FEATURE INSIGHT
Cause and effect
If there is one thing constant in the payroll profession, it is that there are always changes. But howoften dowe stop to consider what the changes could potentiallymean for the future of the profession? Vickie GrahamDipM ACIM, CIPP associate director of business development andmembership, discusses
T echnology is changing at a faster pace than ever, and with the introduction of business robotic automation and artificial intelligence many industries are worried that ‘the robots are coming’ – including payroll. But what will these advancements in technology really mean for the profession? Will the industry we know and love cease to exist, or develop and thrive due to the new opportunities? There is no doubt that technology will eliminate some of the process-driven tasks which are currently required within payroll. This is not a new development – payroll departments used to count out the pay packets and ensure that they were hand-delivered; though technology took away that role, the profession lived on and payroll professionals are busier than ever. Would you have the time to count out your employees’ salaries now? I’m guessing not. So, what happened when technology took this role away? Hopefully the answer is that you were able to focus the time on more strategic and mentally challenging aspects of your role. One thing is for certain, people will always need to be paid. Therefore, the requirement for payroll will never go
away. Neither will the need to pay people accurately and on time, which means that you will need people to check the results of the automated processes and ensure that the artificial intelligence is working as it should. You will need people to answer the queries relating to their pay and how it is calculated. ...The payroll professional of the future will need to be educated and knowledgeable... Our latest Future of payroll report , launched in January 2019, shows that typically the payroll department will receive queries on up to 5% of payslips every pay period with the most common queries relating to: ● tax codes ● pensions ● new starters ● overpayments or additional hours not paid, and ● information displayed on the payslip. As a payroll professional, you are
expected to know the answers to these questions. The payroll professional of the future will need to be educated and knowledgeable, and not simply someone who inputs (maybe via voice technology) data into a system. Voice activation Although instructing “Alexa, play baby shark” seems to be all I use my Amazon Echo (other devices are available) for, these intelligent systems can be used for a number of tasks, and this could extend to payroll and human resources (HR). Perhaps employees could use the technology to book time off? These devices are often linked to your calendar so why not to your payroll and HR system? How convenient would it be to talk to your partner about your holiday plans whilst sat watching Luther (other programmes are available) and then get Alexa to put in the annual leave request? Might “Alexa, put in an annual leave request for 23 June for five days” be something to consider?
Blockchain There is a lot of press relating to
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | February 2019 | Issue 47 44
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