technology has been a constant. That constant is not the technology itself—which is always changing—but the constant is the search for how can we leverage it. Payroll processing itself is very transactional. There’s a start point, there’s an end point. There are rules to follow in that process. So, we use RPA, and introduce AI and other technology with the aim of streamlining processes that can make you, the payroll professional, more effective and efficient. The question becomes: How much more efficient? Especially if you are not confident in the automation. Are you going to be having to check every single calculation manually? That defeats the purpose. If you can use technology to run a report, and are secure in knowing the output is correct, you are then limiting risk and becoming more effective as you realize the efficiencies. That’s when you need to ask: What do I need to do to upskill?
I think everybody always has this fear that technology means that there will be fewer jobs. Every single technological revolution over the course of history has demonstrated that we don’t have fewer jobs. It’s just those jobs are different. GPA: How should employers prioritize their approach to developing rewards in a rapidly changing employment environment? Vickie Graham: Employee expectations are rapidly changing. There are five generations in the workforce now. The younger generations that are coming in
are used to utilizing technology, with instant access to information and tools and things like that. So, their expectation as employees is very different than some of the “longer-serving” employees who are within organizations. For example, these newer generations don’t necessarily understand why they have to wait for a payday to get access to the money that they have already earned. So, we have earned wage access (EWA) programs emerging. Millennials like me and other, later generations, don’t expect to need to be in an office five days a week, 9 till 5.
But I think the main thing for someone new to the profession is to learn as much as you can and network as much as you can, and as quickly as you can, because payroll can be an amazing role.
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ISSUE 14 GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE
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