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ISSUE 4
Q: We often discuss payroll’s intersection with technology and the importance of capitalising on tech and innovation. How have new technologies impacted the way you and your company work? L: In my experience, there are three ways in which leading companies are leveraging technology to extract value from the payroll process:
Q: When we spoke previously you described yourself as a methodologist, can you expand on this? L: As I mentioned, my career didn’t start off in payroll. One of my first roles on a payroll contract was in Service Management, a unit which was dedicated to measuring performance metrics, producing service reports and tracking issues and change requests. As I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve maintained this focus on measuring and improving the process. I’ve had the blessing of working with some fine payroll specialists. My job has been to provide them with the best conditions to do their job. This means, amongst other things, providing a methodological framework for the interaction between the payroll team and the Client: a detailed statement of work which clarifies exactly who is responsible for what, a monthly calendar, a map
Improving end-to-end process efficiency: this means using
technology to reach beyond the strict confines of the payroll process itself and automate the processes that are upstream and downstream, thus reducing the risk of manual errors, compressing the process timeframe and freeing up valuable skills to do things other than entering data and creating reports. A lot has been done in recent years to improve the quality and effectiveness of integration between payroll systems and leading HCM solutions, but integration can go well beyond this, to include other employee data that is not present in HCM systems, time and travel data, accounting data, other production- related information relevant to the core business, etc. I’ve worked on multiple payroll transformation engagements where the main objective was getting this integration right.
of contact points and interaction channels, a monthly governance
process to discuss issues and changes, etc. These are apparently basic things, but I’ve seen plenty of organisations operating without them, with some ugly consequences at times. The payroll team’s job is to get payroll processed. My job is to ensure these rules are in place and agreed with the Client. It is also to provide the resources and space required for the team to operate, taking away the distractions and pressure that may arise during difficult situations.
“The payroll team’s job is to get payroll processed. My job is to ensure these rules are in place and agreed with the Client.”
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