FEATURE TOPIC
additional administration tasks. The thought of the administration often becomes a blocker for the advancement of the benefits package but if sound automation and self-service technologies can be implemented, anything is possible. I think good technologies allow services to be provided in a 24/7 environment, which reflects better customer service when it’s impossible to free up the relevant resource from the team to support. JR: Payroll is highly dependent on technology – so it’s vital for payroll to obtain the buy-in of the human resource (HR) and finance teams to source a product that’s a good fit with the business. How can payroll teams best promote / communicate the benefits they can offer to employees? GC: Payroll must pick the right medium, but this links to the perception of payroll by the business. If the perception is that it’s simply a back-office function that presses a button once a month, the business must help to demonstrate the skills and knowledge of the payroll team. From my experience, payroll communicates very little to the wider business other than at P60 and P11D time, and that’s generally only asking employees to check details. Very little is known about what a payroll team does and the knowledge it holds. The business needs to demonstrate the value it places on the payroll team – thereby encouraging employees to listen to payroll. This, I feel, has been achieved by pensions and shares teams, where they’re viewed as knowledgeable and technical experts in their field. Also, the medium must be appropriate and correct for the business. Employees are bombarded with different communications – emails, online portals, newsletters, etc. A possibility could be a message on a payslip. IH: For me, the first rule of communication is standardisation, then individuals know what to expect and when. I think payroll and reward teams have good messages to pass on, so something like a quarterly newsletter with regular updates and features is important. Noting the changes to working practices, I have seen an advancement of digital podcasts and recorded briefings to create a channel of information that can be accessed when individuals need it. The final advice would be to brand up initiatives, so
savings, these boundaries must be explored and established, and employers must know that what’s being published isn’t going to cause harm or detriment. Once a protocol has been established, payroll can support this by offering a seamless service which could help employees maximise their income from savings and investments, while maintaining an affordable lifestyle for themselves and their families. HW: In my opinion, this is quite a tricky area to promote. With the cost-of-living up over 180% in the past 12 months, most employees are just about managing to cover basic bills. SAYE is a great way to save from wages at source and also ensures regular savings. What’s your top tip to any payroll team looking to offer more benefits to employees? GC: Look for automation; ensure the whole workforce is considered so that a comprehensive and diverse offering of benefits is available. Engage with key stakeholders, and work on it as a company- wide project. This is incredibly important to get right from a statutory point of view. IH: I think my tip would be ‘it doesn’t have to cost’, and that’s in terms of facilitation and administration. So many benefits simply involve using the pay and reward team for collection of a discounted charge and helping spread costs for employees. From a professional perspective, I see offering more benefits as an important part of payroll leaders being able to have a strategic impact in organisations as reward leaders. I really want to see us step up and seize that opportunity to be in the spotlight. JR: Payroll should survey employees regularly, possibly with HR, to find out what’s popular – there’s nothing worse than being offered benefits you’ll never take up. Tastes and trends change over time, and so will benefits offerings. Speak to finance about what’s financially viable, affordable for the business and will be the best return on investment. Make sure payroll is leading the way in employee incentives and engagement. HW: Think outside the box – not all benefits on offer have to cost the company money. n
they become memorable. It’s a marketer’s world, and the workplace is no exception – it really is a case of stand out or miss out. JR: As people rarely read messages on payslips these days, it’s vital payroll gets its messages out in other ways. This could be at employer gatherings or webinars, on the intranet site or by delivering one-to-one sessions with employees, in a joined-up way with HR and finance. HW: Ensuring payroll has a great reputation in the company will mean any communication is well received. Being available for employee queries and going that extra mile when employees need assistance can build this sort of reputation. It’s also important to ensure you’re targeting your audience in the correct way. For example, if you want frontline staff to see an article, putting it in email format or on an intranet probably won’t work – instead, printing it for a notice board would be much more effective. Saving has become an issue in the current economy for many – how can payroll help to support and encourage regular saving habits? GC: Publicise how salary sacrifice schemes can be tax beneficial. Help educate employees – the learning and development team could help with ideas on how to deliver learnings, including knowledge of save as you earn (SAYE) schemes, purchase of shares and pension schemes. If employees have been at a company a while, they can be embarrassed about not understanding how the pension scheme or SAYE scheme operates. IH: Firstly, they can facilitate through deductions at source, which continues to be the best way of ensuring regular savings and offering the chance to save into a workplace ISA, credit union or a regular current account. But facilitation must be accompanied by education and payroll has an important role in passing on knowledge to allow individuals to make informed financial decisions. JR: Payroll must liaise with HR and finance to discuss how employees can save money into pensions, savings accounts, share schemes and other investments. Some employers have fallen foul of NMW regulations by encouraging savings clubs, e.g., for Christmas time, while others may be stepping into the boundaries of financial or share investment advice, which is heavily regulated. Before speaking to employees about
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | November 2022 | Issue 85 40
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