Attracting and retaining top talent has always been and is likely to remain the number one priority at human resources departments across multinational companies around the world. HR departments put a great deal of time and effort into designing attractive and competitive compensation packages in an effort to secure the right levels of talent needed to push a business forward in a hugely competitive market. It is therefore important that employee turnover remains low among the best employees as ultimately, this is something that can affect bottom line profits.
HR managers and teams will therefore always be interested in any elements that can improve employee retention strategies. Retention rates and employee turnover are key metrics which tend to be examined in detail at various periods throughout the working year. Losing qualified and experienced staff to rival companies or other industries will always be a cause of great concern and HR departments are keen to find out more about anything that can give them a competitive advantage with existing or new employees.
In this article, we will examine if the global payroll team can add value when it comes to employee retention strategies. This may not be an obvious area to look for many people, but payroll has a very important role to play in the work environment, employee engagement and company perception. We will look at a few areas where the payroll experience can have a positive impact on employee perception and subsequently, turnover rate and retention.
Employee Turnover
It will come as no surprise that every employee has a desire to feel appreciated and valued in a new job - in the modern digital world, this has become more about experience and company culture than verbal platitudes, perks or recognition awards. Value can take a range of different formats and you should not underestimate the value of expedience and convenience when it comes to things like access to employee payslips or payroll information. The early hiring process and exit interviews can reveal strong indications of just how important employee morale can be if you ask the right questions.
Employees feel valued when it becomes clear to them that the company they work for, is digitally enabled, agile and responsive. Essentially, the top talent always want to work for a company that can supply them with the digital tools they need that can play a role in making their lives easier and help them achieve a work-life balance. What does easier mean? It means things like being able to access your own payslips anytime you want to, using any device you choose. Employees get frustrated when they have to send off a query to human resource departments and wait a number of days to receive a payslip from four months ago. With huge advances in digital tools recently, many employees are now of the view that this should be an instant process and they should simply be able to log in to a company system or portal and download any payslip they have received in at least, the last working year.
This in itself may not be a reason to stay at a company if an employee is unsatisfied, but it really does play a role in the manner in which an employee interprets and organization’s ability to prioritize and look after its own employees. These are the kind of subtle things that can make a difference to job satisfaction in the long run. An employee’s salary and benefits package are important, but they are not everything.
Digitally enabled employee engagement
Today's employees, particularly new hires and millennials who are used to using digital tools in their personal lives, often come to their jobs with a built in expectation that a similar range of digital tools will be available to them- for some, this expectation even stretches towards a demand.
Innovative organizations, who are keen to make their employees feel as comfortable as possible, work hard to ensure that employees such as these have a work environment that is digital, modern and flexible. Early evidence of this was the bring your own device to work initiative - this enabled employees who were comfortable working on a particular type of device (Mac v PC for instance) to use this device in the office. The idea was that a more comfortable employee would naturally become a more productive employee. This kind of solid thinking also needs to stretch into other areas.
Access to data is one such area, employees today want to feel in control of their data and state a strong desire to be able to access this data digitally, anytime they want it. Essentially, they want self-serve access to payslips, salary and benefit information, tax data and other relevant pay element information.
Companies that choose to invest in an employee self-service portal are enabling their employees to digitally access their data and feel in control of it. An immediate positive impact is created and sustained through continued use of such a portal. Employees come to a conclusion that they're working for a progressive company that understands their needs and has taken the time to invest in the level of digital technology that can accommodate these needs. Strong feelings of loyalty can be the result of this, and it is very possible that this loyalty will be reflected in strong employee retention and low employee turnover metrics.
The Personal touch
Although we are referring to digitally focused processes and data access authorizations -there can nonetheless be a very personal element to this in which the employee feels that a service genuinely adds value to their lives outside of the office. An example of this could be accessing several payslips at once for a loan or mortgage approval -this is a very common headache that nearly every employee goes through at some point in their lives- and there is real value in being able to instantly access and download these payslips, and then swiftly moved them across to an application form.
This is an example of digital technology embodying a personal touch in a value-added way. Unnecessary delays are avoided, back and forth emails with administrators in the HR Department become a thing of the past and you can create a genuinely positive impression if this information is made easily accessible outside of office hours on a mobile phone device. The top performers in a company often view things like this as a benchmark for a good employee experience in the work environment.
The role of Payroll in employee retention strategies
Global payroll will always play a role in employee experience and employee retention rate -first and foremost, every employee demands that they are paid accurately and on time. A smooth payroll process, invisible and in the background, followed by an on-time bank transfer is never viewed as an employee retention rate policy, But perhaps it should be, as everyone can picture just what kind of unfavorable reaction would take place in the event of a non-payment of salary. It can have a positive role to play in boosting well- being while reducing attrition and turnover costs.
Global payroll technology such as automation can be used to enhance the employee experience by greatly reducing or fully eliminating the likelihood of human error in monthly global payroll processing runs. Anyone can make a mistake, and this can result unfortunately in an inaccurate paycheck from time to time. Automation technology in use at a global payroll department provides a strong solution to mitigating this risk and ensuring the continued accuracy of payroll.
Beyond the responsibilities of processing global payroll accurately on a monthly basis, the global payroll department is capable of playing a role in employee welfare. A global payroll framework, properly supported by advanced and innovative digital tools, can result in an employee self-service portal that provides employees with immediate access to all their payroll related information. When such a tool is made available to all employees in an organization and they can have the same experience regardless of location, the end result is a company-wide cohesive employee experience that can contribute to employee retention.
Using an employee self-service portal, employees can upload, access, update, and store documents such as employee contract and identification documents. They may also view compensation and benefits information along with personal information, salary progression and history. These are simply things that they want and need at various times throughout a year and providing them with the ability to access these instantly, on a self-serve basis, when they are not even in the office, adds genuine value and has a role to play in effective employee retention strategies.
Payslip
The Payslip platform features an Employee Self-Service portal designed to ensure employees have the same level of access and control over their own data, regardless of where they are located. This is an innovative self-serve data management tool for easy access, viewing and changing of employee data. The portal can be accessed 24/7 via mobile and web-based apps. Employees can begin using it right from the start of the onboarding process and at all times during their professional development.
The software serves to empower employees via digital innovation while eliminating the need for global payroll professionals to respond to time consuming employee data queries.
Using this portal, employees can view and download current and electronic past payslips. They can also view their compensation and benefits package along with their contracts.
This is a great example of payroll technology linking to relevant HR data for the purpose of enhancing and improving the employee experience. To learn more about the employee self-service portal or any of our platform technology, talk to our team today.