Vision statement
Put the purpose of HR transformation into words, including the experience you want for employees, managers and HR.
Phase Zero · HR transformation alignment
Align the business before you implement the system.
Choosing software and agreeing how HR should work are different decisions. Phase Zero helps bring the people, priorities and ways of working into focus before implementation begins.
Shaped around your organisation and the outcomes you need help to achieve. Come with a system already selected, or use the work to establish direction earlier in your transformation.
Supporting HR transformation in the age of AI. A focused, separately scoped consulting project; no AI or selection engagement is required.
Already selected your HR system?
You can come directly to Phase Zero, whether Cloud Assist helped with selection or someone else did. We work from your chosen system and the decisions still to make, so your team and implementation partner have a clearer business direction to work from.
01 · Possible areas of support
The right pieces of work for your next decision.
These are capabilities we can draw on, rather than a set of workstreams every client follows. We review what you already have, then agree the areas and level of detail that will help your organisation move forward.
01 / Direction
Agree what change is for.
Global guiding principles
Agree how to make consistent decisions across locations, and where local ways of working should differ.
Success criteria
Define the business outcomes, measures and decision criteria stakeholders will use to judge progress.
02 / The organisation
Design how HR should work.
Target operating model design
Design the intended HR capabilities, service delivery, accountabilities and decision-making arrangements. This is business design and alignment, distinct from implementing the model.
Job architecture design
Shape job families, levels, role structures or career frameworks where they support the outcomes in scope.
Organisation design
Clarify team structures, accountabilities and how people work together to deliver the future HR service.
Business process design
Agree future ways of working, roles and hand-offs for relevant processes, including global and local needs. Detailed system configuration belongs to delivery.
03 / Readiness
Prepare for decisions ahead.
Integration strategy
Set out where the HR system fits in the wider landscape, key connections and dependencies, and who owns integration decisions. Interface building sits with delivery.
Data strategy
Consider data ownership, quality, governance and the approach to migration readiness. The migration itself is a separate delivery activity.
Change strategy
Identify sponsorship, stakeholder involvement, communications, learning and adoption priorities. Full rollout is scoped separately.
02 · How the project works
Start with what you need to achieve.
Understand your starting point
Talk through the outcomes you need help with, the system decision or current stage, and the work your team has already done.
Agree the useful scope
Choose the relevant areas, the depth of support and the outputs that will help resolve the decisions ahead. Scope, timing and fees are agreed together.
Work through the decisions
Bring the right people into focused working sessions: HR and HRIS colleagues, IT, business sponsors and other functions where their input matters.
Leave a usable handover
Document the agreed direction, owners and practical next steps for your internal implementation team or chosen partner.
03 · What you take forward
Agreed outputs, ready to be used.
The deliverables follow the decisions and support agreed for your project. Depending on your needs, these might include:
- A shared vision, guiding principles or success criteria
- Selected operating-model, organisation, job or process designs
- Integration, data or change strategies for the areas in scope
- An implementation brief with decisions, owners and next steps
Your existing work can form part of the handover. The output is chosen for its value to your team, rather than its place in a standard bundle.
04 · Where this fits
One transformation. Different places to begin.
We support HR leaders transforming how HR works in the age of AI. Come to us for the part of that work in front of you; each engagement has its own purpose and agreed scope.
Choosing a system
HRIS Vendor Selection turns requirements into an evidenced purchasing decision when a new system decision is needed.
Explore HRIS Vendor SelectionAligning the business
Phase Zero addresses the target way of working and the business decisions around it. A system can already be chosen, or direction can be set earlier.
Implementing and adopting
Implementation and change support, when needed, are scoped separately around your platform, people and delivery priorities.
Explore your journeyAI can matter throughout: in the capabilities you consider, the work you redesign and how people use new tools responsibly. Cloud Assist's AI for HR engagements help teams explore useful applications, build skills and governance, and measure value. The separate AI-focused HR Operating Model engagement has its own scope and delivery; Phase Zero's target-model design stands on its own.
05 · Practical questions
Questions before you begin.
We have already chosen our HR system. Can we start here?
Yes. You can come directly to Phase Zero with a system already selected, including when Cloud Assist played no part in the selection. We begin with the business decisions that need aligning before implementation.
Do we need every area of support?
Each project starts with your needs, desired outcomes and work already completed. Together we agree the relevant areas, depth of support and useful outputs. Phase Zero is a focused project shaped for your organisation rather than a standard package.
Can Phase Zero help earlier in our journey?
Yes. It can help establish the business direction before a system decision where that would be useful. An AI engagement and HRIS Vendor Selection are both independent of Phase Zero.
Who takes part, and how are scope, timing and fees agreed?
HR leaders and the people responsible for the decisions take part. That may include HRIS or People Systems, IT, business sponsors and other relevant functions. We agree the work, timing, fees and outputs together before the project begins.
How does Phase Zero relate to selection, implementation and the HR Operating Model offer?
HRIS Vendor Selection helps make an evidenced purchasing decision. Phase Zero designs and aligns the business approach before implementation, with a handover to your internal team or chosen partner. Configuration, migration and rollout sit in separately scoped implementation work. The existing AI-focused HR Operating Model engagement is a distinct offer with its own scope.
The next conversation
Tell us what needs aligning.
Share the outcomes you want, where you need help, your selected system or current stage, and the decisions your team needs to make together.