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The past three years have been a rollercoaster for HR and payroll departments. Overnight shifts to remote working, managing furlough processes and finding new ways to manage teams has seen a mass adoption of new software - from internal communications to project management and employee engagement platforms.
Yet one area of business tech that has received less attention since the start of the pandemic has been that of HR and payroll systems. So, Phase 3 and XCD have teamed up to look at the benefits of upgrading and, crucially, integrating your HR and payroll solutions.
A Business Case
HR and Payroll rely on each other to work effectively. And while both have typically been considered back-office processes, the post-pandemic landscape of hybrid working, alongside a tightening talent market is changing the way that businesses approach both.
Agility, flexibility, and efficiency are paramount at a time when many employees cite poor workplace technology as a key reason for leaving their jobs. Being able to effectively measure employee satisfaction, productivity, and engagement is crucial.
What businesses need is a single solution for HR and Payroll. From onboarding to tax calculations and analytics used to inform performance reviews, a single HR and Payroll software streamlines processes for employees and employers.
What is a single solution for HR & Payroll?
Many vendors will say that they offer a single solution for both, but in actuality provide different solutions that can integrate with each other. In a single solution, any changes you make to an HR record will be immediately replicated on the payroll side – they are immediately aligned without any external interaction, streamlining processes, and removing the risks of duplicate data or human error.
The two departments can work together seamlessly to deliver a consistent and coherent employee experience, from onboarding, compensation management, payroll processing, payslips, etc.
The Benefits of a Single Solution
Increased Efficiency:
A truly single HR & Payroll system significantly reduces the administrative burden, with any information only needing to be uploaded once, with any changes replicated in real-time across departments. Every stage in an employee lifecycle thus becomes easier to manage, from onboarding new hires to updating records when employees move on.
Processes can also be automated – from payroll calculations to benefits administration and tax deductions, significantly reducing payroll overheads.
Enhanced Productivity:
Having access to business-critical information can drive productivity, allowing for greater collaboration and integration between HR and Payroll departments. With traditional data bottlenecks removed, information can be shared easily between different sections of the business.
Moreover, for end-users in both HR and Payroll, there is only one platform to learn, reducing training time and costs.
More Accurate Reporting:
Employees and managers alike gain access to a complete, holistic view of the HR ecosystem, with complete visibility on recruitment, onboarding, training, absence, expenses, performance, and more.
With personalised dashboards, built in and custom workflows, analytics, and approval processes, any changes are viewable instantly across departments, without the need to sync data between systems.
Better Security and Compliance:
The less your data is travelling around and the fewer vendors it must pass through, the less risk there is for your business, and sharing records between the two departments makes auditing your system much simpler.
The XCD solution is also built on Salesforce, and able to leverage the world-leading security of that platform. The Salesforce platform can also cater to sector-specific regulations, allowing you to seamlessly implement the processes required for your business to remain compliant.
Happier Staff:
The self-service nature of the solution means that workers can easily access their own payslips, records or performance reviews, and book time off with a few clicks. With any overtime or paid leave instantly updated against their records, the risk of errors or inconsistencies with their pay are removed.
Not only are happy employees more productive, they are also more likely to want to stay with the company.
Selecting and Launching the Right Software Solution
Understanding the benefits of an integrated software solution for HR and payroll processes is one thing. Finding the right software solution in an efficient manner, at the first time of asking and without unnecessarily increasing the work burden on HR and payroll departments, is another.
Solutions research, technical analysis, onboarding and launching a new platform - especially one that’s so critical to the day-to-day running of an organisation - can be a time-consuming endeavour, and it’s one of the key reasons why many departments will stick (and put up) with their existing multi-software set-up.
But doing so means missing out on the benefits of an integrated HR and payroll solution.
Larger organisations looking to acquire new software to streamline or enhance internal processes are increasingly looking to technology consultants to help them select and onboard the correct software for their needs. Specialists such as Phase 3 and their dedicated System Selection service are a great example of this, where their consultants with a near-innate knowledge of the integrated HR and payroll software market work to understand client requirements and match them with the right solutions. They can also manage the entire implementation process, from business process design and data collection to set-up and launch.
This approach means that organisations can enjoy the benefits of moving to an integrated HR and payroll solution, without the pain of finding, onboarding and launching that system in the first place.
