As we continued to work remotely due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, a lot of people are taking the view that now is the time to keep heads above water and just focus on the core daily duties. These duties certainly need to get done but focusing only on business merely survival could lead to missed opportunities.
It may be difficult to think about the future right now because everything is so uncertain, but business history is filled with stories of people who have used severe economic downturns to their advantage. Many of the biggest companies in the world choose to double down on their project investments during a recession and look to allocate time and resources to long delayed projects.
All companies have a number of projects that may have been on their to do list for a long time now. One of the key reasons that little progress has been made on them has been a lack of time to focus on what is needed to progress with them. For some companies, a number of key initiatives have to be shelved for a future date due to various financial and logistic reasons. This has opened up the scope to focus energy and resources on alternative projects. In this article, we will look at some of the reasons why now might be just the right time to build momentum on a key process improvement project.
Spare Hours
People are working remotely and while they remain busy with critical daily tasks that need to be delivered, there may be room for an innovative to a non-business critical project. There is no daily or evening commute so an additional hour or two of time is available- this would not be the case during normal office life.
Many employees have made promises to themselves to look at longer term projects as soon as they have time, but that time has never seemed to be available in the busy office environment. Home might be the place to focus on it during a quiet period. Tackling a project while working remotely may not be the easiest of tasks but it could well turn out to be the right decision in the long term. This global pandemic will pass, and we will all return to the office- hectic daily schedules will take over as normal this opportunity might slip by.
The opportunity to allocate some quiet hours to focus on a specific project maybe much harder to find when things return to normal. Right now, you have the space to think and approach it from a different angle as well as one or two additional hours that can make all the difference.
Global Payroll
A global payroll process is time intensive by nature, but it is also a process that needs to be examined in detail so that the best efficiencies can be introduced to make it better. A little bit of investment and attention now, could pay big dividends in the future if it results in a global payroll process that features innovative technology, standardized processes and streamlined workflows.
All members of a global payroll team can explain pretty quickly the nature of the problems and challenges they face when processing payroll- some of the common teams that crop up are.
- a lack of visibility over the overall process
- non standardized processes across multiple countries
- data arriving in multiple different formats
- reporting difficulties
- inflexible technology
- a sense of not being in control over the process
These are common issues in the payroll industry, and they can be addressed by bringing onboard a technology partner who can introduce some cloud based innovative technology to change things for the better.
This will likely require a strong business case to secure the necessary investment. One project right now could be gathering the information needed to develop this business case. This information could focus on how the global process for payroll operates today together with where it needs to be in the future in order for the company to deliver on ambitious growth plans like scaling into new countries.
Define your needs
When you take the time to highlight what is not working properly, it focuses the mind on what is needed to improve things. When you think about time-consuming repetitive tasks, automation jumps into the mind as the solution. When you think about each country provider processing payroll differently, the standardization of processes and centrally managed operations crop up as the solution. What could the answer to a lack of visibility be? A single view dashboard of every payroll country in your operations.
Defining the core needs when it comes to global payroll serves to highlight what is missing and lead you in the direction of the solution. Many people suspect that innovative technology could probably help but are not really sure what that technology can achieve or what it might look like. Cloud based technology like the Payslip platform can really help with a before and after picture of a payroll process at a multinational.
Technology Partner Project
One of the key blockers to momentum on any project is a sense that it is going to be complex and time consuming – some are of the view that developing a solution might even be more painful than the problem. When you deep dive into global payroll technology solutions, you will find that this is not the case- yes, there is some work involved but the long-term rewards are more than worth it.
Creating a project to find a technology partner is something that will add value to global payroll operations and now just might be exactly the right time to focus on this. Now is an opportunity to clearly articulate the things that are not working correctly in your global payroll team. You can consider looking at some technology partner case studies to highlight to leadership teams the ways in which a technology partner can make a genuine difference to the speed, clarity, and efficiency of global payroll.
Evolution not revolution
One of the key features of using a technology partner is integration. This means you avoid a messy rip and replace of existing processes and providers. Integration technology is much more about working with the process you currently have and using technology to improve them. With integrations, you get to continue working with the payroll providers you have a good relationship with or replace providers you wish to move away from. You benefit from dashboard analytics, consolidated reporting on a global level and the ability to switch tasks across member teams in different countries and time zones. This is an evolution-you are working with technology to improve what is there and build a better process for the future. You move away from the concept of complete overhaul towards something that can be implemented in the shorter-term with immediate, measurable benefits- this is also a much easier sell when it comes to a justifiable business case for project investment.
Where to start:
Think of five key challenges you encounter with your current global payroll process and write them down. For each of these five things, write down two things that would improve them -feel free to paint a picture of what an ideal scenario would look like. Then examine what would bridge the gap between these two lists. Next, look at the four things on the list below and see how helpful they would be when it comes to bridging that gap.
- Automation- how will the removal of manual repeatable tasks make a difference?
- Standardization- if you have nine payroll countries and each country is using more or less the same process to deliver payroll, what difference would this make?
- Centralized process: if one department could access, view, and control the activities of all the countries on your payroll, how would control and visibility be different then?
- Single Platform: If you could manage both your payroll providers and the overall process from one secure platform, what would this mean?
Momentum will come
Like all projects, once you get started you will find that a few insightful questions get you thinking about possible solutions and actions you can take- momentum is built on such things. When it comes to global payroll, a solid business case can be made for a technology partner. It does not require a huge amount of upfront investment and significant changes that make a positive impact can be implemented relatively quickly.
These changes can lay the foundation for further process improvement and global payroll efficiency. Now is the right time to start thinking about innovation and how it can help you do things differently in the future. A project delivered in the next few months could prove very valuable should we encounter another significant economic event like the one we are facing now with this global pandemic.
The Payslip team is ready and waiting to help you get set up with some new technology. We can on-board new payroll providers quickly and look at ways to quickly deliver some standardization and automation into your current process. Talk to us today to find out more.