Project • On Schedule

HR & Payroll Modernization (Pinnacle)

SLAC’s current business systems are nearing the end of their lifecycle. In partnership with Stanford University, we have launched Pinnacle—a strategic initiative aimed at enhancing HR effectiveness, consistency, and the overall impact across both institutions. The core mission of this project is to improve the employee experience by introducing modern technology and offering best-in-class HR services. By decommissioning the existing SLAC HR PeopleSoft system and transitioning to Stanford’s Human Capital Management (HCM) system, we are committed to optimizing processes and enhancing daily interactions with HR systems.

Project

How Pinnacle benefits the Lab

  • Adopt cloud-based HCM systems to modernize operations.
  • Ensure consistency with Stanford University’s HR standards.
  • Promote continuous improvements in SLAC’s HR procedures.
  • Streamline reporting to support robust and effective analytics.

 

Key factors guiding the project

  • Foster collaboration and consistency with Stanford.
  • Enhance the quality of HR services and programs, elevating the overall employee experience.
  • Deliver comprehensive and streamlined analytics to optimize reporting processes.
     
     


The infographic displays the high-level project timeline and milestones. The project began in 2022 and is scheduled to go live in January 2026.
 

 

Stanford Pinnacle Key Milestones from 2022 – 2026

Project insights

SLAC and Stanford have joined forces to roll out a new HR business system designed for ease of use and resilience. This system offers real-time insights to better support SLAC’s mission. With Stanford’s Human Capital Management (HCM) system, we now have a comprehensive and centralized solution for managing all HR information and processes efficiently.

  • Decommission the existing SLAC PeopleSoft HCM system and transition to Stanford’s new cloud-based Oracle HCM system.

  • Integrate the Stanford HCM system with other systems currently in use at SLAC.

  • Promote process improvements within SLAC’s HR operations for comprehensive alignment with Stanford’s HR processes.

  • Enhance reporting capabilities to deliver robust analytics.
     


Decommissioning the SLAC PeopleSoft HCM system is essential for full integration with Stanford’s HCM system. This transition includes:

  • System integration: Current integrations between SLAC systems and PeopleSoft HCM will shift to direct integration with Stanford’s HCM system.
  • Identity Portal: We are developing a new registration portal for non employees to streamline the onboarding process at SLAC, anticipating future changes to enhance efficiency.
     

  • Collaborative review: We are working with business users to refine and enhance SLAC's HR processes.
  • Transparent documentation: All changes are thoroughly tracked and documented, and will be shared well before they are officially implemented.
  • Targeted training: Specialized training sessions are prepared for both HR teams and the broader SLAC community to ensure smooth adoption of the new processes.
     


We assess current and historical HR data to identify and meet future reporting needs, giving users the autonomy to run relevant reports.

  • SLAC Data Lake/Warehouse: We are formulating a plan to develop a data warehouse that consolidates data from various SLAC systems into a single repository, facilitating user-driven analysis.
  • Enhanced decision-making: Comprehensive data reports will enable users to make well-informed business decisions.
     


Explore the following resources from Stanford to learn more about the Pinnacle project: 

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Comprehensive resources and related documents for SLAC core project members are available from SLAC, Stanford, and Oracle.

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Core project resources            
 

 

ROLEMEMBER(S)

Executive Sponsors

Jonathan Russell / Carolyn Nelson

Project Sponsor

Isabella Parkinson

Business Owner

Eric Shupert

Program Manager

Kornelia Kowszewicz

Functional Lead

Ramona Miahnahri

HR Analytics Lead

Alona Dontsova

Technical Leads

Kimberly Lincoln / Sandeep Sharma

Technical Admin Team

Monica Morchi / Sai Yarlagadda

IT Business Analyst

Jennifer Tse

Project updates

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HR & Payroll modernization resources


Are you part of the Pinnacle core team? Explore essential updates, tools, and resources to enhance HR services and employee experience at SLAC.

Dive into HR & Payroll modernization resources. 

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Stanford University Pinnacle project progress


Our path to Pinnacle focuses on the iterative process of assessing, designing, testing and implementing HR solutions that foster exceptional, respectful workplace experiences for all employees, enabling their best support of Stanford’s mission.

Stay updated on Stanford Pinnacle project progress.

HR & Payroll modernization timeline
  • Planning Phase · Completed
    February 2023 – February 2024

    Identified SLAC project team, resources, and governance 

    Engaged with the Stanford project team 

    Initiated identification of current state and HR processes

  • Imagine/Design Phase · In Progress
    February – June 2024

    Collaborative sessions with functional users to identify business requirements and potential process changes

    Technical tasks: data cleanup, conversion, integration, and extraction preparation for testing

  • July 2024 – December 2025
    Deliver Phase · On track

    Implementing new programs and processes in thoughtful phases to allow sufficient time for processing and adoption of changes.

    Configuring and testing the new HR and Payroll system.

  • January 2026
    Go-Live · On track

    Production Go-Live

  • February 2026 onwards
    On-going Support · On track

    Production system-related work