REWARD
industry ensures that businesses, whether they’re clients of a payroll bureau or use an in-house service, can rely on the expertise and advice of their payroll team. This is because they actively keep up to date on the latest regulatory changes, many of which can have a direct impact on how their staff are rewarded. And in an increasingly uncertain working environment, these changes can be rapid and far-reaching in nature. A payroll professional needs to respond quickly and accurately to these changes, becoming an adviser to, and partner with, the business. Payroll is a career, with opportunities to grow and develop, learn new skills and take on different kinds of work. A payroll bureau can expose its professionals to a wide variety of industries and types of business, providing the platform to enhance their technical capabilities and expertise. “A payroll professional needs to respond quickly and accurately to these changes, becoming an adviser to, and partner with, the business” Impact of technology The second victory has been the impact of new technology, which has led to greater efficiencies and turnaround speeds, and in many cases, reduced risks of inaccuracies. But although surrounding technology has progressed substantially over recent years, this hasn’t been the case for payroll software, as the management of the complex payroll calculator has restricted the same level of development. In response to this, payroll professionals have taken on more technical roles to use supporting tools to enable integration of systems and remove the need to rekey payroll data. Such changes have allowed payroll professionals to use technology to rise to the talent retention challenge. Payslip portals have not only given staff direct easy access to their payslips, but also detailed breakdowns of how they’re
The data collected is proving to be an invaluable intelligence resource for businesses. The data can be used to build reports which can have an input into wider dashboards to help evaluate business performance in real time. A strategic partner The fourth victory lies in how payroll has moved from being an undervalued standalone service provider to a strategic partner, with strong connectivity to the C-suite and business insight. The data developments driven by technology have eased the reporting processes required by the business, while payroll professionals have developed their analytical skills, meaning they’re now able to position their intrinsic value delivering business insight and strategy. Value is in the eye of the beholder, however, and there’s still work to be done in ensuring the value provided by payroll professionals is seen and recognised. The strong connections to other business divisions such as sales, tax, recruitment or even location should be considered and developed to maximise the value received. This is increasingly at the forefront of business strategy as commercial decisions are taken to navigate national and global political and economic impacts. Payroll has a fundamental role in supporting organisations’ HR principles, providing transparent communications and ethical standpoints against pension investments and charitable donations, to name two key areas. By holding the data key to information and working with HR and other teams, payroll professionals can support a complete employee lifecycle, driving operational efficiencies while encouraging greater employee engagement for the success of the firm. Expectations of payroll have consequently risen, but likewise, through all the victories above, we’ve been able to rise to these challenges. As with many aspects of business, the pandemic played a role in advancing the opportunity, but it has been the payroll professionals who have seen the opportunity to develop systems, knowledge, capabilities and expertise to raise the profile of the profession. It’s now up to us all to ensure we retain our new position. n
calculated, giving way to services such as pay draw down. The increasing use of robotic process automation (RPA) has played a key role in these victories. RPA has removed many steps that in the past included manual processes, with manual inputting susceptible to the risk of error. But we shouldn’t forget the time and expertise that go into developing these RPAs. Professional bureaux have worked hard alongside their software providers to maximise the functionality of current systems and build the new systems we’re seeing today. Alongside this, of course, is the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already being used for quality checks and is set to play an increasingly important role in the future. Payroll professionals shouldn’t see this as a threat, but rather an opportunity. If used properly, it will free up time for payroll professionals to develop their advisory capabilities even further. Data clarity and insights The third victory is closely allied to technology – it’s the use of data. Knowledge in all its forms can be very powerful for business, and the growing ability to harness the power of data has helped many businesses navigate some very difficult times. The information the payroll function gathers each week and month is instrumental to managing a business. This is something that might not have been considered only a few years ago. The introduction of client portals has simplified that exchange of data. Some clients may have been reluctant in the past to go down this route, but through appropriate levels of audit and governance, we’ve been able to demonstrate the success of such systems – a small victory in itself.
“The information the payroll function gathers each week
and month is instrumental to managing a business”
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 89 | April 2023
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