Today's world is a digital world and corporate employees from small businesses right up to large enterprises, operate in a digital economy. This is a digital environment where skilled new employees work with a range of digital tools to deliver essential business services as part of their day-to-day roles.
Of course, not all employees get to work with a wide range of digital tools they expect to be working with- not every multinational company has invested in digital transformation technology projects to make this a reality for all of its employees.
That said, the vast majority of employees working in corporate life today are equipped with a certain level of digital skills. These digital skills, aligned with exposure to the latest and most innovative technology out there in the market, has created a new level of expectation among employees when it comes to the digital experience they have in the workplace.
Many now expect that the organizations they work for are digitally advanced, agile and responsive. Some employees will go as far as actively avoiding companies who have a reputation for poor digital advancement. Some believe they will simply not fit in in such an environment, others believe that a lack of digital innovation is indicative of a specific mindset that is not aligned to continuous progress and are therefore less attracted to that organization.
In this article, we will explore the importance of self-serve access to employee data along with why it matters to a new generation of employees.
Instant Access
A new generation of employees are likely entering the workforce already equipped with a specific range of digital skills. The skills are one thing, but it is the attitude they bring with them that defines their expectations from a global employer. These expectations are often shaped by their experiences with technology devices and digital platforms in their personal lives -many have simply come to expect a similar experience in the workforce. This experience is about digital enablement and instant access to any digital material they want or are authorized to have.
If, for example, they can easily access bank account or credit card statements with the touch of a few buttons inside their online banking function- then this creates a level of expectation when it comes to accessing other documents. Many believe that there is no reason why they should not have a similar experience when accessing their own employee data or personally identifiable information held by their employers in an office system.
The expectation then is 24/7 secure and remote access to employee information such as payslips, salary progression information and year- end tax documents. They expect instant access to this in a cloud environment where a username and password is all they need to access current and historic digital statements covering their employee data and personal information.
Employee Self-Service
The self-serve aspect of this instant access demanded by so many today is about control, welfare and empowerment. Employees wish to feel that they are working at a digitally enabled organization where they are in control of their personal an employee data. They want to be empowered by 24/7, anytime, anywhere access to their data on their preferred device -desktop, tablet or mobile devices.
All of this plays a role in the employee experience and can influence the public brand engagement levels of the company. HR professionals and managers will always be interested in anything that can lead to constructive and positive public messaging from their own workforce - there is simply no better brand ambassador than a positive employee who feels empowered in their day-to-day roles and is willing to issue positive messages about the organization they work for. Word travels very fast in this social media dominated environment, and negative words travel even faster!
It is always a good idea to empower your employees with self-service technology access to documents that they may want or need on a regular or ad hoc basis. This is also a win-win for the global payroll department -nobody wants to spend their days responding to emails from employees requesting specific documents detailing their personal data. This is time consuming and unnecessary in this digital age- everybody loses when this happens -the global payroll professional is frustrated and the employee is left waiting as requests for employee information are unlikely to be high priority considerations in an extremely busy global payroll department that is focusing on the accurate and on time delivery of multi country global payroll.
Meet expectations with self-service technology
It is never easy to find good people and global employers need to be competitive when it comes to employee retention. HR teams need to focus on engagement, digital enablement via self-service tools and employee welfare to ensure retention. It would be shortsighted of HR staff to simply focus on the compensation package and neglect the day-to-day employee experience.
It all matters and employees talk to one another- they speak about all aspects of employee welfare and they will rate an organization based on its level of digital innovation, including self-service options. Imagine a scenario where an employee was empowered with digital functionality to such an extent that it had a positive impact on their personal lives - for example, a lot of mortgage applications today require six months of payslips as part of the process- an employee who could simply access these statements using an employee self-service portal from home anytime they wanted to and download them would be impressed with the ease and simplicity of this access and would likely have very positive things to say about it.
No company wants to be viewed as having fallen behind in terms of digital innovation so it is important to take steps and create a business case for the introduction of technology that can enable full employee access to relevant payroll information and personal data. Employee self-service systems are also a far more secure way than email of enabling access to potentially sensitive employee information.
If a company wishes to create a brand or public perception as being digitally native and a technology-oriented organization, then it must also invest in the necessary digital tools to support such a reputation. Almost all organizations operating today have a desire to be viewed as progressive and forward thinking. Innovative tools and employee self-service access to personal employee information is one way to align with such a view. A digitally enabled workforce capable of anytime anywhere access to their own data is an example of progressive thinking in a digitally focused company culture.
Payslip Employee Self-Service portal
The Payslip platform features an Employee Self-Service portal- an innovative data management tool for easy employee access to their personal payroll data anytime they want to, anywhere in the world. The portal can be accessed 24/7 via mobile and desktop. It is designed to ensure employees have the same level of access and control over their personal and pay related data, regardless of where they are located.
With this ESS tool, global employers can offer a cohesive platform experience to all their employees across their international payroll locations. The data access experience will be the same for each individual in the organization regardless of location and this is positive for both employee engagement and welfare.
On the Payslip platform, global employees at multinational companies around the world enjoy simple and secure access to:
Electronic Payslip Access
View and download current and electronic past payslips- these payslips can be accessed 24/7. Automatic alerts are sent to employees when new payslips becomes available.
Document Manager
Global employees can store, access and download documents in a single, secure location.
Employee Information
Employees enjoy access to a broad and comprehensive range of personal and pay related information: job, compensation and benefits information including salary data, progression and history.
Employee self-service access to their own data is something that will continue to matter to global employees around the world. Organizations who recognize the value of self-serve and take steps to introduce it as part of their global payroll technology stack, will be contributing to positive employee engagement and welfare. They will also significantly reduce the burden and cost involved with responding to employee requests for data. Talk to our team today about our Employee Self-Service portal.