Important findings
The 2022 Market Guide for Multi-Country Payroll Solutions from Gartner has now been published, and the key findings have major implications for present and future delivery & management of global payroll at multinational companies around the world.
The report highlighted and confirmed a lot of things we have been saying to the market and industry peers for quite some time now and it was very satisfying to observe just how aligned we are with Gartner on many of the issues affecting global payroll today.
There is now a broader recognition that payroll is going in a different direction, away from a fruitless search for the one global payroll services solution or silver bullet, and towards the acceptance of the need to put in place a solution that involves managing a number of local country providers under some form of global framework.
Our CEO, Fidelma McGuirk, wrote an article last week covering her excitement that Gartner acknowledge that companies today are now using a hybrid solution- i.e., the use of 2 or 3 models in a payroll strategy when they have employees spread across 10 or more countries.
This is huge but the insightful report does not stop there-in this article, we are going to summarize and give our opinion on a few more things alluded to by Gartner.
Key investment drivers revealed
We were really pleased to discover that Garner are fully aligned with a lot of things we have been saying for the last two or three years, particularly in the space of key investment drivers for global payroll change. What we are talking about here, are some of the core business case reasons which fully justify investment in a technology focused multi country global payroll solution. Below are a few drivers that Gartner referenced in their report:
Process standardization
Gartner talk about the need to create identical processes across countries for global payroll operations. Payslip could not agree more-the standardization of payroll data and processes has underpinned our approach and platform technology right from the start. Organizations need to develop a single way of working across all of their payroll countries and that is exactly what they can achieve on the Payslip platform.
We start with the data and immediately standardize it, bringing all of the unique pay elements at a company into the platform and the standardizing it a global level so you are left with the same data and processes for all your payroll countries-this immediately improves your visibility and control and lets you see exactly what is happening with your payroll.
Improved efficiency
Gartner discuss the complexities and challenges that arise from pursuing both in house and outsourced payroll. There are a lot of variables in play and whatever model is chosen, some form of management solution also needs to be applied as these models often struggle to contain the spiraling complexity associated with multi-country global payroll delivery and management.
One of the key things that can lead to greater operational efficiency and productivity gains is the introduction of automation when it comes to data flows in global payroll. Replacing manual data processes with robotic process automation can introduce much greater speed and efficiency to multi-country payroll. This can massively reduce the administrative burden on global payroll professionals and create much needed time and breathing space inside a monthly payroll cycle.
Efficiency gains can also be found in areas like self-service access to data, which can be another major time saver. Payslip enable global employees to access their payslips and pay related information 24/7 using our employee self-service portal.
Reporting and analytics
Gartner’s report also went on to cover the increase in urgency when it comes to reporting and analytics demands. C-suite and executive leadership teams now need greater insight into one of the company's largest expenses-global payroll. In a post-covid new work culture of hybrid working and remote hiring, it is becoming more important to have a clear picture and deep data-driven insight into specific payroll costs and especially, how they might compare and differ across countries.
On the Payslip platform, we offer self-service instant access to 50+ reports. Multiple stakeholders can run a range of different reports, with payroll data and analytics split by department-global payroll, human resources and finance. Labor cost comparisons can be done in a single currency and the reporting enables macro level bigger picture insights while also facilitating the drilling down into the micro details that can tell the real story behind the data.
Companies who have not yet invested in a global payroll technology solution that can deliver this kind of detailed, comprehensive and consolidated multi-country reporting may find themselves behind the curve when it comes to bigger picture insights and a true understanding of all costs associated with their payroll delivery.
Unified experience for payroll professionals
Multi-country payroll delivery can be a disjointed experience, with multiple global payroll professionals in different locations around the world, all of them struggling for a cohesive experience and a clear view of what is happening.
Being able to login to a cloud platform like Payslip, offering a single dashboard view of all countries is of huge value to a global payroll manager, while global payroll professionals can enjoy a dashboard view of all of the tasks to be done for the relevant payroll countries.
It makes the deadline management and task completion side of payroll administration a lot easier to manage. When all payroll countries are unified under a global framework, it is then possible for global employers to develop a single way of working across countries and this can really help the payroll administrators and professionals do their jobs in a more efficient way- if they needed to swap tasks or move over to different countries, it can be a far more seamless transition if all countries process the payroll in the same way and the data flows are standardized.
When this unified experience and process is not present, payroll can become a real challenge as was witnessed during the covid-19 pandemic- when payroll deadlines were put at risk due to staff absences in payroll teams and global payroll professionals having to spend a lot of time to find documents and procedures for the new country they were asked to take over. The process was different, the data flows were different, languages, currencies and time zones were different- this made it very difficult for payroll professionals to step in and take over duties in a new payroll country. A global framework and unified data &process experience is the solution to this challenge and means that global payroll teams are prepared for any new challenges coming down the line.
We have highlighted 4 of the investment drivers from the 2022 Market Guide for Multi-Country Payroll Solutions from Gartner. The report contains a lot more key findings that are sure to influence the manner in which global employers choose to apply a structure and framework around our multi-country global payroll delivery and management into years to come.
For more information about our Global Payroll Control Platform contact us today.
