HR Tech Isn’t the Problem. Change Management Is.

A conversation with Ancel Draai, Senior Director, Growth – HRP (Human Resource & Payroll Services), UKIA

Most HR and payroll rollouts don’t fail because of the software. They fail because teams weren’t ready to change.

That’s the core message from Ancel Draai, Senior Director of Growth at Sage. After years of leading implementation across industries, he’s seen one pattern repeat: companies go live with a system like Sage 300 People, but keep running processes the old way.

In this interview, Ancel unpacks why performance structures often collapse under their own weight, how to scope for both compliance and culture, and what it takes to integrate HR, payroll, and finance in a way that actually delivers results. His advice? Don’t just automate. Rethink.

Go-Live Isn’t the Goal

Where do you see the biggest disconnect between going live and seeing real value from HR and payroll systems?

Going live, there tends to be, in many instances, a bit of a disconnect between expectation and reality. And it’s important to understand that sometimes there’s a lack of understanding and a lack of optimisation when it comes to going live. Most companies don’t realise how much change management is required when implementing solutions.

If someone has been working on a legacy system for a decade—sometimes two—they’re entrenched in how that system works. They’ve even built processes around the limitations of that software. So when you implement something new, there’s often low user adoption because of resistance to change. You have to address that directly.

I always ask customers not to think about what they currently have, but to think about where they want to be. Going live is an opportunity to rethink, reinvent, and improve—not just copy and paste broken processes. It’s not a lift and shift.

It’s also important to explain the ‘why’ behind the changes. If someone’s been manually compiling a report for years, and now it’s a single-click report, they need to understand that shift isn’t a threat—it’s an upgrade. But if you don’t manage that conversation, you risk resistance.

Often, new systems expose old inefficiencies. And people don’t always appreciate having those brought to light. HR needs to spend time helping teams see that change is about removing inefficiencies, not pointing fingers.

The role of the implementer is to guide that change, continuously train, reinforce new behaviours, and provide post-go-live support. That cadence gives clients the peace of mind that they’re not doing it alone—and that the system will evolve with them.

“Most companies think go-live means you’re done. But real value comes from what happens after that.”

Ancel Draai, Senior Director, Growth – HRP (Human Resource & Payroll Services), UKIA

Compliance Meets Culture

How does TydeCo approach scoping when Sage 300 People needs to support both payroll compliance and people strategy?

That’s quite a challenging one, because on the payroll side, it’s all about compliance—making sure your system is legislatively sound and ticks the necessary boxes. That’s where Sage 300 People is powerful. You can tailor it to your needs without compromising compliance.

HR is a bit different. Yes, there are compliance requirements like EE and skills reporting. But HR’s deeper purpose is about getting the best out of your people. You want performance management that’s more than a box-ticking exercise. It should be agile, measurable, and meaningful.

In the past, performance reviews were mostly used to justify increases or bonuses. Now, more businesses are moving toward goal-based approaches. The idea is for managers and employees to agree on individual goals, not just top-down reviews. HR doesn’t always know what success looks like for every role—but managers do.

Sage 300 People supports that kind of conversation. With employee self-service, people can view leave balances, apply in advance, even cancel leave directly. It puts control in the employee’s hands and helps create a more balanced relationship between team and employer.

We’ve seen how that changes behaviour. Some employees plan their year’s leave right after coming back from holiday! That level of proactivity helps everyone.

And for organisations with complex needs, if something isn’t handled natively by Sage, its APIs make integration easy. You can plug in what you need, rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all setup.

“Sage 300 People handles compliance—but it also gives you space to build a real people strategy.”

Ancel Draai, Senior Director, Growth – HRP (Human Resource & Payroll Services), UKIA

Integration Without Fragility

What’s your approach when HR and payroll systems need to integrate with finance, time and attendance, or learning platforms?

No system can exist on an island. Integrations are critical. There’s a natural reliance between applications, and getting that right makes all the difference.

In the past, some vendors tried to do everything—and ended up being average at most things. Today, it’s smarter to focus on your strength and integrate with the rest. That’s why we use Sage 300 People. Its API capabilities let us connect it with time and attendance, finance, and more.

Think about time and attendance. You’ve got employees clocking in on one side, and you’ve got to pay them on the other. That integration needs to happen automatically—no double capturing. Otherwise, you’re introducing errors and wasting time.

Same goes for finance. For most businesses, payroll is their biggest expense. If you can align payroll data with financial data, you can start making better investment decisions. You can see which revenue streams are profitable once payroll costs are factored in. And that visibility matters.

For project-based work, you can even allocate salary costs directly into project budgets—giving you clearer reporting, cleaner margins, and stronger oversight. And if your systems can feed into dashboards like Power BI or Tableau, even better. You get real-time insights across payroll, time, ERP—all in one view.

Flexibility doesn’t mean fragility. With the right integrations, your systems stay responsive, not brittle. And when your business evolves, the tech stack evolves with it.

“No system should be on an island. Integration is what makes the whole thing work.“

Ancel Draai, Senior Director, Growth – HRP (Human Resource & Payroll Services), UKIA

Don’t Digitise Broken Processes

What do you wish more HR leaders understood before defining performance structures inside a system like Sage 300 People?

That’s a very good question. To be honest, performance management often goes wrong because people just copy what they’ve always done.

If your performance process is broken, digitising it doesn’t fix anything. You’re just making a broken process electronic. The first step isn’t choosing software—it’s understanding what you’re trying to achieve.

Build the process first. Define your job profiles, goals, KPIs—whatever method you use. Then work with your implementation partner to see where things can be improved before you configure the system.

Too many teams jump straight to setup without discussing what outputs they actually need. If the outputs don’t make sense or aren’t useful, the system won’t deliver value. Sometimes it’s about custom reports. Sometimes it’s about integrating other platforms. But those decisions need to happen upfront.

Also, retrospective reviews—“what did we do over the last year”—aren’t enough. Most people don’t even remember. We need to be future-focused. Define where someone is now, where they need to be, and build a contract around that journey.That’s what Sage 300 People supports. It’s not about ticking boxes for bonuses. It’s about real improvement—for the employee and the business.

“Digitising a broken process doesn’t fix it. You have to rethink how performance should work first.”

Ancel Draai, Senior Director, Growth – HRP (Human Resource & Payroll Services), UKIA