By 2023, 50% of all payroll processing, audits and managed services will be automated and will be processed with no manual interventions
Gartner Market Guide for Multi-country Payroll Solutions, July 2020*
Recently, Gartner published the Market Guide for Multi-country Payroll Solutions and it is filled with fascinating insight around the key trends affecting the global payroll industry today. It gives a very strong indication around key areas of focus for global employers and multinational companies who are looking for solutions to the complexities involved in delivering services like global payroll across multiple countries in their network.
The strategic planning assumption above immediately jumped off the page to all of us at Payslip as we have been speaking to clients and industry leaders for a long time now about both the benefits and the inevitability of automation. It has made sense for a long time now to introduce this hugely capable technology into the payroll process as it is clear that manual inputs, validations and other repeat tasks make global payroll a very fertile ground for huge productivity gains, achievable with hyper automation technology.
In this article, we will look at automation and hyperautomation -what exactly they involve, the key reasons why you should be interested in this technology along with why we believe it is going to have a major influence on global payroll processes at multinational employers.
Automate for efficiency
There has always been talk of automation and it is only increased in the last number of years, as multinational companies look to leverage technology and align it to business strategy to carve out market gains and a competitive edge. What we see happening now, is that these conversations around automation are no longer the exclusive domain of technical people or IT staff.
Instead, the conversation is entering the mainstream -there is now a much broader recognition that the technology exists, that its capabilities are hugely impressive and growing, and that we have now reached a tipping point in that companies who do not deploy it quickly or are hesitant about using it, are likely to find themselves on the outside looking in as more proactive companies make very positive strategic and productivity gains when it comes to the internal processing of their global payroll.
Automation is no longer one for the future, it is for the here and now and the business benefits can be realized very quickly. Error reduction, increased productivity, empowered global payroll professionals and a new level of digital innovation are all in play when this fantastic technology is incorporated into an existing process.
Invest Now
It is not hard to make a business case for automation and most people find when they crunch the numbers that the costs of introducing it are not really that much greater than other investments made in technology over the years.
Automation is the process of using machine learning software or robotic processes to automatically enter and validate data or apply automation to any repeat process workflows. What does this mean in the context of global payroll?
- Faster inputting and validating
- Bulk file uploads for rapid processing
- Zero or very limited touch global payroll
- Error and variance highlighting
- A scalable automation process
What is it and how does it help?
This is usually the most important thing to define with clarity when it comes to any new digital investment. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that configures computer software to copy the actions of a person performing a digital task manually to execute a process. In the case of global payroll, RPA software could be configured to perform both the data inputs and the data file checks rapidly in large volumes.
For those of you who work in global payroll and are currently transferring data from spreadsheets or spending quite a bit of time with manual inputs, just pause for a moment and think of how this software could make a dramatic difference to your day. It is not only just about manual entries- we invite you to think even bigger and consider how it could be configured to highlight unusual activity or variances. What if it could also move files and folders, copy and paste data, fill in forms-all in a matter of seconds? How much valuable time might this free up and would this allow you to switch your focus to the other demands on your time such as reporting and analytics?
Automation v Hyper-automation
The term hyperautomation is now becoming much more widely used, which is slightly unfortunate as it arrives just as people are getting used to the concept of automation! When automation technology such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) forms part of a wider set of next generation digital tools, it is often categorized as hyperautomation.
These next generation tools augment and enhance the level of automation that has been originally introduced-essentially taking automation to the next level by having it work in tandem with other fantastic digital innovations like machine learning and artificial intelligence. The focus is on a hybrid of tech tools and robotics to create a digital driven agile environment where speed and efficiency are the basis for success.
Companies with very deep pockets can invest in these multiple technologies as part of their wider strategic aims. But it is not necessary to have full blown hyperautomation in order to make significant positive changes to the way you deliver global payroll. For the here and now, RPA is more than enough to transform the way you deliver services in your global payroll department as immediate benefits can be realized in terms of error reduction and productivity boosts.
Speed and scalability
Speed has always been a very powerful motivator and is considered crucial to any process that aims to be agile, flexible and responsive. One of the major attractions of hyperautomation is that it can, not only introduce speed to the day-to-day processing of manual tasks but it can also allow for the creation of a process that can be scaled rapidly across an organization. This is a major plus for multinational companies who wish to scale quickly into new territories -if they have in place already an automation process with underlying technology that allows this process to be swiftly implemented in the new region they scale into, then the multinational is in a very strong position to move at pace and hit the ground running in whatever new region they choose to scale into.
They no longer have to spend weeks and months embedding themselves into this new environment and figuring out what technology is transferable- with hyperautomation, they already know that they have in place a repeatable and scalable process where machines do the heavy lifting and their people are free to focus on learning and analysis.
In fact, there is a real opportunity to leverage hyperautomation for market gain and a strong competitive edge right now because many companies around the world simply find themselves in survival mode due to the global pandemic. Corporate history has many success stories that highlight decisions to invest in technology during times of economic difficulty- when the majority of companies are tightening their budgets and refusing to spend while waiting to see what happens in the marketplace - those who choose the braver option of investing find themselves in a position to enter new markets ahead of the competition and establish a crucial foothold. Hyperautomation, once established, can be deployed quickly as it has built-in scalability, making it the perfect partner technology for multinational companies looking to capitalize on opportunities in the market.
Payslip
Payslip provide automation and integration technology solutions for global payroll management. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) forms part of our technology solution as our cloud-based platform identifies where automated workflows can be introduced to replace manual data inputs and save time.
We create end-to-end fully automated workflows which automate the preparation, sending, reviewing and approval of GTN pay-run calculations. Payroll, HCM inputs and payroll partner calculations are automated as bulk data uploads, replacing numerous manual tasks with fast, efficient automation. Payslip automates and protects the data in its original and changing form, delivering single view tracking of data transformation.
Our experienced team are here to help you get started. Talk to us today for more information.
*Gartner, Inc. “Market Guide for Multicountry Payroll Solutions,” by Ranadip Chandra, Ron Hanscome, Sam Grinter, John Kostoulas, Amanda Grainger, 27 July 2020