Looking towards the distant horizon — the dedicated payroll department to possibly be ‘extinct’ within the next 5 years

by with No Comment Latest Payroll NewsMotivationalPaymasterPayrollProductivity


At the present moment you may well be thinking that the payroll department is the centre of the corporate universe.

Perhaps too, you are certain that organisations that rely on human capital, rightly consider their payroll department to be its primary axis.

These days most organisations simply cannot function without their dedicated payroll administrators sitting behind their personal computers, balancing countless figures whilst also faithfully keeping all the organisation’s human resource records in perfect order.

Stop. Reality Check!

Stop. The reality check is this: whilst the preceding introductory consideration may well be an accurate assessment of the current status quo in most organisations, the time has arrived for the (sensible) strategic thinking human capital professional to look towards the distant horizon, in order to consider the strong likelihood that the dedicated payroll department (as we know it), may well be ‘extinct’ within the next 5 years.

With that distant horizon fast-approaching, let us consider what the future of the payroll department might involve by highlighting 5 specialised services that it (in all likelihood) may need to offer the organisation in the not too distant future.

Provisioning of an all-inclusive Human Capital Management (HCM) solution

Market-leading HCM-solution software offers the fullest, most inclusive spectrum of operational functionality. Suppliers of preferred HCM software solutions are increasingly beginning to ensure that they cater for the broadest range of HCM functions that a successful and profitable organisation requires: from workforce acquisition, to workforce management, to workforce optimisation.

For example, software functionality is likely to include the facilitation of cutting-edge recruitment best-practices, inventive application of face-to-face and online training tools, optimal leveraging of automated skills-evaluation tools, the implementation of progressive performance evaluation controls, the rolling out of comprehensive digital document cloud-storage, and options to make constant software-adaptations to payroll management processes.

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true” remove_hidden_hashtags=”true” remove_hidden_urls=”true”]Seemingly, we are fast-beginning to see the end of purposed payroll-only software solutions. [/tweetthis]

Consequently, we are seemingly fast-beginning to see the end of purposed (i.e. isolated) payroll-only software solutions. On the rapidly approaching distant horizon, we are already beginning to see suppliers of ‘all-rounder’ HCM solutions claiming the traditional purposed/isolated payroll solution space.

Facilitating technical compliance with the utmost of ease

Nowadays, easily implementable software-development tweaks easily caters for additional HCM parameters to be built into software products. For example, consider your organisation’s ever-increasing need to speedily respond to ever-changing tax-table formulae. In a case such as this, the discerning human capital professional needs to procure a HCM solution that offers the fullest scope for manifold legislative requirements to be amended and managed with the greatest of ease (without experiencing any upgrade downtime either).

Empowering line-management

Progressive HCM executives (inclusive of their functional management teams) ought to be excellent all-rounders. The HCM function make a truly relevant contribution towards the realisation of line-management’s operational contribution to the organisation. After all, this is what the organisation’s executive management team expects — nothing less.

For example, innovative HCM-solution software allows line-management to authorise all payroll-related documentation. Consequently, in most cases, not only does the line-manager take usual accountability for production processes and outputs, but he/she now also takes a (shared) accountability for the employees working in his/her department.

At Paymaster Payroll, some of our clients (whom we provide our HCM-solution to) are beginning to (confidently) allow their line-mangers to process the full payroll-run for their respective department/s. For example, line-management is empowered with the management of additional cost-incurring overtime hours and takes responsibility for making changes to employees’ basic salary settings. The Paymaster Payroll HCM-solution ingeniously encourages line-management to take empowering accountability for the safe-keeping of relevant documents and files — in an extremely safe, secure and risk-free environment, if the supplementary online cloud-server storage is used.

Additionally, further empowerment of line-management is made possible when, for example, a line manger personally manages the full interview process: from the reviewing of CV’s/resumés, right through to the online cloud-capture of the interviewers’ notes, comments and recommendations.

Thus, as demonstrated in the aforementioned examples, it’s clearly evident that there is no longer any need for the dedicated payroll department to manage these HCM processes. Further, from an auditing control/oversight perspective, at the very end of the ‘production line’, the financial manager simply ‘signs off’ (i.e. approves) the payroll-run. Thus we see that, in this case, a dedicated payroll department is indeed unnecessary.

 

Distributed accountability through employee self-service tools

It is becoming increasingly popular (and practical) for employees to be entrusted with the accountability of maintaining their own biographical data, submitting and administering (online) their own leave applications (which is also ‘online-authorised’ by their line-manager). Immediately thereafter, all leave records are automatically updated.

By employing this process of ‘distributed accountability’ employees are given access to self-service tools that smartly facilitates the submission of their own overtime claims, …the input of their own subsistence and travel-allowance claims, …and the facilitation of numerous other (ad-hoc) employee-specific claims — all processed via the integrated self-service functionality of progressive HCM-solution software.

Employee self-service tools may also be programmed to allow unrestricted access to an employee’s personal payslip and tax certificate archive — which is (most) conveniently stored on your organisation’s dedicated secure servers, or online in a secure (shared) cloud-server environment.

Easy access to data analysis and exception reporting tools

In the present business-era where real-time decision-making is becoming increasingly necessary and (perhaps even) desired, HCM-solution software must possess a reporting-ability to enable managers (at various levels within the organisation) to instantaneously gain access to meaningful reports that facilitate informed (and accurate) management decisions.

With progressive HCM-solution software, skilled and informed financial mangers no longer require reams of printed documents in order to get a glimpse of what’s happening in his or her department (or within the entire organisation for that matter). With a single login instance, a request for a report, accompanied with the shortest of waiting periods, will allow a comprehensive payroll-run for thousands of employees to be authorised (without worrying that multiple errors may result).

With exception reporting and approval processes, the era of individual-entry verification and interim payroll-run verification checks is fast coming to an end.

Responding to the challenge — prepare for change

Should the reader of this article be suitably convinced that we may well be seeing a future where the dedicated payroll department may well be ‘extinct’ within the next 5 years, here are a few suggestions on how you may respond to the challenge by suitably preparing for imminent change:

— Make a critical analysis of what kind of HCM-solution software that your organisation will need in order to adequately prepare for a future that has no dedicated payroll department.

— As a payroll professional, periodic personal introspection is crucial to your career growth and success within the HCM field of expertise. Constantly consider what new skills you may require in order to remain employable and, (more importantly) to remain relevant once employed.

— From an organisational perspective, adequate training (at various levels) coupled with progressive change-management practices, needs to take place on a regular basis. In this regard, be sure that you do your homework thoroughly.

— Always consider your relevance factor. By setting a time-constraint to your medium-term career planning, constantly assess how you are you going to reinvent yourself (particularly within the next 5 years), in order maintain the highest ‘relevance factor’ that you are capable of.

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true” remove_hidden_hashtags=”true” remove_hidden_urls=”true”]Strategic-thinking HCM professionals take proactive, decisive steps to transition to what the future promises to be.[/tweetthis]

Concluding thoughts

This article presumes the almost inevitable arrival of a future where the dedicated payroll department is fast on its way towards becoming ‘extinct’ within the next 5 years. As this distant future horizon fast-approaches, a prudent planning approach—to be taken by the discerning strategic thinking Human Capital Management (HCM) professional—will see him/her taking proactive and decisive steps towards transitioning to what the future (almost certainly) promises to be. Be sure to source HCM-solution software that not only keeps your HCM function relevant, but guarantees that you maintain (or improve upon) your HCM relevance factor too.

Payroll Professionals: the capstone human resource in an organisation

by with No Comment Latest Payroll NewsLeadersMotivationMotivationalPayroll Administratorspayroll professionals

 

Do you desire to be known as the ultimate payroll professional?

Do you wish to be the ultimate ‘go to’ person in the payroll department? Similarly, do you dream of being that ‘one particular person’ within your organisation, that is truly indispensable to the running of the business?

This is possible and it ought to be an achievable reality too.

Payroll professionals need to boldly step up to the plate. The payroll professional is an essential component within the smooth-running operations of most enterprises. Long gone are the days where the payroll clerk merely occupies desk-space, punching numbers (whilst apologising for getting in the way of the other business functions).

The time has arrived for the payroll professional to be recognised! All too often, in the past, the payroll clerk was only ever noticed when mistakes were made. But not anymore! The payroll professional is the much-needed capstone human resource within many types of organisations.

3 building-blocks: relevance, indispensability & being pro-active

The primary building-blocks of any payroll department comprises its relevance, its indispensability and its ability to be pro-active when business challenges arise. Without these building-blocks, the modern payroll department will not survive the contemporary era of automation and process-driven payroll operations.

Relevance

In everything you do—as a proud payroll professional—strive always to make your contribution relevant. Be sure to have accurate, correct facts and figures at your fingertips. Be ready to highlight the relevant challenges being faced (and how to possibly address these challenges):

  • Alert management to increasing overtime spends, particularly if it is leaning towards becoming a trend.
  • Raise an early white flag when you sense that labour-turnover rates are starting to look problematic.
  • Sound the alarm bells when new legislation stands to impact an organisation and its employees.

In order to make a relevant contribution, line-management oftentimes inadvertently forgets that the payroll department requires a wealth of rich meaningful information. The payroll professional should never have to repeatedly beg for information from other departments within the organisation. To be relevant, you need information — make sure you get the relevant information, on time, all the time.

Indispensability (your absolute necessity) to the organisation

Work towards gaining a thorough personal understanding of the human resource production line, right from the very beginning through ‘til the very end — from preliminary planning phases, to recruitment processes, …right through ‘til possible termination phase. This fosters and entrenches your indispensability to the organisation.

Importantly, don’t settle for only knowing how to operate your payroll software, but strive to master your use and understanding thereof. Once you’ve mastered this, you naturally become the central resource (information-hub) which others will feel drawn towards. For example, make it your primary speciality to know exactly how to set up a new employee record, …how to create an interview appointment, …or, how to issue the query for that complex management report.

Remember this: the line-management function prefers to manage. Intricacies and details of the payroll system is not their forté or interest — it’s yours, the payroll professional. Make sure that your indispensability comes from your special expertise.

Be Pro-active

The ability to be a pro-active payroll professional takes nothing more than a little well-considered thought and the ability to think ahead (i.e. planning).

Some common-sense examples include, the setting up of regular (and ad-hoc) meetings, …provide feedback on changes, …‘walk the floor” and/or engage others via e-mail, …start your own departmental Facebook Page, …use instant messaging to communicate with your employees (nowadays a standard built-in function with many payroll software packages).

Pro-actively build relationships with your various customers. Be sure they know what you expect from them. Remind them of what you consider to be your definition of outstanding service delivered to them.

Pro-active payroll professionals:

  • Expect to see the consequences of today’s actions, materialising sometime in the near or distant future.
  • Are expected to prepare management reports before being asked to prepare them (an automated feature which payroll software is easily able to do).
  • have forward-looking, forward-thinking minds, particularly when it comes to planning for public holidays and unexpected work stoppages.
  • Always think about next month (and next year) while processing the current payroll.
  • Are always anticipating the unexpected to happen — if the unexpected does indeed happen, it’s bound to be at the worst time. The pro-active payroll professional knows this.
  • Always double-checks their outputs/work — …“always reconcile and balance” is their trusted motto.

The payroll professional truly is (and always ought to be) the capstone human resource within the organisation.

 

Bottom line: The payroll professional actively works towards wanting everybody in the organisation to confidently say, “To be sure, let’s ask our payroll professionals first”.

Surround yourself with Greatness.

by with No Comment Motivational

The critical measure of success in any business is the ability to get results, and therefore great employees are those who get the job done quickly and well, consistently and at high levels of quality. Great employees are defined by five key success factors:

Great people are good team players.
Great people are concerned with what is right rather than who is right.
Great people are intensely results oriented.
Great people accept high levels of responsibility for the outcomes required of them.
Great people consider the company a great place to work.

Leaders need to hire slowly and carefully, thereby increasing the likelihood of making good choices. Poor hiring decisions cost between three and five times the person’s annual salary.

To test drive candidates before making a decision, apply the following laws of three:

* Always interview at least three people for a position.
* Interview the leading candidate in three different places.
* Have the candidate interviewed by at least three different people.

It is important to find people that are in alignment with the organization’s purpose. Great teams are composed of diverse, impassioned people who may have only a few things in common. Ideally, they are smart and savvy, hardworking, ambitious, and nice in a constructive way that adds value for both coworkers and customers.

Conversely, an effective manager must have the courage to fire negative or disruptive people for the greater good of the team. Many managers do not provide frequent or frank enough performance reviews to make it possible to fire people when they should, without legal problems. Most managers and employees avoid honest reviews because they find them politically and emotionally painful.

That is why it is important to create clear expectations and metrics to measure what it means to do a great job. Without frequent feedback, a manager can unwittingly under-appreciate the best performers and promote the worst ones.

In studying the methods of motivating employees and building great teams, researchers have found that the single most important factor is having clear expectations. When a manager confidently expects people to succeed, to perform, to excel, to commit to getting the job done quickly and well, they almost invariable rise to those expectations.

The most profound issue driving employee engagement is their relationship with their boss. Between 65 percent and 85% percent of the costs of operation, less cost of goods sold, will be personnel costs.

The manager’s job is to get the highest possible return on the company’s investment in human resources. This is achieved by unlocking the potential of each individual, hiring carefully, assigning clear tasks, managing people positively, motivating them continually, and practicing consideration, caring, and courtesy on a regular basis.