The worlds of payroll and HR are growing ever closer, particularly because lower budgets have meant that HR teams have needed to invest in software that can do many different things: payroll, performance, leave, absences, expenses, and more. This has been coupled with a demand from UK employees to take control of their own HR processes, and to become the guardians of their own destinies.
Your employees’ payroll ‘experience’ can determine how they evaluate their wider experience within their place of work: their views towards management, their affinity with their roles, the quality of output, and even whether or not they want to stick around.
Read more: The future of payroll
So it’s imperative that HR teams are driving the conversations around evolving payroll methodologies, and how this ties into wider people conversations and objectives.
A new way of working
The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way that people view work forever. Moving away from a solely office-based approach to a more locationally flexible one, employees have been reassessing their relationship to work, how it fits in with the rest of their lives, and what they want to get out of a job.
The effects of long Covid, and associated health impacts and time taken off work, has also put a strain on payroll and people teams. Processes have had to be adapted to cope with shortages, more frequent statutory sick pay (SSP) calculations, and teams being shuffled around to ensure continuity. People leaders have been driving these changes, sometimes reluctantly, but again, there are opportunities and challenges.
Evolving HR technologies and skill sets
With changing HR and payroll technologies, not to mention the changing demands of the UK workforce, so too must the skills of HR teams develop to get the most out of these changes. HR teams and leaders must be able to interpret ever-expanding datasets that are coming out of the technology, and provide actionable insights for business leaders off the back of this. The need for this work only seems set to intensify over time, as the need to scrutinise and act upon the minutiae of business functions to gain the competitive edge increases.
Read more: How can HR use tech to drive employee productivity?
The goal for HR teams is to own the knowledge and understanding of these developing technologies and softwares, so that the insights provided are as meaningful as can be.
Getting buy-in from your people
Getting an opportunity to better engage with and meet the demands of employees is one of the greatest opportunities presented by the new world of payroll and HR.
Auditing your current setup demands that people teams reach out directly to employees to ask them how they’re feeling, what’s working and what’s not. For example: are they satisfied with the information on their payslip? Do they often query things? Do they feel empowered to take control of their payroll and HR processes? Can they do all of this easily, and from one place?
Aligning your payroll processes with employee needs is a great way to improve retention, instil greater trust in leadership, and improve engagement.
Reviewing your current processes
Auditing your HR and payroll processes takes time, but it often starts with identifying ways to simplify and streamline things. And one way of doing this is by investing in technology that helps you take care of payroll without any hassle, as well as manage your core people processes and free up time for bigger strategic initiatives.
Read more: Payroll errors impact 25% of UK employees
So that means a payroll software that can automate the boring stuff, like calculations and legislation changes; one that’s staffed by payroll experts should you need support; includes HR features such as leave, expenses and performance management too; and gives your employees secure access to take control over their own processes, reducing queries for your team.
It could be a crucial step towards futureproofing your tech capabilities, and getting closer to your people at the same time.
By Firmin Zocchetto, CEO and co-founder of PayFit
