When Maximus Canada Employment Services was acquired by AKG, an internationally based company, I discovered their existing HRIS did not support Canadian payroll functions. With only 12 weeks before staff would be at risk of not getting paid, I was responsible for sourcing, signing, and fully implementing a functioning HRIS from scratch — a high-stakes challenge with no room for delay.
I began by building a shortlist of a dozen vendors capable of supporting Canadian payroll, then narrowed the field based on who could realistically implement within our tight timeline. From there, I evaluated finalists on a features-versus-cost basis. Given the company's unprofitability at the time, cost quickly became a critical secondary factor. When Finance was unable to align on a vendor choice for a broader integrated solution, I made the call to move forward independently given how time-critical the decision was, ultimately selecting the only vendor able to meet our implementation deadline while also offering a low-cost solution.
Execution involved building out the module to match our company structure, migrating all payroll data, and running parallel pay cycles for two pay periods as a live test before cutover. We went live on schedule, and every employee was paid correctly and on time — with only minor adjustments needed and no missed payments. In the process, we uncovered that the previous system had actually been overtaxing certain employees, so those staff were especially pleased with the switch. Comparing the new vendor's annual contract cost to what we'd paid under the previous, larger-scale provider, the new system delivered a 56.5% cost savings — a notably strong outcome given that smaller companies typically have less leverage to negotiate favorable pricing than a large enterprise like Maximus Canada. Leadership was equally pleased that the transition caused zero disruption to staff pay during a period of significant organizational change.