes increased with each successive go-live. Having built the foundation of their workforce software solutions, solidified project delivery processes and tackled early problems during the pilot, Smurfit Westrock could scale with limited disruption and impact.
- Pay Structure Was the Biggest Hurdle: An early assumption was that the volume of sites that needed to be brought online would be the biggest driver of implementation complexity. Instead, the existing complexity within each facility’s pay structure proved to be the most challenging hurdle. Learning this lesson early better prepared HR and technical support for the larger waves to come.
- Hypercare Works Best with Structure and Accountability: Smurfit Westrock found that Hypercare was most beneficial through face-to-face communication and at their highest-need locations post-implementation. This period allows for real-time problem-solving and ensures the workforce compliance software meets all operational requirements. Company-wide, they have learned that a successful Hypercare model benefits from structure and accountability to allow for questions, follow-up and issue closure.
- Aim for Continuous Improvement: Smurfit Westrock learned that even with rigorous preparation, implementation takes time, patience and collaboration. Investing in a communication structure and feedback loop with stakeholders and partners allows for lessons learned to be documented and problems to be addressed while continuing to move the implementation forward, embracing improved delivery processes.
- Communicate Clearly and Concisely: Smurfit Westrock knew they would need to stay nimble to meet union requirements as they brought employees online with new timekeeping and attendance technology. Early on, they realised that long-winded communication was a barrier. They shifted to a concise and direct strategy so that trade union leaders and the larger network of employees clearly understood expectations and timing.
Here are a few things to consider as you start planning for your organisation’s new workforce solution implementation:
- As a large organisation with complex needs, do not expect to push a go-live across all your production facilities at the same time.
- Set up pilots across a few facilities and work closely with the team to ensure each facility’s unique rules and guidelines are calibrated within the new workforce management software.
- Establish clear communications for each facility’s staff as you orchestrate larger go-live launches and continue to fine-tune the process.
- After going live, continue to support staff by setting up a hypercare team to answer questions and troubleshoot problems that arise after implementation.
Every implementation process is unique and should be tailored to the specific needs of your company. However, these insights from Smurfit Westrock’s journey can guide and enhance your own workforce software solutions implementation plan. The best thing you can do throughout the implementation process is understand each facilities unique requirements, keep transparent and concise communications with every go-live team and establish a hypercare plan that ensures every facility is supported during the transition to the new workforce management software.
Is your organisation currently looking into new workforce management software or developing an implementation plan? See how Smurfit Westrock set their goals for implementation, identified challenges and successfully launched their new workforce management software at over 275 locations across North America.
