HR tech pilot scorecard

Blank worksheet, SSO / HRIS / employee-PII parallel-path checklist, filled fictional example, and AI prompt for scoring an HR tech pilot toward PO or MSA.

Blank worksheet

Update weekly. Bring this to midpoint and to the commercial ask. Bound scope to one BU / one job family / one region / one workflow unless the agreement says otherwise.

Criterion	Baseline	Target	Current	Status	Owner
1. ___	___	___	___	[ ] G [ ] A [ ] R	___
2. ___	___	___	___	[ ] G [ ] A [ ] R	___
3. ___	___	___	___	[ ] G [ ] A [ ] R	___
4. ___ (optional)	___	___	___	[ ] G [ ] A [ ] R	___
5. ___ (optional)	___	___	___	[ ] G [ ] A [ ] R	___

SSO / HRIS / privacy parallel-path checklist

Start these in week one of serious interest, often before or alongside product proof instead of after "liked the candidate experience." Track them as first-class workstreams beside product proof.

Workstream	Status	Blocker	Owner	Due
Vendor risk questionnaire	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared	___	___	___
SOC2 packet	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared	___	___	___
SSO / SCIM	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared	___	___	___
HRIS / ATS integration	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared	___	___	___
Employee-PII DPA	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared	___	___	___
Works council / ER / labor (if needed)	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared / N/A	___	___	___
Background-check / I-9 / E-Verify (if in scope)	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared / N/A	___	___	___
MSA / PO path	[ ] Not started [ ] In flight [ ] Cleared	___	___	___

Working steps

Paste written success criteria into the scorecard before kickoff: time-to-fill, offer-accept rate, days-to-productivity, recruiter / HRBP hours per req or employee, onboarding completion SLA, interview-to-offer conversion, 90-day retention on the pilot cohort. No soft "liked the candidate experience" or NPS-only lines.

If there is a separate unpaid ATS sandbox / innovation people-team clock, name it. Put it on a separate sheet and keep it out of the paid pilot scorecard.

Update status every week. Treat amber without a next action as red.

Bring people ops and finance / economic buyer (or clear proxies) to midpoint. Re-score against written criteria only.

Before the commercial ask, confirm SSO/SCIM, HRIS/ATS integration, and employee-PII DPA are cleared or waived in writing, and that phase-two BU / job family / region / ACV intent is still in the agreement.

Filled example (fictional: Eng US / recruiting workflow)

Teaching example only. Pattern-check your deal; do not cite these numbers as a real case study.

Criterion	Baseline	Target	Current (wk 7)	Status	Owner
Time-to-fill (Eng US)	52d	≤38d	36d	Green	Desai / you
Offer-accept rate (pilot cohort)	62%	≥72%	74%	Green	TA
Recruiter hours/req	18h	≤12h	11.2h	Green	You + TA
Onboarding handoff SLA	n/a	≥90% by day 5	92%	Green	People ops
SSO + Workday + DPA	Not started	Live before ask	Live wk 6	Green	HRIS / Legal

AI prompt

Paste into ChatGPT or Claude. Replace bracketed placeholders with your deal facts.

You are helping an HR tech founder run a paid pilot that must convert to a PO or MSA with an enterprise or mid-market people / talent buyer.

Company / product: [YOUR COMPANY + PRODUCT]
Buyer account: [COMPANY + SEGMENT]
Scope in pilot: [ONE BU / ONE JOB FAMILY / ONE REGION / ONE WORKFLOW: recruiting, onboarding, performance, or payroll]
Pilot window: [START] to [END]
Target phase-two ACV: [AMOUNT]
People-ops / CHRO champion: [NAME / TITLE]
Economic buyer: [NAME / TITLE, e.g. CFO / COO / Head of Talent Ops / CHRO with budget]
TA / recruiting / HRBP: [NAME / STATUS]
HRIS / IT / identity (SSO/SCIM): [STATUS]
Employee-PII DPA / privacy / works council: [STATUS]
HRIS / ATS integration: [STATUS]
Background-check / I-9 / E-Verify (if needed): [STATUS]
Unpaid ATS sandbox / innovation people team (if any): [N/A / SEPARATE CLOCK / STATUS]
Compelling event: [ATS-HRIS MIGRATION / HEADCOUNT RAMP OR FREEZE THAW / RIF-REORG / EEO-PAY-EQUITY AUDIT / OPEN ENROLLMENT / PERFORMANCE CYCLE / TALENT MARKETPLACE / WORKS-COUNCIL WINDOW / POST-ACQUISITION INTEGRATION / OTHER]

Produce:
1) A markdown scorecard table with columns:
Criterion | Baseline | Target | Current | Status (green/amber/red) | Evidence | Owner
Include 3-5 underwritable criteria (time-to-fill, offer-accept rate, days-to-productivity, recruiter/HRBP hours per req or employee, onboarding completion SLA, interview-to-offer conversion, 90-day retention). No soft "liked the candidate experience" or NPS-only lines.
2) A second table: Stakeholder | Role | Attitude | Next action this week
(Roles: people champion, EB, TA/HRBP, HRIS/IT/identity, privacy/legal/works council, payroll, procurement)
3) A third table for the parallel path: Workstream | Status | Blocker | Owner | Due
(Include vendor risk questionnaire, SOC2 packet, SSO/SCIM, HRIS/ATS integration, employee-PII DPA, works council/ER if needed, background-check/I-9/E-Verify if in scope, MSA/PO path)
4) End with 5 bullets: biggest risk, whether to ask for PO/MSA this week, scope-cut options (one BU / one job family / one region / one module; hold list price and per-employee pricing), one quick-win memo angle for EB + people sponsor, one thing to stop doing.

Rules:
- Invent no fake metrics; use ___ when unknown.
- Every status needs a next action.
- Prefer reduce BUs / job families / regions / modules over discounting list price or per-employee pricing.
- People-ops / CHRO champion is not the economic buyer.
- Unpaid ATS sandbox / innovation people team is not a paid customer pilot. Keep the clocks separate.
- SSO, HRIS, and employee-PII DPA often start before or alongside the pilot instead of after the candidate-experience demo.