Cool Change

August 31, 2001 By Steve Towns

State personnel and purchasing offices could see some of the most significant changes, as the state implements the ERP packages self-service employee benefits and electronic purchasing features. By giving employees greater purchasing power and the ability to choose and modify their own benefits options the state expects to eliminate a huge amount of paper shuffling.

"Whenever you have this kind of total decentralization, youre going to change the procurement and personnel organizations because they will no longer do the routine things," Gerhards said. "They no longer will be paper processors. Theyre going to be arbitrators and problem-solvers, where the job isnt very straightforward."

Regardless of how the project ultimately impacts the state workforce, Gerhards intends to help the staff make a smooth transition.

"Its all part of change management. Were communicating with them and trying to explain what these changes are and how they could be affected," he said. "We dont know how this is going to shake out yet. Our commitment to our employees is do our best for those who will have changing responsibilities."

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